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The theme of guilt in kite runner
Guilt in the kite runner essay
The theme of guilt in the kite runner essay
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A Haunting Guilty Past Intro Paragraph In Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner we follow the evolution of a young boy Amir to manhood trying to overcome his guilty past to become a guilt free adult. A young Afghani boy named Amir is overcome with guilt and dismay over a rape that he witnessed involving his best friend. Throughout the entire novel, we witness how this impacted Amir and how it causes him to act very immature. Still to this day he struggles with what he did not do in efforts to stop the rape and comes to terms with what he did. Amir then moves to America and still has issues with coming to the realization that he does not help his best friend and stand up for what he believes in. Amir is fearful of what could have happened if …show more content…
he had stood up, will then impact him to for having a very guilty life. “I had one last chance to make a decision.
One final opportunity to decide who I was going to be. I could step into that alley, and stand up for Hassan-the way he’d stood up for me all those times in the past- and accept whatever would happen to me. Or I could run. In the end, I ran. 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. That’s what I made myself believe. I actually aspired to cowardice, because the alternative, the real reason I was running, was that Assef was right” (77). In this moment, when Amir is running away from seeing his best friend be raped, Hoseini proves that Amir feels guilty for listening to bad advice from Assef telling him to act like a coward, which allows him to evolve as a human …show more content…
being. First TIED X2 paragraph Amir feels guilt throughout the entire novel for running away from the chance to confront Hassan’s rapist.
He feels the need to justify his actions as the right thing to do. While Hassan was being raped, Amir was debating whether to help and stand up for Hassan, or to be a bystander. In the end, he chose to protect himself instead of helping his best friend. Amir tries to justify what he did as acceptable, “In the end, I ran. 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. That’s what I made myself believe. I actually aspired to cowardice, because the alternative, the real reason I was running, was that Assef was right” (77). We learn that Amir tries to blame that he did not perform an action on the fact that he was weak and did not want to get hurt both physically and emotionally. Amir has a lot of guilt from what he did not do. Consequently, he blames himself for Hassan’s rape. Amir also talks about himself as a weak person because of the choices he made. This same type of guilt can be seen later in the book when Amir is fleeing the country. Amir and Baba elude from Kabul in order to have a better life in America. “Moments later, we were pulling away...Baba loved the idea of living in America”(125). Amir left Hassan in the Alley to be raped and did not want to jeopardize his safety for someone who had done the same for him. When Amir and Baba left Kabul in order to have a life without much danger,
they were doing the same thing, leaving a situation in order to avoid and escape possible danger. Amir feels guilt for running away from Hassan’s rapist, Assef. Consequently, he holds onto his guilt for a long part of his life. Second TIED X2 Paragraph Throughout the entire novel, Amir receives advice from his mentors, which he then later learned to accept as the right thing he did in the situation that occurred. In the text when Amir is talking about how he chose to deal with the problem at hand, he was thinking about what others told him. “The real reason I was running, was that Assef was right” (77). Amir values his mentor’s opinion. In tough situations, people think and reflect about life lessons from those who have mentored them in the past. It is clear that Amir, while he did not choose to do the right thing, still did what people would expect in to do by taking the words of wisdom from elders. When Amir is talking with Rahim Khan about finding a way to earn acceptance, Rahim Khan is teaching him ways to earn forgiveness. “Come. There is a way to be good again, Rahaim Khan had said on the phone just before hanging up. Said it in passing, almost as an afterthought. A way to be good again”(192). Rahaim Khan is telling Amir that there is a way to become a changed and better person. This connects to the Hassan’s rape scene and how Amir struggles with earning forgiveness and acceptance. Just like how Amir was contemplating helping Hassan because of the lessons he learned from adults, Amir is learning how to earn forgiveness for himself through others. Third TIED X3 Paragraph As Amir evolves, we finally learn how he is able to overcome his guilty past. In the rape scene, Hosseini is using very specific language to describe how Amir is lacking the courage and bravery to stand up for something that he believes is wrong. A cowardly person is someone who lacks bravery, “I actually aspired to cowardice”(77). Hosseini describes Amir as a person who possesses this trait due to certain cowardly actions. Amir feels very responsible for what he did and calls himself a coward for it. Moreover, Amir feels like he is