The Kite Runner Foil Analysis

Khaled Hosseini’s uses of foils. parallelism, and metaphor in The Kite Runner majorly help to convey its meaning. They execute this by highlighting many of the book’s motifs, such as redemption and regret. Additionally, they allow for some of the book’s major themes to be exuded. If not for these stylistic choices of the author, much of The Kite Runner’s meaning would also be lost because of their importance in developing both the story’s characters and plot. In particular, the character arc of Amir, the main protagonist of the book, would be stripped of an immense amount of significance due to these literary devices having such a prominent role in establishing the character’s inner and outer conflict.

In particular, much of the story’s use

For example, the metaphor of life being a train (185) exudes one of its most important themes: life constantly progresses and never ceases until the ride is over, and thus, one lacks the time necessary to obsess over the past or future. Similarly, since Amir is so troubled over his past, he must confront it so that he can move on with his life. After discussing becoming a father and husband, Dr. Rosen “welcomes Amir aboard (185)” the train of life. In doing this, Hosseini is both further presenting the priorly mentioned theme and using the transformative power of parenthood as a red-herring. According to Rosen, deciding to have a child is like taking a seat on the train of life. However, Soraya is unfortunately infertile, meaning that Amir will must find another way to redeem himself and get over the past. Another way in which Amir attempts to escape his problematic past is through continuing his life as an American. By calling America a river (136), Hosseini once again establishes that Amir desires to find a way to peace of mind and redemption without actually confronting his past. Just like a river continues to move until it is brought into something much bigger, Amir wants to move on and continue to until he finds a larger meaning. It is because of his regretful nature that he is so quick to both