Betrayal In The Kite Runner By Khaled Hosseini

The act of getting stabbed in the back. A phrase used frequently when referring to the act of betraying someone. Betrayal seems very simple, but in reality, that is far from the truth. There are many different definitions to define to betray, but the definition that portrays the betrayals in The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is “to hurt some who trusts you, such as a friend or relative by not giving help or by doing something morally wrong” (Merriam Webster.) With betrayals being a major theme in The Kite Runner, Hosseini shows the effects on the people of both sides of the betrayal, while simultaneously teaching readers important life lessons.

A main betrayal in the book is the instance of Hassan’s rape. This betrayal is one of the main

focuses of the book. The instance is foreshadowed multiple times before it actually happens and is referenced for most of the rest of the book. In this instance, Amir watches as Hassan, a mere boy twelve years of age, gets raped in an alley by Assef. Amir watches and does nothing to help Hassan. This is clearly shown with “I stopped watching, turned away from the alley… In the end, I ran” (Hosseini,77). He clearly has the choice to do something but he chooses not to.
In the book, readers clearly see the effects of this betrayal on Amir. He is overcome with guilt and remorse, so much that he has to stop being around Hassan. Something else that really effects Amir is the fact that he will get away with this terrible thing that he has done. Unless he tells someone, no one will find out. All of this guilt, and remorse has built up so much that he will never be able forget what he has done. The effects of the betrayal are not as clearly shown since the readers do not have access to Hassan’s thoughts. One effect that readers see is Hassan is physically and emotionally damaged. One can only infer that Assef caused some physical damage to Hassan’s body. The emotion damage is even stronger then the physical damage. Hassan becomes very secluded for a while after the rape, almost like he shuts down for a while. Another effect on Hassan is eventually when he gets better, he tries to talk to Amir but Hassan is just shut out. Hassan loses one of the only friends he has in his life. This is extremely tough on Hassan due to the fact that he thinks he has done something wrong, and he cannot figure out what that thing he did wrong is.
This situation of betrayal practically fits the definition word by word. When we place the situation into the definition, the definition turns into Amir hurts Hassan who trusts Amir greatly, who is a friend, and unbeknownst to Amir, a relative, by not giving help. This sentence basically fits the definition stated earlier word for word.
There are many life lessons that can be taught by this single situation. One main one is someone should not stand by while another person is getting hurt, either physically or emotionally. People can apply this principle very heavily in their lives today when referring to countries getting wrongly invaded, or something more simple like bullying of a child in school. In both cases, stepping in is the right thing to do, even if the act of doing so may be hard to do so.
Another major betrayal in the book is the situation of Baba not telling the truth about Amir and Hassan being half-brothers. This is very crucial and important information that Baba that does not share with his two sons. This non-disclosure effected the lives of everyone involved.
Many of the effects come from the one main idea or thought, and readers are introduced to it in the letter from Rahim Khan with the phrase, “But your father was a man torn between two halves, Amir Jan: you and Hassan” (Hosseini, 301).

For Baba, he could not openly show love for one of his sons. If he did this, he would probably harshly have been judged by society. For Amir, this lead to Baba being very hard on Amir. He saw his guilt and his grief when he saw Amir. With Amir not knowing this information, he tried with all his might to get more affection from Baba, but could not get the affection he so longed for. For Hassan, he never learned who is true father was. His whole life was partly a lie. Another key effect was Amir’s treatment of Hassan. Their relationship almost certainly would have been different if Amir had known that Hassan was his half-brother. If someone wanted to get into hypothetical situations, some may say Hassan would not have died. Older Amir definitely had those same thoughts

If a reader were to try to be on the optimistic side of the situation, they would find some positive effects. One is that Ali had the chance to have a child, considering that he himself was not fertile. This effect brought an abundance of happiness to Ali. To go along with the first positive effect, Hassan was able to receive the full love and attention from a father. He would not have gotten this if he had known the

truth.
This situation goes along with the definition nicely. The composition is Baba hurting his sons who trust him by doing an act that is morally wrong. Going along with this, there are life lessons taught in this betrayal, and the lesson goes with it being associated with morals. The lesson that readers can take is that telling the truth goes a long way. No matter how hard the action of telling the truth is, there will be less consequences that come out of the situation.
Another crucial betrayal which takes place is the Taliban’s betrayal of the people of Afghanistan.

When the Taliban started the attempt to take over Afghanistan, the people were tired of all of the fighting. The people just wanted an end to all of the craziness and chaos. When the Taliban, finally took over, the people were so relieved. Rahim Khan describes this relief with “When the Taliban rolled in and kicked the Alliance out of Kabul, I actually danced on that street...And believe me, I wasn’t alone” (Hosseini, 200). The Afghani people put their trust in the Taliban. Then, the Taliban took advantage of the trust that was entrusted in them. They did many morally wrong acts. Arguably the most horrifying act was the ethnic cleansing of Hazaras in some areas. They treated everyone horribly and turned Afghanistan to an awful place to live. This situation is another great example of betrayal. The Taliban people hurt the Afghani people, their friends and family, people who trusted them by doing morally wrong things. A lesson that Hosseini is trying to teach readers here is to be grateful for the freedom they have, and be mindful to others who may not have the same freedom as

them.
Betrayal is an unfortunate event in anyone’s life, especially such deep and complicated betrayals shown in The Kite Runner. Khaled Hosseini helps readers better understand the concept of betrayal by explaining the effects of the act and also by teaching life lessons that correlate with the acts of betrayals. As someone ponders the concept betrayal, do they also think of the concept that is so heavily tied to the whole term, which is the concept of redemption?