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To kill a mockingbird examples of symbolism
To kill a mockingbird examples of symbolism
To kill a mockingbird examples of symbolism
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It is difficult to face anything in the world when you cannot even face your own reality. In his book The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini uses kites to bring out the major themes of the novel in order to create a truly captivating story of a young boy’s quest to redeem his past mistakes. Amir is the narrator and protagonist of the story and throughout the entire novel, he faces enormous guilt following the horrible incident that happened to his closest friend, Hassan. This incident grows on Amir and fuels his quest for redemption, struggling to do whatever it takes to make up for his mistakes. In Hosseini’s novel, kites highlight aspects of Afghanistan’s ethnic caste system and emphasizes the story’s major themes of guilt, redemption and freedom. Amir and Hassan’s relationship is a recurring theme throughout the novel. In the ethnic caste system, Amir is a Pashtun and Hassan is a Hazara. Pashtuns are placed in a much higher caste than Hazaras, therefore Hazaras are treated as servants to the Pashtuns. Every morning, Hassan prepares Amir’s breakfast, makes his clothes and cleans his room for him. In the annual kite tournament, at least two people must work together in order to properly maneuver the kite, one to lead the kite, and another to feed the kite’s glass string. Hassan’s role is the latter. His role is to feed the kite’s string for Amir and run after any fallen kites. The glass string attached to the kite is dangerous as it is coated with shards of glass and leaves bloody marks and cuts on the hands. Although Hassan catches the fallen kites, he must always bring it back to Amir. One winter, when Hassan and Amir were waiting under a tree for the kite to come to them, Hassan asks Amir “Would I ever lie to you, Amir agha?” (Ho... ... middle of paper ... ... Kites are symbolic in the novel as it helps to support the themes of guilt, redemption and freedom in the novel. In the beginning of the story, Amir overhears Baba telling Rahim Khan that if Amir could not stand up for himself, he would never be able to stand up to anything when he becomes a man. It takes Amir over twenty years to finally muster up enough courage to stand up for himself in front of Assef. Amir takes the beatings from Assef as his punishment for what happened to Hassan. He rescues Sohrab and bonds with him through kite fighting, similar to when he flew kites with Hassan. Kites represent the freedom from the worries and burdens that Amir, Hassan and Sohrab has. It brings together the two participants in kite fighting. It gets rid of the discrimination of the ethnic caste system, any cultural differences, and also emphasizes unity amongst difference.
Kite Runner depicts the story of Amir, a boy living in Afghanistan, and his journey throughout life. He experiences periods of happiness, sorrow, and confusion as he matures. Amir is shocked by atrocities and blessed by beneficial relationships both in his homeland and the United States. Reviewers have chosen sides and waged a war of words against one another over the notoriety of the book. Many critics of Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, argue that the novel would not have reached a lofty level of success if the U.S. had not had recent dealings with the Middle East, yet other critics accurately relate the novel’s success to its internal aspects.
The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, follows the maturation of Amir, a boy from Afghanistan, as he discovers what it means to stand up for what he believes in. His quest to redeem himself after betraying his friend and brother, Hassan, makes up the heart of the novel. For most of the book, Amir attempts to deal with his guilt by avoiding it and refusing to own up to his mistakes. Because of his past, Amir is incapable of moving forward. His entire life is shaped by his disloyalty to Hassan and his desire to please his father over helping his friends. Throughout the novel, his attempts to atone for his sins end in failure, as neither physical punishment nor rescuing Hassan’s son, Sohrab, from Assef prove to be enough for Amir to redeem himself. Only when he decides to take Sohrab to the United States and provide his nephew with a chance at happiness and prosperity that was denied to his half-brother does Amir take the necessary steps toward atonement and redemption. Khaled Hosseini uses a series of symbols to reinforce the message that atoning for one’s sins means making up for past mistakes, rather than simply relying on forgiveness from either the person one betrays or from a higher power.