responsible for his actions. “For the first time since the winter of 1975, I felt at peace. I laughed because I saw that, in some hidden nook”(289). From this we see the evolution of Amir. We see how Amir is finally able enough to learn the true meaning of acceptance by actually earning and gaining approval. Furthermore, Amir has evolved enough to learn implement what he has learned. We know that it has been difficult for Amir to overcome his issues. Because of his mentors, Amir becomes a more mature man. He has come to the realization that his cowardly actions have not made him a bad person but, instead, made him a richer person. Amir then realises that he did not do the right thing and should have helped his best friend instead of choosing to be a coward. Conclusion Paragraph Amir, in an attempt to overcome his guilt, learns many lessons. Throughout the entire novel, we witness Amir changes from an immature boy to a grown man. Throughout the novel, Amir demonstrates the lessons he has learned from his mentors. In the end, we can see how Amir has impacted him as a person. “I ran. A grown man running with a swarm of screaming children. But I didn’t care”(371). On the last page of the book, we finally see the impact of all these lessons taught to him by his mentors. While Amir is technically running away from what he has encountered, we see that he does not care what people think of him. Previously, when Amir was running away from his problem, he did it without thinking about his choices. By the end of the novel, he thinks more about his choices. This change in his thought process and how he executes his actions, shows the readers that he has become an evolved man, one who is finally able to overcome his guilty pass and become a valorous adult.
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
We see a innocent boy who is struggling to be himself. His father that goes by the name of Baba continuously makes Amir feel unworthy and shameful. In a scene Amir eavesdrop and Baba unapologetically proclaims, “If I hadn’t seen the doctor pull him out of my wife with my own eyes, I’d never believe he’s my son” (Hosseini 23). Baba bluntly insinuates that he doesn’t understand Amir. He doesn’t understand why he spends so much time reading books and why every time there’s an opportunity to fight with the local boys he doesn’t. From the genesis, the audience can tell that the protagonist will have an issue with his identity. By not being accepted by Baba, Amir selfishly watches his dear friend Hassan get raped because he knew if he stood up for him that there will be a chance that the kite would be tarnished and as a result he wouldn’t receive the affection that he always craved from Baba. As soon as this occurred, Hassan and Amir’s relationship drastically alters. Hassan later tells Rahim Khan what happened. His unforgettable scar haunts him and this scar is later passed on to his offspring. Amir’s identity issue is what forced Hassan and Ali to depart. This could’ve been changed if Amir didn’t doubt himself from doing what is moral because at the end he ends up doing just that. If he knew that his identity truly lied in the decision that he makes the regret he suffered wouldn’t have exist.
In the novel The Kite Runner, author Khaled Hosseini writes about Amir a young Afghan child who is a coward and who later as an adult seeks redemption from past mistakes. These characteristic effects Amir’s live throughout the novel from childhood to present. However, these are just words on a paper without some proof and the novel happily supports this either through the events or the behavior of other characters. Now let’s start with Amir’s past childhood.
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 watches Hassan get raped which leads him trying to find some sort of way to get rid of his guilt. All of this is caused by him knowing what he did was wrong. It shows Amir admits his guilt after it happens and he tries to relieve himself of it: “In his arm I forgot what I'd done. And that was good.” It shows him trying to get relief through hassan hurting him with a pomegranate. It shows Hassan knows this when he says “Are you satisfied? Do you feel better?” Amir keeps looking for ways throughout the entire book to relieve his guilt.
Due to Amir’s cowardice during Hassan’s rape, he feels guilty for committing the vilest sin in Afghan culture. “I had one last chance to make a decision. One final opportunity to decide who I was going to be. I could step into that alley, stand up for Hassan – the way he’d stood up for me all those times in the past – and accept whatever would happen to me. Or I could run.
The Kite Runner, written by Khaled Hosseini, shows how lying and deceit is a counterproductive route when trying to live with a dreadful past, exhibited through the actions of Amir. Amir’s decision to withhold the truth and blatantly lie in several situations due to jealousy and his desire for Baba to be proud of him amounts to further pain and misery for himself and those he deceives. Because of Amir’s deceit towards Baba and Hassan, his guilt from his past manifests itself into deeply-rooted torment, not allowing him to live his life in peace. The guilt from Amir’s past is only alleviated when he redeems his sins by taking in Sohrab, contributing to the theme that the only way “to be good again” is through redemption, not shunning the past.
