Symbols In Kite Runner

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English 12 When Amir went back to Afghanistan, Rahim Khan gave him a letter from Hassan. In this letter Hassan had written “the tree hasn’t borne fruit in years”. The tree that Hassan is referencing to is a pomegranate tree that they had often visited as children. On the tree they had inscribed “Amir and Hassan, sultans of Kabul”. This tree was a symbol of the boy’s friendship. In the story many important developments occurred at this tree, including the incident when a short time after Hassan was raped Amir threw pomegrantes at Hassan. Hassan did pick up a pomegranate. He walked toward Amir, opened it and crushed it against his own forehead. “There,” he croaked, red dripping down his face like blood. “Are you satisfied? Do you feel better?” He turned around and started down the hill. The tree was where they spent their summer days and also where, after the incident with Assef, their friendship came to an end. When Hassan said the tree hadn’t borne fruit in years, he is using the tree as a direct meaning of their friendship ending. “ I actually aspired to cowardice, because the alternative, the real reason I was running, was that Assef was right: Nothing was free in this world. Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba. Was it a fair price? The answer floated to my conscious mind before I could thwart: He was just a Hazara, wasn’t he?” Kites in the novel have multiple layers of symbolism. One of these layers involves the class difference between Amir and Hassan, which largely dictates and limits their relationship. In kite fighting, one controls the kite while the other assists by feeding the string. Just as Hassan makes Amir's breakfast, folds his clothes, and cleans his room, so does he cater to Amir in kite tournaments. Even though Hassan shares in the excitement of kite fighting, he does not actually have control over the
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