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Symbols In The Kite Runner

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“The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini is a book published in 2003 that depicts a boy who becomes a man and carries with him guilt from his childhood in Afghanistan. “Master Harold and the Boys” by Athol Fugard is a play published in 1982 about a young man and his relationship with workers employed by his mother at their cafe. Both works of literature have similar themes, symbolism using kites, father figures, and the complexity of friendships. In “The Kite Runner”, the kite represents many things. The kite is a symbol of freedom from the oppression and pressure Amir and Hassan face from their peers and mentors. When they are flying the kite all these troubles melt away. Amir can forget about all the expectations that his dad places on him, …show more content…

The kite represents the unspoken and sometimes unseen unity of Sam and Hally. Something that seems sometimes impossible is seen when these two fly their kite and overcome the barriers of their environment. Hope is represented by the kite’s ability to distract Hally from his current state of living, it pushes aside the sad state Hally was in and brings together him and Sam. For Sam, it represents a life devoid of the segregation and discrimination he faces every day. It allows him to imagine something better for himself and the people around him. However, the kite was quickly put together by a myriad of different materials and parts and because of this, it is weak. It is held together by scraps and represents just how fragile this idea and this moment are. The fragility of the moment is eventually literally shown when the kite lands on another symbol of the play, the whites-only bench. This is the disappointment represented by the kite. Although the kite brings them together and allows for a temporary escape from their current struggles, the kite will break, the moment will end, and Sam and Hally will be faced with the disappointment of their current reality. The kite also serves as a metaphor for life's greater challenges. The two must masterfully guide the kite through the wind and sky and keep it in the air, just as the two work to survive in an extremely complex social environment. In Master Harold and the Boys, the kite represents a bond, hope, freedom, the fragility of life, disappointment, and a

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