The Symbolism of “Kite” in The Kite Runner

裘逸樺 陸熙

1. Introduction

The Kite Runner was written by a famous Afghan American writer Khaled Hosseinal. The book was set in the culture of the unique Moslem culture in Afghan — the activity of kites running. The paper will analysis the change of their relationship， experiencing the betrayal and salvation， over their growth. The use of symbolism gives the kite presented in the book a profound meaning， which varies from Amir to Hassan. The paper focuses on the revealing of the symbolic meaning of kite， respectively to Amir and Hassan. Besides， According to the background at that time， the paper will further illustrate the meaning of the kite in depth.

2.1 Amir and Hassan

Briefly， Amir is the son of a rich family while Hassan is the servant of the family. Hassan is also the bastard of Amirs father， which adds more vivid plots to the book. Hassan has said： “FOR YOU，A THOUSANG TIME OVER” ， which touches thousands of readers including me.Born into a Pashtun family in 1963， he was born with a lot of respect.The author mentioned in Chapter Four： “But in none of his stories did Baba ever refer to Ali as his friend. The curious thing was， I never thought of Hassan and me as friends either.” But Hassan is Amirs closest childhood friend.Moreover， it would make Hassan a Pashtun according to tribal law and not Hazara as he's actually the son of Baba， and ironic for Assef to bully him as both Assef and Hassan are half Pashtuns. Hassan is later killed by the Taliban for refusal to abandon Amirs property.

2.2 The Image of “Kite”

Kite whose images appear as a clue is throughout the whole book， conveying some certain cultural meanings.The first experience happened when Amir was at 12 years age.Amir then kept in sense of guilt and could not get relieve. The second kite running happened when he was ready to do some compensation for expiation after many years later. He spared great effort to save Hassans son Sohrab. When he cut off the line of others kite， Sohrab gave a smile on his face. This smile finally help Amir out of years guilty and he got relieve like the kite cut off by him. He betrayed Hassan at the process of kite running and later he also relieved himself to atone in kite running.

2.2.1 The Image of the Kite to Amir

Amir and Hassan grew up together and played together. However， there have been great changes in their relationship since the kite running competition at the age of 12.Therefore， he was not willing to meet Hassan and did all that he could to drive his family out of his house. A call （Chapter One has mentioned it） broke the quite life and reminded him of what he had ever done in Afghan.The kite he lost years ago regained at that moment but he didnt stop to make expiation because Sohrab got infantile autism due to the longtime maltreat. The smile appearing on his face made Amir really relieved.

2.2.2 The Image of the Kite to Hassan

Hassans life is transient but full of much unfairness and bullying. But it is acknowledged that he is a person with a lot of virtues. He would have lived a calm life but actually his life was full of difficulties. He is very different from Amir. Hassan is brave， loyal and kind. Hassan devoted his transient life to serve Amirs family. He is like a kite with less freedom. He has little power to control his own life like the kite flying in the sky， having on choice to cut the line. He was a bastard of Amirs father so he was born with disgrace for not accepting by the society. Another similarity between Hassan and the kite is their turbulent and transient life. Therefore， Hassan was not only chasing for the kite but the fairness among people， freedom and kindness.

3. The Symbolism of “Kite”

3.1 Social Stratum Difference

It is obvious that between Amir and Hassan exists social stratum difference. The difference restricts their relationship， one is respected as a master and the other is menial as a servant. Their difference firstly comes from their nationalities and then comes from their lot. As a matter of a fact， Amir and Hassan are biological brothers， but Hassan is the bastard， which decides his unfair life. He chases the kite of rivals for Hassan. His happiness is always placed after that of Amir. Moreover， his comfortable life in Amirs house is gained because of his service to Amir. No matter what he does has the same purpose that is for Amir， as he said “For you， a thousand time over”.

3.2 Betrayal and Expiation

As the paper mentioned above， the book starts with the kite and ends with the kite. After Amir didnt give hands to Hassan timely in the competition， he experienced Hassans being bullied and became in great pain and sense of guilty. He firstly wanted to escape meeting with them but still could not face his own conscience. The memory of kite is bond with that experience. He was determined to do something to atone for his crime. He saved Sohrab in Afghan and tried to cure his infantile autism by kite running. The two experiences of kite running are exactly the two moments of his betrayal and expiation.

4. Conclusion

The Kite Runner begins with kite and ends with kites. It has ever mentioned affections between family and relationships， expiation and appreciation， lies and reality. As for Amir， it was his selfishness and cowardice in his childhood that hurt Hassan.Sohrab finally regained the happiness of life after Amir took him to kite running. It made Amir relieve from the sense of guilty. Khaled Hosseinal shows us the growth of Amir. One needs to be grateful and be brave to face the mistakes made by ourselves. In order to not be afflicted by conscience， never should we easily lose principles and violate our conscience.

Work Cited

[1]Khaled Hosseinal， The Kite Runner. New York： The Penguin Group， 2003.

[2]The paper has referred to and quoted some content from “The Kite Runner” in Wikipedia at：https：//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kite_Runner.