The Imagery of Sin

     In chapter 1, the topic of sin came about. The narrator says that a phone call he received was not only a call from his friend in Pakistan but his past of unatoned sins. This gives the reader an image of the author being someone who has done bad in his past. In this case, is sin related to evil thoughts or evil beings? The author says that kites were looking down on him like a pair of eyes. This suggests to the reader that the narrator has some sort of evil in his past, which needs tending to. The kite is symbolic not only because it is in the title of the group, but a kite is simply an object or toy, so how is it bad or evil. But, of course, later on the reader learns that kite running was a part of his past where his sins were taken place. And more specifically, the last time the narrator flew a kite, his friend, and half-brother was raped. This event is constantly referred to throughout the novel allowing the reader to feel the guilt he feels, and displaying the kite as a symbol of guilt.

      It isn't until the end of the novel that this malevolavent symbol is released of its guilt. When Amir finally brings Hassan's son to America, he has the chance to fly a kite with Sohrab. This is when the novel ends and the narrator is running for the kite. At this point, the reader sees that he is not only running for the kite but running away from his guilt and demolishing the negative image the kite displays.