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How Does Hosseini Use Symbols In The Kite Runner

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In the novel, The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, the setting takes place in the 1970’s in Afghanistan and then America. Afghanistan at the time had problems within their own country. One of the most important dilemmas was the ethnic differences between the Pashtuns and the Hazaras. Their ethnic differences tore them apart causing a great deal of discrimination and cruelty. Hosseini uses symbols, antithesis, and visual imagery to convey the unequal treatment of people in Afghanistan based on what ethnic group they belong to and their status. Antithesis is present when Baba and Ali are introduced into the book. Not only is Baba is a well respected character in the book, but he is also a handsome man. Amir described Baba as a “towering pashtun …show more content…

Baba gave Hassan an “unusual present,” (46) by giving Hassan a surgery to fix his harelip. Hassan’s harelip is a symbol for his social status in Afghanistan because he was too poor to fix it. Luckily his boss was able to provide the money to get the lip procedure. Amir mentions that he likes kite fighting. Amir prepares for the kite fights by purchasing kites and string but “if [he] asked for a bigger and fancier kite, [his] Baba would but it for [him],” (51). The kite is a symbol of wealth among the Pashtuns because they have no problem spending money on expensive items. Hosseini uses symbols to show the unequal distribution of wealth among the Hazaras and Pashtuns. Pashtuns live in opulence while the Pashtuns live in poverty. Visual imagery is a technique Hosseini utilizes to envision the extremity of the Pashtuns hatred for Hazaras. When Rahim Khan was telling Amir the story about Hassan. Rahim Khan said the Taliban “order[ed] him to kneel” and “shot him in the back of the head,” (219). Hosseini uses such vivid imagery to encapture the fear and ruthless treatment the Taliban give Hassan. He is trying to convey the realness of the Talibans brutality toward anyone who disobeys their laws and practices with no chance to prove

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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.

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The story ‘The Kite Runner’, written by Khaled Hosseini, takes place mainly during the war in Afghanistan. After the country became a republic instead of a monarchy, the former Soviet Union invaded the country. Many years later, the Taliban, an Islamic fundamentalist movement , seized power in Afghanistan. This was accompanied by intense violence and the consequences were immense. Not only was Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, almost entirely destroyed, but the cost to human life was also huge.

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Many come to know Khaled Hosseini because of his first and best-selling novel, The Kite Runner. Through the lives of the two male protagonists - Amir and Hassan, Khaled Hosseini describes an Afghan society that undergoes a significant number of hardships such as war, ethnic cleansing, and economic recession. The religious and ethnic differences, as well as the gap between rich and the poor, resulted in a very fortunate and prosperous destiny for some and life of constant struggle for others. To start with, Amir, as well as Hassan, come from two very distinct ethnic groups in

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Amir exploits Hassan’s loyalty in order to feel superior. Assef uses sexual abuse to give himself power over Hassan and Sohrab. The Taliban use religion and terror to enforce their rule over the people of Afghanistan. Although all of these people employ different means to maintain power, the root of their strength is the guilt and shame of their victims: Hassan’s need to be a good friend, Sohrab’s sinful feelings, and the people’s guilt of not adhering to their religion. The Kite Runner illustrates how power changes people and relationships, and exhibits the extremes a person will go to into order to keep a firm grasp on

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The author of ‘The Kite Runner,' Hosseini, employs a variety of symbols to create a deeper meaning throughout the book. Symbolism is used to create deeper a meaning in in many ways in the book especially in objects like kites which represent happiness when the kite is flying high and guilt about the blue kite. Symbolism is also present in people especially the cleft lip which is a symbol of betrayal of brothers and also represents Baba’s and Amir’s redemption. The cleft lip symbolises betrayal of brothers and also represents Baba’s and Amir’s redemption.

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The kite runner explores the idea of social hierarchy and how is causes discrimination to those surrounded by it. Social hierarchy is organized through a social structure called the caste system that separates the different social classes. The caste system plays a very important role in the kite runner. The book illustrates how the discrimination of the Hazaras is accepted and practiced by the Pashtuns. Their differences have led to the Pashtuns being the majority group and the Hazaras as the minority group.

