The Past of Unatoned Sins: Kite Runner

By

Megg Collins

ENG 3UIB

For Mr. Thompson

October 15, 2007

 Collins Page 1 4/26/2008

Khaled Hosseini’s allegorical novel, The Kite Runner tells the story of the rise and downfall of the relationship of the main characters, Amir and Hassan, and inadvertently the rise and downfall of Afghanistan. More importantly, is how the main characters are symbolical to important Afghani figures, and how the main themes of this novel are symbolical to Afghani life. The novel, The Kite Runner is an excellent example of an allegory between the powerful story told throughout the pages, and the everyday life of Afghanistan.

Firstly, in Khaled Hosseini’s novel, the main characters of the novel prove to be highly symbolic to important Afghani figures. Amir the narrator of the story tells his story as a young coward child and his growth into a brave man who is ready to stick up for him and the one he loved most. Amir’s defining moment as a child is when he makes the ultimate decision “I had one last chance to make a decision. One final opportunity to decide who I was going to be… In the end, I ran. I ran because I was a coward.” (Hosseini 77) This moment marks Amir as a coward. Amir represents the average Pashtun. Too afraid for sticking up for what is right, but then thinking being sympathetic is enough.

Join now!

Assef is another very important character in the novel. He is a bully, the brutalizer of Hassan, the destructor of Hassan’s childhood innocence. Later on in the story, Assef becomes a member of the Taliban. “The Talib, looking absurdly like a baseball pitcher on the mound, hurled the stone at the blindfolded man. It struck the side of his head.” (Hosseini 271) Assef represents all Pashtun extremists, typically the Taliban. Unlike

Collins        Page 2        4/26/2008

Amir, who taunts Hazaras because he is afraid to stick up for himself or them, Assef feels he resembles Hitler, and that Hazaras deserve to ...

This is a preview of the whole essay