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All people face challenges in their lifetime, whether it is something small or something big and impactful. The journey faced in order to get through a low point can be compared to a hero’s journey. The novel The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini follows the story of a boy named Amir and his lifelong journey in achieving redemption and forgiveness. In doing so he must go through a number of different challenging tasks and events. An archetype is a reoccurring symbol or motif in literature, art or mythology that can also be a person, whether they are good or bad does not matter. Amir faces many challenges and events that guide his past childish mistakes away from his poor reputation in order to be good again. In order for this revelation to occur Because there is no evidence of both Hassan and Farzana’s death, there is no way to tell that Sohrab is an actually orphan. When Amir mentions that Sohrab may have to go back to the orphanage, Sohrab gets upset and attempts to kill himself. Luckily Sohrab survives and his papers finally get cleared to get adopted. There is more hope and safety in America, Amir knows it is the only place for Sohrab. When Sohrab and Amir finally return, Sohrab goes through a period of silence. There is a noticeable difference between quiet and silence. “ It would be erroneous to say Sohrab [is] quiet. Quiet is peace. Tranquillity. Quiet is turning down the volume knob of life. Silence is pushing the OFF button. Shutting it down. All of it… It was the silence of one who has taken cover in a dark place.” (361). Sohrab is not comfortable and has not built trust yet, Amir and Soraya are willing to be patient, even if it means it might take a while to see a smile. Then one day when Soraya, Amir, and Sohrab go to the park they see kids out flying kites. Amir sees this as the perfect opportunity to finally see Sohrab’s smile. He picks out a kite from the vendor, ties the string and shows Sohrab how to fly a kite just like Hassan once did. As Amir ran for the kite he and Sohrab caught, Amir shouts: “for you a thousand times over” ( 371). A saying Hassan said after cutting the last kite, winning the annual Kite Running competition. Amir can know feel forgiveness whenever the name Hassan is
Betrayal, redemption, and forgiveness are all major themes in The Kite Runner written by Khaled Hosseini. The novel also focuses around the theme of a broken relationship between father and son as well as facing difficult situations from ones past. Amir and Hassan are best friends with two completely different personalities. Each character in the novel faces their own hardships and eventually learns to overcome those difficulties. Beginning with betrayal then the characters have to make their way to gaining redemption and forgiveness from others, as well as their self, is carried on throughout the novel. It is a continuous story of the relationships between Amir and his father Baba and facing their challenges from the past every day of their present.
Baba’s wealth, lack of emotional connection, and inner conflict between his two vastly different sons shaped Amir in the novel “Kite Runner”. Baba, of all the characters in the book, shaped Amir the most, despite other influential relationships. “Man’s main task in life is to give birth to himself, to become what he potentially is. The most important product of his effort is his own personality.”
Khaled Hosseini 's novel, The Kite Runner uses lots of literary techniques. The authors use of craft reveals how Amir’s childish psychological state results in his betrayal of hassan and his irrational behavior afterwards. The main elements used are setting, conflict, and point of view.
Amir and Hassan’s relationship is a recurring theme throughout the novel. In the ethnic caste system, Amir is a Pashtun and Hassan is a Hazara. Pashtuns are placed in a much higher caste than Hazaras, therefore Hazaras are treated as servants to the Pashtuns. Every morning, Hassan prepares Amir’s breakfast, makes his clothes and cleans his room for him. In the annual kite tournament, at least two people must work together in order to properly maneuver the kite, one to lead the kite, and another to feed the kite’s glass string. Hassan’s role is the latter. His role is to feed the kite’s string for Amir and run after any fallen kites. The glass string attached to the kite is dangerous as it is coated with shards of glass and leaves bloody marks and cuts on the hands. Although Hassan catches the fallen kites, he must always bring it back to Amir. One winter, when Hassan and Amir were waiting under a tree for the kite to come to them, Hassan asks Amir “Would I ever lie to you, Amir agha?” (Ho...
The books “A Thousand Splendid Suns” and “The Kite Runner” are both written by Khaled Hosseini. The setting of both of the book is in the capital of Afghanistan, which is Kabul. Both books express the themes of betrayal, discrimination, and also redemption; but both novels depict the themes and characters in different ways. Even though the main characters are very much alike.
Since September 11, 2001, the Western world’s view of the Middle East, specifically countries like Iraq or Afghanistan, has shifted drastically. Whenever the media portrays the Middle East, they manage to spin a story negatively or violently. Due to these extrinsic influences, the youngest generation of Americans has never known an America that did not express at least some hatred toward certain parts of the Eastern world. Novels like The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini strive to encourage a healthy interest in Afghanistan and the Middle East while breaking the stereotypes that westerners have come to accept as fact about the culture and religion of Afghanistan. Hosseini manages to conjure a universal story line with relatable characters that introduce the world to the everyday people of postcolonial Afghanistan. On a grander scale, in The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini utilizes his own life experiences alongside his firsthand account of the contemporary history of Afghanistan to craft a novel that breaks down these negative stereotypes and offers a significant contribution to Afghan American literature.
In Amir’s early childhood, kites represented happiness. Flying kites was his favorite pastime, as it was the only way that he connected fully with Baba, who was once a champion kite fighter. However, the kite takes on a different significance when Amir doesn’t stop Hassan's abusers from raping him in order to prevent the kite from being stolen. The kite serves as a symbol of Amir’s guilt throughout the novel. Hechose his fragile relationship with his father over the well-being of his best friend and half-brother: “Baba and I lived in the same ...
