Symbolism in the Kite Runner The rich symbolism in the Kite Runner does a fantastic job of conveying a better connection to the characters and events that take place in the story. The primary symbol in the Kite Runner is kite fighting and kites. They help to explain Hassan and Amir’s friendship and to represent both the joy and the betrayal of their childhood. It also represents the “glory days” since later when the Taliban takes over it is declared illegal. Kites also represent guilt and later redemption for Amir. Though the “blue kite” for Amir is the one and only way to gain baba’s (his father) affections, for Hassan it resembles his unwavering loyalty to Amir. In the end kites and kite fighting shows the true colors of Hassan and Amir,
The words are blunt, unapologetic in nature, resonating with so much truth that it pierces Amir’s false happiness (Hosseini 133). For Amir, the kite brought only a false sense of freedom from his remorse. In reality, he was still entrenched in the battle for his father’s love, still trying to find a way to get all of his father’s attention. The kite-flying competition was an illusion, a dream that Amir could ever be his father’s only son. The reality that Hassan was Amir’s half-brother, and the equitable love that Baba gives them, serves as the anchor that keeps Amir from his own childhood dreams, the truth that Amir could never escape.
Although Passing by Nella Larson talks about identity the book has a monotonous plot while The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini opens the 9th grader’s perspective on the outside world in more ways that make an impression on the reader, especially with his focus on powerful themes, internal and external conflicts, and the rich use of symbols and allusions. Additionally, The Kite Runner is still relevant in 2023 given the Taliban commits acts of atrocities, furthermore, the Kite Runner also gives students an appreciation for how they are living while The Passing isn't as provocative as The Kite Runner. This selection is arguably better for teenagers to read in the 9th grade. The Kite Runner's provocative themes including redemption,
One of the main antagonists in Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner is a neighborhood kid named Assef. The son of Mahmood, an Afghan airline pilot, and a german mother, Tanya, he is tall, strong, blond-haired and blue-eyed, but has a tendency for bullying all the other kids and became infamous for his use of stainless-steel brass knuckles. He was also given the nickname Assef “the Ear Eater” from how he bit a kid’s ear off in a fight for a kite. Another kite incident, this one much more crucial to the plot, sees Assef raping Hassan, the main character’s servant-friend, because he was a Hazara and he wouldn’t give Assef the final kite of a tournament, an honor for kite-runners.
The kite represents Amir’s happiness because it connects him with Baba, this is very important for Amir because Baba believes his son is a coward who isn’t strong enough to stand up for himself. Although to impress Baba Amir lets Hassan get raped by Assef so he can bring home the blue kite, he states, “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.” Amir has just witnessed Assef rape Hassan and instead of intervening he runs away. Amir says he aspired to cowardice because he believed that what he did was worse than cowardice, he feared that by intervening Assef would hurt him and that was the reason he ran.
The Kite Runner, aggressors evoke guilt and shame in their victims in order to maintain their power, bespeaking the human need to be in control. Characters understand the appeal of power at a young age. Even as a child, Amir manipulates Hassan’s loyalty in order to make himself feel superior. Amir has always felt inferior to Hassan, mainly due to his yearning for Baba’s love.
Humans were created as a mixture of both good and evil, filled with both purity and sin. Thus, humans can identify as morally ambiguous, allowing them to be a mix of the two extremes. This personality type is used in many works of literature and intrigues readers because of its relatability. Khaled Hosseini invents many morally ambiguous characters in his novel, The Kite Runner, allowing readers to connect with characters more deeply. Amir, the main character, can be viewed as morally ambiguous, as shown through the teasing of Hassan, witnessing Hassan’s rape, and his sacrifices for Sohrab in the novel’s conclusion.
The Kite Runner Theme The theme of The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is that you redeem yourself when you develop a strong sense of personal integrity because of Hassan’s incident, Amir’s moral standard, and Sohrab’s rescue from Amir. Amir’s quest for redemption is a significant idea and is basically the center of the novel. Firstly, Hassan’s incident sets the most of the plot for the rest of the novel. This happens after the kite-fighting tournament when Amir goes asks Hassan to get his blue kite after Amir’s victory, “ Blocking Hassan’s way out of the valley were three boys, the same three from the day on the hill, the day after Daoud Khan’s coup, when Hassan had saved us with his slingshot.[...]I opened my mouth, almost said something.
In the beginning of the book “Kite Runner”, by Hosseini, Hassan displays his loyalty to Amir through a series honorable actions. The following quote is a small symbol that represents his
Honesty is the Best Policy Why would a person lie to his sons about their identities? What problems could these lies cause in the long run? How can they influence a person’s life and choices? In the Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, Baba, Amir, and Hassan face these problems.
Baba’s fluctuating relationship with his son is a key moment in The Kite Runner. Baba is portrayed as a very powerful, masculine, figure whereas Amir is depicted as being weaker and less masculine. Amir’s winning of the kite tournament resulted in a drastic change in his father-son relationship. “A hundred kites… and the only one still flying at the end of the day was Amir’s. He has the last kite at home, a beautiful blue kite”
Manya Kapur Ms. Kanika Dang English Thesis Paper 9th November 2015 You Before Me The act of sacrifice can significantly be highlighted in the Islamic religion, where one must resign from the materialistic realm to re-establish the divine connection with Allah. Khaled Hosseini has masterfully crafted The Kite Runner and made numerous references to slaughter of the lamb as a portrayal of one’s love towards God.
One of the many aspects that Hosseini added to his novel is the symbol of the kite. Amir takes this kite as a symbol of happiness and also of guilt according to (http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/the-kite-runner/themes.html) (1). Amir goes through a hard time when he is a witness of Hassan’s dignity being taken. Amir at the moment does nothing about it because he feels like it would take all attention away from him by Baba. Baba, being a champion kite flyer feels extremely proud of his son because Amir is following his
In the novel, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, the plot is constructed in a circular structure. The structure of the novel emphasizes how big events can drastically change someone’s life; in addition Hosseini characterizes Amir in a morally ambiguous way, displaying how Amir matures as a person but fail to learn how to stand up for himself. allowing a person like Amir to redeem himself and in many ways fail to learn from his past mistakes. This circular structure of the story provides Amir an opportunity to redeem himself from the selfish and cruel ways he treats Hassan as a child.
Amir is the villain of The Kite Runner because he is greedy for Baba’s love, this leads to his disloyalty to Hassan and demonstrates his cowards because of his feelings of his guilt. Amir, although living a luxurious life feels something is missing, and it’s his father’s approval, he would do anything for it. After winning the kite tournament went to search for Hassan to see him surrounded by Assef and his two friends but, “Behind him, sitting on piles, of scraps and rubble, was the blue kite. [His] key to Baba’s heart” (71). All he cared about was the kite he cut in the tournament, he even sacrificed his best friend just for his father’s love.
Kite Runner The author of the Kite Runner is Khaled Hoesseini. He was born in 1965 in Afghanistan and then moved to America. Whilst living in America, he published novels one of which is the Kite Runner. The Kite Runner novel is a novel which depicted the Afghanistan condition from fall of the monarchy in Afghanistan trough the Soviet invasion, the mass exodus of refugees to Pakistan and the United States, and the rise of the Taliban regime (Kurilah, 2009)