When the book began, it started with two small children that were best friends, Amir, hassan, and his father and his friend, Baba, and Rahim Khan but then quickly escalated with all of the future events happening throughout the book which leads Amir to regret and sadness throughout the book. Amir’s conflict with his decisions of not helping Hassan, being too harsh on himself, also pushing to get his father’s praise, this teaches the reader the significance of dealing with the problems through Amir losing Hassan, Rahim Khan, not feeling like he can win his father over. There are many conflicts with Amir such as, him craving his father's attention and his father's approval, the problems he faced with Hassan such as, letting him take the blame …show more content…
Because the past claws its way out. Looking back now, I realize I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years” (Hosseini 1-2). What this quote is saying is that not only can someone bury their past but doing that doesn’t fix the problems from it, because sooner or later the problems will again emerge from where they were once buried and have to be dealt with again. “Forgive your father if you can. Forgive me if you wish. But most important, forgive yourself” (Hosseini 301). What Rahim Khan realizes that Amir has never stopped feeling guilty for standing by as Hassan was attacked. He also realizes that Amir is angry with his father for lying about being treated differently from Hassan and that Amir is likely to be angry at Rahim Khan for having revealed the truth of Hassan's birth. However, Rahim Khan knows that Amir is never going to find peace unless he manages to forgive. “It hurts to say that. But better to get hurt by the truth than comforted with a lie” (Hosseini 58). When Amir is saying this it shows he is understanding the importance of telling the truth and going back to his past to heal the problems that occurred rather than believing in a lie that will stay with you and give regret and sorrow.
In conclusion the lesson to be learned from the kite runner is that, a person should never live with regret and
The Kite Runner, is the first novel written by Khaled Hosseini. The Kite Runner is set in Afghanistan before the war in the city of Kabul, and then eventually in America. The novel relays the struggles of Amir (A young Shi’ boy), Hassan (a young Hazera servant boy) and Baba (Amir’s father) as they are growing up in an ever-changing Afghanistan. The young boys face difficult challenges most adults will never have to experience. Amir, Hassan, and even Baba must overcome cruelty in every aspect of their lives.
Amir’s redemption is a large part of the novel and is carried out almost entirely until the end of the story. He travels to rescue Hassan’s son, Sohrab, from the orphanage he was placed in after the death of his parents. He promises to find him a safe home with someone but after time passes he feels like this is not enough. He then speaks to his wife and decides to take Sohrab back to the United States with him and take care of his as if he was one of his own. Earlier in the novel when Baba is speaking Amir over hears his conversation as he is referring to him stating, “A boy who won 't stand up for himself becomes a man who can 't stand up to anything” (Hosseini, 22). Thus meaning that if he is able to stand up for himself as a young boy, when he is grown he will not be able to stand up for anything that is in his future. This is true throughout the story until he stands up for himself and Sorhab when he is arguing with his life long bully, Assef. Amir lacked the courage to defend himself in the novel until he finally took charge and went against
Although Hassan is his best friend, there are many instances where Amir reveals his jealousy, most notable when Baba sees Hassan as the stronger boy, "self-defense has nothing to do with meanness. You know what always happens when the neighbourhood boys tease him? Hassan steps in and fends them off. I 've seen it with my own eyes…” (Hosseini 24). Clearly, Amir hears how his father compares the two, and unlike Hassan who manages to meet Baba’s expectations, Amir grows bitter towards Hassan. He is unable to fight off his envy which later causes him to sacrifice his best friend’s innocence: “Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba” (82), and this is all because he realizes “his shame is complicated by his own realization that in part he doesn’t help his friend precisely because he is jealous of him” (Corbett, 2006). From here, Amir develops strong feelings of guilt that induces him to perform even more destructive acts, such as having Hassan and his father evicted from the house. Amir not only loses a close friend, but now he has to continue to live with remorse as he dwells on these memories. The only way for Amir to redeem himself of his repercussions is through a challenging process of sacrifice and self-discovery. Although one is unsure at this point whether Amir succeeds at his endeavors, it is clear that this story
...by Amir in his childhood not only gravely colors his relationship with Hassan, whose innocence he failed to protect from evil and overbearing Assef, but this guilt continues to stay with Hassan as he moves to America and starts a new life. Finally Amir chooses to redeem himself by opting to protect Hassan’s son Sohrab. The guilt which estranged Amir from his childhood friend in a way manages to reunite him with Hassan, albeit in a different manner.
