Amir’s Growth: A Jungian Interpretation Of The Kite Runner

The Kite Runner, the first novel of the Afghan American writer Khaled Hosseini, was published in 2003. Since its publication, it has been spoken highly by critics. This book won almost all the prizes for a new writer in the English-speaking countries and made the record of occupying the top position of nine major book rankings for over ten weeks at the same time. The novel gives us a story about the growth of an Afghan boy.This thesis analyzes the protagonist’s growth in The Kite Runner from the perspective of Jung’s archetypal theory. Through an analysis of the protagonist’s growth, it reflects the development of the protagonist’s psychology and then his awareness of pursuing self-salvation and self-realization, thus it presents the protagonist’s inner affection and his mental process. The emphasis of this thesis lies on the analysis of the protagonist’s personality and growth from the aspects of four major archetypes—the persona, the shadow, the anima/animus and the self, which play critical roles in people’s personality and behaviors.First, the thesis delineates the process of the protagonist’s way towards degradation in his childhood and his sin by tracing his growing path. And it gives an analysis of the flaws in his personality from the aspects of persona, shadow and the absence of the first stage of anima projection. Then, chapter two elucidates the causes of Amir’s transformation which lead to his maturity. During his growth, the compensation of the second stage of anima projection and the guidance from positive guiders make his personality complete. He realizes that the unatoned sin has deeply imprinted in his heart, and he should redeem his sin to face the future. Chapter three is based on the archetype of the self. It analyzes that Amir achieves his self-realization and raises himself to a level of pursuing wholeness in his personality when he plucks up courage to face his guilt and conquers his defects to realize his self-salvation.The author believes that encoding this novel with Jung’s archetypal theory on the theme of initiation will provide the readers with a new standpoint to get a more thorough and deeper understanding about this novel.