Joe Egerton
PD 1, Honors English
Rite Runner Collage
December 2, 2010
As I read the novel The Kite Runner, I began to understand and realize the many
themes the book presented. Weather it was friendship, envy, revenge, discrimination, a
father-son relationship, redemption, forgiveness, or a coming of age experience, they all
have a lesson to teach. By creating this collage of pictures, I will explain each ones
significance to the themes of the story.
The picture at the top left of the two separate color kitten signifies friendship
despite the differences. In the story, Hassan and Amir seemed to be great friends. Even
though Amir was a Pashtune and Hassan was a Hazara, they still managed to be the best
of friends. The picture of the two men gripping hands also shows a friendship despite the
color difference. Even though Hassan was also Amir’s servant, he treated him as if he
wasn’t.
The picture of the two dogs towards the left of the collage represents envy.
Throughout the novel, Amir is constantly thirsty for the same attention Baba gives to
Hassan. The small dog represents Hassan with the big bone being Baba’s attention. Amir
on the other hand is the large dog, being a Pashtune, with a small bone representing a lot
less of Baba’s attention. The picture next to the dogs also represents envy, as the small
black boy is jealous of what the girl has, just like Amir towards Hassan.
The picture of the bird on top of a cage with a cat inside represents revenge. Amir
decides to frame Hassan as an act of revenge trapping him in a sticky situation. Amir
does this to Hassan to take Baba’s attention off of Hassan and put it onto himself. The
picture portrays this well as the cat is now trapped in an embarrassing situation with the
bird taking all the glory. The picture of the mouse now controlling a human as a mouse of
a computer also shows revenge, just like Amir tries to feel good about himself after
getting his revenge on Hassan for something Hassan did not try to do.
The picture of the many different colored crayons and the one black crayon being
isolated from the rest shows a theme of discrimination. Constantly, the Hazaras were
being harassed and discriminated against for being the lower class. Any power the
Hazaras had could be taken away by some upper class Pashtunes or the Taliban. Hassan
lost any power he had when we was brutally raped by Assef. The picture to the right of
this of the baby chicks, also shows discrimination. It shows the black chicks (Pashtunes)
leaving behind the yellow (Hazaras).
The picture towards the top of Robin Hood and his son represents a father-son
relationship. Amir is constantly fighting for Baba’s attention and praise over Hassan.
Amir does not realize until later in the book that Hassan is his half-brother and Baba is
really Hassan’s father too. Baba tried to keep things equal between the two of them
because they were both his beloved sons. The picture shows Robin Hood teaching his son
to shoot arrows as Baba taught Hassan and Amir to kite fight. The picture in the middle
also expresses this theme. No matter what you do, your father will always love you as
Baba loved both Amir and Hassan.
The man standing in the rain looking up to god with his hands up represents the
theme of redemption. Amir was going through a guilt/redemption/atonement cycle
throughout his life. His redemption for his major wrongdoing and guilt torwards Hassan
was his will to take Sorab as his own after Hassan had died. The man in the rain is
receiving his redemption from God as Amir receives his redemption from Sorab.
The picture of the two figures hugging each other in the top right part of the
collage represents the theme of forgiveness. One figure is forgiving the other just as Baba
forgave Hassan for stealing Amir’s birthday gifts, even though Hassan would never even
think of committing this crime. The monkey in the center of the collage is also asking for
forgiveness further expressing this theme.
The final picture of Simba represents a coming of age theme. Simba as a cub had
certain responsibilities and certain knowledge. As he grew into a knowledgeable lion, he
began to understand things he once couldn’t and take on responsibilities he once thought
never existed. This represents Amir and his coming of age experiences. As he grows
older, he realizes what has happened to Kabul since he was gone and he understands what
he must do for Sorrya and Sorab. Amir truly changes as he matures.
All of these themes pertain to the novel. They are all significant in one way or
another explaining lessons taught throughout the course of the book. Friendship, envy,
revenge, discrimination, a father-son relationship, redemption, forgiveness, or a coming
of age experience all had a lesson to teach.