1、AcknowledgementsThanks for giving me the chance to accomplish my paper as well as make a conclusion for my four years education. I have gained much more knowledge than I have supposed from writing this paper.I would give my sincere thanks to my supervisor, Ms. Shi, a respectable, responsible and res

2、ourceful scholar, who has provided me with valuable guidance in every stage of the writing of this thesis. Without her enlightening instruction, impressive kindness and patience, I could not have finished my thesis.Also, I want to give my thanks to other teachers and my classmates who have given me

3、much help. Thank you!AbstractKhaled Hosseini, is an Afghan-born American writer, whose first work The Kite Runner, attach much interest of the readers from all over the world. Hosseini depicts these afghans lived in the different background and its traditional culture, deeply revealing the tyranny o

4、f the Taliban and the extreme racial and religious discrimination in this Muslim country. There have been quantities of searching about this novel at home and abroad, most of them are about the studying on the cultural identity, characterization, growth and self-redemption. This thesis unfolds afgha

5、ns national culture and the Afghanistan peoples miserable life, thus we can know the veiled country clearly. My paper has 3 parts: introduction, the main body and conclusion. The first part introduces the writer, the work and its searching situation. The second part is the main body, which has 3 cha

6、pters. The first chapter introduces the symbolism including its definition, development and function in the literature work. The second chapter reveals Afghanistans battlefield and its poor condition by analyzing these different symbols in The Kite Runner. The last chapter analyses the writing reaso

7、n by stating the authors writing background. The last part summarizes these analysis of the second part, indicating the overall symbolic meanings, that is Afghanistans peoples expectation to the freedom and the peace.Key Words: The Kite Runner; Khaled Hosseini; Afghanistan; Taliban; symbolism摘 要 HYP

8、ERLINK javascript:; 追風(fēng)箏的人是卡勒德胡賽尼的第一部作品，也是第一部由阿富汗裔作家創(chuàng)作的英文小說。該小說自出版以來就贏得了廣大讀者的強(qiáng)烈興趣。作者刻畫了在不同背景下的阿富汗人民的生活狀態(tài)以及阿富汗的傳統(tǒng)文化，深刻揭示了塔利班的暴政以及這個穆斯林國家的極端的種族和宗教歧視。國內(nèi)外對這本書的研究不計其數(shù)，其中大部分都是對于文化身份，人物刻畫以及成長和自我救贖等主題的研究。本文通過分析小說中頻繁出現(xiàn)的象征對象來揭露阿富汗民族文化，以及處于水深火熱的阿富汗人民的的生活境況，以便我們更深入地了解這個面紗民族。 HYPERLINK javascript:; 本文有三個部分組成：介紹、正

9、文和結(jié)論。第一部分主要是作者生平，和作品介紹，以及作品的研究狀況。 HYPERLINK javascript:; 第二部分是論文的主體，主要分成三個章節(jié)，第一章介紹象征主義，包括它的定義和發(fā)展以及在文學(xué)作品中的功能，第二章是通過分析追風(fēng)箏的人中的不同的象征對象來揭露阿富汗的戰(zhàn)亂和窮苦現(xiàn)狀，第三章是通過作者的時代背景來分析自小說的創(chuàng)作緣由。最后一部分是總結(jié)前文分析，表述追風(fēng)箏的人中的所有象征對象的總體意義，即阿富汗人民對自由，對和平的向往。關(guān)鍵字:追風(fēng)箏的人；卡勒德 胡賽尼；阿富汗；面紗民族；象征主義An Interpretation of Symbolism in The Kite Runne

10、r1. IntroductionKhaled Hosseini is the first writer creating in English as an afghan but living in America, and The Kite Runner is his first work which wins great appreciation from all over the world. He was born on March 4, 1965, in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, where he spent his happy childh

11、ood. His father was a diplomatist, who often made the families moved to different places, thus providing many materials to his novel. His mother was a teacher of a female school in Kabul who often urged him to read and write in his young. Because of his knowledgeable mother, he had read many stories

12、 in Persia and culminated the interest in writing in his young and had become a great writer today. He left for Iran with his families in 1970 for three years. In this period, he met with a Hazara boy who he taught to write and read something, thus the cozy but not long memory contributed to The Kit

