Symbols Write-Up

As seen below, the three symbols we have chosen from the Kite Runner are trees, the money placed under mattresses, and Amir's watch. Starting with the trees, we believe that Hosseini's intention was for the trees to symbolize the overall change in Afghanistan, before and after the Taliban took over. Before the Taliban, Afghanistan was flourishing with all different kinds of trees, ("rows of cherry trees" pg.5) ("the poplar trees lined the red brick driveway..." pg.4) whereas after the Taliban came, Amir described there being fewer trees than he remembered, and many of them were bare (pg.245).  Hosseini was not only trying to show the negative change in the environment of Afghanistan, but also how people felt. When the Taliban showed up, violence became an everyday thing for the people in the community to witness (ex. hangings, people being beaten, shot, etc.). This gave the people of Afghanistan very little hope for a better future, therefore the trees also symbolize the hope of the people. When the trees began to die off, so did any hope people had for themselves, their families, and their country. The picture we chose was a tree with little leaves because it gives you the idea of what the trees would look like in Afghanistan. The next symbol was the money that Amir placed under two different mattresses; first the one in Hassan and Ali's hut, and then one in Wahid's home. We believe that the money under the mattress symbolized the change in Amir's personality. When Amir had first placed the money under Hassan's mattress (pg.110) he had done it out of selfishness. Amir had wanted Ali and Hassan to leave so he could be free of the guilt he was feeling after the alleyway incident. He did not even wonder what would happen to them once they left, he only cared about himself and making sure the guilt feeling was gone. Whereas when Amir had planted the money under the mattress at Wahid's house (pg.245), he was doing it out of sincerity. He wanted the kids to be able to be fed because the family had taken great care of him, when they couldn't afford to take care of themselves. Amir wanted to repay them by giving back and so he did. He had started to care more about people rather than his own well being. By giving them the money, it showed how much he had changed in those 26 years. We chose to take a picture of money under a mattress because it is a visual of what Amir had done. The last symbol we chose was the watch. We believe that the watch symbolized Hassan's loyalty to Amir. Amir wanted Baba to dismiss Ali and Hassan so he put the watch under Hassan's bed to make it seem like he stole it. Sure enough, like Amir wanted, Hassan took the blame and admitted to stealing it. (pg.111) Hassan would do anything for Amir and would never make Amir look bad. By Hassan saying yes, it kept Amir from getting in trouble and proved how loyal he was. It was Hassan's last show of loyalty for Amir before he left. We used the picture of the watch because thats what Amir had hid to get Hassan in trouble which showed how Hassan is loyal to Amir.