LRB #7: The Kite Runner

In Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner, many elements come into play that influence the book and are significant in some way. The most significant thing to this book is quite honestly it's title. The Kite Runner is not simply some catchy title used to draw in readers - it actually holds relevance to the entirety of the story. While the title does draw in readers, it also emphasizes a certain character's role in the story.

Anyone who has read the book is aware of the fact that the kite runner is Hassan, Amir's best friend who always runs the kites Amir pushes out of the sky. The title of the book underscores Hassan's importance in the story; from the very beginning to the very end of the book, Hassan is always in Amir's thoughts and influences some of the things Amir himself does.

The story that starts out with boys being boys and flying kites eventually ends with Amir and Hassan's son, Sohrab, flying kites, which is basically an instance of history repeating itself.

Next to me, Sohrab was breathing rapidly through his nose. The spool rolled in his palms, the tendons in his scarred wrists like rubab strings. Then I blinked, and, for just a moment, the hands holding the spool were the chipped-nailed, calloused hands of a harelipped boy. I heard a crow calling somewhere and I looked up. The park shimmered with snow so fresh, so dazzling white, it burned my eyes. It sprinkled soundlessly from the branches of white-clad trees.

This flashback may be the most important one of the book; despite everything Amir had lived through and the absence that Hassan had taken in his life - at his own hands - he still thought of him throughout everything. This scene of bonding with Sohrab sent Amir back to bonding with Hassan, back to his childhood and back to his best friend. This is why the book's title is important. The Kite Runner symbolizes Hassan and what he meant, and still means, to Amir, and how he holds a place in his heart.