Symbolic images in The Kite Runner

【Abstract】The Kite Runner written by Afghan-American writer Khaled Hosseini was published in 2003. Although it was his debut novel， it was a tremendous success—the best-seller of many regions at that time. Apart from its compelling language and impressive stories， the novel was greatly rich in symbolism， which served to further develop the plots and deepen the theme.

【Key words】symbolism； Afghan； the slingshot； the kite

1. Introduction

Amir， born in a better off family， and Hassan， a Hazara servant， lived in peaceful Kabul. With Hassans help， Amir won the local kite fighting tournament. Hassan ran for the last blue kite， a symbol of the great trophy. He said to Amir： “For you， a thousand times over.”But just after saying this sentence， these two boys lives changed hugely. Hassan was beaten severely and raped by relentless Assef. Loyal Hassan sacrificed himself to keep his promise； coward Amir kept quiet about the incidence to earn his strict fathers praise. Five years later， the Soviet Union militarily intervened in Afghan， Amir and his father escaped and finally settled in California. A few years later， Amir received a call from his fathers loyal friend， learning that Hassan was shot to death by Taliban officials. What shocked Amir was that Hassan was his half-brother. His father hid the truth to keep his own reputation. He realized he had the duty to rescue his nephew Sohrab， Hassans son， from an orphanage. But Sohrab was taken away by a Taliban official， which was Assef. Assef badly beat Amir until Sohrab used a slingshot to trigger a brass ball into Assefs left eye. And then they hurriedly ran out of the house. In the end， Amir adopted Sohrab and ran the kite for Sohrab with all his heart in a kite fighting. The story is a portrayal of Afghans and Afghan cultures. It is also about the relationship between fathers and sons， men and their countries.

Symbolic literature originated in France in the middle of the 19th century. Charles Chadwick defined it in his book Symbolism： symbolism is an indirect way to express thoughts and emotions， which are not clearly limited by concrete images. Employing symbols that are not illustrated would leave room for readers to imagine and thus they could create their own understanding. The Kite Runner， in which several images were used to indicate the writers thoughts and feelings， is a typical example of symbolism literature.

2. Symbolic images in the novel

2.1 Amirs mother and Hassans mother

Two female images—Amirs mother and Hassans mother are impressive. Amirs mother was a well-educated and an elegant woman. He missed his mother so much that he often read the books that his mother left. The books were like the bond which tied Amir to his mother. Similarly， he had this kind of bond with Afghan. In this case， his mother is a symbol of homeland. Though he felt depressed about the devastated country， he still had a strong feeling for his homeland. Hassans mother， who was quite different from Amirs mother， was beautiful but notorious. She married handicapped Ali but abandoned her family relentlessly. Nonetheless， Hassan did not banish his mother when he saw her again. On the contrary， he chose to forgive and accept this woman who had deserted him. Hassans mother stands for Afghan at that time when it suffered terribly in wars. Both of them were weak and powerless， but both of them were accepted by their “children”. No matter how dilapidated it became， the homeland would never be abhorred by its own citizens.

These symbolic images manifest the writers emotions： for one thing， he regarded his homeland as his mother， to which the connection could not be cut off； for another， he sincerely hoped that a “healthy” and “vibrant” country could come back. So the people who lived there would be able to fight for their country and the country would be capable of sheltering its own inhabitants.

2.2 The slingshot

Hassan would shoot walnuts at the neighbors dog， just because Amir wanted to have some fun. At that time， the slingshot injected fun into their life. But the function of it changed when Amir and Hassan met Assef. Facing outrageous Assef， Amir trembled. At stake， Hassan took out his slingshot and pointed it directly at Assefs face to prevent Amir from being hurt. He did not look scared， which was in stark contrast to Amir. What was disheartening was when Hassan was bullied and raped by Assef， he did not carry the slingshot with him. It might be the reason why Hassan taught his son to use slingshots. He hoped that the slingshot could be used to protect his son in an emergency. In this way， the struggling spirit and the valorous character was passed to the Hassans son by the slingshot.

