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Guilt can either paralyze or catalyze a person, depending on their character and sense of identity. Throughout Hossenini’s The Kite Runner, Amir’s continual search for redemption shapes his identity both as a child and as an adult. During his childhood, Amir longs to redeem himself in the eyes of his father and searches for love and acceptance. During his adolescence, Amir desires redemption for betraying Hassan, but does not know how to rid himself of his guilt and cowardice. Lastly, during his adulthood, Amir’s internal struggle with guilt casts a shadow on the success of his life in America and ultimately causes him to return to Afghanistan in order to redeem his past. As a child, Amir’s search for redemption in the eyes of his father shapes …show more content…
the very beginning of his identity. Since Amir’s father, Baba, is a man of wealth and status within the community, Amir is born into a world with large expectations. Throughout his childhood, Amir feels this pressure and almost estranges himself from this role due to feeling inadequate. Although Amir longs for Baba’s attention and love, he knows he is a continual disappointment to Baba due to their differences. For example, Baba takes Amir to a Buzkashi tournament where a skilled horseman is trampled under a group of horses and dies in front of their eyes. The entire way home, Amir cries and reflects, “I will never forget Baba’s valiant efforts to conceal the disgusted look on his face as he drove in silence.” (Hosenini 21) After this event, Amir overhears a conversation between Baba and Rahim Khan, in which Baba expresses his frustration over the fact that Amir is so different from him and worries that Amir is a coward. This longing to connect with his father sometimes causes Amir to be mean-spirited towards Hassan, who earns the attention and praise of Baba. Amir cannot understand the connection between Hassan and his father, which shapes the definition of his friendship with Hassan. Because there are so few chances for Amir and Baba to bond over similarities, Amir becomes determined to win the kite-fighting tournament. When he does in fact win, he redeems himself momentarily in the eyes of his father. However this event is overshadowed by Hassan’s rape, which becomes Amir’s additional motivation to redeem himself during his adolescence and adulthood. In his adolescence, Amir wishes for redemption for abandoning Hassan, but is unsure how to get rid of his guilt and cowardice. Hassan’s rape defines both Amir’s adolescence and adulthood; this moment continually plagues Amir with guilt and shame. Amir’s cowardice only grows stronger as he begins to feel inadequate not only in the eyes of his father, but in the eyes of his surrounding friends, most importantly Hassan. Rather than admit his weakness and ask for forgiveness, Amir distances himself from their friendship. The only major event with Hassan after the rape occurs when he takes him on the hill and throws pomegranates at his friend and yells for Hassan to hit him back. “I wished he’d give me the punishment I craved, so maybe I’d finally sleep at night,” Amir reflects, proving his need for redemption from his cowardice and shame (Hossenini 92). This overwhelming guilt eventually causes Amir to plant money and a watch under Hassan’s mattress and accuse him of theft, which ultimately drives Hassan from the house and out of Amir’s life. Amir is unable to redeem himself honorably, and therefore he continues to be plagued by guilt throughout his adulthood until he returns to Afghanistan. Throughout his adulthood, Amir’s continuing internal struggle with guilt haunts the success of his life in America and ultimately returns him to Afghanistan in order to redeem his past.
After Amir and Baba move to America, their relationship grows closer and Baba begins to respect Amir’s choices, such as his decision to pursue creative writing in college. Amir finds manages to publish his first novel in addition to falling in love and marrying Soraya. However, despite Amir’s success in America, thoughts of betraying Hassan still plague his mind. For example, before Soraya and Amir marry, she discloses that a few years earlier she had slept with another man. Instantly, Amir thinks of his own guilt over betraying Hassan and reflects, “__quote about how he feels__” Amir’s guilt over Hassan influences unfortunate life events as well, such as when he and Soraya discover they cannot have children. He attributes this event as punishment for abandoning and wrongfully accusing Hassan. (find text to support) Although Amir is eventually removed from Afghanistan, his old friends, Hassan, and even Baba, he cannot stop identifying himself as a coward. Therefore, when he learns that Hassan is actually his brother, his guilt overwhelms him to the point that he no longer can handle it. He knows his quest for redemption can end with rescuing Sohrab. (quote?) After rescuing Sohrab, his identity transforms from a coward and a person tormented by guilt into a fighter and caretaker, and he is fully
redeemed. In conclusion, The Kite Runner examines how Amir’s identity is shaped by his continual search for redemption both as a child and adult. In his childhood, Amir attempts to redeem himself in the eyes of his father and longs for love and acceptance. In his adolescence, Amir desires to rid himself of his guilt and cowardice over betraying Hassan, but unfortunately only adds to his emotional torment. In his adulthood, Amir’s guilt taints his success in America and ultimately allows him to redeem his past when he returns to Afghanistan. The Kite Runner explores how guilt can affect and transform different characters, and although Amir’s path was rough and emotionally tumultuous, his redemption at the conclusion of the novel was only sweeter because of it.
