The Kite Runner

Khaled Hosseini’s best-selling novel, The Kite Runner, is an eye-opening look into

Afghani and Islamic culture through the painful memories of an American immigrant, Amir.

Hosseini’s novel is rich with beautiful imagery and settings. The book also masterfully tells of

disturbing events and very real characters. Perhaps Hosseini’s greatest achievement is his vast

and quite effective use of symbolism in The Kite Runner. One such recurring symbol is the

pomegranate. The pomegranate’s rich symbolic history from cultures around the world provides

many different interpretations as to the various ideas the pomegranate represents. The Kite

Runner can be viewed as an analogy for the well-known story of Adam and Eve’s expulsion

from the Garden of Eden by interpreting the pomegranate as the forbidden fruit.

Many people are familiar with the story of Adam and Eve’s fall from paradise in the

Book of Genesis in the Old Testament or from the Hebrew Torah. What may be less familiar to

people is that a similar story is also found in the Koran. The Koran states, “‘O Adam! Dwell thou

and thy wife in the Garden, and eat ye plentifully there from whatever ye list; but to this tree

come not nigh, lest ye become of the transgressors.’ But Satan made them slip from it, and

caused their banishment from the place in which they were” (Rodwell 6). The Koran does not

explicitly state the type of tree that was forbidden, just as the Book of Genesis only tells of an

unnamed forbidden fruit. This forbidden fruit is commonly believed to have been an apple.

Many scholars now believe, though, that the forbidden fruit of scripture was actually a

pomegranate.

The transformation in common culture of pomegranate to apple may have had many

causes. Et...

... middle of paper ...

...ions that will lead both countries

toward a better future and paradises of their own.

Works Cited

Freedman, David Noel. The Anchor Bible Dictionary: Volume 2. New York: Bantam Doubleday

Dell Publishing Group, Inc., 1991.

Ghauri, Abdus Sattar. “The Concept of Original Sin.” 13 November 2002. Understanding Islam.

23 February 2008 com/related/text.asp?type=article&aid=178#_ftn2>. Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. New York: Penguin, 2003.

Prpic, J. Kaya, and Ainslie E. Ellis. “Influences in the design of a faculty-wide tutor

development program.” HERDSA, 2002.

Rieger, Mark. Introduction to Fruit Crops. Birmingham: Food Products Press, n.d.

Rodwell, J. M. The Koran. London: Orion Publishing Group Ltd, Orion House, 1909, 1992,

1994.

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. 4th edition. Houghton Mifflin, 2006.