13、e Runner with Hasan and Aamir. After two years, Hosseinis families returned to Afghanistan, It was the last year that Afghanistans political power remained steadiest. Later, his harmonious childhood had been ended by the internal coup and outside invasion. In 1976, Hosseinis father got a job in Pari

14、s France, then the whole families moved to Paris never back again. In 1980, Afghan intruded by the Soviet Union, his families put under Americas wing, and then moved to the sacred river west of California. Hosseini finished his education and become a physician internist. After he finished his first

15、novel for four years, the second novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns won consistent high praise in the critical and made Hosseini leap a mature writer with high attention. In 2003, his third novel, And the Mountains Echoed was published in the USA, which obtained high appreciation again, being called th

16、e most ambitious among his all novels. The three novels all concern the life of Afghans, which reflect his deep love toward his motherland, Kabul.This novel, The Kite Runner, with the perspective of the first person depicts an Afghan immigrant living in America recalling his childhood and his self-r

17、edemption to his soul in his young. It takes a series of chaotic events of Afghanistan, including the collapse of Afghanistans monarch, soviets invasion, conflict between Pashtuns and Hazaras, and Talibans development. The span of the story was from 1950s to 2001s. And it was an autobiographical nov

18、el in which the leading actor, Aamirs background and experience were the same as the writer. Aamir was born into Afghans upper class, whose father ran business and constantly made chirality with high reputation. However, in his young, because of his selfishness to receive his fathers all love, he al

19、ways was jealous of the gentle, brave and loyal boy, named Hasan, a Hazara boy, for his father showed him some care. To obtain the blue kite to win his fathers praise, he even ran away when Hasan was being insulted. One day, Aamir framed Hasan stealing his watch, leading to the family homeless. Late

20、r, Aamir and his father were forced to leave for the USA, with his feeling of shame and guilt. In America, he got married with Afghan girl, named Soraya and became a popular writer. After 15 years, a call from his fathers friend arouse this secret in his mind. Knowing this truth that Hasan was his c

21、onsanguineous brother, he made his mind to save his nephew in Kabul, Hasan s son, to save himself.This novel worked out just after the incident of 9.11, when the whole world caught their eyes to Afghanistan. From the sensitive boy, Aamir, lack of security to his father with multi-layer characters, a

22、nd then the revealing of his fathers sins, we could know the river of long history between the Middle East and other countries. These contents weaved a complete and excellent literary work, which presented the afghans culture that had not become the worldwide focal point for thousands of years. Sinc

23、e Published in 2003, it has been arrayed the top of these popular books for two years in a row, in New York Times, selling for more than 7 million in U. S, over 20 million in the world, with 42 languages translated. Moreover, it had awarded lots of new literature award and vaulted the bestseller lis

24、ts, becoming one of the three bestsellers in whole America. In addition, DreamWorks bought the movie royalties in 2006, and the director was Marc Forster. Because of full of much experience similar with the writer who had gone through, it can be said as a semi-autobiographical work. Therefore, Hosse

25、ini could be finished for only 16 months at one stretch, from Mar. 2001 to Aug.There is much favorable reception at home and abroad after its publication. The Washington once commented the story “A brave, honorable, big-hearted book(the Washington post). The New York Times book review: “The Kite Run

26、ner, tells a story of fierce cruelty and fierce yet redeeming love” ”A moving portrait of Afghanistan from its pre-Russian-invasion glory through the terrible reign of the Taliban.” (Entertainment Weekly). At home, since translated into Chinese by Li Jihong, there are many scholars studying about th

27、e multiple themes for this novel, HYPERLINK javascript:; such as the themes of growth about the two boys, Aamir and Hasan, who were in different classes, humanity between the general public and Taliban and the self-redemption of Aamir toward his sins and his fathers (Jin1-2). Moreover, during recent

28、 10 years, some researchers are paying their attention to the eco-criticism and citing it to the studying of the literary work. For example, in the pen of YinCaiPing, she unscrambled The Kite Runner with a new angle of view, the eco-criticism, which made an interpretation between the war in this per

29、iod and the complicated relation between the human beings and nature form natural ecology, social ecology and spiritual ecology to explore the writers ecology consciousness, the ecological connotation that he had expressed in his novel and his findings of facing the human and ecological crisis (1).

