Kites and String as Metaphors for Control and Freedom in The Kite Runner

Abstract

The objective of this study is to identify kites and strings as metaphors in Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner (2003) to the effect of characterising how the concepts of control and freedom operate in the characters’ lives. The kite signifies hopes, triumphs and freedom, dreams, and the string signifying the cords of relationship, power dynamics, and ethics of responsibility. Through the analysis of the main scenes of the novel such as kite-fighting tournaments and redemption journey of Amir this paper explores how the mentioned metaphors reflect the characters’ pursuit for the independence, guilt, and forgiveness. Despite accepting the limitations inherent in employing metaphors, Hosseini used these effectively in the textual moments identified here to destabilise power relations and both burden and elucidate the nature of choice, as well as expose the fragility of freedom. Thus, the study shows that kites and strings serve as multi-significant objects that symbolically express the problematic of the characters’ escape and confinement on the way to salvation.