Purnima Bhagria Essay Outline Introduction: Statement: The Kite Runner, written by Khaled Hosseini, is a famous novel which demonstrates its depiction of betrayal and redemption. Thesis: Different perspectives of Amir and how he portrays a devastating and painful attention of betrayal and redemption, throughout the novel towards the other characters, especially Hassan. Points: It shows the importance of redeeming yourself as a person, and realizing your mistakes. Paragraph 1: Topic sentence: Betrayal is a form of a sin. Its evident through the novel, Amir betrays Hassan in several ways. He silently watches Hassan get raped, while he becomes cruel, and avoids him. He does not mention it to Baba, and whenever Hassan’s name got brought up …show more content…
Making him appear guilty and being accused of theft. Forcing Baba to evict Hassan and Ali from the household. Hassan then admits to the accusation against himself, to protect Amir. Proof: “Then I understood: This was Hassan's final sacrifice for me... He knew I had betrayed him and yet he was rescuing me once again.” (Hosseini 115) Paragraph 3: Topic Sentence: Redemption is receiving forgiveness, for the commission of a sin. Amir feels a strong need to find redemption and redeem himself from betraying Hassan. He is haunted by the guilt, after his wrong doings even after he gets married and starts a successful career. He tries to find closure and sympathy as he sacrifices himself towards Hassan. Proof: “Baba stunned me by saying, "I forgive you." Forgive? But theft was the one unforgivable sin, the common denominator of all sins” (Hosseini 111) Purnima Bhagria Conclusion: Points: Amir realizes his mistakes from right to wrong. He always felt jealous of Hassan because he was a lot closer to Baba than he was. He felt the need to redeem himself, because he felt guilty of what he did to Hassan, and is trying to make it up to
It is not often that Amir’s love for Baba is returned. Baba feels guilty treating Amir well when he can’t acknowledge Hassan as his son. Baba discriminates against his son Amir by constantly making him feel weak and unworthy of his father. Baba once said to Rahim Kahn, “If I hadn’t seen the doctor pull him out of my wife with my own eyes, I’d never believe he’s my son” (Hosseini 23). Amir doesn’t feel like a son towards Baba since he seems like such a weakling. This neglect towards Amir causes him to feel a need to be accepted by Baba to end the constant discrimination from his father and he will do anything for it. “I actually aspired to cowardice, because the alternative, the real reason I was running, was that Assef was right: Nothing was free in this world. Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba” (Hosseini 77). Amir did not stop the rape of his good friend for one sole purpose. Amir felt that he had to betray his own half-brother to gain th...
Although Hassan is his best friend, there are many instances where Amir reveals his jealousy, most notable when Baba sees Hassan as the stronger boy, "self-defense has nothing to do with meanness. You know what always happens when the neighbourhood boys tease him? Hassan steps in and fends them off. I 've seen it with my own eyes…” (Hosseini 24). Clearly, Amir hears how his father compares the two, and unlike Hassan who manages to meet Baba’s expectations, Amir grows bitter towards Hassan. He is unable to fight off his envy which later causes him to sacrifice his best friend’s innocence: “Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba” (82), and this is all because he realizes “his shame is complicated by his own realization that in part he doesn’t help his friend precisely because he is jealous of him” (Corbett, 2006). From here, Amir develops strong feelings of guilt that induces him to perform even more destructive acts, such as having Hassan and his father evicted from the house. Amir not only loses a close friend, but now he has to continue to live with remorse as he dwells on these memories. The only way for Amir to redeem himself of his repercussions is through a challenging process of sacrifice and self-discovery. Although one is unsure at this point whether Amir succeeds at his endeavors, it is clear that this story
Amir makes mistakes and hurts his friend Hassan, and immediately afterwards he felt guilt, and wanted forgiveness, but Hassan acted like Amir did nothing, which bothered Amir even worse. And that lasted on, throughout his childhood he’s constantly upset about what he has done to Hassan, he doesn’t feel like it can be fixed. And he strives to do things throughout the novel to achieve that. One good deed he does trying to be good again, was when he goes back home, he is at a house with Farid and