30、About the theme of symbolism, many scholars are just focus on the symbol of the kite, but not analyzing the other symbols in the novel, such as Afghanistan, Hasan, pomegranate, slingshot and harelip. They are all symbols, which respectively stands for different symbolic meanings. So, my paper will f

31、ocus on these symbols, making a deep interpretation combining with their themes.2. Symbolism and Its FunctionIndeed, there are a lot of symbols in The Kite Runner, for example, Hosseini uses the symbol of Afghanistan to express his turbulent homeland, to reveal a country in long wars or tyrannical r

32、ole. Hasan represents the scapegoat of the nation, from whom we could see thousands of Hasan, thousands of scapegoats in that country. Hosseini takes these rich symbols to enlarge his themes, and clearly depicts a complete picture to Afghanistan.2.1 SymbolismSymbolism dated from 19th century in Fran

33、ce. It is defined as a form of western art concept. At first, it was because these intellectuals dissatisfied with their social life and the official system dared not to express directly that they expressed their ideas by different symbols. Therefore, they adopted these symbols in nature to carry on

34、 their real ideas. Symbolism also has become a school and a literature trend since appearing in the French literature history during 1886, when the young man named Moleiyasi, published a literature declaration in Figaro, advocating for calling the temporal avant-courier poet with symbolists, which m

35、arked the advent of the genre of symbolism. Nowadays, it has become a writing technique, used widely in literature and poems. It presents an authors inner world and his real implication by insinuation and symbol. The symbolists believe that everything in the nature, including the act of human being

36、is connected with their heroes in their works, thus reflecting their real thinking. The pioneers of symbolism are Charles Baudelaire and Edgar Allan Poe. They created some works with symbolic beliefs early in the 19 century. For example, Baudelaires Flowers of Evils is the ground breaking work of sy

37、mbolism. There are other writers creating in symbolism. Such as Paul Verlaine(無言的羅曼斯), Arthur Rimbaud(醉舟，黎明),Stephane Mallarm(牧神的午后) and so on.We can not say that symbol is symbolism. “Symbolism is defined as a trend in the field of art and literature while symbol is considered as a tool in the arti

38、stic creation” (Zeng 16). However, there is much relation between them. “Symbol is an indispensable medium of symbolism, and only by adopting various symbols can symbolism achieve its artistic value” (Zeng 16). The symbolism is the means of artistic expression in literary work, which uses the real m

39、atter or figure to convey the ideological contents for what the writer wants to express. The matter or the figure that is symbol must be material and corporeal, and the meaning that it conveys is abstract and intangible (Zhang 217). Image, also different with symbol, is about the representatives of

40、the sensory image and thought and the metaphor of the image, which is the core part in all styles that can be presented (qtd. In Huang 71).The image in literary work could service for shaping the character and the expressing of the main idea and it is an aesthetic category that mixes the objective t

41、hings of the authors subjective emotion. An image could be transformed a metaphor for only once, but if appeared more than once, it becomes the symbol (qtd. In Zhang 207).2.2 The Function of Symbolism in Literary WorkThe adhibition of symbolism in literary work could present the traits of character

42、vividly, exaggerate an atmosphere successfully and drive the development of the plot to reveal the theme of a novel in depth. HYPERLINK javascript:; The symbolism used frequently concludes the symbol of the name, the place, the color and the matter (Zhang 135).In general, an author always takes grea

43、t pains to his heros name in his literature work, the general name may contain extraordinary meaning. Taking Thackerays Vanity Fair for example, Rebecca Sharp is vixenish, highly ambitious woman. She could gain money or reputation at any price. Instead, the name of Amelia stands for kindness and bea

44、uty just as its literal meaning. And Amelia in the novel is a beautiful and kind girl. The name of place is also important and it could effectively service the novel to reflect its main idea. Such as the Vanity Fair, Difficult Mountains in Bunyans The Pilgrims Progress or in Jane Eyres Thornfield, w

