Symbolism In Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner

Khaled Hosseini wrote the Kite Runner with the intentions of displaying the contrasts of good and evil as well as how one may be able to overcome immorality and become a better person through the use of symbolism. The novel begins with a light hearted and childish tone as it depicts the relationship shared between Amir and Hassan. The two face normal insignificant problems that every child runs into. Such as Hassan and Amir having to go up against the school bully, Assef, and Amir struggling to get his father 's approval and love. These problems at first seem completely normal and the readers pay little attention to them, however as the novel evolves and the boys mature the book suddenly plummets towards a much more iniquitous path when the author has Assef rape Hassan over a fallen blue kite and Amir finding out that he had …show more content…
When the kites were first introduced in the novel they only brought merriment and excitement. Amir was obsessed with the kite tournament, because it was the only time when him and Baba’s two separate worlds collided and for a brief moment, they coexisted with each other. “Baba and I lived in the same house, but in different spheres of existence, Kites were the one paper thin slice of intersection between those spheres.” (49 Hosseini ) Even after Amir moves to America, he looks back to the kite flying competitions that he had with Hassan in order to find any source of happiness to stand in place of the loneliness he was now feeling. However, those kite flying days now bring grief and sadness for Amir due to the fact that he allowed Hassan to be raped and stripped of all dignity by Assef. Yet, once Sohrab is saved from Assef the kite holds a new message. The kite tournaments are being held once again, and Sohrab as well as Amir both are now wearing great big smiles on their faces, something that only the flying of the kites could