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Symbols
Kites are obviously an important image in The Kite Runner, and for Amir they act as symbols of both his childhood happiness and his betrayal of Hassan. When he tries to remember something happy in the fuel truck, Amir immediately thinks of his carefree days flying kites with Hassan. After Hassan’s rape, however, kites become a reminder of Amir’s betrayal and guilt. In the novel’s political theme, kites represent Afghanistan’s “glory days” of the monarchy, as kite-flying is later banned by the Taliban. At the end of the book Amir flies a kite with Sohrab, symbolizing hope for redemption for both Amir’s sins and Afghanistan’s.
Kites Quotes in The Kite Runner
The The Kite Runner quotes below all refer to the symbol of Kites. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 4
Quotes
The curious thing was, I never thought of Hassan and me as friends either… Never mind that we spent entire winters flying kites, running kites. Never mind that to me, the face of Afghanistan is that of a boy with a thin-boned frame… a boy with Chinese doll face perpetually lit by a harelipped smile. Never mind any of these things. Because history isn’t easy to overcome. Neither is religion. In the end, I was a Pashtun and he was a Hazara, I was Sunni and he was Shi’a, and nothing was ever going to change that.
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Chapter 6
Quotes
I was going to win, and I was going to run that last kite. Then I’d bring it home and show it to Baba. Show him once and for all that his son was worthy.
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Chapter 14
Quotes
My suspicions had been right all those years. He knew about Assef, the kite, the money, the watch with the lightning bolt hands. He had always known.
Come. There is a way to be good again, Rahim Khan had said on the phone just before hanging up.
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Chapter 25
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“Do you want me to run that kite for you?”
His Adam’s apple rose and fell as he swallowed… I thought I saw him nod.
“For you, a thousand times over,” I heard myself say.
Then I turned and ran.
It was only a smile, nothing more… A tiny thing… But I’ll take it. With open arms. Because when spring comes, it melts the snow one flake at a time, and maybe I just witnessed the first flake melting.
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Get the entire The Kite Runner LitChart as a printable PDF.
Kites Symbol Timeline in The Kite Runner
The timeline below shows where the symbol Kites appears in The Kite Runner. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...he lives in San Francisco now. He walks around Golden Gate Park and watches two kites flying overhead. The kites make Amir think of his past in Afghanistan, and especially a...
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Chapter 6
...of Kabul, as school is closed because of snow and everyone spends their time flying kites. Amir finds the icy city beautiful, and flying kites together is when he and Baba...
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The highlight of the winter is the annual kite-fighting tournament, where boys go to war with their kites by covering the kite strings in...
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Amir says that Hassan is the best kite runner in Kabul – he always seems to know exactly where a kite will fall...
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...Amir is ashamed. Amir pretends it was just a joke, and at that moment the kite falls into Hassan’s arms.
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One night soon before the big kite tournament of 1975 Baba and Amir are sitting by the fire, talking, when Baba casually...
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Chapter 7
...to comfort him. He does feel a little better, and they start to fly their kite.
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...(and Hassan, who controls the spool of string) do well and keep flying. One blue kite in particular cuts many of its opponents, and Amir keeps his eye on it. By...
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...prays that he might win and so redeem himself to Baba. Amir tricks the blue kite into a bad position and then cuts it, winning the tournament. Amir and Hassan cheer...
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Amir reels in his kite and accepts everyone’s praise, but he wants to wait until he has the blue kite...
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...three boys. Amir searches everywhere and finally finds Hassan in an alleyway, holding the blue kite – which Amir thinks of as the “key to Baba’s heart” – and facing off...
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Assef tells Hassan that they will let him go if he hands over the blue kite. Hassan refuses, as he ran the kite fairly and must deliver it to Amir. Assef...
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...the hand and the snow disappears, and the sky is clear and filled with beautiful kites.
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...afraid of Assef, but it was also something worse. He had thought that the blue kite was his key to winning Baba’s love, and Amir was willing to sacrifice Hassan for...
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...and Amir pretends he has been looking for him. He can’t help checking the blue kite for rips. Hassan is crying and blood falls from between his legs, staining the snow,...
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Chapter 8
...stay in bed all day. Ali asks Amir if he knows what happened after the kite tournament, but Amir rudely denies knowing anything. Amir and Baba decide to take a trip...
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...and friends to come along too. In the car Amir’s relatives praise him for his kite fighting victory, but Amir gets no joy from their praise and in fact gets car...
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...last forever, even though it is only held together by something as fragile as a kite. Hassan keeps trying to rekindle their friendship. One day he asks Amir what he has...
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Chapter 10
...his ear to think of something happy, and Amir immediately thinks of a day flying kites with Hassan.
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Chapter 14
...chapter – Amir watches the beautiful lake, a man playing with his son, and two kites flying overhead. Amir feels that Rahim Khan knows everything about Hassan, and that he is...
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Chapter 16
...he would not grow up illiterate like his father. In the winter Hassan took Sohrab kite running, though there were not as many tournaments as the old days. Sohrab was just...
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In 1996, however, the Taliban took over, and they banned kite fighting. Rahim Khan was optimistic about the Taliban, but Hassan knew that their regime meant...
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Chapter 20
...hide snipers, and then the Afghans cut them down for firewood. There are no more kites, and the streets smell like diesel instead of lamb kabob.
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Chapter 25
Soraya interrupts Amir’s conversation and points out some kites flying in the sky over the park. Amir finds an Afghan kite seller and buys...
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Amir offers again, and Sohrab hesitantly takes the kite string. Amir wishes time would stand still. Then a green kite approaches for a fight...
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...an omen of hope for the future. Amir asks if he should run the green kite for Sohrab, and Sohrab nods. Amir says “for you, a thousand times over,” and he...
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