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In “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini, the book has brought up two suggested themes. One theme is related to class distinction and another theme is related to loyalty. Together these themes in chapter 7 show the idea that class distinction creates a divide between people and that affects how one is loyal to another. The first emerging theme comes out when Hassan is being assaulted and Amir does nothing to stop it. He justifies this action by saying, “He was just a Hazara, wasn 't he?"(77).

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Hosseini shows us how the Afghani culture and Amir’s reluctance to help

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In The Kite Runner during the twentieth century, there is a great divide between the muslim citizens of Kabul. The Hazaras are considered inferior to the respectable majority of Pashtuns. Hazaras are persecuted and oppressed, simply because they are Shi’a muslims and Pashtuns are Sunni muslims. Throughout the novel, Hazaras are called various derogatory names such as “[...] mice eating, flat-nosed, load-carrying donkeys.” (Hosseini 10) Because of his cultural background, Hassan becomes a victim of racism, as he has run-ins with bullies, is raped and is constantly told that he is not nor ever will be an equal to Amir.

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Khaled Hosseini's book The Kite Runner has been banned in several high schools across America and continues to be challenged. The universal themes of the story include shame, bullying, compassion, redemption, and forgiveness and the largest concerns about the novel being taught in high schools have been sexually explicit content, offensive language, age inappropriateness, homosexuality, and religious viewpoint. The novel takes place in Afghanistan in the 1970s and is about two childhood friends, Amir and Hassan, the son of Amir’s father’s Hazara servant. The two are an odd pair considering the completely different lives that they live. Hosseini paints a refreshingly realistic representation of life in Afghanistan during the invasion of Russian forces.

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The Kite Runner scrutinizes the whole scope of racism: blatant hatred, religious rationale of racism, nonviolent but still nasty racism, racism which coincides with charity and thoughtfulness, and internalized racism which reveals itself as self-loathing. Hassan is a Hazara, an ethnic group that the majority of Afghans (who are Pashtun) deem inferior, though Hosseini makes it coherent that Hassan is Amir’s equivalent and in numerous ways morally and intellectually superior. Despite racial tensions, the plot proposes, the very ethnicity that Pashtuns treat so poorly is closer to them than they may think- Amir finds out that Hassan, a member of the ethnic minority, is his half-brother. When Amir spots Assef violate Hassan in the alleyway, he dwells on if he really needs to save Hassan from the immediate danger because “He was just a Hazara, wasn’t he?”

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Afghanistan is a country full of social expectations and boundaries influenced by both class and ethnicity. Amir and Hassan come from polar opposite social backgrounds: Amir, a wealthy member of the dominant Pashtuns, and Hassan, a child servant to Amir and member of the minority Hazaras. Yet, as young children, it seems as though this difference is a mere annoyance rather than a serious blockade to their friendship. This all changes, though, when Amir makes a split second decision, a decision shaped by his unconscious desire to uphold their class difference. Hassan does everything for Amir, most specifically, he runs his kites, and when the town bully wants to steal that kite, Hassan resists even in the face of unspeakable violence.

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In The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, the life of an Afghan child is changed forever by an outbreak of violence and warfare, eventually causing him and his father to leave Afghanistan, and undergo the immigrant experience in America. Hosseini writes about Amir, the son of a wealthy businessman in Kabul, known as Baba. They are Pashtuns, and have two servants from the minority class in Afghanistan, the Hazaras. The servants are treated like family, but one day the servant to Amir, Hassan, is raped by an older boy who joins the Taliban later in the novel. Amir sees this happen but does nothing to stop it, and after weeks of distrust, Amir forces the two servants out of the house.

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In the book “The Kite Runner” kite flying is a symbol for innocence and love .Most of the major themes of the novel find their way into the image of Amir and Hassan flying kites. When Amir later tries to remember something happy, he pictures himself and Hassan flying kites. At first, there's such freedom and innocence in the activity for Amir and Hassan. However, the kites also become reminders of how Amir betrayed Hassan by abandoning Hassan to the Assef. Kite flying also represents, to Amir, a way to win his father's love.

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We are the true Afghans , the pure Afghanis, not this Flat-nose here. His people pollute our homeland, our watan. They dirty our blood” “ Afghanistan for Pashtuns, I say. That’s my vision.” ( Assef).

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