Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner is about a man named Amir who, seeking redemption for the sins of his childhood, must return to his hometown in Afghanistan to set things right. As Amir’s friend, Rahim Khan, tells him, “Come. There is a way to be good again.” (192) Hosseini uses symbolism in the book very often to portray many different ideas and feelings.
An obvious example of symbolism would be kites. Kites symbolize many different things for different people in The Kite Runner. For Amir, kites first represent the hope that Baba will be proud of him, and then the guilt that he feels about the rape incident. “I looked up at those twin kites. I thought about Hassan. Thought about Baba. Ali. Kabul. I thought of the life I had lived until the winter of 1975 came along and changed everything. And made me what I am today.” (2) They symbolize Baba and Amir’s relationship, both loving kites, and, near the end of the book, Amir and Sohrab’s relationship, as their kite flying is what caused Sohrab to smile after so much time of sadness. Kites symbolize Hassan’s desire to be treated as more than just some Hazara boy. He is able to run kites better than anyone else in the city, showing that even though he is a Hazara, he is still able to top others in some fields. Later in the novel, though, kites symbolize the rape incident for Hassan, and cause him only feelings of sorrow. In general, kites symbolize hope and freedom, as they remind Afghans of older and simpler times, before the Russian invasion and the rule of the Taliban.
Blood is also an important symbol in the book. As General Taheri says, “Blood is a powerful thing, bachem, never forget that.” (187) A person’s place in society is based on their bloodline. Sickness is symbolized by blood for both Baba and Rahim Khan. Blood is used to symbolize Hassan’s loss of innocence when Amir thinks to himself, “…I pretended I hadn’t seen the dark stain in the seat of his pants. Or those tiny drops that fell from between his...