Amir goes through many events that take place in the book that change him, and the way he is perceived within the book. Amir is a young boy, who is tortured by his father’s scrutinizing character. Amir is also jealous of Hassan, because of the fact that his father likes Hassan instead of Amir. Amir fights for his father’s approval, interest, and love. This is when Amir changes for the good as he deals with the guilt of the rape of Hassan. Amir witnessed Hassan getting raped, but decides to nothing in order to win over his father’s interest. The guilt that Amir builds up is carries from his premature times as a child to his mature times. From Afghanistan to
Amir’s development from being “a boy who won’t stand up for himself,” to a man that stands up for the morally responsible thing to do (22, Hosseini). When Amir was a child, he tried to escape from his sins in the past by hiding them with lies. However, this only made it worse for Amir, causing him to be an insomniac for much of his life and putting himself through constant torment. Only when Amir became a man, like Baba wanted him to be, was Amir able to face the truth of what he done and put himself on the path of redemption. Even when Amir was suffering a violent beating from Assef, Amir was able to laugh because he knew he was doing what he should have for Hassan years ago. Amir’s development from a child, who lies in order to cower from their own mistakes, into a man, someone who is not only able to admit his sins, but atone for them, is essential to communicating the theme of redemption being the only way to settle with your
There are many parallels between the first half of Amir’s life and the second half. Specifically, Hassan runs the blue kite for Amir during their adolescence and later Amir runs the kite for Sohrab. Moreover,
The world-renowned novel, The Kite Runner was written by Afghanistan born American novelist Khaled Hosseini. Hosseini was born into a Shia Muslim family in Kabul that later in life decided to move to Paris. Hosseini was unable to return to Kabul due to the Taliban take over, this cause the Hosseini family to seek political asylum in America. The actions that Hosseini witnessed of his beloved home country influenced his novel with the themes of guilt and redemption. “The guilty one is not he who commits the sin, but the one who causes the darkness.” – Victor Hugo. In The Kite Runner the theme of guilt and redemption is shown through the character development of the protagonist Amir. Hosseini used Amir’s guilt of his past to grow the impression that with regret lies a hope for redemption.
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 first stage in achieving redemption is committing a sin which Hosseini captivates with the use of metaphors. As Amir retells his life story, he compares every event against his sin, his betrayal of Hassan when he left him to be raped by Assef. Amir introduces the story by telling us about sin’s prevalence with the use of a metaphor. “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 1). In order for someone to be redeemed they must have committed some type of sin. Amir’s first sin of betraying Hassan is the first of many, as he was living in a constant cycle of sin since. The first major sin he committed is literally what keeps the story going. It is this sin that causes Amir’s guilt and affects the rest of his life. As a child, Amir never felt a sense of acceptance or affection from Baba. As a result of the lack of love Baba showed towards his son, Amir is very desperate to do anything to win his father’s adoration. “Nothing was free in this world. Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba...
Other than flying kites and watching westerns, Amir would read to Hassan to help pass the time. Amir was not a particularly a good friend to Hassan and would attack him out of jealousy. Amir would tease Hassan’s illiteracy by giving him the wrong definitions of words. Amir was devastated by Hassan for quickly finding a plot hole in his first short story. He was not athletic or brave as Hassan and Amir prided himself for being intelligent. In Amir’s situation, he felt entitled to all of his father’s attention and the majority of it, from his point of view, was going to Hassan and the
The themes of the loss of innocence and redemption is used throughout the novel The Kite Runner to make a point that one can lose innocence but never redeem it. Once innocence is lost it takes a part of oneself that can never be brought back from oblivion. One can try an entire life to redeem oneself but the part that is loss is permanently gone although the ache of it can be dampened with the passing of time and acts of attempted redemption. Khaled Hosseini uses characters, situations, and many different archetypes to make this point.
In the beginning Amir is a coward who cant defend himself and through out the book this begins to change and finally he fully changes in the end of the book. Amir never was the type of boy to fight or stand up for himself. For example, Amir over hears Baba say to Rahim Khan, “You know what happens when the neighborhood boys tease him? Hassan steps in and fend them off…Im telling you Rahim, there is something missing in that boy” (Hosseini, 23). Baba is complaining to Rahim and he doesn't understand why Amir lacks the courage to stand up for himself. He puzzles that Hassan is the one to step in and defend Amir. He also is very confused over the fact that a hazara is more courageous than his son. Baba knows that Amir is not violent and he wishes that he would just stand up for himself. Amir overhears this and is very troubled that Baba doesn’t approve of him. To Amir this is a realization that he is a coward and his father notices it. Later in the book, Amir sees Hassan being raped and he is contemplation jumping in and being courageous because he says, “I had one last chance to make a decision. One final opportunity to decide ...
Guilt prompts Amir to go back to Afghanistan and drives Baba to care for Hassan. In the beginning of the book, Amir expresses that “it’s wrong what they say about the past… about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out(Hosseini 1).” Amir realizes this when the guilt never goes away from when he ignored Hassan when Hassan needed help. Amir constantly tries to forget about the past and how the rape impacted his relationship with Hassan and Ali. However, even with Amir’s efforts to obliterate the memory of the event, it resurfaces with Rahim Khan’s request to find Sohrab. Initially, Amir is reluctant to go to Kabul to look for Sohrab, but he remembers Rahim Khan saying, “There is a way to be good again(Hosseini 226).” Desperate for the chance to redeem himself, Amir returns to Kabul with the intention of transporting Sohrab to a better place. Amir understands that the only way for him to stop feeling guilty about the winter of 1975 is that he finds Sohrab and verifies that he lives a more secure life. In Baba’s case, he was able to care for Hassan as an uncle and the guilt he has inclined him to help others by building an orphanage. Also, with Ali’s permission, Baba is able to “[hire] Dr. Kumar to fix Hassan’s harelip(Hosseini 225)” and give Hassan birthday presents to show his affection. Caring for Hassan helps Baba get rid of the guilt he feels from the affair. Even though Baba could only show his love as a friend and not as a father, he embraces the opportunity with open arms. The guilt that both Amir and Baba experiences motivate them to do whatever they can to make up for their