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
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 Kite Runner is a book about a young boy, Amir, who faces many struggles as he grows up in Kabul and later moves to America to flee from the Taliban. His best friend and brother , Hassan, was a big part of his life, but also a big part of guilt he held onto for many years. The book describes Amir’s attempt to make up for the past and resolve his sins so he can clear his conscious. Amir is worthy of forgiveness because although he was selfish, he was very brave and faced his past.
... Finally, Amir chooses to redeem himself by opting to protect Hassan’s son Sohrab. The guilt which estranged Amir from his childhood friend in a way manages to reunite him with Hassan, albeit in a different manner. Thereby, the two works that are Macbeth and The Kite Runner not only present before the humanity, the immense power and potency of guilt, but also emphatically reveal the eventual consequences of the guilt traceable to an evil act or an act of cowardice or betrayal. These two works expose the psychology of guilt in a very vivid and threadbare manner, which explains their appeal and the human interest they accrue.
Amir goes through many events that take place in the book that change him, and the way he is perceived within the book. Amir is a young boy, who is tortured by his father’s scrutinizing character. Amir is also jealous of Hassan, because of the fact that his father likes Hassan instead of Amir. Amir fights for his father’s approval, interest, and love. This is when Amir changes for the good as he deals with the guilt of the rape of Hassan. Amir witnessed Hassan getting raped, but decides to nothing in order to win over his father’s interest. The guilt that Amir builds up is carries from his premature times as a child to his mature times. From Afghanistan to
Throughout The Kite Runner this theme is shown many times without this aspect and understanding of this part of the book it would be incomprehensible. Amir eventually learns how to cope with his own guilt and his
Life in America for Baba and Amir is much different than their life in Afghanistan. Specifically, Amir adapts well to America. He completes high school and college. Furthermore, he follows his dream of becoming a writer. In American Amir becomes a young man who marries Soraya. The reader witnesses a kinder, non-vindictive Amir.
In the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini the, main Protagonist is a man that goes by the name Amir. Some argue that he is an anti-hero, or not a hero. No. Amir is a hero. Amir is just another person who was lost at one point and needed direction and needed clear the guilty feelings he had. Through these actions he creates a heroic journey, he follows a hero’s path.
