The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini - Essay Example

Kite fighting represents the aggressive pursuit of the main characters' innermost desires, while kite running stands for how characters wait for redemption from their sins, and so these activities are important because they symbolize the various conflicts present in the novel and how characters define themselves concerning these internal and external conflicts.
Kite fighting stands for how the main characters aggressively pursued their underlying desires, particularly how Amir wants to gain his father's love and attention, while Hassan only yearns to assert his right to Amir's friendship. Kite fighting involves physical and emotional aggression, which these characters demonstrate in the course of the novel. Amir knows that he and his father are completely different, not only physically but in terms of their interests in life. Amir is a poet like his mother, while Baba loves different sports, especially soccer. Baba tries to evoke Amir's sports abilities, but even as a “passionate spectator” (Hosseini 22), Amir falls short of Baba's expectations. As a result, Amir's lifelong mission has been to seek his father's attention and love in other ways.

Winning the kite fighting tournament signifies Amir's ticket to his father's heart. The enormity of this challenge, nevertheless, almost undoes Amir who fears defeat, but Hassan encourages him that there is no monster in the river. As for Hassan, he constantly craves Amir's love and friendship. He has become Amir's bodyguard several times, particularly against Asser and his disciples. Hassan's motto in his life is encapsulated in his statement of obedience to Amir: “For you a thousand times over!” (Hosseini 73). Amir knows this and when he tells the readers of Hassan's and his first words, he is aware of how this obedience will impact their lives: “Mine was Baba. He was Amir... all that followed- was already laid in those first words...” (Hosseini 12). In reality, however, Amir has been ashamed of his friendship with Hassan. Amir and Hassan are products of opposing forces. They are divided by their social, ethnic, historical, and religious differences. Amir is a Pashtun, wealthy, and Sunni, while Hassan is a Hazara, poor, and Shi'a (Hosseini 27). Hence, no matter what Hassan does, he can never actually attain the kind of friendship he offers to Amir. Several times, Hassan lays his life for Amir, but Amir has failed to do the same for Hassan.
Kite running stands for how characters wait for redemption from their sins. Kite runners wait for the kites to drop on them, a more impassive way of competition. Baba is an example of a kite runner. Baba has an illegitimate son, Hassan, but since the latter is a Hazara, he cannot openly accept him. Baba then has conflicting feelings between Hassan and Amir. Hassan, after all, is more like his son, because he is braver and physically strong. Baba's only way of being a father to Hassan is by sons “equally but differently” (Hosseini 347), which made Amir envious of Hassan. Amir also realizes that when Baba helps others, it is his way of absolving himself from his sin of abandoning his son. What Baba cannot directly provide for his illegitimate son, he willingly gives to others. Amir, furthermore, has past sins to atone for “like father, like son”(Hosseini 244). While Hassan defends Amir's kite from Asser, Amir watches and fails to defend Hassan, as Asser and his friends rape him. Amir pretends he does not know anything and that he has not “seen the dark stain in the seat of [Hassan's] pants” (Hosseini 86). This dark blood haunts Amir for the rest of his life because it reminds him of his ultimate cowardice. It tells him that he does not deserve his half-brother's “guileless devotion” (Hosseini 86). The novel, nevertheless, unravels in a way that gives Amir a chance “to be good again” (Hosseini 2). Amir finds his courage and saves Sohrab from Asser. Like a kite runner, Amir does not fight Asser and instead, he “pays” for his sins by letting Asser beat him to a pulp. Amir's physical pain made him feel “healed at last” (Hosseini 312). He knows that as his body rocks in pain, he gets what he deserves for not fighting for his half-brother's integrity.
Kite running and kite fighting are important activities because they symbolize the various conflicts present in the novel and how characters define themselves concerning these internal and external conflicts. Amir and Baba suffer from conflict with themselves. They are both cowards when it comes to fighting for the people they love. They are also in conflict with their society. Social status and ethnicities divide their loyalties. Amir and Baba let society strongly define who they are and what they want to be. Because of their obedience to their society, they lose numerous opportunities to become better human beings.
These kite activities represent the importance of freedom from one's sins, which can be attained by aggressive or passive means. Amir and Baba discover ways to redeem themselves, so that they can both be “good” again, by standing up for what is right in the name of love and honor. Read More