Betrayal In The Kite Runner

799 Words2 Pages

Sometimes we make mistakes that we spend our entire lives trying to correct. Acts of violence are committed, sprouting relationships are shattered and truths are hidden. In Khaled Hosseini’s novel, The Kite Runner, a loyal friend is betrayed in the worst kind of way, and like a lit touchpaper, the events of the winter of 1975 resonate, and change countless lives. The themes of betrayal, deceit and redemption are the most prevalent ideas found in this novel. Baba deceives Amir, Hassan and Ali and steals their right to the truth; Amir betrays Hassan and Sohrab; and finally Amir searches to clear his conscience and is able to redeem himself as well as Baba. Fifteen years after Baba’s death, Amir learns of the truths that Baba had kept hidden …show more content…

His journey starts when a long lost family friend calls Amir to Pakistan, and in passing says, “Come. There is a way to be good again.”(p. 202). Rahim Khan informs Amir of Baba’s lies as well as Hassan’s death. Afterwards, on behalf of Rahim Khan’s request, Amir ventures into Afghanistan to rescue Hassan’s orphan son, a boy named Sohrab. The Afghanistan that Amir sees is not the one of his childhood, it is a hopeless place. Sohrab is being held by Assef who is now a Taliban leader. Amir is able to rescue Sohrab and cross borders, but barely escapes with his life. In Pakistan Sohrab attempts suicide and is left deeply traumatized. Once adopted by Amir and taken to the United States, Sohrab doesn’t utter a single word for an entire year. All of these things considered, Amir is not able to redeem himself until the end of the novel, when he runs the kite for Sohrab. For his entire life Amir put himself first. He always thought of his guilt, his pain, what he would go through if something went wrong. When Amir runs the green kite, he does so for Sohrab’s happiness, and only in this definitive act does Amir truly obtain his

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