“Running Kites or Fighting Kites; the True Meaning of Honor”
The use of kites as visual imagery in Khaled Hosseini’s novel “The Kite Runner” represent the master/servant relationship between Hassan and Amir. They also reflect images of war, both inward struggles and the expectations of the culture that the characters are a part of. Finally, the use of kites, both kite fighting and kite running, serve as metaphors to represent the higher noble achievement of honor and what honor truly means. Kite fighting and kite running are juxtaposed together to emphasize those intangible things in life that affect us as individuals to our very core; love, betrayal, loyalty, and apathy; those things that scar us or make us better people. The true meaning of honor, victory, friendship, and love are underscored by the author’s use of kites in this novel.
The novel begins with Amir considering the phone call that he had gotten from Rahim Kahn. The pair of floating kites represents the relationship between Hassan and Amir. Although as children they ran the streets of Kabul, much like the kites “[dancing] high above the trees” (1), there were failures that Amir had to face. This is illustrated by the kites that are represented as “a pair of eye’s looking down” (2) as if they are Hassan’s eye’s peering into his soul and reminding him of both Hassan’s unwavering loyalty and his own complete failure in reciprocating such devotion. While reflecting on this phone call he realizes that it is not just a call from an old friend but his past of “unatoned sins” (1) calling him and requesting payment. He looks up and see’s a pair of kites “floating side by side like a pair of eyes looking down” (2) and hears Hassan’s voice in his head; “for you a thousand times over” (2). He considers the phone call and the final words of his old friend; “There is a way to be good again” (2). His guilt is magnified with this scene as it asks him how he is going to make it right. This imagery depicts a...