45、here Mr. Rochester lived, which all have symbolic meanings. The use of Thornfield created an environment to the following miserable life. An excellent will apply specific colours to draw atmosphere for his novels. For example, the white always stands for pure and the red stands for passion. Finally,

46、 the symbol of a concrete matter, such as the fog, rain, moon, climate and so on. Dickens makes full use the symbol of the fog at the beginning in his Bleak House, creates a useful background to the following story plot.In Hosseinis story, The Kite Runner, Hasan is the symbol of name, which deeply s

47、hows the sins of the racial discrimination, and the despotic rule of the Taliban. Moreover, Hassan stands for thousands of kind, but desperate general public discarded by his country and his relatives. Finally his destiny become a scapegoat of his nation and his whole life is a tragedy; Afghanistan

48、is the symbol of the place, which indicates the overall perspective of a country satiating with wars, inequality and extremism in religion; the kite, pomegranate, slingshot and harelip are the symbols of the matter, which are the cardinal lines, promoting the development of the novels plot.3. An Int

49、erpretation of Symbolism in The Kite RunnerIn The Kite Runner, Hosseini repeatedly depicts some symbols and they have different symbolic meanings. Afghanistan, it was a hell of a life massed with poverty, war and racial discrimination; Hasan, who was a brave, loyal and kind boy, but is the scapegoat

50、 of the society and kinsfolks; kite, stood for hope, dignity, redemption and destiny. And the slingshot, the pomegranate and the harelip, all symbolized Aamirs source of his evil and his self-redemption. The following context will clearly analyze their symbolic meaning from The Kite Runner.3.1 Afgha

51、n: The Hell Massed with Poverty, War and Racial DiscriminationIn 1979, when the Soviet Union trooped to afghan, it was just the beginning of incubus to those people in Afghanistan. Hosseini said in the novel:Our way of life. If not quiet yet, then at least it was the beginning of the end. The end, t

52、he official end, would come first in April 1978 with the communist coup detat, and the in December 1979, when Russian tanks would roll into the very same streets where Hasan and I played, bringing the death of the Afghanistan I knew and marking the start of a still ongoing era of bloodletting. (Hoss

53、eini 39)In addition, from Aamirs fathers fearful face that had never appeared, it was really the beginning of nightmare to these afghan people. According to records, this invasion lasted about 10 years. They tried to control peoples will with firearms and ammunition. Facing this foreign invasion, th

54、ese brave people did not surrender to soviets devils talons. Instead, these citizens strove against their oppressors with will of iron and finally expelled those invaders. Just as Aamirs father, he would rather sacrifice himself to save the woman facing the soviet solders deliberate menace, which de

55、eply showed afghan peoples resolution against the outside enemies. However, this fighting made Afghan become poorer. After this foreign aggression, Afghanistan began to suffer the challenge of the inner concerns. With the Talibans governing, peoples living experienced losing ground with more death,

56、more discrimination, and more inequality than ever before. Inevitably, Afghanistan descended to a poor and dreadful country. Moreover, the incident of 9.11 toward the USA made afghan labeled on terrorism.3.1.1 The SkyThe lively times thousands of colorful kites flying in the sky had gone with the wa

57、r. The beautiful sky had been replaced by the cloud of smoke floated over the battlefield, the orphanage Aamirs father once built for these homeless children had only left wreckage, the ruins, hanging over a smell of death. According Rahims word, “Kabul in those days, was as close as you could get t

58、o that proverbial hell on earth” (Hosseini 229).Twenty years earlier, I had seen some of some of the first war with own eyes. Grim reminders of it were strewn along the road: burned carcasses of old soviet tanks, overturned military trucks gone to rust, a crushed Russian jeep that had plunged over t

59、he mountainside. The second war, I had watched on my TV screen. And now I was seeing it through Farids eyes. (Hosseini 263)Uncovering the history afghan, the wars had not quite down. Because Afghanistan locates the fortress of the Middle East, it dooms that it is the object to fight for which HYPERL

60、INK javascript:; it benefits in the economic and military field for other countries, such the soviet and the USA. That is why afghan has war affairs constantly. There was no end to the proceeding war, no sunshine, no hope, even they cant imagine how the world would like without war. What they could