After reading the introduction to
How to Read Literature Like a Professor, how could you apply this to
The Kite Runner? Is Assef, like Mr. Lindner, the devil? Is he something else? Is he just the antagonist or bad guy? What might be some other symbols in the novel?
I think that Assef could very well be the devil, simply int he way that he demands things from people. Nothing is free, as we learned from the first major scene involving him, and in demanding that kite, he was demanding the pride and confidence that the two boys had obtained through winning. That might as well be the "soul" the devil takes. When it wasn't given over, Assef takes other things, mostly Hassan's pride and dignity, but at no expense really to Amir. At other times in the book, it may seem he keeps the title, although sometimes he slips into the antagonist more so than the almost literal anti-Christ, but he still has the same heartless traits and he gives nothing away for free. Yes, he's the bad guy, the antagonist and the "devil" all at once.
ReplyDeleteDoes Assef take Amir's "soul"?
DeleteOr what might have been the "deal" that was made between the two?
DeleteAssef and Mr. Lindner are both the antagonist in their respective stories. Both, also provide the main character, or the protaganist in both cases, an option. Assef allows Amir to make a choice that will effect him for the rest of his life, just like Mr. Lindner also provides the father a choice. I belive that Assef could symbolize the devil, because of the way he torments Amir and Hassan through the entire story, and their entire lives. Similar to the way Mr. Lindner, who tries to make a deal with Walter Younger, the father, and forces him to make a very hard decision. Even though the setting is different in each story, the option is the same, either step up and fight back and do what is right, or take the easy way out.
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ReplyDeleteI think that Assef in the Kite Runner represents evil. He is the reoccurring evil in Amir's life. He is the force of evil in the book, and on a larger scale, the world. And since the devil is the biblical representation of evil, then yes, Assef is the devil. In the alley, Assef robbed Hassan, and Amir, of their innocence that day. He stole their souls, in a sense. So this makes him more than just a simple antagonist. In the alleyway, Amir's bargain was either making off with the kite, or intervening to save Hassan.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Assef is a very good representation of the devil. First of all Assef is incredibly charming. At Amir's party he acts like Amir's friend and charms his father and is everything Baba would want in a son. Amir sells his soul to Assef during the rape scene because after that Amir is begins to dislike Hassan because of the guilt that is overcoming him. Amir does not get his soul back until after he confronts the devil face to face and face what he has done. I think another important symbol is the kite. In the beginning, the kite symbolizes youth and freedom. But then Amir's freedom and naivety causes him to not save Hassan, so then the kite begins to represent the guilt Amir feels. The kite doesn't return to it's a original meaning until he gets redemption and takes Sorab home and is able to rid himself of some guilt.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Assef is not in fact the devil. The reasoning to this would be the the Devil, usually gives his "victim" an option to give them his soul in return for something that they usually cannot resist, but he does not force them to do it. Assef on the other hand, take what he wants, with no offering of anything in return, and when told no for what he wants, he takes something else. Take the kite for example; the symbol of the boys freedom and triumphs, he wants the kite for his own but Hassan turns him down. So he decides to take the boys innocence instead. The devil in my opinion doesn't just take what he wants, but instead makes a deal, while Assef just takes. Assef could be a small sort of representation of the devil, but more so a better representation of the greed within the human mortality, or so called evil. There's no "deal with the devil" here, only demands and things taken.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Assef is like the devil, Mr. Lindner, I believe he is something worse than that. Unlike Mr. Lindner who gives you the choice of taking his deal Assef didn't let Hassan chose to not take his deal he either had to take it or get punished for not taking the deal. The pomegranate tree could symbolize the relationship Hassan and Amir had and how it use to be healthy and then it started to die until it couldn't be restored. The kites could symbolize loyalty because Hassan remained loyal to Amir by getting raped by Assef to keep Amir's kite and then Amir became loyal to Hassan's son Sohrab and showed it by running a kite for him.
ReplyDeleteYou could say that Assef is the devil because in return of letting Hassan keep the kite Assef stole away his innocence and identity which could signify his soul being taken from him and in many storys in return of a gift you prize the most you offer your soul to the devil in a indirect way and that is what is shown in the Kite Runner. Hassan is so pure and innocent and by rapping him that is stripping him of his identity. Another symbol in the story can be the colors of the kite, how blue signifies purity and when Hassan gave it to Amir after being molested and Amir watching it could signify that Amir is stripping Hassan of his innocence by letting Assef rape him and by letting him take his soul. A great one too is the color of the sky throughout the book, in the beginning the author was always describing the morning light how it was blue and calm but towards the end of the book he described the sun setting and it was red in the sky which could show the changed Afghanistan, dark color and night usually interprets guilt, hatred, remorse all things that Amir felt because of what he didn't do for Hassan
ReplyDeleteYou could say that Assef is the devil because in return of letting Hassan keep the kite Assef stole away his innocence and identity which could signify his soul being taken from him and in many storys in return of a gift you prize the most you offer your soul to the devil in a indirect way and that is what is shown in the Kite Runner. Hassan is so pure and innocent and by rapping him that is stripping him of his identity. Another symbol in the story can be the colors of the kite, how blue signifies purity and when Hassan gave it to Amir after being molested and Amir watching it could signify that Amir is stripping Hassan of his innocence by letting Assef rape him and by letting him take his soul. A great one too is the color of the sky throughout the book, in the beginning the author was always describing the morning light how it was blue and calm but towards the end of the book he described the sun setting and it was red in the sky which could show the changed Afghanistan, dark color and night usually interprets guilt, hatred, remorse all things that Amir felt because of what he didn't do for Hassan
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