The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, is a novel portraying a young boy named Amir which takes place in 1975 in Kabul, Afghanistan. As a child, he mistreats his servant, Hassan, who resembles a brother. After failing to intervene in Hassan's rape, Amir lives with guilt until his late thirties when redemption for the guilt of his past presents itself. Amir's father’s old friend, Rahim Khan, called from Pakistan to summon Amir. Upon his arrival, Amir learns that Hassan is his illegitimate half-brother and that Assef murdered him, rendering his son an orphan. Through drastic lengths, Amir attempts to find and retrieve Hassan's son, Sohrab. During his return to Afghanistan, Amir faces the guilt of his past and finds peace with himself while saving Sohrab from the war torn country of Afghanistan. Through an abundance of symbols, themes, and irony, The Kite Runner …show more content…
describes Amir’s battle with his inner self and path to redemption. One of the most significant symbols in The Kite Runner are kites. Initially a source of childhood happiness, flying kites was also a way to attain his father's approval.. In Kabul, Afghanistan, a kite flying tournament was an annual occurrence. Before the tournament, young boys laced their string with glass and attempted to cut the strings of other kite flyers. The last one standing claimed the title of champion and earned the idolization of younger children. Before Amir competed in his kite tournament, Baba planted a seed in his mind, “I think maybe you'll win the tournament this year. What do you think?” (Hosseini, 50) Amir took the opportunity presented by his father and decided, “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 sought the approval and affection of his father to the extent of allowing Hassan to get raped in order to attain it. Following Hassan's rape, kites became the symbol of Amir's betrayal of Hassan. Ultimately, kites became the way Amir connected with Sohrab, mirroring how Amir connected with Baba as a child. Another significant symbol is Hassan's cleft lip, indicating Hassan was a Hazara, or a Persian-speaking Shia Muslim. These people were the minorities in Afghan society, earning the bottom tier of Afghanistan’s social pyramid. Consequently, they became servants and blue collar workers. Hassan's harelip symbolizes the illegitimacy of his birth and his place in society. A cleft lip indicates that Hassan’s family struggles financially, therefore his deformity will remain. Amir’s father, Baba, is unable to express his love for Hassan and must tell the community that Hassan is the son of Ali, his first Hazara. As a birthday gift, Baba presents Hassan with a doctor, who will mend his cleft lip, to secretly express the love he desperately wishes to convey. Later in the novel, Amir duels with Assef, Hassan’s rapist, over Hassan's son, Sohrab. Their duel results in an abrasion on Amir's upper lip that heals like Hassan's cleft lip . The scar that mirrors Hassan's cleft lip scar also symbolizes Amir's redemption. While Amir becomes a father figure to Sohrab, Hassan assimilates into Amir's identity. The lamb is a symbol that connects Sohrab and Hassan and represents the slaughter of innocents. Upon locating Sohrab, Amir discovered that Assef was his abductor and that Assef was sexually abusing Sohrab just as he had done to Hassan. Amir explained that he had come for Sohrab, causing him to look at Amir. “Sohrab’s eyes flicked to me. They were slaughter sheep’s eyes. They even had the mascara--I remembered how on the day of Eid of qorban, the mullah in our backyard used to apply mascara to the eyes of the sheep and feed it a cube of sugar before slicing its throat. I thought I saw pleading in Sohrab’s eyes.” (Hosseini, 251) Eid of qorban celebrates Abraham’s willingness to follow God's command to sacrifice his son Ishmael. Another instance which revealed the lamb was presented when Assef raped Hassan after the kite tournament. Although Amir had the opportunity to intervene, he thinks, “Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba.” (Hosseini, 68) On one hand, Amir’s constant attempts to win the affection of Baba revealed the complex theme of their father and son relationship. Steaming from his childhood, Amir believes that he is a disappointment to his father. One night, Amir was listening to Baba and Rahim Khan converse in their study when Baba stated that Amir had something missing from him and was nothing like he was as a child. He then said, “If I hadn't seen the doctor pull him out of my wife with my own eyes, I'd never believe he's my son.” (Hosseini, 20) On the other hand, Baba finds it difficult to treat Amir with affection when he cannot do the same for Hassan. Amir notes that Baba never missed Hassan's birthday and once gifted him the surgery to fix his cleft lip. Furthermore, Amir is resentful of the affection Baba gives Hassan and reveals his resentment by stating, “I wished I too had some kind of scar that would beget Baba’s sympathy. It wasn't fair. Hassan hadn't done anything to earn Baba’s affections; he'd just been born with that stupid hair lip.” (Hosseini, 40) Another example of Amir's resentment towards Hassan and the battle for Baba’s affection reveals itself when Amir, Baba, and Hassan are shopping for kites. Amir purposely chose a more extravagant kite after he had already chosen the less luxurious one he and Hassan would buy. However, every time Amir thwarted his decision, Baba bought the same kite