Betrayal, Fear, Redemption in Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Many books today portray a different world. Few books will make readers think they’ve lived in that world all their lives. The Kite Runner is a tale about betrayal, fear, and redemption. In the book, a young boy, Amir, lives in Kabul, Afghanistan happily, until one fateful day. After that, he’s plunged into fear and regret as his life gets worse and worse. Decades later, a man reminisces on his past mistakes and desperately tries to bury his old life. Khaled Hosseini has captured the minds of many with his book, The Kite Runner. The Kite Runner was published by Riverhead Books in 2003, after Khaled Hosseini had worked on it for two years. The book immediately became an international bestseller, becoming the number one New York Times Best Seller for two years, and its fame sparked the creation of a movie based on the book. The book was inspired by Hosseini’s childhood, and it features significant moral lessons that are embedded into the very text of each chapter.

Among the many life lessons in the book, the most prominent is, by far, the idea that one should make up for one’s past mistakes. Throughout the book, Amir’s experiences, mistakes, and revelations highlight the life lesson embedded within every chapter. For example, Amir’s best friend and servant, always stands up for Amir, but when it’s time for Amir to stand up for Hassan, he abandons him when Hassan needs him most. As a result, Hassan gets sexually abused. Amir attempts to forget what he has done, but the guilt forces him to attempt to get Hassan kicked out. This leads to their friendship dying and Amir’s guilt increasing. Later, in America, Amir yet again attempts to bury the past and move on, but he is haunted by his sins. Finding a way to redeem himself, Amir returns to Afghanistan to find Hassan dead, and Hassan’s son missing. In order to find Hassan’s son, he endures a severe beating from the same person that abused Hassan. After finding Hassan’s son, Amir finds he looks like his father, Hassan, and adopts him. By doing this, he finds peace again. Through Amir’s experiences, readers can learn a valuable lesson about guilt. Amir’s two failed attempts to bury his past show us that we shouldn’t bury the past because it always comes back. As a result of attempted burials, his past mistakes seep into the very fabric of his life.