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Irony
Definition of Metaphor
A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two different things by saying that one thing is the other. The comparison in a metaphor can be stated explicitly, as... read full definition
A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two different things by saying that one thing is the other. The comparison in a metaphor... read full definition
A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two different things by saying that one thing is the other... read full definition
Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis—Claws Its Way Out:
At the beginning of The Kite Runner, Hosseini uses a metaphor comparing the past to an animal that “claws its way out” of things and a hyperbole describing a lifetime of “peeking” to show how Amir’s guilt dominates his life:
[...] but it's wrong what they say about the past, I’ve learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out. Looking back now, I realize I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years.
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Chapter 2
Explanation and Analysis—Hassan's Lip:
The first time he describes Hassan’s appearance, the narrative uses a metaphor comparing Hassan’s cleft lip to a mistake made by a doll maker. This moment shows Amir’s early, immaturely cruel way of seeing Hassan’s birth defect:
Unlock with LitCharts A+And the cleft lip, just left of midline, where the Chinese doll maker’s instrument may have slipped, or perhaps he had simply grown tired and careless.
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Chapter 6
Explanation and Analysis—Between the Spheres:
Amir and his Baba love one another, but Baba is almost incapable of expressing it, and Amir often wishes for more closeness. As he reflects on his relationship with his father, Amir uses several different metaphors to illustrate the distance between them:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Baba and I lived in the same house, but in different spheres of existence. Kites were the one paper-thin slice of intersection between those spheres.
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Chapter 25
Explanation and Analysis—Forgiveness and Pain:
While looking at a photograph of Hassan as an adult that he finds under Sohrab's pillow, Amir uses a metaphor comparing his forgiveness of Baba to a budding plant. He builds on this by using personification, describing his pain as a human-like figure that can pack up and leave:
Unlock with LitCharts A+I wondered if that was how forgiveness budded; not with the fanfare of epiphany, but with pain gathering its things, packing up, and slipping away unannounced in the middle of the night.
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Explanation and Analysis—Pushing the OFF Button:
After Sohrab attempts suicide, Hosseini uses two metaphors to explain how Amir experiences the boy’s emotional collapse. The first compares quiet to peace, and the second compares silence to death:
Unlock with LitCharts A+IT WOULD BE ERRONEOUS to say Sohrab was quiet. Quiet is peace. Tranquillity. Quiet is turning down the VOLUME knob on life. Silence is pushing the OFF button. Shutting it down. All of it.
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