Symbolism and Motifs

Symbols
The Cleft Lip
Hassans cleft lip is one of his most representative features as a child, and it is
one of the features Amir refers to most in describing him. The split in Hassans lip
acts as a mark of Hassans status in society. It signifies his poverty, which is one
of the things that separates him from Amir, simply because a cleft lip indicates
that he and his family do not have the money to fix the deformity. Baba, who is
Hassans biological father, chooses to pay a surgeon to repair Hassans lip as a
birthday gift, signifying his secret fatherly love for Hassan. Later, Assef splits
Amirs lip as he beats him, leaving Amir with a permanent scar much like
Hassans. In a sense, Amirs identity becomes merged with Hassans. He learns
to stand up for those he cares about, as Hassan once did for him, and he
becomes a father figure to Sohrab. Because of this, it also serves as a sign of
Amirs redemption.
Kites
The kite serves as a symbol of Amirs happiness as well as his guilt. Flying kites
is what he enjoys most as a child, not least because it is the only way that he
connects fully with Baba, who was once a champion kite fighter. But the kite
takes on a different significance when Amir allows Hassan to be raped because
he wants to bring the blue kite back to Baba. His recollections after that portray
the kite as a sign of his betrayal of Hassan. Amir does not fly a kite again until he
does so with Sohrab at the end of the novel. Because Amir has already redeemed
himself by that point, the kite is no longer a symbol of his guilt. Instead, it acts as
a reminder of his childhood, and it also becomes the way that he is finally able to
connect with Sohrab, mirroring the kites role in Amirs relationship with Baba.
The Lamb
In Islam, as in Christianity, the lamb signifies the sacrifice of an innocent. Amir
describes both Hassan and Sohrab as looking like lambs waiting to be
slaughtered. Similarly, he describes Sohrab as looking like a slaughter sheep
when he first sees Sohrab with Assef. Assef and the others had put mascara on
Sohrabs eyes, just as Amir says the mullah used to do to the sheep before
slitting its throat. Both Hassan and Sohrab are innocents who are figuratively
sacrificed by being raped, but these sacrifices have very different meanings. In
Hassans case, Amir sacrifices him for the blue kite. But in Sohrabs case, Amir is
the one who stops his sexual abuse. In this context, sacrifice is portrayed as the
exploitation of an innocent.
The Pomegranate Tree
Symbolises Amir and Hassans friendship. When Amir returns to Afghanistan, the
tree, just like Amirs memories, still exists, but no longer bears fruits. The tree
not only, is a symbol of a unifying force between Amir and Hassan, but also
serves as a source of division (JUXTAPOSITION). Amir wants Hassan to hit him
with the pomegranate fruit in order to inflict a physical punishment and lessen
his guilt, instead, Hassan breaks the fruit over his own head. Represent the spirit
of Afghanistan

Slingshot
Representing two generations, the slingshot symbolises both childhood as well as
the need to stand up for what is right.
Motifs
Rape
Rape recurs throughout the novel. The most significant instances of rape are
Assefs rape of Hassan and his later rape of Sohrab. Hassans rape is the source
of Amirs guilt, which motivates his search for redemption, while stopping
Sohrabs rape becomes Amirs way of redeeming himself. In each case, rape is a
critical element in the novels plot. Other instances of rape include Baba stopping
the rape of the woman in the truck with them as they flee Kabul, and the rape of
Kamal that Kamals father implies. As a motif, rape is important for multiple
reasons. It is not just physically violent, but it is also an attack on the victims
emotions and dignity.
Irony
The novels greatest irony, and its most tragic, centres on Amirs choice not to
stop Hassans rape. Amir doesnt intervene because he wants Babas approval,
which he knows he can earn by bringing home the kite and proving that he, like
Baba, is a winner. But by not stopping Assef and the others, Amir becomes
exactly the sort of coward Baba worried Amir would become, and unwittingly
allows Babas sonand his own brotherto be raped, as he does not yet know
that Baba is Hassans father. Amir ultimately wants to be happy, but instead he
earns himself an overwhelming sense of guilt. There is a further irony in the fact
that Amir only realises how much he resembles Baba when he discovers that
Baba conceived Hassan with Sanaubar, Alis wife. Amir wants to share the best of
Babas traits, but instead what they share is the betrayal of their best friends.
Regressing in Time
Amir does not exactly have flashbacks, which would suddenly put him back in
the midst of an earlier event. Instead he repeatedly moves the story back in time
to give a history of what he is talking about. The novel begins with him living in
San Francisco, for instance, then immediately jumps back to his childhood in
Kabul. Shortly after that, he jumps back yet again, this time to Babas and Alis
childhood. When he meets Rahim Khan in Pakistan, Rahim Khan starts his own
story by going back in time and telling Amir what Hassans life has been like.
Amir tells his story to a reader who has no knowledge of any of this beforehand,
and his choice to regress in time and give the back story of each character does
two things: it provides critical information about the characters history, and it
also reinforces the thematic idea that the past defines the present.
Deformities
It is interesting that the characters in The Kite Runner that do bad things do
not have any deformities, for example Amir, Baba and Assef. Characters like Ali,

Hassan and Soraya all have deformities and are depicted as very good people.
Ali with his many imperfections and nickname of boogeyman by children is
also possibly the kindest character in the whole book. Hassan with his cleft lip
displays such admirable qualities in a person not only is he loyal but he is also
very protective. Soraya with her sickle shaped birthmark helps Amir through his
fathers Cancer and his later death, she also welcomes Sohrab into her home with
open arms. These physically disfigured characters seem to show such goodness
and so many fine qualities which is put into interesting and direct opposition to
the characters mentioned earlier, Amir, Baba and Assef who display bad
qualities. Amir is not only selfish but also very disloyal, Baba is also unfaithful to
his friend Ali and unloving to Amir and finally Assef is undoubtedly villainous.