The Kite Runner: Onomatopoeia

"He killed the engine and we sat for a minute, listening to the tink-tink of the engine cooling off, neither of us saying anything" (page 273).

In The Kite Runner, the writing style is very much focused on making the reader feel as if he or she is experiencing the story just as Amir is. It is told from Amir's point of view in memory form, and the reader feels as if he/she is traveling back in time with him. The use of the literary device onomatopoeia is vital to the reader's understanding of the story because it allows the reader to hear the sounds from Amir's story. It causes the descriptions to become sharper and the story to be more interesting. The device is applied many times throughout the novel using a variety of sounds, but it is used a great deal in chapter 22. Amir describes the plink of dropping pebbles in the water well of his childhood (p 274), the riiiip of the his false beard(p 276), and the ding-ding-ding of the car waiting for him (p 292). Each time onomatopoeia is employed, there is a greater connection to the situation Amir is describing. This device caused me to pay greater attention to the story and imagine the setting Amir was in; I find it to be an important part to the style of writing Hosseini uses.