The kite runner

‘The kite runner’ is an extraordinary novel written by Khaled Hosseini that follows the perspective of Amir, the protagonist of the story. The director uses symbols such as the kite, Sohrab and the pomegranate tree to help us understand the relationship between Amir and Hassan. Near the beginning of the novel, Hosseini uses the slingshot as a symbol to explore the start of Amir and Hassan’s friendship. Amir and Hassan are best friends even though they hold two very different statuses; Amir is the son of a rich man, while Hassan is a Hazara and therefore a servant to his family. They play together and Hassan always follows Amir’s orders without fail even “firing walnuts with his slingshot at the neighbor’s one eyes German shepherd,” although it is done hesitantly. Hassan never tells anyone about how the evil ideas are all Amir’s, “he never told on me. Never told that mirror, like shooting walnuts at the neighbor’s dog was always my idea,” states Amir. The readers are made mindful that Hassan and Amir’s friendship is stable; Amir knows that Hassan will always protect him by taking the blame for what Amir has done.
Hassan also protects Amir from Assef using the slingshot. Assef manipulates them both, and to get away from him, Hassan pulls out his slingshot to frighten him. Assef backs away from them as Hassan threatens that if he makes a move, “they’ll have to change your name from Assef the ear eater to one eyed Assef,” Hassan commanded. This is enough to keep Assef and his followers away for now, however not for long. The symbol slingshot foreshadows an upcoming event, when Sohrab takes his father’s place in protecting Amir with the slingshot. The director uses the kite as another symbol to represent the downfall of Hassan and Amir’s friendship. Amir and Hassan win the kite running tournament, which makes Amir’s baba extremely proud. This is a moment to prove to baba how capable Amir is, and therefore the blue kite is of great significance to Amir.