From the shattered glass windows of Jewish shops to the poorly propped-up tents of Rwandan refugee camps, the violence perpetrated by a dominant ethnic group can destroy entire villages. Khaled Hosseini, born in Kabul, Afghanistan, experienced these ethnic tensions first hand as a young Pashtun, and the negative attitudes he witnessed against Hazaras found their way into his best-selling novel, The Kite Runner. In Hosseini’s book, published in 2003, the carving on the pomegranate tree becomes a reminder of Amir and Hassan’s friendship. Like the friendship, the carving initially brings positive memories to Amir, but as Amir selfishly suppresses his knowledge of Hassan’s rape, the carving quickly becomes a detested memory. Not until Rahim Khan encourages Amir to rescue Sohrab, Hassan’s son, does the carving represent an opportunity for Amir to redeem his broken friendship.
At first, the carving on the tree demonstrates the strength of Amir and Hassan’s relationship. Idyllic and innocent, the relationship takes on all of the normal aspects of childhood friendship early on. Like an adorable group of kindergarten friends, Amir and Hassan spend their weekly allowance on junk food, and they even “saw [their] first Western together, Rio Bravo with John Wayne, at the Cinema Park…and were stunned [after learning about] the concept of voice dubbing” (Hosseini 26). Naturally, to cement their relationship, the two innocent boys attempt to make their friendship permanently known to the rest of the world, which Amir does when “I used one of Ali’s kitchen knives to carve our names on it: ‘Amir and Hassan, the sultans of Kabul’…making the tree ours” (27). For several years, the carving on the tree represents Amir and Hassan’s tight friendship, as ...
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... both the fight against Assef and the battle against the INS, proving how the carving on the tree represents Amir’s desire to seek redemption by adopting Sohrab.
In Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, published in 2003, the carving on the tree mirrors the strength of Amir and Hassan’s friendship throughout the book. At first, Amir retains his innocence and the carving remains clear-cut, but as he cowardly keeps knowledge of Hassan’s rape to himself, the carving becomes an unwelcome reminder of his past deeds. Fortunately, by the end of the story, the carving represents Amir’s attempt to become a true friend to Hassan by adopting Sohrab. As Amir knows, betrayal and fear may override a person’s sense of morality, but a good person will always let their desire for redemption ultimately win.
Works Cited
Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. New York: Penguin Group, 2003. Print.
Amir’s development through the novel comes with the symbols of the scar from a cleft lip and the kites. The scar on Hassan’s face serves as a point of jealousy for Amir when it came to his relationship with his father. Amir’s father had tried to care for Hassan without alerting people to Hassan’s illegitimacy and Ali’s infertility, but in doing so had alienated Amir, Baba’s known son. Hassan’s scar serves as symbol of redemption, as Amir receives his own scar from defending Sohrab and finally standing up for himself. Amir’s scar represents the end of the climax because Amir was finally able to atone for his sin. Another major symbol in the book are the kites. The kite fighting, running, and kites in general are symbols for Hassan and
The Kite Runner is a book about a young boy, Amir, who faces many struggles as he grows up in Kabul and later moves to America to flee from the Taliban. His best friend and brother , Hassan, was a big part of his life, but also a big part of guilt he held onto for many years. The book describes Amir’s attempt to make up for the past and resolve his sins so he can clear his conscious. Amir is worthy of forgiveness because although he was selfish, he was very brave and faced his past.
Actions made in a moment of pain, anger or simple immaturity can take anyone to make mistakes that can change their lives completely. Everyone has something in the past that is shameful, embarrassing and regrettable that is kept present daily. Whether this event happened during childhood, adolescence or early adulthood, this event could haunt and have shaped that person’s life into what he or she is today. In a similar way, in the book The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is shaped by a tragic and eventful past that has shaped Amir’s, Baba’s, and Hassan’s life. The four literary elements that will be used in this essay that Hosseini strategically uses in this book are: irony, simile, Metaphor, and personification.
Amir’s development from being “a boy who won’t stand up for himself,” to a man that stands up for the morally responsible thing to do (22, Hosseini). When Amir was a child, he tried to escape from his sins in the past by hiding them with lies. However, this only made it worse for Amir, causing him to be an insomniac for much of his life and putting himself through constant torment. Only when Amir became a man, like Baba wanted him to be, was Amir able to face the truth of what he done and put himself on the path of redemption. Even when Amir was suffering a violent beating from Assef, Amir was able to laugh because he knew he was doing what he should have for Hassan years ago. Amir’s development from a child, who lies in order to cower from their own mistakes, into a man, someone who is not only able to admit his sins, but atone for them, is essential to communicating the theme of redemption being the only way to settle with your
“You've gotta dance like there's nobody watching, love like you'll never be hurt, sing like there's nobody listening, And live like it's heaven on earth.” Said a famous writer named William W. Purkey. Throughout the Kite Runner there were many mistakes that were made that each person let control their entire life. But like this quote says, you have to let those things go and continue to live your life and not let your mistakes define you. ? In the novel The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini’s repeated the use of rape, sickness, and sacrifice to represent many different things throughout the novel.
In conclusion irony, symbolism, and foreshadowing contribute to the omnipresent theme of redemption throughout The Kite Runner. Khaled Hosseini ties together seemingly unimportant details of the story to create irony, and juxtaposes segments of his book to show redemption.
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.
