The kite in The Kite Runner

          In the book, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, the kite is a prominent symbol. In their culture, kite fighting is a custom. Amir and Hassan fight together. Amir is the kite fighter and Hassan is the kite runner. Kites for Amir are first a symbol of his relationship with Baba, later, his guilt about Hassan, and finally, a reminder of his childhood.

          During the first part of the book, Amir is looking for Baba's love and pride. he always feels like Hassan gets the attention and Baba is never interested in him. The one thing that Amir and Baba do together is fight kites.  Amir enters the contest with Hassan but his main purpose is to impress Baba.  When Amir wins the competition, he sees Baba on the roof cheering for him. He thinks he has finally won Babas acceptance when he says " Then I saw Baba on our roof. He was standing on the edge, pumping both of his fists. Hollering and clapping. And that right there was the single greatest moment of my twelve years of life, seeing Baba on that roof, proud of me at last" (66) He sees that Baba is finally proud of him and he says that it is the greatest moment of his life.

          After Amir wins the kite fighting competition and he sees Baba, finally proud of him, all he thinks about is getting the blue kite to Baba to solidify Babas feelings. Hassan had gone to get the kite but he did not return so Amir went out to look for him.  Amir found Hassan being tormented by Assef and his friends. He could have said something and stood up for Hassan but he didn't. Amir ran away and let Hassan get raped by Assef rather than stand up for him the way he had done for Amir many times before. He justified his decision when he said "Assef was right, nothing was free in this world. Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay in order to win Baba." (77) He abandoned Hassan so that he could get the kite to give to Baba. He just wanted the kite to give to Baba and any way he could get it, he would.

          Towards the end of the book, Amir had not flown kites in a long time. He had not flown a kite since the competition that he won. During the previous parts of the book, Amir had time to reflect on the bad things he did. He visited his old friend Rahim Khan who was about to die. Rahim Khan asked Amir to go to Kabul and find Hassans son Sohrab.  Amir was very afraid and refused to do it. Later, Amir came back and told Rahim that he was going to Kabul.  After a lot of work, he finally found Sohrab and was able to take him home with him. At the very end of the story when Amir and Sohrab are flying the kite, It resembles two relationships that Amir had before.  Amir is showing Sohrab that he really cares about him, something that Baba rarely showed.  Amir also runs the kite for Sohrab after they win and he says, "For you a thousand times over."

          The kite plays a role in many of the important events in this book. It also symbolizes many of Amir's deepest feelings. The kite is something that brings Amir and Baba together which then causes the relationship between Amir and Hassan to fall apart. Kites symbolize Amirs feelings of need, guild, and redemption throughout the story.