Language and Style Flashcards
As the novel has a personal narration what is the style of its language?
it is informal, converastional style, similar to dialogue rather than a self-consciously literary style of writing.
Amir’s narrative voice is fairly consistent across most of the novel. However what is there a development in as he moving from talking about his childhood years to his adult life?
development in vocabulary and sentence structure
When relating his childhood, especially in the chapters leading up to Hassan’s attack, he tends to use childlike language for example…….; or a childlike simplicity of description -…..
“he told on me”
:they clapped for a long time. Afterward, people shook his hand.
What is the trauma of Hassan’s attack accompanied by in terms of language?
by a dropping away of the childlike tone
Turning away from the alley, Amir says, “____________” .He does not use the more familiar word “crying” which we might have expected. Then, having decided that he was a coward because he ran, he tells us that he “_________________”. This is an adult notion with an adult way of expressing it.
I was weeping
actually aspired to cowardice
At the end of Chapter 7, as he is held and hugged by Baba, the tone of voice reflects th security he feels in that moment by reverting to a simple childish voice, but this, like the feeling of secrurity Amir feels, does not last and by the start of the next chapter we are back to a more sophisticated prose with complex compound sentences. What does Amir say at the end of the chapter?
In his arms, I forgot what I’d done. And that was good.
How does language change at times of stress or extreme anxiety such as the rape scene?
at these points the sentence structure changes and becomes hesitant and broken to reflect the fragmentation of Amir’s mind.
Following Sohrabs suicide attempt, the narration enters the present tense, resulting in a more urgent and immediate voice. What quote example?
“They won’t let me in. I seem them wheel him”
Describe Hassan’s voice?
It is written in a style which seems to have a more foreign cadence than either Rahim Khan’s or Amir’s
Why does Hassan’s voice have a more foreign cadence than either Rahim Khans or Amirs? Sentences such as “I am hopeful one day that I will hold one of your letters in my hands”
as we can assume that most of his reading would be associated with religion and so has no western influence.
Hassan is responsible for one of the key motifs of the novel, the phrase…?
“for you, a thousand times over”
Why do we understand the transformation that has taken place in Amir?
as he uses the phrase “for you, a thousand times over” which is a amore spiritual form of language and roots him inAfghanistan
What are all of Amir’s recollections coloured by?
by his knowledge of what is to come
The story is told from a chronological end point so that Amir frequently foreshadows and undercuts events by revealing they will not last. What is an example of this?
Chapter 5 “that was the winter that Hassan stopped smiling”
As Amir witnesses the rape, the narrative veers to other stories at other times what does this represent?
this represents the desire of Amir’s mind to avoid dealing with what he is seeing
