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Kite Runner Metaphors

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In The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini uses the symbolism of scars that characters obtain to not only express the damage that traumatic events have, but that they can also be healed and redeemed in different ways. Despite the entire book being written from Amir’s perspective, he provides context as to when, where, and how these characters got their scars, including his own. For example, after Hassan was given the opportunity to fix his cleft lip with surgery, he was overjoyed until he underwent the trauma of being sexually assaulted. Because of what occurred, he was left with mental scars from this abominable experience. Similarly, Sohrab went through the horror of being sexually assaulted and was facing the possibility of going back to the orphanage. …show more content…

This guilt and shame follow Amir throughout his life, causing him to struggle with happiness and personal redemption. Ultimately, Amir finds a way to healthily make amends with his past, finding healing and closure from the past. After returning to Afghanistan, Amir encounters the one person that was capable of causing such unimaginable trauma, Assef. By this time, both Amir and Assef were grown adults but they never moved past Hassan’s assault. For Assef, he is a sadistic psychopath therefore he enjoys the suffering of others while Amir was a witness to the act of violence and did nothing to intervene. When coming across each other, Assef has not changed and it is proven by the physical brawl he gets into with Amir. At last, Amir is left with a wound. Above his lip, the doctor described, “But not to worry, the plastics guys sewed it back together and they think you will have an excellent result, though there will be a scar. That is unavoidable” (Hosseini 297). With the scar being on his upper lip, it corresponds with the scar Hassan was also left with after his surgery. Not only does this support Hosseini’s overall theme of scars serving as constant reminders of enduring trauma, but it also represents the monumental moment where Amir’s identity has coincided with Hassan’s. He has become more like Hassan both physically and emotionally, in the sense that he is no longer afraid to stand up to people such as Assef. With Amir having a growth in character, he is able to take responsibility for his past actions and has reached the point of moving forward with redemption. Though Amir did not get to apologize to Hassan before he died, he is given a second chance by adopting Sohrab. In doing this, Amir can have a child while also rescuing him from further danger, atoning him for his past immoral decisions with Hassan. He can provide Sohrab with the support and love that was

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In the process, Amir is badly beaten. He probably would have died if not saved by Sohrab, who shoots Assef in the eye with his slingshot. That day in Assef’s house made Sohrab begin to trust Amir. He promises Sohrab that he will never go back to an orphanage. They get to know and trust each other better, and Amir plans on adopting Sohrab and taking him to back to America.

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Assef had promised to get back at the boys for what they had done. He had the chance to fight Amir before, but “Assef had backed down, promised that in the end he’d get us both down. He’d kept his promise with Hassan. Now it was my turn” (Hosseini 286). Assef had made a threat to the boys that he would fight them sooner or later, he kept his word with Hassan by killing him and he now had to deal with Amir.

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In his mind, it is his turn to pursue his quest to atone for precedent sins he has carried throughout his life by sacrificing himself and saving his half nephew from a war-ravaged home. The confrontation represents the stand that Amir finally can risks his life to fight for others. Eventually, the fight leaves a permanent scar on his lip. This symbolizes that Amir has become willing to self-sacrifice for those he cares about, as Hassan once did for him, and so Amir can find some redemption in the injury. For Amir, rescuing Sohrab is only the beginning, not the end, of what he must do.

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He has unfinished business with amir.¨ When it's all done, only one of us will walk out of this room alive,¨ Assef said. ¨if it's him, them he's earned his freedom and to let him pass, do you understand?¨ What Assef is saying is that they have to settle their differences and if Amir wins then he gets to take Sohrab home. Amir is a good person, he is willing to get beat to death to save Sohrab. He is risking his life to save

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In The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, Amir starts as a very timid soul who wouldn’t stand up against anybody, but after watching Hassan get raped and feeling guilty about it Amir has grown the courage to fight back. Hosseini uses Amir’s past trauma and

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Throughout the novel, The Kite Runner, Hosseini was able to provide various ways in which cruelty had been exposed to each character. Cruelty can cause betrayal which later on creates guilt for many and satisfaction for others. Assef, a perpetrator, proved that it is possible to be cruel from childhood to adulthood. As well as Amir, a victim who had proved that it is possible to be cruel from childhood but transformed into a loyal and compassionate person throughout adulthood. Most children don’t really understand what cruelty is, the reason being is because they don’t know what they’re doing until they become old enough to realize it.

