Guilt In The Kite Runner By Khaled Hosseini

Guilt is the emotion someone experiences after they have done something they believe is morally wrong. People feel guilt when they do something wrong and despite knowing better cause someone else harm, or disappoint someone. People deal with guilt in various ways, but do not necessarily admit what they have done, so they try to overcompensate and do good later on to make up for their mistakes from the past. In the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini a young boy named Amir, is haunted by the sins of his past and follows his struggle with the resulting guilt. Guilt causes people to make irrational decisions because it impairs judgment and consumes a person’s life.

Amir betrays Hassan when they were both young, and the guilt begins to

Hassan does not tell his father about the incident and Amir tries to forget. He cannot stand the guilt and wants to tell someone, but he still remains the coward he was in the alley. He begins to act differently, pushing Hassan out of his life, realizing the only way out is to get rid of the constant reminder completely. Amir is trying to figure out a solution to his problem and after he thinks about it he says “Maybe it would be for the best. Lessen his suffering. And mine too. Either way I knew one of us had to go” (Hosseini 102). The author specifically uses the words “his suffering” to imply Amir is projecting what he is feeling onto Hassan. Amir is not suffering as much as Hassan and that is why he has to do it. Amir’s guilt begins to consume him and the only way to cope with his actions is to believe someone else was in pain for his sins and this will relieve them from their constant pain. When the author writes the words “mine too” he illustrates that Amir is trying to make his suffering an afterthought and that what he is really doing just happens to also help him. It makes Amir be seen as someone who puts others’ feelings above his own when he is really trying to justify getting rid of Hassan. The author chose the