One thing that perhaps all human beings can agree on, based on their own life experiences, is that obstacles do not can be avoided. They can be ignored, sometimes they can even be dodged, but ultimately they cannot be avoided. In the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini and the poem “Where There's a Wall” by Joy Kogawa, character and symbolism are used to demonstrate that one's deep thoughts and contemplations are the greatest obstacles to one's need for redemption and of himself. -fulfillment. Those who don't face their guilt are paving the way for guilt to consume them, leading to an overall change not only in their lives, but also an overall change in who they truly are. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Character is one of the key tools used by both Hosseini and Kogawa to convey the obstacles that both characters have created for themselves using their own thoughts and feelings. In The Kite Runner, Amir's greatest goal was redemption, both in his childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Throughout his life, Amir has always sought to redeem himself, not necessarily for himself. During Amir's childhood years, his goal is to redeem himself before Baba, as he constantly tries to do so because Baba always made him feel like he wasn't good enough and that Hassan was better than Amir, leading to the event that gives shape to the book. , Amir watched as Hassan, who he didn't know was his brother at the time, was severely raped and Amir did nothing about it. More importantly, it was all to make Baba proud by bringing home that blue kite, so that Amir could be worthy in Baba's eyes. During his adolescence and then adulthood, Amir developed a new goal, namely self-redemption, the main reason being so that he could get rid of his guilt. No matter where Amir was in life, there was never anything holding him back from achieving his goals and doing what could have stopped the growth of such enormous guilt, except one obstacle, and that was Amir himself. Amir's thoughts and what he valued most, which at the time was the image he portrayed to the rest of the world and what others would think of his childhood mistake, leading him to make the even bigger mistake of remaining silent. Furthermore, Kogawa's character in his poem demonstrates such ideas in a similar way, except the only difference is that Amir's "wall" was more of a mental barrier, an image in his mind. However, this character is faced with a physical wall, a physical barrier and an obstacle, which prevents him from being free and being part of what is on the other side of the wall. A bit like Amir, the character in the poem knows that he can indeed break through that wall, and even lists all the possible ways to do so, but he is still stuck on the other side, not because he doesn't want to see what's behind it. on the other side of the wall, but because she thinks too much and these thoughts lead her to believe that she cannot go beyond the wall. “This side of the wall / I look up / lost in the clouds / I hear every sound you make / but I don't see you” (29-33). These lines reveal that the character feels lost, perhaps he no longer knows who he is, hence the statement "lost in the clouds", but he knows what might be on the other side because he feels everything, he just can't see it. , making it much harder to believe that everything that could be and everything that could change is really on the other side of the wall. The character is frustrated, lost and wants to know the truth, but the real onetruth he needs to understand is who he really is, and it all starts with redeeming oneself, the same way Amir began to get in touch with his true self after he redeemed himself. The character in the poem might look at Amir as an inspiration and a reason to take the first chance she can have to redeem herself and fulfill herself, because at one point Amir was just as lost as she was and just like her, she knew all she could do but he chose to ignore what is right in front of him. The mode of symbolism used throughout the novel and poem plays a huge role on the meaning and point of the main thematic ideas of both texts; sense of guilt and loss of oneself, placing oneself as an obstacle to redemption and self-realization. In The Kite Runner, the kite itself is always the beginning or end of something new. The book begins with the kite and ends with the kite, and the main event of the book happens because of the kite. Amir sees kites in San Francisco, bringing him back to memories of his life in Kabul: "I looked up and saw a pair of kites... floating side by side like a pair of eyes looking down on San Francisco, the city Now I call home. I looked up at the twin kites. I thought about the life I had lived until the winter of 1975 came and changed everything. And it made me who I am today" (Amir then continues). telling his story, highlighting the fact that he essentially lived his childhood trying to please Baba, and eventually succeeded, by giving him the blue kite That blue kite itself led to the main event and the beginning of something again, the turning point in the story; the rape of Hassan while Amir watched and remained silent for 25 years. For those 25 years, Amir did nothing but avoid the opportunity to redeem himself from his guilt and what happened. When Amir finally redeemed himself, he also achieved it through kite flying, when Sohrab, the reason why his guilt was washed away and his past mistakes were made up for, smiled after kite running with Amir, developing the connection between Sohrab and Amir. Once again, the kite symbolizes the beginning of something new, this time the beginning of a guilt-free and burden-free life for Amir. In Kogawa's poetry, the wall is a symbol that tells a story. One side of the wall can be seen as a representation of the past, while the other is the present. The narrator, however, is stuck in the past. His thoughts are based on the past and what happened then, and he knows exactly how to overcome everything, listing many ways to overcome the obstacle, also known as the wall, throughout the poem. Furthermore, it seems that she believes she cannot move forward from where she currently is because she is lost in herself and who she truly is, due to previous events, so she remains on that side of the wall carrying the weight of what has already happened and what cannot be undone. She stands, listening to the people she can't see who are on the other side, knowing that life on that side would be better, but once again she is trapped in the fear of letting go of what has already happened and moving forward to redeem herself . . In comparison, the kites symbolized for Amir the same wall found in the poem, but ultimately the kites also destroyed that wall when they became the reason for Amir to redeem himself and find peace in his true self. In the same way that this wall symbolizes the character and who he is, the kites in Hosseini's novel symbolize Amir from his childhood to the present day. Please note: this is just an example. 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