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Amir first realizes the depth of his cowardice as he watches Assef rape Hassan in the alley and thinks, “I could step in into that alley, stand up for Hassan—the way he stood up for me all those times in the past—and accept whatever happened to me. Or I could run” (Hosseini 77). He has an epiphany that he could choose to be brave and selfless like Hassan and step up to Assef regardless of any physical consequences. However, despite his understanding that the noble choice would be to interfere and stop Assef, Amir is unable to act on it because his fear of Assef overwhelms him. The guilt that consumes Amir in the weeks following Hassan’s rape indicates that he understands the extent of his selfish behavior and needs to resolve it before he can forgive himself.

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While being beaten up by Assef, Amir feels at peace. He feels this ways because he feels that as he is taking the hits from Assef, it shows that he would do anything for Hassan. He is redeeming himself in a way that he is standing up not only for Hassan but also for Sohrab. Amir also stands up for his family, redeeming himself. " Hassan is dead now.

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This event shows irony when Assef used to bully and fight with Hassan and Amir as children and now, as an adult, he is fighting with Sohrab and Amir. These situations are similar yet they mean different things to Amir and show his growth over time. During his childhood, Amir was not a quality

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When he rapes Hassan he claims it was a small price after he was going to originally take the blue kite. “Assef knelt behind Hassan, put his hands on Hassan’s hips and lifted his bare buttocks….. He positioned himself behind Hassan.” (Amir- Chapter 7 Pg.75) These moments apply that Assef doesn’t care what he does to lower class people and that he is a truly evil and sick person, it also foreshadows that he will be a child rapist and

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In summary, the absence of the lip scar in the movie adaptation of The Kite Runner takes away much of the understanding of the characters and major themes within the novel. The scar is one of the keys to understanding Amir’s emotional transformation, and the journey he takes throughout the story to let go of his past. The scar affects the development of the parallels between Amir and Hassan, Amir

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He would do anything for Hassan to make up for his childhood. After finding Sohrab, Amir comes face to face with Assef, Hassan 's rapist. “Another rib snapped, this time lower. What was so funny was that, for the first time since the winter of 1975, I felt at peace. I laughed because I saw that, in some hidden nook in the corner of my mind, I’d even been looking forward to this…

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Toward the end of The Kite Runner, Amir is left with a physical imperfection as a result of his fight with Assef. Amir’s lip splits in half, which leaves a scar similar to the one Hassan had as a child in the beginning of the book. This new scar on Amir’s lip represents his new ability to stand up for himself and others. As a child, Hassan protected him, while Amir was mostly just a coward. The scar marks a change in his character.

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Later in the book, his regret did not allow him to fully experience his life, which in itself was a form of self-punishment and destructive. When Amir was contacted by Rahim Khan and found out Hassan had a child he was determined to find him, however, the director of the orphanage he was supposed to be in revealed that he had sold him to a Talib, when Amir attempts to rescue Sohrab from his Talib captor, he finds out it is Assef and his only option to rescue Sohrab is to fight him. Amir laughs as he is beaten, thinking to himself, “What was so funny was that, for the first time since the winter of

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In the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, there are many different important conflicts throughout the story. These conflicts are brought upon by the recurring motifs, such as redemption and loyalty. The different dissensions support the ideas of characterization by how they react to the sudden adversity in their lives. Amir attempts to redeem himself through Hassan’s son, Sohrab, by saving him and giving him a better life. Further developing the meaning of the story, connoting the mental struggle and the way priorities change over time, keeping readers mindful of the motifs and how they impact each character.

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