In the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, there are several major themes. One of the themes that stands out the most is redemption. This theme is shown through the thoughts and actions from the protagonist of the novel, Amir. He is seeking redemption for betraying his childhood best friend and half-brother Hassan. Due to Amir’s cowardice during Hassan’s rape, he feels guilty for committing the vilest sin in Afghan culture. “I had one last chance to make a decision. One final opportunity to decide who I was going to be. I could step into that alley, stand up for Hassan – the way he 'd stood up for me all those times in the past – and accept whatever would happen to me. Or I could run. In the end, I ran. I ran because I was a coward” (Hosseini 77). Deep down, Amir feels as if he should have done something, and because of his nagging guilt he is not able to lead a peaceful life. He
To atone for his past sins, he embarks on a journey back to Afghanistan to redeem himself to Hassan for not treating him the way he was treated. He redeems himself by saving Sohrab and giving him a safer and enjoyable life in the Untied States. Amir tyres to attain redemption to baba for being the cause of his mother’s death as he believes. Gaining his fathers love and care will make him feel redeemed from all of the resentment and lack of care that his father shows to him. He must prove to Baba that he is worthy of spending time with everyday because he feels the hatred that his father shows to him. One way how he gets redemption from his father is by winning the kite running tournament to prove to him that he is worthy of being his son. Amir’s path of redemption is not only directed to other people but personal redemption for himself. He attempts to redeem himself by building an orphanage with his wife Soraya and giving Sohrab the childhood that is safer and more suitable for a young boy to grow up in. Amir has to realize that the past doesn’t define who someone is although you can’t forget the past, the actions that they decide to do to redeem themselves from the past mistakes defines who someone is. If Amir’s mother did not die at birth would he be resented from his father greatly and have to make great
Over the course of the novel, Baba implies that he is not proud of Amir and the only reason he knows Amir is his son, is because he witnessed Amir 's birth. He states to Rahim Khan that he thinks Amir needs to stand up for himself more often. Countless times during the novel, Amir feels like he has to fight for his affection, that he has to earn Baba’s love. In order to prove himself worthy of affection and to redeem himself for not being a son Baba could be proud of, Amir yearns to win the kite runner competition. He reminisces on a memory, when all “I saw was the blue kite. All I smelled was victory. Salvation. Redemption” (65). In the aftermath of Hassan’s rape, Amir got rid of Hassan so he would not have to face the cause of his guilt on a daily basis. Amir buries the secret of the rape deep within him, where he hopes that it will not come back to haunt him, which is not the case. “We had both sinned and betrayed. But Baba had found a way to create good out of his remorse. What had I done, other than take my guilt out on the very same people I had betrayed, and then try to forget it all? What had I done, other than become an insomniac? What had I ever done to right things?” (303). As mentioned earlier, Amir is not one who stands up for himself. In order for Amir to redeem himself for betraying Hassan, and not standing up for him earlier,
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.
“It's wrong what they say about the past, I've learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out” (Hosseini). In The Kite Runner, Hosseini shares Amir’s journey to atonement. As Amir states, he was unable to bury his past, similar to his father, Baba, who spent the majority of his life haunted by his sins. While both father and son are consumed by guilt, the way in which they atone for their iniquities is dissimilar. While Baba attempts to live his life according to the Afghan saying, “ Life goes on, unmindful of beginning, end...crisis or catharsis, moving forward like a slow, dusty caravan of kochis [nomads]” (Hosseini 356), Amir strays from this traditional perspective. Baba chose to continue his life unmindful of his past, while Amir, eventually decides to confront his. Although both Baba and Amir have acted immorally, the choices they make find redemption affect the success of their individual attempts. In the novel, Amir’s quest for atonement is more effective than Baba’s because he acts virtuously, while his father, acts selfishly. Ultimately, Amir is the more successful of the two because, in opposition to Baba, he seeks holistic atonement and is willing to make sacrifices to achieve redemption.
Amir’s redemption is a large part of the novel and is carried out almost entirely until the end of the story. He travels to rescue Hassan’s son, Sohrab, from the orphanage he was placed in after the death of his parents. He promises to find him a safe home with someone but after time passes he feels like this is not enough. He then speaks to his wife and decides to take Sohrab back to the United States with him and take care of his as if he was one of his own. Earlier in the novel when Baba is speaking Amir over hears his conversation as he is referring to him stating, “A boy who won 't stand up for himself becomes a man who can 't stand up to anything” (Hosseini, 22). Thus meaning that if he is able to stand up for himself as a young boy, when he is grown he will not be able to stand up for anything that is in his future. This is true throughout the story until he stands up for himself and Sorhab when he is arguing with his life long bully, Assef. Amir lacked the courage to defend himself in the novel until he finally took charge and went against
When people sin they go to great lengths to seek redemption after being tormented from their guilt. In “The Kite Runner”, Hosseini writes about the life of Amir, who sinned at a young age and was left with psychological, emotional, and physical struggles that put him on a journey to find redemption. Betrayal is one of the many sins that can create pain and suffering in a person caused by their guilt which leaves them seeking an important healing process called redemption.