Pomegranate Tree In The Kite Runner

Khaled Hosseini’s, “The Kite Runner”, uses an abundance of diction and tone, to convey a centralized motif. Hosseini, uses three specific symbols throughout the story, the cleft lip; kites; the lamb. The central symbols, tie into what the overall theme is of the story, the search of redemption, tension and love between father and son. Hosseini expressed his centralized motif of irony and regressing in time by using symbolism and figurative language to make his point more clear “I actually aspired to cowardice, because the alternative, the real reason I was running, was that Assef was right: Nothing was free in this world. Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba.”

Eavan Boland’s poem “The Pomegranate” utilizes the intricacies of the Greek myth of Persephone and elegantly intertwines the story to detail the bond of daughter and mother and the cyclical journey from daughter to mother. The myth of Persephone deeply resonates within Boland due to the versatility and impactful meaning of the story. Which in turn gives the poem a ambivalent and bittersweet emotional narrative with a reflective tone. Boland immediately manipulates the cyclical essence of the poem through juxtaposing the little girl in the myth, Persephone, to the little girl reading the poem, the narrator. The author does this by seemingly mixing the two together as displayed in the following lines, “I can enter it anywhere and have. As a

Amir is scared that he will get hurt and is willing to risk Hassan. He betrays his “friend,” because he does not want himself to be hurt, although Hassan constantly puts Amir before himself ensuring he is safe. The passage also relates to the social standards because Amir’s justification to not save Hassan is that he is just a Hazara. While the pomegranate tree is a symbol of their fallen friendship, Amir says:

What is inscribed on the pomegranate tree in the back yard? So, why then is it significant that Amir tries to pick a fight with Hassan in front of that tree? (Think symbolism.) What ends up happening? Why is that symbolic?

Amir pelts pomegranates at his best friend Hassan. Amirs mindset in this scene begins to foreshadow his turning point later in the novel. Amir starts pelting Pomegranates at Hassan, also asking him to throw them back at him. While Amir tells Hassan to hit him back with a pomegranate, he wishes”he would. I wished he'd give me the punishment I craved, so maybe I’d finally sleep at night.”( 92 Hosseini). Amir is now feeling guilt because he let something terrible happend to Hassan. The main character craves redemption, wich is why he wanted Hassan to pelt a pomegranate at him. Amir begins to show signs that further in the book his mindset will shift. Amir begins to take care of Hassan's son Sohrab at the end of the novel. This is after Amir's psychological turning point. After Amir traumatized Sohrab with the news that he might have to go to an orphanage, Sohrab tries to kill himself, and goes mute, Amir feels bad and takes

From that point on, he started to believe that god was on his side, as what was supposed to be a punishment, intended to bring pain, instead brought relief from the pain. On the other hand, when Amir was on the receiving end of the punishment and Assef was delivering the pain, Amir also started to laugh, as once again, the beating led to relief, instead of pain, because Amir finally felt that he got what he deserved. This proliferation of guilt started to build up when he witnessed Hassan get raped and the needing to be punished started when he brought Hassan to the pomegranate tree and tried to make Hassan punish him by smashing a pomegranate on him. However, Hassan refused, and he let it build up for decades. Because of this, when he was finally beat by Assef, it was a great moment of catharsis for Amir, as it relieved him of over two decades of pent up

Hassan and Amir were sitting in poplar trees shining light from a mirror trying to annoy the neighbor’s one eyed german shepherd. Amir kept begging Hassan to shoot walnuts at the dog with his slingshot. Hassan kept saying that he did not want to, but in the end he reluctantly gave in and shot. Ali caught the boys shooting the poor dog and scolded them. Hassan then took all of the blame saying that Amir did not come up with the idea. He adored Amir and would do anything for him. Whether it was taking a beating for him or giving the ultimate sacrifice. Hassan was loyal to Amir to the end of time, “For you a thousand times over” (67). Even when Amir denied of his friendship with Hassan, Hassan stayed loyal to him even when he least deserved it.

Throughout the novel, the protagonist and narrator Amir receives many acts of loyalty from his brother and friend Hassan; these acts start off simple and almost meaningless to Amir, but as times get harder, Hassan’s loyalty proves strong. Hassan was very loyal and humble to those close to him and showed his devotion when he listened to everything Amir had to say and did whatever he wanted when he asked. Amir was reminding himself of the past and constantly bring him memories of Hassan and felt guilt at every moment. Amir reminded himself of the days in Afghanistan when Ali scolded Hassan for the things he had asked him to do, “But he never told on me. Never told that the mirror, like shooting walnuts at the neighbor’s dog, was my idea” (4). These actions were created by Hassan’s surroundings as he grew up, he was taught to be a Hazara servant, but once that friendship sparked between the two boys, Hassan didn’t want to lose that, Amir was his only friend. These small acts of loyalty sparked and grew more important to Amir. A major turning point in the novel was during the kite tournament, but upon finishing the race, Hassan tells Amir, “For you a thousand times over!” (67). This statement is a constant reminder throughout the novel that Hassan will forever be with him and that he will constantly put himself in danger for him and the people he loves. The proof of his loyalty increased that very same day when Hassan found the kite in an alley, but being cornered and harassed by Assef and his friends, he chose to stay and run that kite for Amir instead of handing it over. “‘Amir agha won the tournament and I ran this kite for him. I ran it fairly. This is his

Hosseini shows that it is Amirs immense guilt that drives him to want to make things right and to earn redemption. We learn the basis Amir's guilt through his memories. It is caused by a lack of response at a time when his loyal servant and close friend Hassan is in trouble. Amir makes a conscious decision to hide in the distance and just watch, not because he was afraid. He sacrifices Hassan in order to earn his fathers attention and affection. This decision results in Hassan suffering though a traumatic experience and is the root of Amir's lasting regret.