The world-renowned novel, The Kite Runner was written by Afghanistan born American novelist Khaled Hosseini. Hosseini was born into a Shia Muslim family in Kabul that later in life decided to move to Paris. Hosseini was unable to return to Kabul due to the Taliban take over, this cause the Hosseini family to seek political asylum in America. The actions that Hosseini witnessed of his beloved home country influenced his novel with the themes of guilt and redemption. “The guilty one is not he who commits the sin, but the one who causes the darkness.” – Victor Hugo. In The Kite Runner the theme of guilt and redemption is shown through the character development of the protagonist Amir. Hosseini used Amir’s guilt of his past to grow the impression that with regret lies a hope for redemption.
Throughout the thought provoking and eye opening narrative, The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini provides a vivid and in depth story told through the eyes of a privileged young narrator who is forced to come of age in the capital of Afghanistan. As a story told from a different cultural perspective,culture and morals in this society are different from foreign beliefs. A reader will not fully comprehend The Kite Runner without discerning the differences between social classes and understanding the importance of honor in the Afghanistan culture.
Here Amir is alone, thinking about his past and how, “the past claws its way out.” This quote radiates a cold feeling about how the past will come back to haunt you, making the tone regretful and displeasing. Amir is in San Francisco, so we can assume that when the wars with the Taliban, who were Sunni Muslims, Amir and Baba left the country, and because of Baba’s experiences with travel, they were able to go someplace safe. But the tone of regret shows in how he words the phrase, leading us to assume that something happened to Hassan that Amir will never forget and looks down upon. In another part of chapter one, Amir describes the two kites as they, “danced high upon the trees.” We can assume that the kites represent the kinship between Amir and Hassan. Because of his regretful tone, and the events that happened in his past, we can assume that Hassan comes back to him often. The wars and differences in religion help pave his future in San Francisco, and what happened in the alley way that leads him to feel regretful. To conclude, the context of the novel along with the voice found in the chapter, help pave the regretful tone in the novel as he remembers his
The film The Kite Runner deserves praise because of the filmmakers’ interpretation of major scenes. The most controversial scene of the novel is the rape of Hassan, not because of Amir’s betrayal of his friend, but because Hassan is a child. Children are universally viewed as innocent individuals who require protection, and as a result any violence against children, even fictional, is likely to receive emotionally charged condemnation. Reading the novel, there does not seem to be a favourable way the filmmakers could portray such a scene. However after analysing the film, it can be concluded that Hassan’s rape is handled as well as realistically possible because the sexual assault of a child is directly implied without being mentioned or shown. Another aspect of the film that was handled well was the preface. In the novel, Amir, then in adulthood, states the impact a major event twenty-six years ago had on the rest of his life. This section also includes references to his friend Rahim Khan and the kites flying in Golden Gate Park. In the film similar information is also portrayed because of English subtitles that translate a phone conversation between Amir and Rahim Khan, as well as a scene, which features kites flying in front of the Golden Gate Bridge. However, in addition to this, the film also expands on the number of allusions by showing Amir’s wife Soraya as well as copies of his published novel. These additional details are appreciated because it allows for connections between the preface and the rest of the plot. The film’s preface is also superior because these new details are not integral to the storyline, and as a result do not ruin it, while the novel’s preface about a life changing event reduced the emotional impact of Hassan’s rape. Although this film should be held in high esteem because of the interpretation of major scenes, it is only one reason why this
...achieves redemption and finally succeeds in overcoming his guilt. Hosseini uses this struggle to persuade those who feel extreme guilt for a wrongdoing to seek forgiveness and to help others in need. The author emphasizes that atoning one’s sins comes from reaching out to others. He expresses this when Amir offers to help Sohrab and he rids himself of guilt from his former relationship with Hassan. In addition, Hosseini writes to those who challenge the ideals of society in order to encourage them to create and follow their own values. The author uses Amir’s struggle in his relationship with Baba and his acceptance with Amir’s writing career to demonstrate this idea. Throughout his novel, The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini develops a main character that questions his decisions, yet conforms to societal ideals to represent his theme of redemption and self-acceptance.
In Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, the author follows the development of protagonist Amir through a life filled with sorrow, regret, and violence. Amir encounters numerous obstacles on his path to adulthood, facing a new test at every twist and turn. Amir embarks on the long journey known as life as a cowardly, weak young man with a twisted set of ideals, slowly but surely evolving into a man worthy of the name. Amir is one of the lucky few who can go through such a shattered life and come out the other side a better man, a man who stands up for himself and those who cannot, willing to put his life on the line for the people he loves.
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is a novel based in Afghanistan that shows the betrayal between two boys with two different social backgrounds. Four years later “The Kite Runner” was filmed by David Benioff, which shows the meaningful message that the book delivers in a movie. Throughout the book and movie, Amir the protagonist must live the rest of his life with guilt from his childhood. Although the movie gave the same meaningful message that the book delivered, the book was further developed, which had more detail and kept the readers wanting more. Ultimately these details that were present in the novel gave the readers a better understanding of the characters, which led to the relationships
The Kite Runner is a novel written by Khaled Hosseini. It is a story about friendship, betrayal, guilt and redemption. The story takes place in Afghanistan and revolves around two friends named Amir and Hassan. Amir is born in a Pashtun family and is respected across Kabul because of his heroic father Baba. They are a part of the Sunni Muslim religion. In contrast, Hassan is part of the Hazara tribe and they are persecuted in Afghanistan for taking part in the Shiite religion. Added to Hassan’s disgrace is that his father is crippled and his mother’s reputation for tempting lots of men into sin. The two became friends because they were born in the same household and nursed by the same maid. They took their first steps together in the same backyard, watched the cinema together and were inseparable growing up.