Symbolism In The Kite Runner

When Khaled Hosseini wrote The Kite Runner, he made several important choices involving narration. He chose to write the story in first person from a limited point of view. This is a very fitting decision because, writing in the first person adds a sense of intimacy that is crucial to this story; writing from a limited perspective allows the reader to make their own conclusions about what the characters are thinking. The way Hosseini writes The Kite Runner makes it very intimate, and feels like a person telling their life story. If The Kite Runner had been written in third person, or omnisciently, the story would not have impacted readers as much, and would have been too cold and impersonal to create emotional connections with the reader.

Thesis: Betrayal leads to feeling of guilt which forces the person in search of redemption either directly or through indirect actions and gestures.

The Kite Runner is the first novel of Afghan-American author Khaled Hosseini. It tells the story of Amir, a boy from Kabul, Afghanistan, whose closest friend is Hassan, a young Hazara servant. Novel turns around these two characters and Baba, Amir’s father, by telling their tragic stories, guilt and redemption that are woven throughout the novel. Even in the difficult moments, characters build up to their guilt and later on to their redemption. Their sins and faults alter the lives of innocent people. First, Amir and Baba fail to take action on the path to justice for Ali and Hassan. Moreover, Amir and Baba continue to build up their guilt due to their decisions and actions. Although Amir builds up more guilt than Baba throughout the novel, he eventually succeeds in the road to redemption unlike his father. After all, Amir and Baba have many chances to fix their atonements but Baba chooses not to and Amir does. Baba uses his wealth to cover up his sins but never atone himself while Amir decides to stand up and save Sohrab and finally finds peace. Amir and Baba’s reaction to sins essentially indicate their peace of mind and how they react to guilt and injustice.

One major theme that is evident in The Kite Runner is that scars are reminders of life’s pain and regret, and, though you can ease the regret and the scars will fade, neither will completely go away. We all have regrets and always will, but though it will be a long hard process we can lessen them through redemption. The majority of The Kite Runner is about the narrator and protagonist, Amir. Almost all of the characters in The Kite Runner have scars, whether they are physical or emotional. Baba has scars all down his back from fighting a bear, but he also has emotional scars from not being able to admit that Hassan was also his son. Hassan is born with a cleft lip, but for his birthday Baba pays for it to be fixed, which left a small scar above his mouth. Hassan also has emotional scars from being raped. The reader is probably shown the emotional scars of Amir the most. Amir has emotional scars because he feels that he killed his mother, and also because his father emotionally neglects him. In the end of the novel, Amir receives many physical scars from getting beaten up by Assef, when rescuing Sohrab. Though scars will never go away and are a reminder of the past, not all scars are bad.

From the start of the novel, Hassan was made out to be the near perfect person who was “...incapable of hurting anyone” (10, Hosseini). Hassan’s only fault being his Hazara lineage. This mixed with the attention he got from Baba made Amir jealous for the same sort of affection from his father. This brotherly rivalry could be compared to Cain and Abel for in the same way that Cain killed Abel - Amir watched as Hassan’s captors took

Color symbolism has been used across cultures for thousands of years, and The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini is no exception. Colors play an extremely important role in the novel by contributing to the reader’s own understanding of the text. Hosseini’s use of the colors blue, red, and green depict the concepts of characterization of Hassan and Amir, tone towards the Taliban, and inter-novel connections.

* In each story the “hero” or main character is marked in some way whether it is a scar, an amputated leg, some mark that sets him apart from everyone else, etc.

Ali’s cleft lip son. Physically, Hassan bear no resemblance to me, but the more I look at him, the more I wished he was my son. Hardworking, loyal, amiable, and intelligent are a couple of the many words I’d describe Hassan with. Sometimes I wonder if I sent him to school, what amazing feats would he be able to achieve. Would he make greater accomplishments than those I have made? I have always thought of Hassan as my son.

While Amir defeats his final obstacle to win Baba’s approval, he reciprocally falls down and fails to show courage in Hassan’s rape. Amir assumes that Hassan “was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba” as he watches Assef sodomize Hassan, and he “actually aspired to cowardice” (77). The atonement of Amir’s sins to Baba sparks the commencement of Amir’s betrayal to Hassan. Furthermore, Amir runs away and hides from his sins in Amerca knowing that he cannot gain the courage to redeem himself and completely fulfill his quest to adulthood. Nonetheless, Rahim Khan provides Amir an opportunity to accomplish his redemption. After decades of hiding, Rahim Khan calls Amir to tell him to “come” back to Kabul since “there is a way to be good again” (192). Amir must successfully accomplish his final obligation to complete his quest to maturity. In addition, Amir must stop hiding like a boy and begin to stand up like a man. As Amir returns to Kabul to save Sohrab, and ultimately redeem himself, he must fight Assef one last time, which results in Amir’s “body being broken – just how badly I wouldn’t find out until later – but I felt healed. Healed at last” (289). Amir now receives his deserved punishment and, most importantly, he learns to stand up and finally matures into a man. Although Amir completes his quest to adulthood, readers must realize that Amir must ultimately grant Sohrab a

“A widespread mythological and literary motif is the one of two brothers, who hate or are in conflict with each other and which sometimes even ends in the murder of one of those brothers.”

Across 3. ___ and visit me sometime. 6. It's warm. Why don't you ___ your jacket?

The film version of The Kite Runner omitted a scene from the book that vividly described a suicide attempt by a child. This scene was likely cut due to time constraints and the reality that a suicide attempt by a child would be very upsetting to many viewers. A scene as harsh as child suicide is not something that can be quickly processed and move on to the next scene. I believe the audience would require ample time to absorb what happened from beginning to end through the emotions of the characters; no doubt this scene would be too lengthy to include as a side-note to the main story. In addition, the scene might be so disturbing to some people they may not wish to see the film at all.

How does Hosseini use symbolism in ‘The Kite Runner’ to present key relationships? You should consider different reader responses and the extent to which your critical approach assists your interpretation.

The Kite Runner was written by Khaled Hosseini and published in 2003. It tells the story of Amir, a young boy from Kabul, Afghanistan, and Hassan, his father’s Hazara servant. The story is set against a backdrop of tumultuous events, from the fall of Afghanistan’s Monarchy, through the Soviet Military intervention, the exile of Pakistan refugees to America, and the rise of the Taliban. The main theme of this book focuses on guilt and redemption. Throughout the novel, Amir is constantly trying to redeem himself. Early on, Amir strives to redeem himself through his father’s eyes primarily because his mother died giving birth to him, and he feels responsible. The more important part of Amir’s search for

Hosseini incorporates Amir’s scar in his novel, to develop the idea about what the scar means. The scar reflects how Amir and Hassan have similar personalities although they were of different religions and social classes. Hosseini magnifies his use of symbolism when he includes Amir’s scar by writing how it represents brotherhood because just like his half­brother Hassan he now has a scar on his lip, “... with him is the lip injury—it’s split down the middle like Hassan’s cleft lip (Hosseini 255). The scar also symbolizes peace and redemption for Amir because the scar puts is a physical representation of the pain that he feels he has put Hassan through.Hosseini is saying that Amir was just like his 'brother' Hassan because he now had a scar on his lip.