Amir's actions showed how much of a coward he was. Amir suffered his whole life living with the guilt of knowing that Hassan was raped, much like Baba lived his whole life in guilt knowing that he stole the truth from Ali by committing adultery. Baba ran from the truth, and so did Amir to protect the family name, even if that meant betraying the people closest to him. Baba was a man more worried about his image than anything, and that is what he taught his son as well. Slowly that is all Amir knew how to do: protect his family and himself, leading him into a life of guilt, and running from people when situations were challenging, instead of making the admirable decision and help a
When Amir decides to plant his own watch and money under Hassan’s mattress he planned on getting Hassan in trouble from Baba. When Hassan is asked if he stole the watch and money he said yes. “I flinched, like I’d been slapped” (105). In this quote Amir shows that he was not expecting Hassan to respond in the way that he did. Right here is where Amir should have seen that Hassan cares about him and acted loyal like a real friend should have. Instead Amir Betrays Hassan again by not saying a word and letting Hassan take the blame for something he did not do. Amir continuously shows that he is Hassan’s betrayer by more actions that he
Redemption of Guilt Guilt is a result of sin, and sin is a result of misaction. In the novel, The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, the protagonist, Amir, goes on a journey to redeem himself for his sins. When Amir was 12, he witnessed his best friend, Hassan, get raped in an alley. Instead of standing up for his friend, Amir ran away in selfishness and cowardice. The guilt of his choice plagues Amir for the rest of his life, until one day, he gets a call from an old uncle, who tells him that “there is a way to be good again.”
Webster’s Dictionary defines the word “Guilt” as a cognitive or an emotional experience that occurs when a person realizes or believes accurately or not that he or she has compromised his or her own standards of conduct or has violated a moral standard and bears significant responsibility for that violation. Guilt is closely related to the concept of remorse. In the book Kite Runner Amir the main character carries a vast amount of guilt and remorse with him wherever he goes. In this essay I going to explain the facts surrounding the reasons that Amir feels and carries so much guilt and how he tries to avenge the wrong things that he has done in his life.
His guilt is like a dark cloud that hangs around him, holding him back and preventing him from being an outgoing person. On page 77 of the book it says, “In the end, I ran. I ran because I was a coward… I was afraid of getting hurt.” He felt like the cowardly lion in that moment because he was not able to stand up for his friend, Hassan, and protect him. He believed he was a coward that he was a monster because he said nothing about his friend getting raped or how at the moment he said nothing and made no motion to take up for Hassan. Another example of Amir’s guilt is on page 105 when he thinks, “This was Hassan’s final sacrifice for me… He knew I’d seen everything in that alley, that’d I’d stood there and done nothing… He knew I had betrayed him.” Hassan had given Amir one last gift besides him leaving he gave him his honour. Amir felt guilty for pushing Hassan away constantly to the point where his father, Ali, said enough and left taking Hassan with him. He knew after Hassan had left Baba’s house that he was the one in the wrong that he should never have toyed with Hassan’s feeling never once asked him to prove his loyalty to him. Also on pages 28 and 29 Amir thinks, “I’d tease him, expose his ignorance… I would feel guilty about it later.” Amir always teased Haasan about his ignorance how illiterate he was. He never told Hassan the true meaning of words he constantly used the antonym of their definitions. He felt guilty because he let Hassan be uneducated because deep down he felt that had Hassan gained any or a certain amount of knowledge that he would change and leave him
