“There is only one sin. And that is theft… When you tell a lie, you steal someone’s right to the truth,” (Hosseini 225). The main character's father would say this to him try set a good example and try make the best of his son. Betrayal is an, unintentional or intentional, act of disloyalty and distrust. Throughout The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, there are constant, unintentional acts of betrayal. These characters believe they are doing what is best for them but in the end they realize they have been cheated of the truth. Being betrayed can affect people’s personalities and relationships with others. Amir’s betrayal of Hassan is a direct result of Baba’s original betrayal of both his sons.
Overcoming and dealing betrayal is a different process for everyone. According to the Betrayal Trauma Theory, Whitbourne
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stated, when someone has been betrayed, they might block the memory from their head and continue to live go on with their life. University of Oregon conducted a research project, psychologist Christina Gamache Martin, “college students were asked to report whether they had experienced a variety of types of traumatic events. Those who reported abuse at the hands of someone they were close to were most likely to report symptoms of depression, dissociation, and post-traumatic stress disorder,” (Whitbourne). Amir showed signs of post-traumatic stress disorder, he was never diagnosed with it. Susan Whitbourne Ph.D had written in an article to successfully move on from a betrayal, the betrayer must apologise in some form to show that they sincerely regret their actions. Then the betrayed must decided whether they accept the apology or not. Hassan was not there to tell Amir he forgave him, but Amir knew that he forgave him. Being betrayed affects everyone differently. There are 3 repercussions of being betrayed: distress, loss of trust and justice. (Changing Minds) The distress someone feels from being betrayed is a result of how close the relationship was. Amir and Hassan were best friends, they rarely did anything without the other one around. Although Hassan was Amir’s servant they still had a great amount of respect and trust between them. Hassan would do anything for Amir, and when Amir betrayed him in the alley, Hassan forgave him but Amir never forgave himself. Amir wanted to say something in the alley, “I opened my mouth, almost said something. Almost. The rest of my life might have turned out differently if I had. But I didn’t. I watched. Paralyzed,” (Hosseini 73). Amir began to avoid Hassan, ignoring him when he saw him in the house, not holding long or meaningful conversations with him and staying locked in his room. Hassan did not lose his trust for Amir but Amir lost his trust of himself. For Amir to overcome this loss of trust he felt like he needed justice, he wanted to set things right to make himself feel better. On one rare occasion that Amir talked to Hassan after the incident, he asked to walked to the top of the hill so he can read Hassan a story. Once at the top of the hill, Amir became furious. He begins to pelt Hassan with pomegranates, yelling at him, “hit me back!” (Hosseini 92). This is Amir’s way of trying to get Hassan to punish him for what he did to him. Hassan did not do anything but crush a pomegranate on his own forehead, he wanted Amir to be happy. This was not the reaction Amir expected nor wanted. Betrayal can sometimes results in mental illness disorder, although Amir was never diagnosed with anything but he shows signs of post traumatic stress disorder (Daughenbaughjhs). When Amir saw Hassan right after he was raped, Amir thought to himself, “did he know I knew? And if he knew, then what would I see if I did look in his eyes? Blame? Indignation? Or, God forbid, what I feared most: guileless devotion? That, most of all, I couldn’t bear to see,”(Hosseini 78). Amir was scared to look Hassan in his eyes because he did not know what he would see. Amir was never the same after Hassan’s rape and wants to make things right by taking are of Sohrab. Amir had acted completely different, he was scared, worried and mad with himself. “It shouldn’t have felt this way,” (Hosseini 85). He knew something was wrong but he did not know how to fix it, he finally got the attention he wanted from his father but he lost his best friend. He wanted to be still be friends with Hassan and Hassan wanted to be friends with him but Amir thought of himself as a monster, Hassan did not deserve that. “There was a monster in the lake. It has grabbed hassan by the ankles, dragged him to the murky bottom. I was that monster,” (Hosseini 86). Amir could not sleep because of all the guilt and shame he felt from betraying Hassan. Throughout Amir’s whole life, he always wondered what his life would have been like if he said something. He had no idea where Hassan was or what he was doing. Amir felt guilty because he had completely moved on with his life, “There was so much goodness in my life. So much happiness. I wondered whether I deserved any of it,” (Hosseini 183). When Amir went to visit Rahim Khan in Peshawar, Pakistan, it was because Rahim Khan was dying and wanted to see him and ask a favor. Rahim Khan told Amir that Hassan had been killed by the Taliban, Amir was completely shocked. Rahim Khan told him one more thing, that Hassan was his half brother. Amir becomes furious at Rahim Khan and storms out the apartment. Amir realizes that he and his father were more alike than he wanted to admit. They both has betrayed their closest friends. For Amir to move on from this he needed to forgive his father and himself.
