Picture Bibliography

Bibliography:

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2-7nkD6inKfpVRgqK4IXa9n8zh0RgYvyoD-k45_kwxw0BuYZD-gSlCfGX6CVteCnV74sp1yoqi-D5Gz9Q7K19hLROx3NNwAMR_sofTbLSmggTWz68GNBgXLI-LKqfEUZrMXRqNT5T1X0O/s640/_42908243_palestinianslingshotap.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OChxp8CIJ2A/TnmuDNIopCI/AAAAAAAAB-c/hpBd4xQl0eg/s400/crying-child-thumb-400xauto-4263.jpg

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvRy9trW-ytp2CXwwmPGA9koQv3sbkto2I8mRpfTa9Rq1lG3uAV9wTtMhJUaF8VaiXfGUpIGsVr7MZSi_aZsQEA9vq6DgJOuuwXIenOyy44I2Bg4tsUabOd7ctF8_bqDnkAf_BREvibuNc/s1600/tim-robbins.jpg

http://agganaa.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/blog41.jpg

http://www.littlemountainhomeopathy.com/wp-content/uploads/infertility.jpg

http://www.filmapia.com/sites/default/files/filmapia/pub/scene/scene/3_11.jpg

http://ak0.picdn.net/shutterstock/videos/398575/preview/stock-footage-great-as-b-roll-for-a-piece-of-violence-and-gangs-a-trio-is-beating-a-young-male-in-a-back-alley.jpg

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZIz5Uj2XVMvh1UPOzGBECoF14nsdbLXD7PxK14vWdTa2B50Osty17_Qqg9qbApgS334fVenuVajkbJpzTph3yeN4YnJNrmjtOg225C7mJ0B89PmFDfyn94a4KqgA6eiMD5dzi-UdqtdI0/s1600/kites.jpg


http://topnews.in/health/files/Indian-kids.jpg

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Juxtaposition

1. Beating of Amir

"He got mad and hit me harder and the harder he kicked me, the harder I laughed." (pg. 297)

2. The Pomegranate Tree 

"Then Hassan did pick up a pomegranate. He walked towards me. He opened it and  crushed it against his own forehead. (pg. 98)

3. Infertility

"He sat across from us, tapped his desk with his fingers, and used the word "adoption" for the first time. Soraya cried all the way home." (pg. 196)

The use of the element of juxtaposition that Khaled Hosseini uses is very strong and effective through the novel. The first juxtaposition to focus on would be the pomegranate tree. Its surrounding a cemetery which supports the crypts and tombs of the dead which they have no essence of life whatsoever yet there is a lively and strong pomegranate tree in the centre of all dead things. This tree focuses the start and end of Amir and Hassan's relationship. Amir carves into the tree his name and Hassan's as the declaration of true friendship and loyalty among one another. However as the novel progresses, Amir meets Hassan at the tree once more striking and pelting Hassan which pomegranates in hopes that Hassan would hit him back. But Hassan keeps his loyalty and even goes to the extent of hurting himself with a pomegranate instead of attacking Amir back and walks away. This creates distance between the two children. The beating of Amir is juxtaposed very strong by Khaled Hosseini. While Amir is getting torn and beaten very badly by Assef, very strangely Amir does not let out a mourn or a cry of pain but rather a laughter. The harder Assef had hit him, the harder and louder Amir had laughed. This was so strong of an image which clearly showed that while he was getting hit by Assef, he was satisfied with himself that he had stood up for himself, and had redeem himself from the guilt he had towards Hassan, salvation by Sohrab. Another juxtaposition in this story would be the infertility of Amir and Soraya. Due to this infertility, the novel is able to progress into Amir saving Hassan's son Sohrab and take him back to America, raising him as his own. This would be just like Baba's father taking in Ali and treating him like his own son, Ali taking Hassan like his own, Baba who takes both Ali and Hassan and treats them like family, and finally the cycle starts anew by Amir taking in Hassan's son Sohrab and raising him like his own.

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Motifs

1. Rape

"Just like I pretended I hadn't seen the dark stain in the seat of his pants. Or those tiny drops that fell from between his legs and stained the snow black." (pg. 84)

2. Redemption

"I hadn't been happy and I hadn't felt better, not at all. But I did now. My body was broken--just how badly I wouldn't find out until later---but I felt healed. Heald at last. I laughed." (pg. 303)

3. Violence

"His brass knuckles flashing in the afternoon light; how cold they felt with the first few blows and how quickly they warmed with my blood. Getting thrown against the wall, a nail where a framed picture may have hung once jabbing at my back." (pg. 302)