And hide it under Hassan's bed to make it look like he stole it from Amir, and tried to hide it. Amir tells his father about how he believes that Hassan stole it. When Hassan and Ali returned from doing their work Baba confronted Hassan about stealing Amir’s watch and birthday money, Hassan lies and agrees to stealing it, even though he did not, Baba forgave Hassan for what he did. “Then I understood: This was Hassan's final sacrifice for me... He knew I had betrayed him and yet he was rescuing me once again.” (Hosseini, 111) Ali and Hassan had decided to leave, they already had their bags packed. Baba demanded them to stay but they made their decision. This was the Amie had ever seen Baba cry. “That was when I understood the depth of pain I had caused . the blackness of the grief i had brought onto everyone, that not even Ali’s paralyzed face could mask his sorrow.” Ali and Hassan had left, Amir never saw Ali or Hassan again, he regrets everything he did, and continues to regret it for life. Baba also betrayed Ali, but in a different way than Amir. After Baba had died, Amir found out that Ali was not actually Hassan's biological father, but was actually in fact Baba. Since Ali
Betrayal is probably the most devastating loss someone can experience. To get betrayed, one has to place their trust on someone else and it hurts considerable when the person they trusted put their self-interests first and tore their trust. It not only breaks people’s hearts but also their trust. Betrayals also have unintended effects because everyone reacts with different levels of emotion when someone they trusted and loved broke their implicit trust of always being there for them. It also changes the deceiver because guilt drives them to change in order to redeem themselves. In Khaled Hosseini’s novel, The Kite Runner, there are many betrayals found in the book and it affects the characters differently.
“I looked at Hassan, showing those two missing teeth, sunlight slanting on his face. Baba’s other half. The unentitled, unprivileged half. The half who had inherited what had been pure and noble in Baba. The half that, maybe, in the most secret recesses of his heart, Baba had thought of as his true son… Then I realized something: That last thought had brought no sting with it… I wondered if that was how forgiveness budded, not with the fanfare of epiphany, but with pain gathering its things, packing up, and slipping away unannounced in the middle of the night.” (359). When Amir looks at Sohrab he sees Hassan and by giving Sohrab an escape from the orphanages and certain death he feels as if he is making up for betraying Hassan and drastically changing the course of their lives. Amir’s guilt feels as if it has “packed up and slipped away” symbolizes that by making things right with Sohrab he has redeemed himself for his actions as a child. Before Amir can fully atone for his sins there is one last thing he must make right that started it all. “ “Do you want me to run that kite for you?” His Adam’s apple rose and fell as he swallowed… I thought I saw him nod. “For you, a thousand times over,” I heard myself say. Then I turned and ran. It was only a smile, nothing more… A tiny thing… But I’ll take it. With open arms. Because when spring comes, it melts the snow one flake at a time, and maybe I just witnessed the first flake melting.” (371). This was the final hump that Amir had to get over and he had done it. The melting of the snow symbolized that his walk to redemption was over that he can finally forget what happened in that alley on that cold day one winter in Kabul. It shows how redemption is possible even if it looks like an uphill battle your guilt can be
Riek, brings the point of how feeling guilt can be a motivator for a person looking for forgiveness from a sin. The problems relating to betrayal can impact a person’s life both positively and negatively. It breaks relations and people lead their life with guilt inside them. Betrayal in family affects people's lives many different ways because it breaks relations, leads to guilt, and eventually people search for redemption.
To begin, the first instance of redemption is found and portrayed through irony. As Amir's mother died giving birth to him, he has always felt guilty. Leading up to the annual kite-fighting tournament, Amir feels as if winning will redeem her death, and solidify his relationship with Baba. When he comes upon Hassan who is cornered by Assef, Amir feels as if his rape might be justified: “Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay to win Baba. Or was it a fair price?” (Hosseini, 82) If Amir gains the kite, he wins Baba's heart. Ironically, the sacrifice of Hassan is the catalyst to Amir's need for redemption. Instead of redeemi...
"By then I understood: This was Hassan's last surrender for me... He knew I had betrayed him however then he was defending me toward the day's end." (Chapter 7)
A large part of the novel deals with Amir trying to redeem himself. First with his Baba by trying to win the kite fighting tournament because Amir feels as though his father blames him for his mothers death. The the larger act of redemption occurs when trying to rid himself of the guilt of letting Hassan be rape...