As the title suggests, kites play a major role in the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. They appear numerous times in the text and prove surprisingly versatile in their literary function. They provide common ground for characters whose interests don't normally intersect. They are also present as a very powerful symbol, which adds an additional dimension to this already rich novel. Reversing roles across generations, it reveals itself to be a multifaceted medium. This novel features two almost irreconcilable individuals. The main character, Amir, was raised without a mother; therefore, Amir was left with his father, Baba, to please as he grew up. Very early in his life, it became clear that pleasing Baba would prove problematic. They simply did not have the same interests due to the fact that Baba “had fathered a son who preferred to bury his face in poetry books rather than hunt” (Hosseini 19). Baba was described as a very dominant figure standing monstrously six feet five inches tall, who often enjoyed hunting and ran his own business. Amir, on the other hand, was of insignificant stature even for his young age and was often found reading poetry and stories with his friend and servant, Hassan, who, although a year younger than 'Amir, often beats Amir in sports. feats like throwing stones when “Hassan threw his stone eight times. The most I [Amir] managed was five” (Hosseini 14), or even just running when Amir said, “Hassan ran faster than me [Amir], and I was late” (Hosseini 53). The son just wasn't very athletic. Conversely, the sports father also really liked playing football when he was a child and later enjoyed being a spectator of this sport; consequently...... middle of paper ......r image had arisen from the past with the reversal that it entails. The kite is important in this situation because the reversal could not have happened in any other scenario. Sohrab would barely interact with the world at all at this point, and the only way this could have paralleled would be with a kite fight. Amir had exchanged places with Hassan via Sohrab through the use of the kite. Proving to be a very dynamic object in this novel, it functions on several levels. It establishes a connection between two characters who reside in completely different spheres of interests. It acts on a symbolic level as a symbol of freedom for the characters who compose it. It also provides support for the role reversal between two characters in this novel. Kites are shown to be very powerful in their presence and function in the novel The Kite Runner by Khalid Hosseini..