Chapter five of the Kite Runner begins with the sounds of gunfire, later Amir and

Hassan are confronted by three bullies: Assef, Wali and Kamal - but Hassan scares
them off. At the end of the chapter Baba arranges to have Hassan's cleft lip
corrected.
Hosseini introduces chapter five with the simile "Something roared like thunder."
This, in conjunction with the use of short sentence length, creates pace within the
opening; thus the novel in mention conforms to an Adventure/thriller sub-genre, as
there is a build in tension among our main protagonists. Chapter five is also
identified to be written in the first person narrative, more specifically the voice of
Amir as an adult. Consequently, through the use of retrospection, there are narrative
gaps as the audience is only receiving the story through the limited perspective of
Amir; for example 'we', the reader, do not hear what is actually said on Baba's radio,
other than the word "republic". However, as our narrative voice is Amir, we are
instead introduced to the genre; a bildungsroman: through use of introspection,
"He's not my friend...Had I really thought that?", Hosseini displays cowardliness in
Amir's character - which later in the novel he overcomes by going back to Kabul and
rescuing Sohrab.
Through the use of the hyperbole "the earth shook", and onomatopoeia "rat-a-tattat", 'we', the reader, are again reminded of the harshness of setting - Kabul,
Afghanistan in 1973. On the other hand, the harsh atmosphere juxtaposes the
setting of Baba's mansion: a home is symbolic for security, more importantly safety,
thus Hossseini has purposely used the setting of Baba's mansion, as the harshness is
more prominent to the reader as our protagonists are close to home. However, this is
also ironic as Baba's mansion is the cause of Hassan's untimely demise; which is
additionally foreshadowed by Hassan crying, considering it supposed to be Amir who
cries. Use of Muslim names: Baba - father in many languages, Amir - Populous,
Hassan - handsome; which is ironic as in terms of physical appearance, Hassan with
a disfigured lip wouldn't be considered handsome.
Later in the chapter 'we', the reader, are introduced the three characters: Assef, Wali
& Kamal, furthermore the introduction of Assef's character begins with the use of the
Afghan word "Kunis" - a sexual profanity thus foreshadows his role in the novel as
Hassan's rapist; additionally Assef's character is shown to be warped & viscous: his
reference to "Hitler" as a good leader undoubtedly shows this. The use of italics for
racial slurs, in which reference Hazaras, foreshadow Assef's future role in the novel
as a leader in the Taliban, however on a more broader spectrum; because the story is
told in a linear chronology, there is a large amount of forshadowing - hence
Hosseini's subtle references towards Assef. At the end of chapter five, the correcting
of Hassan's lips implies things are healing, but it is symbolic of when everything
changes for the worse; Amir's comment that Hassan's smile with the healing lips will
be his last foreshadows what will happen and implied the novel is about to take a
dark turn. This links with the specific uses of times & dates throughout the novel, as
it shows Amir is obsessing about the past; about what is going to happen next. Thus,
in the next chapters we are going to be introduced to a traumatic event, in which will
change the course of the novel, and explain Amir's obsession with his childhood past.