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When you hear the term ‘blood’, what comes to mind? Body, violence, life, or death are just some of the words that we think of about blood. The novel, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is set before the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Two boys, Amir and Hassan, grew up as childhood friends, but their fates are known to be different. As a Pashtun, Amir enjoys his life as a wealthy young boy in Kabul, whereas Hassan faces discrimination and exclusion as a Hazara. Mounting religious, ethnic, and political tensions start to tear Afghanistan apart. Amir witnesses an assault on Hassan but refrains from intervening. It’s not until years later that Amir has the chance to redeem himself by returning to Afghanistan and repaying the long-awaited debt owed to Hassan. Khaled Hosseini uses the symbolic significance of blood in The Kite Runner to demonstrate guilt and Afghan culture as it symbolizes sacrifice, pain, and violence. This can be seen through the characters of Hassan, Sohrab, and Assef.
Blood symbolizes sacrifice. When Amir is cut by the tar present on the kite during the tournament, he tells Hassan to ‘hold the string and sucked the blood dry’ (Hosseini 63), practically sharing blood with Hassan. The kite tournament is their final connection as best friends, as Hassan decides to run the kite for Amir before being raped by Assef. Blood appears on both Amir and Hassan as tiny drops&fell from between [Hassans] legs and stained the snow black’ (Hosseini 78) and Amir bites hard on his fist to obtain blood from his knuckles. This is where Amir and Hassan lose their connection and where their friendship ultimately ends. The scene of the kite cutting Hassan’s hand exemplifies how Hassan had sacrificed most of himself and gave everything he had for Amir, especially when he was raped by Assef. Amir enjoys the bloody hands he gets from the time he spends flying kites with Hassan at the tournaments, but when Amir wins, he is marred by the blood spilled after Assef rapes Hassan. Naomi Janowitz, a Professor of Religious Studies at the University of California, writes, ‘enduring torture and shedding blood is the sign of willing self-sacrifice’ (Janowitz). Later, Amir is so furious that he takes out his guilt on Hassan by throwing pomegranates at him. Hassan was ‘smeared in red like he’d been shot by a firing squad’ (Hosseini 92). Hosseini incorporates a simile to help illustrate the nature of Hassan’s appearance when Amir throws a pomegranate at him. Amir is extremely angry by this guilt that he attacks Hassan with pomegranates, even though he isn’t at fault. All of this sacrifice for Amir was simply an act of fidelity and Hassans sacrifice was to remain loyal to Amir.
Blood represents pain. After Amir’s call with Soraya, Amir finds Sohrab bleeding and unconscious in the bathtub. Amir dreams of Amir ‘twisting the razor handle and opening the twin safety latches on the head, sliding the blade out, and holding it between his thumb and forefinger. I wondered what his last thought had been as he had raised the blade and brought it down (Hosseini 350-351). Sohrab’s wounds are still fresh and permanent. His scars are permanent and are constant reminders of what he dealt with as a young boy. Sohrab cuts his wrist because he thinks things will never get better. The shedding of blood and the abuse he suffered explains why he is the way he is. The physical and sexual abuse inflicted by Assef and the Taliban explains why he flinches every time Amir tries to reach out to him. His wrist is filled with pink scars, a permanent mark of the pain and trauma he faced. Sohrab feels guilty for his actions, especially when he sees all the blood from shooting Assef with his slingshot. He says, ”Will God…..’ he began and choked a little. ‘Will God put me in hell for what I did to that man?” (Hosseini 334). Sohrab worries that what he did was a sin, but what Assef has done is far worse. Blood, in this sense, shows the guilt Sohrab feels for defending Amir. Even though Sohrab defended Amir, he knew it was wrong to hurt someone, as his father always said it was wrong to people, even though they were bad. The blood from Hassan’s wrists represents the pain that he feels from all the guilt trapped inside of him.
Violence is seen through the eyes of the antagonist Assef. Through Assef, one understands the horrors of ethnic cleansing . This euphemism conceals what it is: genocide. Assef, as a high-ranking official, depicts how corrupt the government truly is. He says, ’Door to door we went, calling for the men and the boys. We’d shoot them right there in front of their families… Let them remember who they were, where they belonged’ (Hosseini 227). Hosseini includes these events to set the melancholy tone and the disheartening mood of the scene. The blood flowing from the victims’ bodies symbolizes the violence inflicted on civilians in Afghanistan. Another example of violence is shown when Assef publicly persecutes adulterers at Ghazi Stadium. Amir and Farid arrive at the soccer game and at halftime, two trucks filled with Taliban pull up. They unload a man and a woman and bury them in the ground. Assef, the Taliban official, starts throwing rocks at the man. The man is described as a ‘mangled mess of blood’ and when the persecution was over, ‘the bloodied corpses had been unceremoniously tossed into the backs of red pickup trucks’ (Hosseini 271-272). The Taliban regime is known for its executions that take place in public areas such as football stadiums to ensure that everyone attends. Kevin Ayotte, an Assistant Professor at California State University, writes that even in the context of Afghan women, ‘the smallest deviation in dress was often met with public violence. It has been well documented that women in Afghanistan have been beaten simply for accidentally letting an inch of skin show'(Ayotte). The description of the man whose injuries brought about a loss of blood demonstrates the acts of violence caused by the Taliban. The bloodied corpses demonstrate the brutality of the Taliban as ‘supporters of terrorism’ (Ayotte) and how their method of punishing people for their actions is through violence and brutality, in this case, stoning them to death. Blood, here, symbolizes violence imposed on individuals.
When Soraya and Amir were considering adopting a child, General Taheri said, ”Blood is a powerful thing’. The Kite Runner echoes this sentiment throughout the novel, using blood to symbolize sacrifice, pain, and violence through various characters. Blood is often associated with terror and brutality, but it can also represent the blood shed for another.
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