for Hassan. “Sometimes I wished he wouldn't do that. Wished he'd let me be the favorite.” (Hosseini, 46) Baba clearly showed that he did not favor one of his children more than the other, however, Amir wished that Baba would allow him to be the favorite. Therefore, Amir allowed Hassan's rape during the kite flying tournament to win his father’s approval while Baba faced public shame in order to fix Hassan's lip. Consequently, Amir’s decision to allow Hassan's rape leads to turmoil in their friendship. For months, Amir avoided Hassan and repressed the guilt he felt to the back of his mind. Instead of reconciling with Hassan, Amir asks his father if he had ever considered hiring new Hazaras. Through clenched teeth, Baba responds with, “I grew up with Ali. My father took him in, he loved Ali like his own son. Forty years Ali's been with my family. Forty goddamn years. And you think I'm just going to throw him out? And Hassan… Hassan's not going anywhere, do you understand?” (Hosseini, 79) Furthermore, Baba says, “Hassan's not going anywhere. He's staying right here with us where he belongs. This is his home and we are his family.” (Hosseini, 79-80) Baba is furious with himself and Amir because he cannot tell Amir that Hassan is his brother and Amir is constantly trying to prove he is better than Hassan. In a final attempt to show his father that he is the better child, Amir frames Hassan by placing money and a watch under Hassan’s mattress. Through false pretense, he informs Baba that Hassan had stolen them from his room which prompts a family meeting. Even though Baba forgives Hassan, Ali and Hassan have decided to leave, despite Baba’s pleading, because Hassan revealed the truth about the tension between him and Amir to Ali. During their departure, there is torrential, rain which symbolizes Baba’s grief and the destruction of a family. After Hassan’s departure, Amir's quest for redemption begins and the theme of redemption is presented to the reader. Hours before Hassan's rape occurred, he promised Amir that he would run the last kit for him, saying, “For you a thousand times over!” (Hosseini, 60) This is the point where Amir betrays Hassan and where an abundance of his guilt stems from. When Rahim Khan summoned Amir to Pakistan, Amir learned that Hassan was murdered in front of their childhood home and he was his illegitimate half-brother. That night, Amir dreams that he is Hassan's murderer. Rightfully, Amir feels that he is responsible for Hassan's death because if he had not framed Hassan for stealing his money, Hassan may have still been alive and in America. However, in order to redeem himself, Amir journeys to Afghanistan, where the Taliban now rules, to locate Hassan's son, Sohrab. Amir discovered that Sohrab was abducted from the orphanage where he lived by a head Taliban official. After Amir witnessed this man stone two civilians to death at the halftime of a soccer game, he scheduled an appointment to meet the official at three o'clock that afternoon. Upon his arrival, Amir discovers the Taliban official is Assef, Hassan's rapist. In an early encounter with Amir and Hassan, Assef stated, “You should know something about me Hazara. I'm a very patient person. This doing end today, believe me. This isn't the end for you either, Amir. Someday I'll make you face be one on one.” (Hosseini, 36) Assef then allows Amir to take Sohrab at the price of concluding the unfinished business they had as children through a fight to the death. Arming himself, Assef pulled his brass knuckles out of his pocket and beat Amir, breaking his bones, tearing skin, and shouting the pent up anger that dwelled within him. Relief flooded Amir as he felt that Assef's beating was his rightful punishment for betraying Hassan. Consequent, Assef, who raped Hassan and causes Amir's guilt, becomes the way Amir reconciles with his guilt which conveys irony in the story. After Amir started laughing, Assef was about to deliver a killing blow, when Sohrab spoke. Through desperate attempts, he pleaded with Assef to stop hitting Amir, while his sling shot, loaded with a brass ball, pointed directly at Assef’s left eye. When Hassan and Amir had their first encounter with Assef, Hassan had also aimed a sling shot at Assef's eye. Sohrab and Hassan were both deadly accurate with a sling shot. During their first encounter, Hassan told Assef, “If you make a move, they'll have to change your nickname from Assef ‘the Ear-Eater’ to ‘One-Eyed Assef,’ because I have this rock pointed at your left eye.” After his efforts proved futile, Sohrab, released the slingshot and shot out Assef's left eye. Through this, Sohrab avenges his father by doing what Hassan said he would may years before. Sohrab’s revenge displays irony because even though Hassan was the one who told Assef he would shoot his eye out, Sohrab was the one who actually did this. Here, dramatic irony is presented because the reader knew about Hassan's encounter with Assef while Sohrab did not. Another incident which reveals that Amir has surpassed his guilt over Hassan occurs during a kite flying tournament after Sohrab and Amir have reached the United States. Similar to his childhood, Amir asked Sohrab if he wanted him to run the last kite, to which Sohrab nodded and Amir said, “For you, a thousand times over.” (Hosseini, 328) Amir copies Hassan's words to him, showing Sohrab much he means. Overall, The Kite Runner conveys many significant relationships and underlying feelings through symbols.
