The Symbolism in the Pomegranate Tree

Introduction

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini Amir is a historical fiction novel that explains the life and experiences of Amir and his close friend Hassan. The book contains various themes such as friendship, the quest for Redemption, betrayal, guilt, and parental love. These themes are depicted in the book creatively by use of imagery and symbolism. Guilt and Redemption are more dominant in the story, and it is evident where Amir experiences all-consuming guilt after he fails to save Hassan due to cowardice. The themes in this book unveil through Amir’s life, his interactions, activities, and his transition through life. The pomegranate tree is symbolically used by the author to represent various concepts, experiences, and themes. Therefore, analyzing the symbolism in the tree will enable us to have a better comprehension of the multiple themes.

In the book, the location of the pomegranate tree is on Baba’s land which is located on the northern side of the hill, and this is where Hassan and Amir would play, read, and meet during their childhood (Hosseini 16). Amir’s and Hassan’s friendship and the changes that take place in their friendship are symbolized by the pomegranate tree. When they are young, they carve their names onto the tree, and the tree symbolizes their relationship in this case (Hosseini 30). The tree dries up and becomes ruined when Afghanistan becomes violent due to the Taliban coming to power. Similarly, Amir’s and Hassan’s friendship comes to ruin when Amir does not take any action when he witnesses Hassan’s rape by Assef (Hosseini 86). As a result, Amir lives in guilt. Their relationship remains ruined for a while, and in chapter 8, Amir meets up with Hassan under the pomegranate tree but leaves without reading to him. When they meet again under the tree, Amir throws a piece of fruit at Hassan’s chest and begs him to hit him back (Hosseini 98). However, Hassan smashes a pomegranate over his head, and Amir finds ways to distance himself from Hassan since he feels that their friendship is no more. Their broken friendship is further symbolized by the tree in chapter 21 whereby Amir recognizes that the tree had not produced fruit during the whole time that he was in Kabul (Hosseini 276). The fact that the tree had not produced any fruit symbolizes the state of the broken relationship between Amir and Hassan.

The destruction of the pomegranate tree as a result of violence also reflects the effects of violence in Afghanistan. When the Taliban takes over, violence becomes prevalent, and the drying up of the tree symbolizes the loss of peace that was once experienced in Afghanistan (Hosseini 124). Additionally, the pomegranate tree symbolizes that people witness violence yet do nothing to stop it, and this is also expressed when Amir saw Hassan being raped, and however, he did nothing about it. The force that takes place when the Taliban takes over also depicts a theme of abuse of power.

A theme of guilt is depicted in the book, especially in Amir’s life. The first experience that causes Amir guilt is the fact that his mother died while giving birth to him. Amir thus tries to live up to his father’s expectations to get a sense of approval. However, he realizes that his efforts did not change much when he overhears his father saying that the he only believes Amir is his son because he saw the doctor pull him out of his mother when she was giving birth (Hosseini 35). The second experience that causes Amir extreme guilt when he fails to rescue his friend Hassan when he was being raped by Assef. Amir feels that Hassan was a Hazara since he opted to win Baba’s approval at the expense of Hassan (Hosseini 115). Amir keeps Hassan’s rape case a secret from Baba, and he lies to his father that Ali and Hassan had stolen from him. He does this so that Baba would order them away and this would prevent Amir from seeing Hassan who reminded him of his guilty conscious (Hosseini 105). He faces another guilt of deceiving his father for his benefits, but the guilt continues to haunt him so much that he cannot enjoy a birthday gift. Amir leaves the country, becomes a successful writer, and gets married, but he still experiences the guilt (Hosseini 270). He lets this guilt define him by saying he is a product of the experiences he faced when he was twelve years.

Amir eventually opens up to Soraya Taheri after she tells him about her guilty past and he gets confidence to speak about his history too (Hosseini 300). He realizes that Hassan was killed in the hands of the Taliban and feels that he could redeem Sohrab who was Hassan’s son to create a form of poetic justice. Amir feels peace after he helps Sohrab, and he can forgive himself (Hosseini 323). Baba also experiences guilt since he had betrayed Ali by sleeping with his wife, and as a result, she conceived Hassan. Baba fails to tell Amir that Hassan is his real brother and he keeps it a secret from him until he dies. Most of the characters in the book are plagued by guilt, and they find ways to redeem themselves to be forgiven by others and themselves.

Betrayal is a theme that is present in most chapters of the book. The discovery by Amir that Baba had betrayed Ali and Hassan disturbs him to a great extent, and he feels betrayed by his father. However, he discovers this secret fifteen years after his father dies. Betrayal is also evident whereby Amir betrays Hassan in his pursuit of Baba’s approval (Hosseini 85). He seeks this approval in many ways. For example, in the kite flying tournament, he strives to win the prized kite and even asks Hassan to run the last kite for him (Hosseini 54). It is during this moment that Hassan gets raped when he runs the kite in an isolated alley and Amir runs away depicting ultimate betrayal in their friendship (Hosseini 92). Furthermore, violence is evident in the book since there is military intervention by the Taliban regime that causes violence in Afghanistan. Additionally, the case of Hassan being raped also depicts a form of physical abuse. The murder of Hassan and his wife Farzana by the Taliban is another form of violence depicted in the book.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the pomegranate tree has been used in the book as a backdrop for describing essential experiences in Amir’s life and also to bring out various themes in the whole book. The changes in the pomegranate tree have been used as a motif to imply the changes that took place between Amir and Hassan’s friendship. Themes that have been depicted in the book include betrayal, the relationship of fathers and sons, quest for Redemption, guilt, and friendship. The pomegranate tree is at the center of all these themes, and it has been used symbolically and as a foreshadow to various experiences in the book.

Work Cited

Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. Canada: Anchor Canada, 2004. Print.