Betrayal In The Kite Runner

Most people have been betrayed by someone close to them in their life. The Kite Runner is a novel written by Khaled Hosseini. It is a story about friendship, betrayal, guilt and redemption. The story takes place in Afghanistan and revolves around two friends named Amir and Hassan. Amir is born in a Pashtun family and is respected across Kabul because of his heroic father Baba. They are a part of the Sunni Muslim religion. In contrast, Hassan is part of the Hazara tribe and they are persecuted in Afghanistan for taking part in the Shiite religion. Added to Hassan’s disgrace is that his father is crippled and his mother’s reputation for tempting lots of men into sin. The two became friends because they were born in the same household and nursed

by the same maid. They took their first steps together in the same backyard, watched the cinema together and were inseparable growing up. Throughout the novel, Hosseini shows Amir’s journey to redemption.
Guilt is a common feeling of regret after someone does something wrong.

There is a variation in the aftermath of guilt. People may often feel unworthy, ashamed, or embarrassed by actions they are responsible for. Those who feel guilt tend to never forget it. If they do forget it, this may be achieved by doing some act of greatness that will help them redeem themselves. According to “Psychology Today”, “Unresolved guilt is like having a snooze alarm in your head that won’t go off” (Winch). In The Kite Runner, it seems like Amir had a snooze alarm in his

head that constantly went off. The only way he felt he could overcome all his acts of shame and guilt was to do something positive to redeem himself and that he did.

At the beginning of the book, Amir feels guilty for his mother’s death. His mom died due to hemorrhaging during childbirth. In the book Amir says, “I always felt like Baba hated me a little. Why not? After all I had killed his beloved wife, his beautiful princess” (Hosseini 19). Due to Amir feeling like his father hated him, he tried his best to impress him. One of the ways Amir tries to impress Baba is by winning the annual kite-fighting tournament. After Amir wins the tournament, Hassan decides to run the kite for him. Once Hassan gets the kite, a bully named Assef tries to take it from him. Since Hassan was very loyal to Amir, he decided not to give it up. Because he did not give up the kite, Assef sexually assaults Hassan. Amir was watching the entire time the

assault happened and betrayed Hassan by deciding not to do anything. After Amir betrays Hassan, his behaviors represent guilt and his seek for redemption.
After the betrayal, Amir begins to act very rude to Hassan. Amir begins to immediately isolate himself from Hassan because he felt guilty every time he saw Hassan. One day when Amir and his Baba were out in the garden, he asks Baba if he would ever hire any new servants. A few pages later, Amir and Hassan take a walk to the pomegranate tree. While they were there, Amir throws a pomegranate at Hassan. Amir begs Hassan to hit him back. The reason Amir begs of this is because he feels like it would be punishment for his betrayal. Instead of hitting Amir, Hassan crushes the pomegranate against his forehead. Later on in the book, Amir sets Hassan up by putting money and a watch under his mattress. Amir then goes tell his Baba that Hassan stole his gifts. The whole point of Amir doing this was so Baba would ask Hassan to leave. Instead of Baba getting angry and asking him to leave, he ends up forgiving Hassan. Even though Baba forgives him, Hassan and his father decide to leave in the end. Amir realizes the reason they are leaving is because Hassan told his father about the assault.
After years of living with unresolved guilt, Amir gets a chance for redemption.

One day he gets a call from an old friend named Rahim Khan. On the phone call Rahim tells Amir, “There is a way to be good again” (Hosseini 3). In order to get redemption, Amir has to go back to Kabul to save Hassan’s son, Sohrab. After the death of his parents, Sohrab was taken to an orphanage. When Amir goes to the orphanage, Sohrab is not there. The owner of the orphanage tells Amir that he sold Sohrab to some man. Amir then has to go meet this mysterious man at a stadium. It is revealed later on that the man who took Sohrab, is Assef, which is Hassan’s assaulter. After a while of Assef and Amir talking to each other, they begin to fight each other. While Amir is getting beat up by Assef, he begins to laugh. It seems like Amir finally feels like he is getting the punishment he deserves because he says, “what was so funny was that, for the first time since the winter of 1975, I felt at peace” (Hosseini 288). Sohrab then comes to save Amir by shooting Assef in the eye. Months later Amir and Sohrab leave to go back to America. When they are in America, Amir takes Sohrab to the park. At the park Amir buys Sohrab a kite. Amir tried getting Sohrab to fly the kite but he never would. Since Sohrab did not want to fly the kite, Amir decided to fly it for him. Amir then runs the kite for Sohrab. Before Amir runs the kite for Sohrab, he says “for you, a thousand times over” (Hosseini 371). After Amir

says this, Sohrab gives him a smile. Amir finally feels like he has gained redemption since he can now provide a happy life for Sohrab.
From the beginning to the end of The Kite Runner there was times of remorse, disloyalty and a search to make things right. We see Amir feel guilty for his mother’s and try to get redemption by trying to please his father. Him trying to get redemption leads to him betraying his best friend. Readers then get to see Amir’s path to redemption from the betrayal. Even though Amir did all he could to save Sohrab in order to gain redemption, was it really enough for his guilt to be forgotten? Or will it live with him forever?