There are many parallels between the first half of Amir’s life and the second half. Specifically, Hassan runs the blue kite for Amir during their adolescence and later Amir runs the kite for Sohrab. Moreover,
Flying kites was a source of Amir 's happiness as a child as well as a way to attain his father’s approval. In Kabul, Afghanistan, a kite flying tournament was held annually. Young boys laced their string with glass and attempted to cut the strings of other kite flyers. That last on standing was deemed the champion and the idol of all the younger children. Before Amir competed in his kite tournament, Baba said, “I think maybe you 'll win the tournament this year. What do you think?” (Hosseini, 50) Amir took this opportunity and told himself that, “I was going to win, and I was going to run that last kite. Then I’d bring it home and show it to Baba. Show him once and for all his son was worthy. Then maybe my life as a ghost in this house would finally be over.” (Hosseini, 50) Amir wanted the approval and affection of his father badly enough that he was willing to allow Hassan to get raped in order to attain it. After this kits became the symbol of Amir 's betrayal to Hassan. The kite ultimately becomes the way that Amir connects with Sohrab, mirroring how Amir connected with Baba when he was a
Amir tells us that "The kite-fighting tournament was an old winter tradition in Afghanistan”. Although the Taliban do away with kite racing, at the end of book, we see that this tradition has been preserved within the Afghan community in America, and that it is this tradition. The author makes use of the kite-fighting as a nostalgic factor, a way to connect amir and his father and many other things. He makes use of this versatile entity as a common denominator for many peoples.
After Amir wins a kite fight for the first time Hassan offers to retrieve it for him. After Hassan gets the kite he is confronted by the neighborhood bullies who demand the kite. Hassan is aware that the kite will improve Amir’s relationship with his father so he refuses to give up the kite and is ultimately raped. After this sacrifice Amir is too guilty to continue living near Hassan and he frames him for theft. In Hassan’s final act of sacrifice he admits to theft and leaves Amir and his father. Although Hassan’s rape is foreshadowed it still has a large emotional impact on the audience and allows the reader to gain a full understanding of all that Hassan is willing to sacrifice for Amir.
As a foreword, the story of The Kite Runner focuses on a man named Amir. In his childhood, he enjoyed a high-class life in Kabul, Afghanistan, living with his father Baba. They have two servants, Ali and his son Hassan. They are Hazaras, a lower class ethnic minority in Afghanistan. In one Winter of their childhood, Amir and Hassan participate in a kite-fighting tournament; the goal is to be the last kite flying. When a kite is cut, boys chase after it as a trophy. Amir wins the tournament, and Hassan flies to catch the losing kite. Later, following Hassan's path, Amir comes upon a neighbourhood bully named Assef about to rape Hassan who has the trophy, the blue kite. Amir does not interject, believing this will secure him the kite. Thus, Amir sets forth a chain of events he must redeem in his adulthood.
In the literature, The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, the idea and representation of justice, and its relationship to that of the treatment of women in Afghan society, the ever-changing politics of Afghanistan, and the desired results of redemption and forgiveness, become illustrated through the novel’s characters and motives. Justice can be defined as the quality of being guided by truth, reason, and fairness. The Kite Runner illustrates the power of influence from an outside power and its effects on society, and the minds and lifestyles of the people. In relationship to the Cheverus High School Grad-at-Grad profile the actions and wrongdoings that take place in the The Kite Runner and in Afghanistan prove to be injustice.
The Kite Runner is a narrative, the first book written by Khaled Hosseini. There exist two main characters in this book——Amir and Hassan. Amir is the young son of a wealthy family, while Hassan is the son of a servant in Amir’s family. The story has happened in Afghanistan. Amir and Hassan always played together since childhood but after Amir watches Hassan is bullied and raped without showing up, unable to deal with his guilt, Amir forces Hassan’s family to leave their house. And then their friendship is broken. Soon the war began and Amir’ family run to America. Few years later, one of his father’s friends asks them to come back to Afghanistan and tells Amir three unbelievable facts: Hassan is the son of Amir’s father and the wife of Hassan’s “father”; Hassan died; the son of Hassan was sold. Hence, in order to atone for his crime, Amir finally finds Hassan’s son back. (Khaled Hosseini, 2003)
The Kite Runner focuses on the relationship between two Afghan boys Amir and Hassan. Amir is a Pashtun and Sunni Muslim, while Hassan is a Hazara and a Shi’a. Despite their ethnic and religious differences, Amir and Hassan grow to be friends, although Amir is troubled by Hassan, and his relationship with his companion, one year his junior, is complex. Amir and Hassan seem to have a "best friend" type relationship. The two boys, Hassan and Amir, are main characters in the book titled, The Kite Runner. The two boys have a relationship that is significantly different compared to most. There are many different facets that distinguish the relationship the boys possess. The boys do write their names in a pomegranate tree as the "sultans of Kabul" (Kite Runner 27) but, their friendship is not strong and it is one sided. Hassan has love for Amir. He loves him like a brother. Hassan is exceedingly loyal to Amir. The relationship between the two boys is emotionally wearing and rather gloomy for the most part. The main reason for their complicated relationship is the fact that Amir is Pashtun, and Hassan is Hazara. The Afghan society places Hassan lower than Amir. Hassan is Amir's servant. The placement of Hassan in the Afghan society disenables Amir from becoming Hassan's true friend. Amir sees Hassan as lower than human. Amir ruins the chance for friendship between himself and Hassan because he is jealous of Hassan, he thinks of Hassan as a lower human, and because Amir possesses such extreme guilt for what he has done to Hassan. Amir is an unforgivable person overall.
