In The Kite Runner, what does Amir say about clichés?

This section of the novel comes in Chapter Fifteen, when
Amir goes to Pakistan to meet with Rahim Khan who is close to death. Amir tells us about
what he was taught about the use of cliches in creative writing and then he goes on to
defend his use of the cliche "the elephant in the room" to describe his meeting with
Rahim Khan after so long and how awkward it was. Note what he says about
cliches:

A
creative writing teacher at San Jose State used to say about clichés: "Avoid them like
the plague." Then he'd laugh at his own joke. The class laughed along with him, but I
always thought clichés got a bum rap. Because, often, they're dead-on. But the aptness
of the clichéd saying is overshadowed by the nature of the saying as a cliché. For
example, the "elephant in the room" saying. Nothing could more correctly describe the
initial moments of my reunion with Rahim
Khan.

Therefore Amir defends
his use of clichés and in particular his description of his reunion with Rahim Khan by
arguing that clichés have become clichés for a reason. They correctly sum up a
situation, as in this case both Rahim Khan and Amir initially try to ignore the elephant
in the room.