Secondly the Pomegranate tree can be seen as a symbol of Amir and Hassan friendship, childhood innocence and shelter. The tree is presented to the reader in two different states. When the tree appears in the first part of the story, in chapter 4, the tree is shown as being fruitful and blooming with ‘blood red’

Hassan steps in and fends them off…a boy who won’t stand up for himself is a man who can’t stand up for anything” (pg.20). This is when Amir starts becoming disloyal, and cruel. The next morning at breakfast Hassan asks Amir what wrong and Amir snaps at him and lets him know to mind his business. It gets worst when Amir thinks that, “ I never thought of Hassan and I as friends either…In the end, I was a Pashtun and he was a Hazara, I was Sunni and he was Shi’a and nothing was ever going to change that. Nothing” (pg.22). Amir distraught because of his and Baba’s relation ship always took it out on Hassan. He goes even as far to ponder that, “ Assef was right: Nothing was free in this world. Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay to win Baba…He was just a Hazara, wasn’t he” (pg.68). It continues even after the rape. Amir felt so guilty that he was trying anything to get Hassan out of the house. He asks his father if they were ever going to hire new servants, and obviously the answer was no. One day he took Hassan up the hill to the pomegranate tree. He started to throw pomegranates at Hassan, so that Hassan would beat him. Hassan just left back to the house.

Hosseini also states that Hassan’s lip symbolizes the cultural and social differences throughout the novel, and how Amir's slingshot symbolizes the loyalty, their childhood, and explains standing up for what is right. The Kite Runner is a story of about an Afghan­American boy named Amir who has flashbacks that visually depict how his life was when he was just a young boy living in Afghanistan. It was a time of injustice as he searches for a redemption of his past guilts. Hosseini shows readers how Amir matures, and how he felt about different experiences during his life back in Afghanistan. The Kite Runner employs symbolism to show the experiences and moments in Amir’s life that have meaning to him and have left an impact on his life forever. By using symbolism, Hosseini makes readers think about how much earlier experiences and moments have shaped Amir’s life in The Kite Runner.

Throughout the novel, Amir endeavors to be approved by his father, Baba, who is admired by people in Kabul. Unfortunately, Baba believes that Amir, unlike him, is very unmanly “and [that he] never fights back. He just... drops his head ” (Hosseini 24). Since Baba wishes for a son who would stand up for himself, he can’t help but observe that Amir’s friend Hassan, as the guy who “steps in and fends the [bullies] off” (Hosseini 24) is his idea of the ideal son. Though aware of his father’s expectations, Amir is unable to change himself and instead envies Hassan and the fact that Baba treats him like his own son by“[patting]Hassan on the back. [and even putting] his arm around his shoulder [like a fatherly figure]”(Hosseini 15). Despite the manifestation of this hatred in Amir, he continues to recognize the bond that he shares with Hassan, “ brotherhood between people who had fed from the same breast” (Hosseini 11) which is because both their mothers died during birth. The confusing emotions he feels for Hassan has Amir face a situation in which he acts inappropriately and allows the guilt to manifest upon him. After winning a very important kite tournament for the first time and “seeing Baba on that roof, proud of [him] at last” (Hosseini 71) Amir begins to search for Hassan who had gone to run his kite earlier. Finally, Amir finds him in a dark alley and as he “peeks around the corner” (Hosseini 75) he witnesses a sight that eradicated not only his relationship with Hassan but also Baba’s brotherly relationship with Ali, Hassan’s father. Peeking through the corner of the alley, like a bystander, he watches his one and only friend getting raped. The guilt that came upon him was for two reason; one, his lack of courage to stand up to

Hosseini uses many symbols in his novel. One, in particular, shows the loss of friendship between Amir and Hassan, the pomegranate tree. In the beginning, Amir and Hassan would go to the tree to read stories and eat pomegranates. “After school, Hassan and I climbed its branches and snatched its bloodred pomegranates” (Hosseini 27-28). After Hassan had been raped, Amir and Hassan had gone back to the tree but this time the loss of friendship starts to show through. When Amir throws pomegranates at Hassan, it is him trying to get Haasan to punish Amir for what he had done wrong. “‘Hit me back!’ I spat. ‘Hit me back, goddamn you !’ I wished he would. I wished he’d give me the punishment I craved, so maybe I’d finally sleep at night” (Hosseini 92). Amir needs the punishment he deserves so badly from the awful things he did and now wants to live up to. Once Amir goes back to visit his home in Kabul, he finds the pomegranate tree that once was a symbol of friendship, and now the loss of just that. “Hassan said in his letter that the pomegranate tree hadn’t borne fruit in years. Looking at the wilted, leafless tree, I doubted it ever would again” (Hosseini 264). The pomegranate tree shows how during their friendship, the tree was beautiful and full of life. Now that Amir has betrayed Hassan and left him to be killed, the tree is now lifeless and no fruit to be eaten symbolizing the end of their relationship.

“Well I think Hassan and Amir were brothers from the start, before their relationship decayed after Hassan was raped. Foster uses the pomegranate tree symbolizes the friendship. Amir even carves on the tree “Amir and Hassan, the sultans of Kabul” which formalizes their friendship and shows they are as close as brothers. Then After Hassan’s rape, Amir throws pomegranates at Hassan hoping that Hassan will hit him back and free him from his guilt. Hassan then crushes a pomegranate