Symbols 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.”

The Kite runner is the first novel by Afghan-American author Khaled Hosseini, published in 2003 by Riverhead Books . It takes place before Afghanistan’s revolution and its invasion by Russian forces. The kite runner is a vivid and engaging story that gives a picture of how long Afghanis struggled to triumph over the forces of violence, forces that threaten them even today. In this novel , four themes have been introduced, first of all Redemption is a way to make up sins committed , secondly, Adversities contribute to a person’s personality , thirdly , Fear can lead to severe mistakes and long term consequences, before last, After pain and struggles come survival and lastly, Friendship is the essence of a bond that seek the best mutually.

Friendship and loyalty are essential to maintaining healthy relationships. Both involve thoughtful acts which not only occur from one but from both sides of a relationship. Khaled Hosseini writes The Kite Runner to express to his audience how loyalty and companionship make a tremendous impact on not just two ordinary friends, but also other behaviors and relationships in Afghanistan. Throughout his engaging novel, Khaled Hosseini shows readers an inexperienced boy’s journey of denial and redemption after he allows the brutalization of his friend. For two long decades, the main character, Amir, struggles to cope with the realization he can never regain his friend’s love and devotion. Through symbolism, the author emphasizes the one-sided friendship between a spoiled, Pashtun, Amir, and a low-class, Hazara, Hassan. Hosseini uses a kite, a slingshot, and a pomegranate tree to symbolize friendship and loyalty between a high class, wealthy boy, and low-class servant. In The Kite Runner, Hosseini’s use of symbolism illustrates friendship and loyalty and engages the reader in the novel’s dramatic journey.

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.

The Kite Runner written by Khaled Hosseini is a novel with multitudes of themes but the theme most integral to the story concerns friendship, guilt, and redemption. This theme was most important to the novel because the conflict in the book is intertwined with this theme, following the life of a man haunted by regrets. The book is told from the perspective of Amir and this is something he deals with for the entirety of the book after the incident with Hassan. Amir, even as a middle-aged man, is still haunted by what he hadn’t done for Hassan all those years ago. Amir’s entire life takes a certain path because of what he did or didn’t do during and after Hassan’s assault. Amir’s decision affected not only himself, but also Hassan. Their lives forever changed. Amir and Hassan were each other’s best friends and they grew together like brothers, though they didn’t know at the time. Amir feels as though he broke the sacred bond they had and he decided to make it right by finding Sohrab. This is the last thing he can do for Hassan. He cannot tell him he is sorry anymore. He doesn’t have any other paths of redemption.

ENG4U Ms. Davidson Sharon Shi May 20th, 2015 Sacrifice in The Kite Runner In the novel “The Kite Runner” by Khalad Hosseini, sacrifice is a major theme demonstrated through the various relationships existing between Amir and his family, also shaped by using the Islamic symbol. Thus, others’ sacrifices make Amir realize his selfness and carry a lifelong guilt towards whom have made sacrifices for him. The sacrifice of Hassan is demonstrated through the acceptance of being raped, undertake, and protect Amir’s family’s house after they leaves.

The Kite Runner is a powerful book contrasting selfishness and selflessness. The book follows the life of Amir, a character who experiences guilt and tragedy throughout his life. While growing up in Kabul, Amir witnesses the imperfect and prejudice society in his country. Within an imperfect society, there are many who are self-invested, and among those, there are those who are selfless. Characters Amir and Hassan possess selfish and selfless traits. The traits that these characters possess are influenced by fear, victimization, and loyalty, ultimately leading them to inaction and action.

The book titled Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini explores multiple different symbols from a slingshot to a sacrificial lamb. These symbols help give more meaning to different situations involving these symbols. The blue kite was a very important symbol to Hassan and Amir. The blue kite appears when Hassan and Amir are in the kite running contest and the blue kite was the last kite to cut down and retrieve the kite. Hassan went to retrieve the kite after they cut the kite down. When Amir caught up to Hassan he saw Assef backing Hassan into a corner trying to get the kite. Since Hassan didn’t give in and give the kite to Assef, Assef decided to get back at him by attacking him. The blue kite, after this incident to Hassan,

Symbolism is a literary device found in all mediums. Symbols are marks or words that designate the significant features in a piece of literature. They allow people to connect to the many concepts found in the literary works. The novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, showcases this notion of symbolism well. These symbols come full circle by the end of the novel as they represent pivotal moments in the close bond Amir and Hassan share. Within the novel, Hosseini uses a kite to symbolize the themes of loyalty and power, blood to symbolize familial bonds and violence-against self and others, and a slingshot to symbolize self-defence and childhood.

Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner is a compelling story of loyalty, betrayal, and redemption. The story begins with the mention of an event that happened in the winter of 1975 that narrator, Amir, claims made him who he is. This event is the rape of his best friend and servant Hassan, in which Amir is a silent witness. The overwhelming guilt and anger he feels toward himself for not intervening guides Amir's decisions for years to come.

one symbol from the story is Amir’s scar that he gets during his fight with Assef. this scar gives him the appearance of having a hair lip just like Hassan. This scar symbolizes Amir’s relationship with Hassan and allows him to feel that he has redeemed himself for hurting his friend so very much. “The impact had cut your upper lip in two, he said clean down the middle. Clean down the middle. Like a harelip.”(Hosseini,297). Another example of symbols in the kite runner is the pomegranate tree that Amir and Hassan carve their names into. The tree represents their friendship, when they are young the tree is healthy just like their relationship. But when Amir returns to the site as an adult wracked with guilt over how he treated his friend, the tree has withered and died. This is show through Amir’s words.”Hassan had 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

The setting of the novel “The Kite Runner,” by Khaled Hosseini is primarily in Afghanistan. I found it difficult to follow at times because of my limited knowledge of the country and language. However once I started to get the jest of it, it became easier for me to understand. When Amir won the kite tournament I was hopeful this win would prove him worthy in his father’s eyes so that he would begin to feel less insecure. I enjoyed how the author used “the kite” as two contrasting symbolic features. The kite symbolized Amir’s happiness because he was able to make his Baba proud because he won; as well it symbolized his guilt because it served as a reminder of that day that changed his life. I was extremely disappointed in Amir after the kite

“The Kite Runner” is a book written by Khaled Hosseini, Amir and a boy who is a hazara named Hassan they are like the two main characters of the story. When they start to grow old, Hassan is distinguished against and raped. Amir who witnessed it all and becomes sickened and tries to move on with his life. Amir starts a new life in America, then he is asked to go get the boy but has second guesses about it. Eventually he feels pressured and guilt starts to get at him and flys to Afghanistan to find Hassan.

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.

The story is based on the life and journey undertaken by Amir, the protagonist. Hosseini expresses essential ideas in his novel through the themes of redemption/atonement, the relationship between father and son and lastly, the theme of degradation/discrimination. The author expresses these themes through the setting and characterization. Hosseini presents characters from different social status in Afghanistan and how this affected their childhood. Amir despite coming from a privileged class had to work hard for his atonement by going back to Afghanistan to face his demons as well as to mend his relationship with his father who had rejected him since his birth. On the other hand, Hassan, from the minority class suffered because of his social status after he was abused and mistreated by those in power. The Kite Runner is a story about two boys who grew up in different worlds because of the presence of various social classes in