Kites not only symbolized Amir's guilt towards Hassan, but also symbolized Amir's connection with Hassan's son, Sohrab. Hassan's cleft lip symbolizes Hassan's place in society, and eventually symbolizes how Amir had become part of Hassan. Lastly, the lamb symbolized the slaughter of Hassan's and Sohrab’s innocence. Continually, themes also convey the deeper meaning of relationships between the characters. Baba and Amir's relationship also displayed the struggle of a father's inability to equally treat his sons. The theme of a father and son relationship also demonstrates the length a child will go to earn his father's approval. Furthermore, Amir's search for redemption reveals his deep regret for his betrayal of Hassan and shows how he is able to overcome his guilt. Lastly, through the literary device of irony, Hassan's son, Sohrab, carries out the statement he made many years before his birth. Therefore, The Kite Runner describes Amir's battle with his inner self through many symbols, themes, and
irony.
The Kite Runner, written by Khaled Hosseini, talks about Amir’s life in first person point of view. The book talks about Amir’s childhood, the war in Afghanistan, and his self-salvation. Hassan is the servant’s son in Amir’s family. Hassan and his father, Ali, are Hazaras, who were despised by the Pashtuns. Hassan and Amir are fed from the same breast and they are best friends. Hassan is loyal to Amir all the time and he is always ready to be the scapegoat for Amir.
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.
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.
In Amir’s early childhood, kites represented happiness. Flying kites was his favorite pastime, as it was the only way that he connected fully with Baba, who was once a champion kite fighter. However, the kite takes on a different significance when Amir doesn’t stop Hassan's abusers from raping him in order to prevent the kite from being stolen. The kite serves as a symbol of Amir’s guilt throughout the novel. Hechose his fragile relationship with his father over the well-being of his best friend and half-brother: “Baba and I lived in the same ...
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, focuses on the character Amir who fails to help his friend Hassan in an alley when they are both children. This incident occurs because of the simple reason that Amir is a coward even when he knows deep down that Hassan would do anything for Amir. This betrayal towards Hassan turns out to cause Amir a lifetime guilt throughout the rest of the novel. Later on when Amir moves to America, gets married, and becomes a successful writer, Amir is still incapable of forgetting the incident. Amir’s actions as an adult stem from his desire for redemption and start forgiving himself for the mistakes of his past. Amir is an accurate portrayal of a tragic hero based on his inherent guilt, well deserved punishments, and
The Kite Runner, is the first novel written by Khaled Hosseini. The Kite Runner is set in Afghanistan before the war in the city of Kabul, and then eventually in America. The novel relays the struggles of Amir (A young Shi’ boy), Hassan (a young Hazera servant boy) and Baba (Amir’s father) as they are growing up in an ever-changing Afghanistan. The young boys face difficult challenges most adults will never have to experience. Amir, Hassan, and even Baba must overcome cruelty in every aspect of their lives.
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
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. When Amir hears that his father’s old business partner, Rahim Khan, is sick and dying, he travels to Pakistan to say his goodbyes. Rahim Khan tells Amir about Hassan’s life and eventual death; the Taliban murdered Hassan while he was living in Amir’s childhood home. As his dying wish, Rahim Khan asks Amir to rescue Hassan’s son, Sohrab, from an orphanage in Afghanistan. Although Amir refuses at first, he thinks about what Rahim Khan had always told him: “There is a way to be good again…” (226), which gives him the incentive he needs to return to Afghanistan and find Sohrab. Hosseini draws parallels between Amir’s relationship with Hassan and Amir’s relationship with Sohrab in order to demonstrate the potential of redemption.
Though some may rise from the shame they acquire in their lives, many become trapped in its vicious cycle. Written by Khlaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner describes the struggles of Amir, his father Baba, and his nephew Sohrab as they each fall victim to this shameful desolation. One repercussion of Baba hiding his sinful adultery from Amir is that Amir betrays Hassan for his father’s stringent approval. Sohrab’s dirty childhood also traumatizes him through his transition to America. Consequently, shame is a destructive force in The Kite Runner. Throughout the course of the novel, Baba’s shameful affair, Amir’s selfish betrayal, and Sohrab’s graphic childhood destroy their lives.
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.
... 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.
Raised like brothers yet they could not be more different. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini shows how two brothers, Amir and Hassan, could be alike in many ways, yet personalities are completely different. Amir and Hassan although raised like brother, and later discovered they were half brothers, were completed individuals in personality, meaning of life, and how they treated each other. The story takes them from early childhood, to the day Hassan leaves, to Amir growing up and going back to Kabul. The Kite Runner takes you on a emotional journey about a boy named Amir, and his uncommon bond to his servant Hassan, whom Amir had to go through choices to abandon his friend amidst the increasing struggles politics, religion, ethics, and love.
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.
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.
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