We all are heroes of our own story, and it is a quality seen in many movies and books. The hero's journey is about progress and passage. This journey involves a separation from the unknown, known world, and a series of phases the hero must go through . Each stage of the journey must be passed successfully if the person is to become a hero. In “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini, the main character Amir faces a series of trials and goes through obstacles where the concept of his childhood dies.
Amir is, to be put bluntly, a coward. He is led by his unstable emotions towards what he thinks will plug his emotional holes and steps over his friends and family in the process. When he sought after Baba’s invisible love, Amir allowed Hassan to be raped in an alleyway just so that the blue kite, his trophy that would win his father’s heart, could be left untouched. In the end, he felt empty and unfulfilled with the weight of his conscience on his shoulders comparable to Atlas’ burden. Unable to get over his fruitless betrayal, he lashes out and throws pomegranates at Hassan before stuffing money and a watch under his loyal friend’s pathetic excuse for a bed, framing Hassan for theft and directly causing the departure of both servants from his household. Even after moving to America, finding a loving wife, and creating a career for himself in writing, he still feels hollow when thinking of his childhood in Afghanistan. Many years later, he is alerted of Hassan’s death and sets out on a frenzied chase to find his friend’s orphaned son. He feels that he can somehow ease his regrets from all of those years ago if he takes in Hassan’s son, Sohrab. He finds Sohrab as a child sex slave for Assef, who coincidentally was the one to rape Hassan all of those years ago. After nearly dying in his attempt to take back Sohrab, he learns that he can take the damaged child back to the states with him. Sadly, Hassan’s son is so
When people are given a chance to redeem themselves they will try to use their best abilities to accomplish their objective. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, is a historical fiction that follows Amir from childhood to adulthood. Amir, a socially awkward kid, lives in Kabul, Afghanistan with his father, Baba, a successful businessman, with his best friend, Hassan. Baba is discouraging towards Amir for not being confident in himself, but Amir finds a passion in writing. When Amir and Hassan win a kite fighting tournament, it causes Baba to accept Amir, but ultimately Hassan leaves Baba’s household because Amir betrays Hassan by not defending him when he is raped by local bullies. Due to turmoil rising in Afghanistan, Amir and Baba travel to America, where Amir becomes a successful writer and has a wife. Then Amir receives a call that can help Amir redeem his friendship with Hassan. As the book progresses, Hosseini proves that anything can be fixed through redemption. Amir’s pursuit of writing in America demonstrates the freedom found there, exemplifying the endless freedom found in America compared to Kabul. In a quest to save Hassan’s son, Sohrab, Amir fights Assef, an adversary of Amir since childhood; as Amir is losing the brawl, he goes through a similar pain that he made Hassan go through. When settling in America, Amir and Baba’s relationship improves as compared to their poor affliction in Kabul.
As a foreword, the story of The Kite Runner focuses on a man named Amir. In his childhood, he enjoyed a high-class life in Kabul, Afghanistan, living with his father Baba. They have two servants, Ali and his son Hassan. They are Hazaras, a lower class ethnic minority in Afghanistan. In one Winter of their childhood, Amir and Hassan participate in a kite-fighting tournament; the goal is to be the last kite flying. When a kite is cut, boys chase after it as a trophy. Amir wins the tournament, and Hassan flies to catch the losing kite. Later, following Hassan's path, Amir comes upon a neighbourhood bully named Assef about to rape Hassan who has the trophy, the blue kite. Amir does not interject, believing this will secure him the kite. Thus, Amir sets forth a chain of events he must redeem in his adulthood.
In the novel The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini tells a notable coming-of-age story portraying the actions and thoughts of Amir, a penitent adult living in the United States and his reminiscence of his affluent childhood in the unstable political environment of Afghanistan. Throughout the novel Khaled Hosseini uses character description to display his thoughts on sin and redemption.
..., the dependence of one on the other. Although the kite "spins, dips, and steadies", it stays in the sky with free, natural movements (122). Verbal interaction is not required to keep the kite flying because their communication through the kite speaks volumes louder than sound itself. Decades later, when Amir Flies a kite with Hassan's son, Sohrab, the paper toy's flight expresses more than anything Amir could say. "Then I blinked and, for just a moment, the hands holding the spool were the chipped-nailed, calloused hands of a hare lipped boy" (369-370). By watching this kite and seeing Hassan in its ascent, Amir begins to feel redemption and atonement for his painful past. The flight of the kite at the end of this novel does not close the door on Amir's past of guilt and burdens, but rather reestablishes his memory of Hassan and offers hope for a redemptive future.
The story The Kite Runner is centered around learning “to be good again.” Both the movie and the book share the idea that the sins of the past must be paid for or atoned for in the present. In the book, Amir can be seen as a troubled young boy who is struggling with a tremendous amount of guilt. It is easy to blame Amir’s actions on his guilt and his father’s lack of love for him.
The Kite Runner, written by Khaled Hosseini, depicts the life of Amir, a male from Afghanistan, and his maturation through the social and political turmoil that emerged in Afganistan. Although the story is fictitious, the plot and storyline involves political, social, and cultural problems in Afghanistan. The book also provides a small window of contrast to the contemporary problems of terrorism, cultural battles and coup d'etat in the middle east.