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Get every literary device explanation for The Kite RunnerPlus so much more...
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Hyperbole
Explanation and Analysis—Black and White:
When Amir reflects on his complicated feelings toward Baba, Khaled Hosseini uses hyperbole to show Baba’s control over Amir’s moral world:
With me as the glaring exception, my father molded the world around him to his liking. The problem, of course, was that Baba saw the world in black and white. And he got to decide what was black and what was white. You can’t love a person who lives that way without fearing him too. Maybe even hating him a little.
Amir’s language in this passage is very exaggerated, because as a child it truly seemed to him that his father “molded the world around him to his liking.” This comment also shows how absolute Baba’s authority felt to Amir as a child. In Amir’s eyes, Baba did not just influence opinions or ideas. Instead, he shaped right and wrong itself because “he got to decide what was black and what was white.” Baba’s ability to define what counted as good or bad made him seem superhuman.
This exaggerated power and control also explains the emotional strain between father and son. Because Baba defined morality in such rigid, absolute terms, Amir could never feel completely secure in his love. When Amir says that it was impossible to love a person like Baba without also fearing him, he’s demonstrating how conflicted his feelings about Baba were. As a boy, Amir’s feelings for Baba were a confusing mix of adoration and resentment.
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