According to Steven Stosny Ph.D., “ the betrayed needs to heal, grow, learn, and develop more viable defenses,” he also states that detachment from the relationship can help with forgiveness. Although Amir would have liked to know Hassan for the rest of his life, he could not change what had happened to him. To make it up to Hassan, Amir wanted to find Sohrab and take care of him. Amir needed to forgive himself before he did this, he needed to let go of the past and focus on the future. “Forgiveness - in its implicit and explicit forms - is not about condoning bad behavior or letting someone off the hook for it. It’s about taking control of your emotional well being,” (Stosny). If Amir wanted to be the best person he could be for Sohrab and to never let Sohrab forget what Hassan was like, he needed to forgive himself. By promising Rahim Khan that he would take care of Sohrab this was his redemption to his betrayal. Before Rahim Khan died, he left Amir a note. This note was what Amir had needed since the night Hassan was raped, this was the push he needed to finally forgive
himself: Hassan told me shortly after it happened. What you did was wrong, Amir jan, but do not forget that you were a boy when it happened… A man who has no conscience, no goodness, does not suffer. I hope your suffering comes to an end with this journey to Afghanistan… And that, I believe, is what true redemption is, Amir jan, when guilt leads to good. I know that in the end, God will forgive. He will forgive your father, me and you too. I hope you can do the same. Forgive your father if you can. Forgive me if you wish. But, most important, forgive yourself. (Hosseini 301-302) Betrayal is a major theme in The Kite Runner, unfortunately many people going to different types of betrayal. Amir and Hassan were betrayed by their father and later on Amir betrayed Hassan. Amir went through a variety of different emotions through both betrayals, he was very harsh on himself and never forgave himself for betraying Hassan. Hassan did not take a long time to forgive Amir because they were best friends. Amir thought what he was doing was the best for everyone but it was the opposite. In the end of the novel, Amir forgave himself and took on the responsibility of raising and taking care of Hassan’s son, Sohrab. Being betrayed is something no one wishes to go through but in the end, it happens to most people. To get over it and accept what has happened their needs to be forgiveness from the betrayed if they want to move on with their life.
Moral ambiguity is lack of clarity in decision making. Basically, moral ambiguity is when you have an issue, situation, or question that has moral or ethical elements, but the morally correct action to take is unclear, due to conflicting. The author of The Kite Runner is Khaled Hosseini, the book is about a boy named Amir and how much of a easy life he has at first, but near the middle of the book his life is horrible from there to the end of the book.
People need redemption from our continual sin, otherwise, we just wallow in the shallowness of that aspect of our lives. Sin stays with an individual and effects the way their lives are lived. Unless they confront their past the sin will always be present. For example, Khaled Hossei’s , The Kite Runner explains how Amir- one of the main characters in the novel redeems himself because he undergoes strong guilt from his past sins. By examining Amir’s sins in his childhood, in his teenage years and in adulthood, his attainment of atonement is revealed. Particularly Amir atones for his past sins of being an eyewitness of Hassan rape who is his most loyal and devoted servant. He is influenced by this moment because he realizes that Hassan always
Redemption of Guilt Guilt is a result of sin, and sin is a result of misaction. In the novel, The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, the protagonist, Amir, goes on a journey to redeem himself for his sins. When Amir was 12, he witnessed his best friend, Hassan, get raped in an alley. Instead of standing up for his friend, Amir ran away in selfishness and cowardice. The guilt of his choice plagues Amir for the rest of his life, until one day, he gets a call from an old uncle, who tells him that “there is a way to be good again.”
According to dictionary.com betrayal means "an act of deliberate disloyalty,”. Betrayal is something that is very prevalent throughout the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini which is a story about the betrayal that a young boy named Amir does to his friend Hassan. Amir shows that he is a betrayer to Hassan when he belittles, plots, refuses to acknowledge their friendship, and walks away from Hassan. With each betrayal listed they progressively get worse and worse as Amir continues to show how little he really cares for Hassan.
Guilt. A cancerous thing, spreading through your body, manipulating your thoughts, working as a deterrent for any type of long term vivacity. As seen in Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner one of the main themes is seeking redemption. We see that in order to seek redemption and earn it, you must have the self-motivation deeper than other people pushing you.
