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Themes of the kite runner
Themes of the kite runner
The kite runner critical analysis
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1.Some new thoughts I had about the book included everyone's different opinion about what Amir should have done in chapter 7. Some people said that he should have gone and gotten Baba or Ali and others thought that Amir should have stepped in himself. 2. One thing that I did not get the chance to say was what I thought about how if Amir had stepped into the situation himself the same thing could've happened to him. Someone like Baba is intimidating and could have scared off Assef but Amir would not have had any power over Assef and things could have gone poorly. 3. Some questions that I am grappling with are why Hassan chose to take the blame for something that Amir did. When Amir put his money under Hassan's bed and made it look like
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
Amir learns of many things going on in another world that will hopefully help with his guilt once and for all. In Rahim Khan's call he says “there is a way to make things good again,” this may be the most powerful quote in the book as it shows both the reader and Amir that there is a solution to his guilt. Amir eventually finds out from Rahim that Ali was sterile: “she left him childless after three years and married a man in Khost. She bore him three daughters”. Amir puts the dots together and is outraged, but not only that it adds a major connection to the theme of guilt. Baba carried around the guilt of having sex with the wife of what he viewed as his brother, it shows a deeper theme that it's a generational thing starting with Baba betraying Ali and Amir betraying Hassan. Amir shows him coming to see Rahim as: “a way to end the cycle”. Amir recognizes this as his only way to relieve himself of his guilt and also Babas.
On a different occasion on chapter 8 after Amir’s birthday party, Amir collects the birthday money he had received and a wrist watch belonging to Baba and hid them under Hassan’s mattress. After planting the items under Hassan’s mattress then telling Baba that he thinks Hassan might have taken the items, when confronted by Baba about the money and watch Hassan innocently accepts the blame admitting that he had stolen the items himself even though this is not true. This is perhaps the greatest act of loyalty because Hassan understood that Baba valued honesty and he didn’t want him to think less of Amir, some have argued that Hassan took the blame instead because he was mistaken to think that this act would win back Amir and improve their relationship, Hassan also do not want to hurt Baba by revealing the truth about Amir’s acts. Amir is shocked and surprised by these extreme acts of loyalty. Thereafter Hassan goes away but has fond memories of Amir, he tells his wife and kid about how good friends they were, he does not speak ill of him at all and even learnt how to write so that he could write letters to Amir and update him on his life. Eventually when Assef comes to the house where Hassan, his wife and son are leaving to demand that he evacuate
My name.” ( ) This quote is an example of where the two boy's loyalty lies. Hassan’s with Amir, ready to defend and protect him no matter what the cost. And Amir’s with Baba, wanting to please him and make him proud to have a son like Amir. By making a decision of who Amir was more loyal to as well as who he wanted to please more inadvertently led to his betrayal of Hassan.
His mistakes disgust us, especially after Hassan has been by his side the entire book. As the reader gets deeper into the book, they start to develop feelings of anger but sometimes sympathy, towards Amir. By the end, we are not as angry as Amir, the reader to begin with. Amir has grown into a better person and has tried to fix his past mistakes.
Amir's blunt rejection to Rahim Khan’s request to bring Sohrab is an act of betrayal to Hassan. He betrays Hassan one more time, even when Hassan dies as a loyal friend. Through the book, Amir’s ongoing troubles haunt him as the years go by, but I believe he would take any opportunity to redeem himself.
Redemption is a capacity that both Amir from the remarkable novel Kite Runner, written by Khaled Hosseni along with Walt Kalwoski the main character of the unforgettable movie Gran Tornio, directed by Clint Eastwood, withhold. Both Walt and Amir were collided with life changing events that later shaped the individuals they are today. Nevertheless, throughout both stories, the protagonists are faced with opportunities to redeem themselves, often at the risk of hurting their loved ones more than they already have. “There is a reason for everything” and in Walt and Amirs case that saying is quite evident. Walt and Amir are two completely divergent characters with opposite personalities. However, this doesn’t interfere with the fact that both carry the weight of guilt and regret upon their shoulders. In spite of that, both characters atone to their faults by PUT POINTS HERE. Kite Runner and Gran Torino, both, break the ice with introducing the characters and efficiently showcasing their complications. As mentioned earlier, Amir is the protagonist of the novel. Typically, a main character that discusses their problems in the opening of a novel, catches the readers attention, let alone makes the reader them self feel sympathetic for this character. However, Amir is far beyond that statement. Amir expresses his feelings about his relationship with his father, Baba, and his shenanigans with Hassan. Amir struggles with his selfish conscious. Nevertheless, his adult view point when recollecting memories of the past, reminiscing on childhood events, isn’t as different. Running away is the one thing Amir tends to be best at. Running from his problems, people, past etc, As for Walt, Walt Kowalski is the main character of the film Gran Torino. ...
Baba saw that something was not right in Amir but never quite was able to tie his head around it. “ Sometimes I look out this window and I see him playing on the street with the neighborhood boys. I see how they push him around, take his toys from him, give him a shove 2here, a whack there. And you know, he never fights back. Never. He just . . . drops his head and . . . “ (22). As Baba see’s this in his own son in a way he has a bit of disappointment. Baba wanted Amir to be as tough as he was he wanted his son to fight back when he was supposed to fight back. To let be known that he was not
Baba ran from the truth, and so did Amir to protect the family name, even if that meant betraying the people closest to him. Baba was a man more worried about his image than anything, and that is what he taught his son as well. Slowly that is all Amir knew how to do: protect his family and himself, leading him into a life of guilt, and running from people when situations were challenging, instead of making the admirable decision and helping a friend. He shows his unconditional love when he suddenly packs up and leaves all he has ever known, “‘[Ali and Hassan] can’t live [there] anymore.life here is impossible for [them] now”’
At the beginning he did not posses any heroic qualities, but by taking and accepting the first step of the passage he was able to rediscover his true potential. I believe that Amir came looking to redeem his past mistakes belated, however, he found an alternative way to put himself to peace with his past. I learned that we should stand up for who we are and what we believe to be true. It also learned that the past is unforgettable and immutable. It made me realize that we are all capable of becoming our own hero’s, by simply accepting the call to action and transforming ourselves to return as the best version of who we are. While giving us the chance to explore the
Both of the boys were good, but Amir was so young when he made the mistakes that it made the reader question whether there was a way for Amir to be morally good again.
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
...rough his actions to save Sohrab, Amir became the man his father had always wanted him to be. Although Baba never lived up to the persona he created for himself, Amir did, and that is why his attempts to achieve atonement were more successful than his father’s. While Baba was unable to seek more than personal redemption, Amir found atonement with himself, Hassan, and God. Amir also found the courage his father lacked to make the necessary sacrifices to achieve redemption. Amir’s ability to transform into a strong character was a result of what he learned from his father’s strengths and weaknesses. While Baba was unable to achieve true redemption, he was a true role model that provided his son, Amir, with the necessary skills to achieve atonement for both of them.
Hassan agrees and gives chase for the kite with Amir follow some time later on. However, during that time Hassan is corner by Assif and several others children. Hassan is then punished by Assif for protecting Amir, as well as being a different type of Afghani. In one swift motion, Assif performs a horrifying sexual act on Hassan, all the way Amir watch it far down a street. And what does Amir do? Well he ran as he put it, “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” (77).