At the beginning of The Kite Runner, young Amir wins a kite fighting tournament. He feels like he has finally redeemed himself for his father. However, Amir’s happy day turns dark, when an hour later, he witnesses Hassan, his best friend, raped in an alley. He had “one final opportunity to decide who [he] was going to be. (77) Instead of standing up for his friend and...
To begin, rape is an occurring motif throughout the novel to symbolize a loss of innocence, sacrifice, as well as mental and physical scarring. One of the most tragic and tear-jerking moments in the entire novel surrounds the moment when Amir decides to not help Hassan while he is getting raped. Reading this part, it is very hard not to get furious with Amir because obviously what he did was wrong but he did have reasoning behind not helping his brother. Amir stands there for a few reasons; one of the reasons being is his desire for his father approval, which he knows he can receive by coming home with the kite. When Assef says this, “I've changed my mind; I'm letting you keep the kite, Hazara. I'll let you keep it so it will always remind you of what I'm about to do.”(Hosseini 73) to Hassan, Amir still stands there and becomes the one thing that Babe always feared he would become which is a coward. As Amir stands to the side and tries to get Babas approval and while he continues to be a coward, he allows his one brother and Babas son to become a victim of rape. For years after that, Amir lives his life full of guilt and shame which ulti...
Though some may rise from the shame they acquire in their lives, many become trapped in its vicious cycle. Written by Khlaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner describes the struggles of Amir, his father Baba, and his nephew Sohrab as they each fall victim to this shameful desolation. One repercussion of Baba hiding his sinful adultery from Amir is that Amir betrays Hassan for his father’s stringent approval. Sohrab’s dirty childhood also traumatizes him through his transition to America. Consequently, shame is a destructive force in The Kite Runner. Throughout the course of the novel, Baba’s shameful affair, Amir’s selfish betrayal, and Sohrab’s graphic childhood destroy their lives.
Amir's actions showed how much of a coward he was. Amir suffered his whole life living with the guilt of knowing that Hassan was raped, much like Baba lived his whole life in guilt knowing that he stole the truth from Ali by committing adultery. 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 help a
Amir wakes up after fighting Assef in the hospital thinking about Sohrab, “for some reason I can’t think of I want to thank the child” (Hosseini 293). Sohrab is the first thing Amir thinks of when he wakes up in a groggy state in hospital. Sohrab was willing to attempt to save Amir’s life, a man he barely knew, even though it meant risking his own life. In this way, he was able to not only physically save Amir but also mentally because he allows Amir to complete his mission and redeem himself. While struggling against Assef, Amir thinks, “...for the first time since the winter of 1975, I felt at peace...I hadn’t been happy and I hadn’t felt better, not at all. But I did now. My body was broken...but I felt healed. Healed at last.” (Hosseini 289). Sohrab feels guilty for what he did to Assef, although it saved himself and Amir. Amir tells him, “There are bad people in this world, some people stay bad. Sometimes you have to stand up for them. What you did to that man is what I should have done to him all those years ago. You gave him what he deserved. He deserved more” (Hosseini 319). While talking to Sohrab, Amir acknowledges that he was wrong and that he could have avoided all his guilt, if he had only stepped in against Assef. But he had not, so part of Amir making up for his sins was to stand up to Assef, and win a fight against him. However, in the end, Sohrab is the one
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.
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 ...
“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). In The Kite Runner, Hosseini shares Amir’s journey to atonement. As Amir states, he was unable to bury his past, similar to his father, Baba, who spent the majority of his life haunted by his sins. While both father and son are consumed by guilt, the way in which they atone for their iniquities is dissimilar. While Baba attempts to live his life according to the Afghan saying, “ Life goes on, unmindful of beginning, end...crisis or catharsis, moving forward like a slow, dusty caravan of kochis [nomads]” (Hosseini 356), Amir strays from this traditional perspective. Baba chose to continue his life unmindful of his past, while Amir, eventually decides to confront his. Although both Baba and Amir have acted immorally, the choices they make find redemption affect the success of their individual attempts. In the novel, Amir’s quest for atonement is more effective than Baba’s because he acts virtuously, while his father, acts selfishly. Ultimately, Amir is the more successful of the two because, in opposition to Baba, he seeks holistic atonement and is willing to make sacrifices to achieve redemption.