Betrayal, redemption, and forgiveness are all major themes in The Kite Runner written by Khaled Hosseini. The novel also focuses around the theme of a broken relationship between father and son as well as facing difficult situations from ones past. Amir and Hassan are best friends with two completely different personalities. Each character in the novel faces their own hardships and eventually learns to overcome those difficulties. Beginning with betrayal then the characters have to make their way to gaining redemption and forgiveness from others, as well as their self, is carried on throughout the novel. It is a continuous story of the relationships between Amir and his father Baba and facing their challenges from the past every day of their present.
When someone betrays us, our first response as humans is anger. But anger only gives you a split second of power and fuels bad decisions. It forces you into a corner and makes you easily angry. Instead of turning to anger, we can learn to understand other’s perspective before taking actions we will regret later on.
First and foremost, Amir making Hassan think that they are friends is already an act of betrayal. Hassan treats Amir as his friend, best friend and his brother unlike Amir who shows that they are friends but in his mind Hassan is just a Hazara, just a slave nothing more. Not only does betrayal affects their friendship but also class status. Amir treats Hassan as a low class servant and shows him that he is superior than Hassan by saying “My favorite part of reading to Hassan was when we came across a big word that he didn't know. I'd tease him, expose his ignorance.” (pg.30). It shows that for Amir, Hassan is not really his friend just someone who he uses in order for his own gain.
Betrayal is one of the worst things you could do to someone and a even worse thing to do to one of your closest friends. You break there trust and leave them hurt and questioning what they did wrong. In khaled hosseini’s novel, the kite runner two unlikely friends share a indescribable bond and go through many traumatic moments where they are both questioning there friendship. Amir wondering if the best thing to do is run from his problems and Hassan left questioning their friendship.
Everyone has someone that they love dearly and for whom they would do anything. Most people have done something to disappoint that person they are so loyal towards, which, undoubtedly, causes guilt. Throughout history, many authors have discussed said relationship in their works. One such author is Khalid Hosseini in his novel The Kite Runner, Characterization is used to prove that lapses of loyalty cause guilt, and guilt causes people to do things they normally would never do.
Betrayal is probably the most devastating loss someone can experience. To get betrayed, one has to place their trust on someone else and it hurts considerable when the person they trusted put their self-interests first and tore their trust. It not only breaks people’s hearts but also their trust. Betrayals also have unintended effects because everyone reacts with different levels of emotion when someone they trusted and loved broke their implicit trust of always being there for them. It also changes the deceiver because guilt drives them to change in order to redeem themselves. In Khaled Hosseini’s novel, The Kite Runner, there are many betrayals found in the book and it affects the characters differently.
The true definition of betrayal to fail or desert especially in time of need. The book Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is a story of betrayal about a boy named, Amir that betrayed several people in his life, and affected him throughout his life. In the novel Amir feels that sometimes the easiest way out of a situation is betraying someone. In his early childhood the acts of betrayal Amir commits are not aiding Amir, blaming others for his guilt, and finally lying to his father.
I think that the theme of The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is betrayal. I think this because betrayal is expressed through many characters. In the novel Amir betrays Hassan more than once. Shortly after Amir’s victory in the kite tournament, both Hassan and Amir run to catch a kite. Amir loses Hassan for the reason being the Hassan is a lot faster than Amir. When Amir went searching for Hassan he finds him in an alley getting raped by Assef. Amir betrays Hassan by not helping him escape Assef. Another example of betrayal is between Baba and Amir. Baba betrays Amir by not telling him the truth about Hassan. Amir and Hassan are half-brothers because Baba slept with his servant’s wife. Amir finds out about Hassan and him, when he visits Rahim
Topic Sentence: Redemption is receiving forgiveness, for the commission of a sin. Amir feels a strong need to find redemption and redeem himself from betraying Hassan. He is haunted by the guilt, after his wrong doings even after he gets married and starts a successful career. He tries to find closure and sympathy as he sacrifices himself towards Hassan.
In the novel The Kite Runner, the one recurring theme is betrayal. A handful of characters in the novel choose to betray loved ones. However some decide it is not worth the time and effort to betray someone they care about. Whomever their character is they all have had a chance to betray someone, it’s just some of them don’t take that chance. First of all, the protagonist in The Kite Runner, Amir, is probably the most obvious person that shows signs of betrayal.