Friday 25 April 2008

Important Symbols on "The Kite Runner"

Hi to everyone! =)

Here is a list of some important symbols which are represented in "The Kite Runner":
  • Assef (symbolizes Amir's past and the event that caused everything to change...);
  • Assef's Brass Knuckles (symbolizes fear);
  • Breast (symbolizes brotherhood since Amir and Hassan were fed at the same breast);
  • Dreams (symbolizes Amir and Hassan's friendship, and so on...);
  • Ford Car (symbolizes Amir and Baba's changing relationship);
  • Kite (symbolizes love, joy, happiness, friendship, peace, freedom, hope, youth, the culture of Afghanistan, Baba's attention to Amir, betrayal, union, the beginning and ending of the book, and bounding of Amir and Hassan);
  • Hotel Lobby (symbolizes falseness of Western affluence and modernity);
  • Pigeons (symbolize faithfulness and trust, flocking to the peace and safety offered by Islam);
  • Pomegranate Tree (symbolizes Amir and Hassan's friendship);
  • Rape (symbolizes loss of innocence - it leads Hassan and Amir to loose their childhood friendship, for Amir to create a world of guilt for himself, and Sohrab to loose his father and attempt suicide);
  • Shahnamah (the stories about Rostan and Sohrab in this book symbolize the goodness and heroic qualities of Hassan and the characteristics to which Amir aspires);
  • Slingshot (symbolizes devotion - in the beginning, Hassan used it to stand up to Assef in the alley, and then at the end, Hassan's son Sohrab used it to protect Amir against Assef after returning to Afghanistan);
  • Snow (symbolizes innocence);
  • Sohrab (symbolizes redemption to Amir, reincarnation of Hassan in the son, and the innocent children of Afghanistan);
  • Television (symbolizes Western influence as well as fulfillment of a promise Amir made to Hassan).

2 comments:

Anabela said...

And all these symbolisms made "The Kite Runner" one of the best books I ever read!!!

Unknown said...

thanks for ur answer!