My artwork connects to the theme of ignorance and self appearance in Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner because it symbolizes Amir’s denial of the truth and the difference of his inside and outside image. The artwork of the ostrich with its head in the ground represents Amir who refuses to know the truth. For example, when Rahim Khan tells Amir that Hassan was his half-brother, Amir thinks, “I wished he had let me live on in my oblivion” (Hosseini, 2003, p.226). Amir didn’t want to know this new information because it disagreed with his previous knowledge. He thought of Baba as a noble and honest man, but after being told the truth, Amir’s vision of Baba and Hassan changed and this hurt Amir. He wanted to stay uninformed, as if he would want to bury his head in the ground in order to refuse …show more content…
I had a good life in California, pretty Victorian home with a peaked roof, a good marriage, a promising writing career, in-laws who loved me” (Hosseini, 2003, p. 222). Amir wished Rahim Khan had never told him the truth because it tainted his vision of Baba and Hassan. Amir is the ostrich in the artwork because he buries his head when he moves to the United States and eventually starts to forget about his past. Ostriches are alluded to when thinking about burying one’s head in the sand, which means to refuse thinking about an unpleasant situation, hoping that it will be forgotten so it doesn’t have to be dealt with. His ignorance was bliss and Amir wanted to keep it that way because the truth hurt him more than the lies. Amir is the ostrich in the artwork because of his refusal of the truth and his fear of confrontation. Additionally, the artwork of the ostrich’s head in the ground also represents Amir’s inside and outside appearance. For example, when Wahid praises Amir’s return to Afghanistan as honorable, Amir “cringed inside” (Hosseini, 2003, p.
Page 2 - “I sat on a park bench near a willow tree. I thought about something Rahim Khan said just before he hung up, almost as an afterthought. I looked up at those twin kites.”
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.
In both novels, Hosseini and Steinbeck use motifs to show the power society possesses to manipulate an individual. In The Kite Runner, Hosseini continually uses the motif of blood to symbolize the sin and corruption of humanity. During a kite tournament in Kabul, the two boys, Amir and Hassan, begin to chase the final kite. When Hassan is approached by a group of bullies, including Assef, Amir decides not to intervene in order to maintain his status and place in the world. While Assef and his friends beat and rape Hassan, Amir witnesses "tiny drops [that] fell from between [Hassan's] legs and stained the snow black" (Hosseini, 78). This is the beginning of Amir’s m...
As implied by the title, kites play a major role in the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. They appear numerous times within the text and prove to be surprisingly versatile in their literary function. They provide common ground for characters whose interests do not normally intersect. They are also present as a very powerful symbol, which adds an extra dimension to this already literary rich novel. Reversing the roles transcending generations, it shows itself to be a multifaceted medium.
The Kite Runner, written by Khaled Hosseini, shows how lying and deceit is a counterproductive route when trying to live with a dreadful past, exhibited through the actions of Amir. Amir’s decision to withhold the truth and blatantly lie in several situations due to jealousy and his desire for Baba to be proud of him amounts to further pain and misery for himself and those he deceives. Because of Amir’s deceit towards Baba and Hassan, his guilt from his past manifests itself into deeply-rooted torment, not allowing him to live his life in peace. The guilt from Amir’s past is only alleviated when he redeems his sins by taking in Sohrab, contributing to the theme that the only way “to be good again” is through redemption, not shunning the past.
A conviction is a firmly held belief that someone has about something. In The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini bases many events off of convictions he has. Hosseini upholds these convictions through character actions. A big conviction he has is if a person denies love someone else, they will stop at nothing to get it back. Amir, Hassan, and Sohrab all either experience this or are denying someone that love.
I'm now reading the fourth chapter of part 2 in the book called, Runner. The last thing that happened was Chances friend, Melissa, from school gave them a ride home from the bus stop they were waiting at. As Chance is carrying the groceries onto the boat, he tells his dad that he's going to run. His dad begs him to take the day off but he knows he can't. He's not running just to run, he's got a job to accomplish. It's pouring down rain when he steps outside but that's not going to stop him. By the time he reaches the tree, it's too dark to really see anything. The next morning as Chance is leaving for school, a grey car pulls up. The fat man gets out and grabs him by his elbow. He wanted to know why he didn't see him out running the night before, but he swore to him he did. He gets mad but then calms down and gives Chance a number to call if he's ever going to be late like that again. Later that day, Chance goes into the locker room to grab his backpack and notices an envelope in the front pocket. He opens it to find
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 internal battle of right and wrong also occurs between the morals and actions of the person. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, follows the story of a young boy from Afghanistan struggling with guilt from his childhood. Hosseini uses descriptive words in order to immerse the reader into the conflict occurring within a character. When the town’s bully rapes Amir’s best friend, Hassan, Amir is aware what is happening is wrong and he should do something to stop the act. Amir knows his action of not reacting is wrong and reminded of his cowardly action whenever he sees Hassan: "Because when he was around, the oxygen speed out of the room. My chest tightened and I couldn't draw enough air; I'd stand there, gasping in my own little airless
It is impossible to separate the events of Hosseini’s life from the plot and implications of The Kite Runner. Hosseini often faces interviewers and readers who wonder how much of his first novel is autobiographical. In a 2005 interview with Todd Pitt of USA Today, Hosseini responds to readers inquiries regarding the autobiographical nature of Amir and Hassan’s story: “When I say some of it is me, then people look unsatisfied. The parallels are pretty obvious, but… I left a few things ambiguous because I wanted to drive the book clubs crazy” (“Kite Runner Catches the Wind”). It is easy find the “obvious parallels” that Hosseini himsel...
The character I choice from The Kite Runner is Amir. Amir is the main character throughout the book. As a child Amir was very cowardice and jealous of his servant’s son Hassan, because of the attention his father gave towards him. The symbols I choose were the pomegranate tree and the Sahnamah. The pomegranate tree represents the happy times in Amir and Hassan life when they bonded together, and read books. Amir would read to Hassan since Hassan was illiterate. Also they carved their names in the tree trunk. The pomegranates on the tree represent Hassan’s loyalty and Amir’s guilt after Hassan’s rape. Amir throws a pomegranate at Hassan, wanting Hassan to throw one back so he can get the punishment he deserves for the guilt of Hassan’s rape. Hassan,
In The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini uses descriptions of character’s features in order to draw out certain properties of their personality. For instance, Hassan’s characteristics can be used to analyze and ascertain the meaning of his personality. Hassan’s features, like his lip, nose and face, help people to understand him as a character by exaggerating his looks and drawing attention towards them. From this, the author brings meaning, not only to Hassan's character, but to the entire book.
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.
“Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives” ~ James Madison
What is it that makes us human and what does it mean to be human? These questions should be frequently and relentlessly contemplated by all members of society. What makes us human is the notion that we have complex thoughts and emotions. No two individuals are exactly alike in every way who share the same opinions, tastes, thoughts, ideas, or feelings. Which is quite fortunate, because it would be a complete bore if everyone acted completely identical to one another. So, what is it that makes us abhor another based on their uniqueness as an individual or as a group? The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is about a friendship between two boys set in Afghanistan. The story spans over the last thirty years. Amir is the son of a wealthy business man, Baba. Ali is a longtime childhood friend of Baba’s and works as a servant for him. Hassan is the son of Ali and spends time with Amir. Hassan and Amir one day run into Assef—who has a superiority complex—and threatens to beat Amir for being friends with a Hazara. Later on in the story, Hassan is cornered by Assef and his two friends and Assef rapes Hassan. Amir witnessed the event concealed in the shadows, and is tormented for the rest of his life with his decision for not standing up for Hassan. The author,