What metaphors are in The Kite Runner?

Answer 1

Now a major style of language that Hosseini has used in this novel is the use of metaphors, behind the very title of the story lurks a metaphor. For the benefit of those who didn't grow up in Afghanistan -- as Hosseini and Amir did -- a kite runner is a sort of spotter in the ancient sport of kite fighting. In a kite fight, competitors coat their kite strings in glue and ground glass, the better to cut their rivals'. While the fighter's kite is swooping in an effort to rule the skies, his kite-running partner is racing to own the streets, chasing down all their opponents' sinking trophies. It's a fresh, arresting, immediately visual image, and Hosseini uses it well enough as a symbol for Amir's privileged Afghan childhood in the 1970s, when he and his faithful servant, Hassan, had the run of Kabul's streets. Near the novel's end, when the adult Amir returns in secret to Taliban-controlled, sniper-infested Kabul in search of Hassan's lost son, the contrast with his protected, kite-flying youth could hardly be more pronounced, or more effective.

Answer 2

One metaphor in "The Kite Runner" is the kites themselves, symbolizing innocence, redemption and betrayal. Another metaphor is the pomegranate tree, representing the relationship between Amir and Hassan. Lastly, the cleft lip Hassan is born with serves as a metaphor for his outsider status in society.

Answer 3

Now a major style of language that Hosseini has used in this novel is the use of metaphors, behind the very title of the story lurks a metaphor. For the benefit of those who didn't grow up in Afghanistan -- as Hosseini and Amir did -- a kite runner is a sort of spotter in the ancient sport of kite fighting. In a kite fight, competitors coat their kite strings in glue and ground glass, the better to cut their rivals'. While the fighter's kite is swooping in an effort to rule the skies, his kite-running partner is racing to own the streets, chasing down all their opponents' sinking trophies. It's a fresh, arresting, immediately visual image, and Hosseini uses it well enough as a symbol for Amir's privileged Afghan childhood in the 1970s, when he and his faithful servant, Hassan, had the run of Kabul's streets. Near the novel's end, when the adult Amir returns in secret to Taliban-controlled, sniper-infested Kabul in search of Hassan's lost son, the contrast with his protected, kite-flying youth could hardly be more pronounced, or more effective.