Shahla Waledkhani
Mr. Ronzio
ENG3UI
12 January 2015
It all started in a deserted alley: Amir’s redemption
No matter how big or small a sin is, achieving redemption is a great success. Everyone will go through some sort of betrayal, although they may be the one causing the betrayal, or the one being betrayed. The main theme of Khaled Hosseini's novel "The Kite Runner" is about the journey from sin to redemption. The main character who plays the role of the narrator, is Amir, who needs to be saved from the betrayal that he caused twenty-six years ago. In the first chapter Amir says: “[l]ooking back now, I realize I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years” (Khaled Hosseini, pg 1). He feels this way because the betrayal haunts him, makes him crave ways to be good again. Amir has one more chance to redeem himself of sin from the past to save the life of a boy, by taking him away from the streets of where he grew up to America for a better life.
Amir had always felt the need to win over Baba’s affection which resulted in his selfish ways. Amir won the kite flying tournament, eager to make Baba even prouder than he is now, so to get the blue kite that he cut. This is when a life of regret takes place when Amir goes to look
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for Hassan. Hassan end’s up paying a price for that kite, because nothing is free. When Hassan is getting raped by Assef and held down by the other two bullies, Amir catches a glimpse and thinks: “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. I was afraid of Assef and what he would do to me. I was afraid of getting hurt. That's what I told myself as I turned my back to the alley, to Hassan. That's what I made myself believe. 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, pg 77). Baba says: “A boy who won’t stand up for himself becomes a man who can’t stand up for anything” (Hosseini, pg 24) while speaking about Amir to Rahim Khan.
This quote represents both Baba and Amir’s characteristics. Baba stands up for everything, including himself and others. If Baba and Amir would trade places, at moments such as when Hassan was raped in that alley, or when the lady with the black shawl was asked for some time with the russian soldier, things would have been different. For instance, Hassan wouldn’t have been raped by Assef if Amir stepped in and had his father’s courage. Also, the lady with the black shawl would have been raped because Amir wouldn’t have done anything to save the woman from the
soldier. Amir is often a letdown, he never stands up for what is right such as when Hassan needed his help in the alley to fight off Assef, he ran. Amir confesses “I ran because I was a coward. I was afraid of Assef and what he would do to me. I was afraid of getting hurt. That’s what I told myself as I turned my back to the alley to Hassan. That’s what I made myself believe” (Hosseini, pg 82). Later, Amir finds that the trip to Pakistan and his homeland was not only to rid himself of his sins, but Baba’s too. Baba and Amir are alike because both of them made life changing mistakes that impact the lives of the people around them. Baba told Amir: “Now, no matter what the mullah teaches, there is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft. When you kill a man, you steal a life. You steal his wife’s right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone’s right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness,” (Hosseini, pg 18). Baba stole Amir and Hassan’s right in knowing that they were half brothers, and Amir stole Baba’s right to the truth for a variety of things such as when Amir accused Hassan of stealing his watch and some Afghani bills and also the truth behind the night of the kite tournament.
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
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.
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 ...
The Kite Runner, written by Khaled Hosseini, shows how lying and deceit is a counterproductive route when trying to live with a dreadful past, exhibited through the actions of Amir. Amir’s decision to withhold the truth and blatantly lie in several situations due to jealousy and his desire for Baba to be proud of him amounts to further pain and misery for himself and those he deceives. Because of Amir’s deceit towards Baba and Hassan, his guilt from his past manifests itself into deeply-rooted torment, not allowing him to live his life in peace. The guilt from Amir’s past is only alleviated when he redeems his sins by taking in Sohrab, contributing to the theme that the only way “to be good again” is through redemption, not shunning the past.
Baba is a very high standing man in Kabul, but seems to be extremely harsh to Amir when he was a child. He is a very large, tough man who was very well known in the town and as Amir stated in the novel, “Lore has it my father once wrestled a black bear in Baluchistan with his bare hands” (Hosseini 12). This small detail of Baba makes it known to the reader that Baba is a man of great courage and strength. Some may think that an honorable man is one with no flaws, but many disagree. Every human being makes mistakes, including Baba. When Amir grows up and goes back to visit Rahim Khan in Afghanistan, he finds out that his father lied to him his entire life about Hassan being his half-brother. He also finds out from Rahim Khan that all Baba had back then “was his honor, his name” (Hosseini 223). He did not tell Amir and Hassan that they were brothers because they had a different mother and that would have made their entire family be looked down upon in the town. He did it for their own good, and wanted for them both to grow up as honorable men, like himself. There is a difference in making mistakes and trying to do what’s best to fix them, rather than making the same mistakes over and over again, which is what Amir seemed to do in the novel. Amir was the exact opposite of his father, which made it very hard for them to have a
Sometimes, no matter how big a mistake you make is, you can try to be forgiven, and make up for your mistakes by seeking redemption. No matter what someone does, if they truly want to be forgiven, they can, and will, seek redemption. And more often than not, they will succeed and they will be forgiven. The book, The Kite Runner, is about a kid named Amir, from Afghanistan, who was rich and privileged until having to move to America. And Amir stands by as Hassan is raped, which causes the guilt he has, and this is why he’s trying to strive for redemption.
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,
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...
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 redeemed must realize their imperfections,” synonymously conveying the purpose of both The Kite Runner and “The Things They Carried.” Redemption is defined as the act of being saved from sin, error or evil, which serves as the goal of each main character. “There is a way to be good again” serves as the focal sentiment in the life of Amir, connoting hope and aspiration. These emotions arise in order to exhibit that Amir only allows himself to experience emotion when the prospect of redemption is present. The protagonist is tormented by his actions to the point where he simply desires to “end the cycle,” which can be interpreted as a restless abandonment concerning his own wellbeing in order to obtain restoration (Hosseini 227). The torture inflicted upon Amir is eventually assuaged as he embarks upon his journey to save Sohrab, which correspondingly initiates his transformation of mentality. Situational irony is utilized by Hosseini in order to convey this alteration of outlook as Amir places “a fistful of crumpled money under a mattress,” replicating the fateful depart of Hassan and Ali. The strand of irony is intensified in this moment due to the contrast of benevolent and malicious notions. Short after, the appearance of Amir’s mother serves to reflect the good inside the protagonist. Her description strips away the guilt produced from her death during childbirth, allowing Amir to finally
“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.
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...
...achieves redemption and finally succeeds in overcoming his guilt. Hosseini uses this struggle to persuade those who feel extreme guilt for a wrongdoing to seek forgiveness and to help others in need. The author emphasizes that atoning one’s sins comes from reaching out to others. He expresses this when Amir offers to help Sohrab and he rids himself of guilt from his former relationship with Hassan. In addition, Hosseini writes to those who challenge the ideals of society in order to encourage them to create and follow their own values. The author uses Amir’s struggle in his relationship with Baba and his acceptance with Amir’s writing career to demonstrate this idea. Throughout his novel, The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini develops a main character that questions his decisions, yet conforms to societal ideals to represent his theme of redemption and self-acceptance.
In a lifetime, one will face an abundance of personal battles in their decision making. When bad decisions result negatively, people find peace mentally in redeeming themselves of their sin through redemption. In Khaled Hosseini’s “The Kite Runner”, the main character, Amir, commits a sin and goes through great lengths to find redemption. Using metaphors, personification, and irony Hosseini expresses the theme of sin, suffering and redemption. Achieving redemption is a long journey people seek after suffering the consequences of sin.