To stress its symbolic meaning， the writer used almost the same language to describe how Hassan and his son operated the slingshot： “…pulled the wide elastic band all the way back…pointed to Assefs face…” The slingshot also reflected the shift of Amirs emotions and character. In the beginning， Amir just regarded Hassan as a servant not a friend of his. But later， out of conscience， he saw Hassan and Sohrab as his family members. When the slingshot was held to point at Assef for the first time， namely， Amir faced Assef at the first time； he scared terribly and did not dare to say something offensive. However， when the slingshot showed up for the second time， Amir had the courage to fight with Assef and showed his tough attitude. All of these plots were strung together by the slingshot.

2.3 The kite

As for Amir， the kite meant a lot. His father laid too much hope on Amir and thus was very strict with him. Amir thought that his father did not love him so much because his mother who was his father beloved one died in childbirth. In addition， young Amir was selfish. He even hated the kids who his father was building an orphanage for. The kite here demonstrated the condition in which Amir was lack of paternal love and was in great need of fathers company and recognition.

Concerning Hassan， “kite” was a sign of his fortitude but also a sign of the insurmountable social stratum difference. Hassans life was tottering like a flying kite. He was a boy of integrity， but this kind of virtue was weak and could be “cut” easily like the kites string. What remained was the fixed pattern in Afghan. Servants had the duty of serving their masters in almost every aspect in their life. Hassan was a representative of victims at that time. Hazara， a servant， a member of the poor， all of these became the reasons why Hassan was discarded， first by his master and then by his government. He was a scapegoat not only for his biological father but also for selfish Pashtuns.

When it comes to the whole nation， “kite” has a far more extended meaning. In the writers memory， Afghan was a land with the trait of valiant nature. Afghan was freezing in winter. The bitter cold， whereas， did not diminish peoples zeal for kite fighting at all. Rather， the person who won the fighting would be seen as a heroic warrior. The process of making a kite was likened to that of making weapons； the cut was likened to the wound during a war. Meanwhile， the inequality and brutality in the tournament suggested later unrest and the distortion of humanity， which deviated far from the nations spirit.

3. Conclusion

The writer offers a lesson on the bleak and horrible life during the invasion and the history of his beloved homeland and a chance to let readers be closer to a miserable nation. Apart from rich content and incredibly wonderful language， the extended meanings of those symbolic images provide readers with an engaging and heartbreaking story that reveals how hard Afghans struggled through the forces of violence. Hosseinis strong desire for peaceful country without separation and discrimination is expressible through the description of characters and images in the novel， which leads people to think deeper and further about humanity and society.

References：

[1]Khaled Hosseini，The Kite Runner.New York： Penguin Group（USA）INC.，2007，73.

[2]Charles Chadwick，Symbolism（translation version）.Beijing： Kunlun Press，1989，3（查爾斯·查德威克著，周发祥译，《象征主义》，北京昆仑出版社，1989，3）.

[3]Khaled Hosseini，The Kite Runner，30.

[4]Khaled Hosseini，The Kite Runner，313.

[5]Guo lishengnan，A brief analysis of the “scapegoat” in The Kite Runner（in Chinese），Masterpieces Review，2015-3：108-109（郭逦盛楠，浅谈《追风筝的人》中哈桑的替罪羊形象，载《名作欣赏》，2015年第3期，108-109）.

[6]Wang Jianyong，An analysis of the “kite” in The kite Runner（in Chinese），Journal of Beijing Jiaotong University（Social Sciences Edition），2009-8（2）： 92（王建荣，《追风筝的人》风筝意象的解读，载《北京交通大学学报》，2009年8卷第2期，92）.

作者简介：许晓桐（1995.7.8-），女，内蒙古赤峰人，本科在读。