The Kite Runner Chapter 16 Quotes
The Kite Runner Chapter 16 Quotes
How we cite the quotes:
Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote 1
By then – that would have been 1995 – the Shorawi were defeated and long gone and Kabul belonged to Massoud, Rabbani, and the Mujahedin. The infighting between the factions was fierce and no one knew if they would live to see the end of the day. Our ears became accustomed to the whistle of falling shells, to the rumble of gunfire, our eyes familiar with the sight of men digging bodies out of piles of rubble. Kabul in those days, Amir jan, was as close as you could get to that proverbial hell on earth. Allah was kind to us, though. The Wazir Akbar Khan area was not attacked as much, so we did not have it as bad as some of the other neighborhoods. (16.41)
We just want to point out how the city, in a time of war (or after), can become a necropolis. (Basically, a city of the dead.) Not only does Hosseini say that Kabul became a "proverbial hell on earth," he also describes men digging up bodies out of the piles of rubble. Hell, whether you're in the Greek or Christian tradition, is a pretty darn good example of a city of the dead. And, if you add, just for kicks, like Hosseini does, the image of men digging up bodies, you've definitely transformed an active, lively city into a graveyard.