Several motifs are found in the novel, "The Kite Runner" and the most obvious and important motif would be violence. The story circles around the aura of violence, where they live around places covered with ethnic group violence and corruption, surrounding their timeline with war, invasion, and coup d'etats. Overthrowing of governments, executions, rape, beating, and abuse are all factors that revolve around the novel of "The Kite Runner". The author used this as a major role to help and further develop the plot for example the violence between Assef, Amir, and Hassan. There is a clear violent intent for Assef which foreshadows future events that Assef would become the violent antagonist of the story. Most of the time where violence is portrayed in the story, Assef would be a key factor to the start or progression of the violent activity. However the violence playing a major role in the story also explains how Amir redeems himself at the end while getting beat to the death by Assef. The violence of the story also connects with the other major motif of this novel, rape. Rape is a huge factor that starts the guilt of Amir and ties in with Assef almost every time it comes up, building his character into a very corrupt, vile antagonist. There are a total of four times rape is brought up in the novel, when Hassan is raped by Assef, when Baba protects the women from getting raped by the Russian soldier, Kamal gets raped by Assef, and when Sohrab is sexually abused and raped by Assef. The motif of rape always appears in the presence of Amir, the turning points of his life. Amir explains in the very first sentences of the novel that the event of Hassan getting raped was the initial factor which had shaped him the man who he was currently. The author used the strong element of putting rape as a motif to motivate and develop the protagonist rapidly and to show us readers how much rape can affect and destroy many others lives. Due to the guilt that Amir did not stand up for Hassan when he was getting raped brings up the other motif of redemption in the novel. Amir seeks to redeem himself from that event, always putting himself on the spot that he is completely guilty of what had occurred to Hassan. He seeks salvation by saving Sohrab who was also sexually abused by Assef. The motif of redemption is first discovered in the story where Amir tries to redeem himself from Baba due to the guilt of killing his own mother. Amir feels that he must impress and receive his attention to fully redeem himself from the awful crime of killing his own mother which was completely unintentional. Redemption also plays a great factor where he must now cross over his guilt of killing his mother and receive approval from Baba to redeem himself from killing his brother, Hassan and the guilt he has for not doing anything as Hassan got raped. This ties in closely together as when Amir is trying to redeem himself for Baba, he ends up doing wrong things which drops him down even further to receive his approval and also adding in another sense of guilt that he must carry on for the rest of his life, or redeem himself in some way. Later on, Amir redeems himself of both guilts by standing up for himself as Baba always wished for and saving Sohrab, Hassan's son from Assef, Amir is once again able to fly kites without any discomfort.

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Symbols

1. The Slingshot

"You are right, Agha. But perhaps you didn't notice that I'm the one holding the slingshot." (pg. 45)

2. The Kite

"Up and down the streets, kite runners were returning triumphantly, their captured kites held high. They showed them off to their parents, their friends. But they all knew the best was yet to come." (pg. 68)

3. The Cleft Lip

"And the cleft lip, just left of midline, where the Chinese doll maker's instrument may have slipped, or perhaps he had simply grown tired and careless." (pg. 3)

Throughout the novel, "The Kite Runner" the author Khaled Hosseini uses various symbols and connects this literary technique to provide connections from the childhood portion of the novel to advance further into the adulthood section of the novel. One of the more important symbol in the novel would be the slingshot. The slingshot symbolizes courage, strength, loyalty, defense, and identity. In Amir and Hassan's childhood days, the slingshot that Hassan had always carried protects both him and Amir from Assef and his group. It represents strength to overcome and scare away foes and at the same time defends themselves. Later on in the story, Hassan's son, Sohrab, uses the slingshot to harm Assef to defend Amir. The slingshot becomes somewhat of an identity for Sohrab and Hassan who continuously protects Amir and shows courage that they are not afraid to harm others for their safety. The cleft lip symbolizes class, social status in the novel. People who often have cleft lips tend to be ignored or of lower class; normal people making fun of them. This cleft lip which Hassan has declares his social status even more lower than being a Hazara servant. Later on in the story, his cleft lip is fixed through surgery and no longer seems abnormal, and blends in with others. As a Hazara servant, his status was already highly mocked but the symbol of the cleft lip even further pushed him down the status chain. The surgery was a huge relief and a ladder to climb back up from the depths of his low social status. Another influential symbol in the novel would obviously be the kite. The kite has a sense of freedom, flying in the vast sky, dancing the wind, however the kite is attached to a string denying that freedom. The kite symbolizes the start of true betrayal and distance for Amir and Hassan. Hassan gets caught by Assef and gets raped and beaten due to his extreme loyalty to Amir and not giving the kite up to Assef. Amir watches this event but does not act betraying Hassan. The kite also symbolizes guilt that Amir has later in his adulthood days because he did not do anything during the process where Hassan was abused. It is ironic how the kite symbolized the string of connection Amir had with Baba yet now it is a symbol of guilt and betrayal. Amir in the ending of the novel flies kites once more after redeeming himself and the kite now truly symbolizes relief and freedom, freedom from all his guilt and betrayal towards Hassan, salvation through Sohrab, and the kite symbolizes the infinite connection between Sohrab and Amir, whom which Amir would do anything for him a thousand times over. \

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