Soon, Amir and Soraya got jobs in a hospital located on the Afghan-Pakistani border. Hosseini used this to imply that the efforts of many people like Amir, Baba, and Soraya can help Afghanistan heal and become great again. One day in the local park, Amir bought a kite from an Afghanistani kite seller and took it over to Sohrab. Amir told him about Hassan and his superb skills at both kite-flying and kite-running. He asked Sohrab to kite with him, and as expected, there was no response. However, when Amir started to kite gleefully as he hasn't for decades, Sohrab followed him. With this scene, kites have returned to the novel as hopes for a brighter future. The simple action of Sohrab kiting with Amir proved that there is always hope in every situation. Amir demonstrated Hassan’s favorite trick to Sohrab, who showed a keen interest in kites like his father, and then he thought of his memories of Kabul as he severed the green kite's string. As if on instinct, Amir returned to his blissful memories of kite-flying with
Betrayal, redemption, and forgiveness are all major themes in The Kite Runner written by Khaled Hosseini. The novel also focuses around the theme of a broken relationship between father and son as well as facing difficult situations from ones past. Amir and Hassan are best friends with two completely different personalities. Each character in the novel faces their own hardships and eventually learns to overcome those difficulties. Beginning with betrayal then the characters have to make their way to gaining redemption and forgiveness from others, as well as their self, is carried on throughout the novel. It is a continuous story of the relationships between Amir and his father Baba and facing their challenges from the past every day of their present.
Achieving redemption can take a lifetime. The Kite Runner is set in 1975 Kabul, Afghanistan. The book shows the trials that the main character, Amir, goes through to attain redemption for conflict in his past. The author, Khaled Hosseini, gives historical insight on pre-Taliban, and post-Taliban Afghanistan. As a boy, Amir faces conflict that affects the entire course of his life, and the lives of others. Amir’s best friend was sexually assaulted, and in fear, Amir decided to stand back and hide. The book is about finding peace with himself, learning how to forgive, and repairing his past. Through the conflict that Amir faces, the author illustrates how running away from conflict
Khaled Hosseini’s novel The Kite Runner focuses on Amir, a Pashtun and Sunni Muslim boy who lives in Kabul. Amir has a privileged upbringing as a Pashtun; his father Baba is wealthy by Afghan standards, and as a result, Amir grows up spoiled and selfish. Hassan on the other hand is the loyal and good-natured Hazara and Shi’a Muslim servant of Amir, who is extremely underprivileged and lives in poor conditions. Amir is haunted by the guilt of witnessing the rape of Hassan by Assef and his friends during a kite running tournament and not telling anyone, as well as trying to get rid of Hassan by framing him for stealing his birthday gifts. By the end of the text, Amir has definitely reached redemption for the sins he had committed against Hassan
The blood on Hassan represents the blood in the snow after the rape and foreshadows Hassan’s death. The Shahnamah symbolizes Amir and Hassan’s friendship. The book also symbolizes Amir’s guilt, because for Amir’s thirteen birthday Ali and Hassan get him a hand-illustrated copy of the Shahnamah. Amir feels guilty because Ali and Hassan don’t have much money and they put a lot of money into his present and Amir, is disloyal to Hassan. The kite is dedicated to Baba, Amir’s father. Amir craves Baba’s attention and always wants Baba too tell him stories and facts. Amir knows that if he wins the kite competition Baba would be proud of him and they would get closer. The kite symbolizes Amir’s deep desire for his father’s approval, Amir thinks if he wins Baba would love him more and pay more attention towards him. Amir as an adult changes as he becomes more courageous, honourable and achieves redemption. A symbol for Amir’s redemption was the kite he flies at the end to novel for Sohrab. Sohrab also smiles when Amir flies the kite for him, this shows that Sohrab is slowly healing from the trauma he experienced, with the guidance of Amir.