17. Chapter 16: Rahim Khan’s Story

About this Lecture

Lecture

In this module, we read through the sixteenth chapter of the novel, focusing in particular on: (i) the fact that this and the following chapter are narrated by Rahim Khan, not Amir; (ii) Hassan’s story since we last saw him – his marriage, the birth of his children, the return of his mother; (iii) the significance of the name of Hassan’s son – Sohrab – and the resonance of the names in the novel more generally; (iv) the symbolism of the ban on kite running; and (v) the massacre of the Hazaras in Mazar-i-Sharif in 1998.

Course

In this course, Professor John McRae (University of Nottingham) explores Khalid Hosseini’s The Kite Runner. We begin with a broad introduction to the historical, political and literary context of the novel, before going through the whole novel chapter-by-chapter, providing close reading and detailed analysis, with commentary on character, plot, themes, motifs, language, symbolism and more.

Lecturer

John McRae is Special Professor of Language in Literature Studies and Teaching Associate in the School of English at Nottingham University, and holds Visiting Professorships in China, Malaysia, Spain and the USA. He is co-author of The Routledge History of Literature in English with Ron Carter, and also wrote The Language of Poetry, Literature with a Small 'l' and the first critical edition of Teleny by Oscar Wilde and others.