The Kite Runner tells the story of Amir and Hassan, two best friends, close like brothers and experts at kite flying. The novel starts off with a flashback to the winter of 1975 which he refers to as an event that made him who he is today and sets the tone for the entire novel. The narrator of the story, Amir, stirs our curiosity upon what could possibly have occured in his past to garner such an introduction Being the antihero, he begins the story by highlighting two important lines: “... for you a thousand times over ” and “...there is a way to be good again” (Hosseini 210). These ideas about forgiveness are ever present within The Kite Runner. Hassan's own language and treatment of Amir that he forgives Amir for his sin, although Amir’s …show more content…
own forgiveness of himself takes nearly the entirety of the novel. Such themes are set up for perspective within the story of how people in power or those privileged have a responsibility to speak out in situations of injustice and that because of such redemption of one’s grace is a journey of making amends for past mistakes. These lines reveal the theme of the novel which revolves around betrayal, atonement, and redemption. He reveals in the first chapter that about the enduring quality of Sin "... 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).” Amir takes the readers back to his life in Afghanistan as a privileged child living with his father, Baba, and their servant, Ali and his son, Hassan. The story was told in retrospect and he made sure to make the readers feel the effects of his sins on him and it showed on how he shares his experiences as a child, how even his fondest memories were tainted with the events that happened in December 1975. Amir and Hassan both lost their mothers at a young age and practically grew up together to learn and discover the world together. However, despite the closeness, Amir was still conflicted with the relationship he has with Hassan. Amir reveals that he never thought of Hassan as his friend and “...Because history isn't easy to overcome. Neither is religion. In the end, I was a Pashtun and he was a Hazara. I was a Sunni and he was a Shi'a. Nothing was ever going to change that. Nothing.” (Hosseini, 27). This reveals the complexities of Amir’s character through his uncertainties which stemmed from the relationship that he had with his father. Amir longed for his father’s affections and feels both friendship and jealousy towards Hassan, their servant Ali’s son. After winning the kite-fighting tournament, Hassan ran after the red kite Amir cut off. When Hassan did took too long to come back, he went looking for him and he sees him backed up at a dead-end alley by his neighbors and witnessed how Hassan was beaten he stood there, frozen, not daring to intervene . His guilt about his inaction led him to plot ways to send Hassan away. All throughout the novel, Amir avoided coming to peace his internal conflict and haunted him for the rest of his life. However, he clearly does not do anything towards forgiving himself over what he did, thus his guilt endures. During the war, his father, Baba, and Amir left for the United States. He got married and his father died shortly after. He then discovers that Hassan was his half-brother through Baba’s closest friend Rahim Khan. He is reminded of the shame of his past and wondered what happened to Hassan. Rahim Khan revealed that his Baba’s affection for Hassan stemmed from his guilt for betraying Ali. It was his way of atonement for his betrayal to his loyal servant, for asking the for forgiveness and atonement of his sins despite not having openly admitted to having done it in the first place. After this revelation, he realized that all the things that he thought about Baba, his father were all lies. All along he had thought he knew and understood everything known about his father. Amir felt betrayed by Baba, his father whom he looked up to with nobility and righteousness, whom he strived to be on the same level. Rahim Khan spoke to Amir in his letter asking for forgiveness for keeping Baba's secret for a long time and writes with conviction that “...I know that in the end, God will forgive. He will forgive your father, me, and you too ... Forgive your father if you can. Forgive me if you wish. But most important, forgive yourself.” (Hosseini 181). He believes that a higher being is in the works of forgiving everyone for their transgressions. The revelation and Rahim Khan's letter made Amir realize that harboring ill-feelings towards his father who has been dead for over fifteen years is moot and unfounded. He is hurting from the betrayal, but he should move on. Towards the end of the novel, Amir sets out on a journey his for redemption—not only for himself but for Baba as well. He went back to Kabul to discover the destiny of Hassan’s family, to find Hassan's son, Sohrab, who was orphaned after the Taliban killed Hassan and his wife. This is one important moment in the book as it reveals how Amir is taking a step in forgiving himself. By standing up against his bullies to protect and rescue Sohrab and bringing him to the United States, he has done what he should have done for Hassan years ago, in December 1975.
Rescuing Sohrab from the Taliban was not the only instance that Amir did this so. He saved Sohrab from killing himself—he found him in the bathroom with wrists cut, rushed him to the hospital and did not leave his side until he wakes up. He saved him from the psychological terror of childhood trauma—murdered parents, sexually abused, and suicide attempts left Sohrab broken and beaten. He went into a recluse and refused to talk to anyone. He also saved him from a being an orphan and fought for him so they can take him back to the United States. The plot concludes this thought with Amir and Sohrab partaking in a local Afghan Festival and found a emotional connection through the game of kite flying. Amir shows the ultimate sign of humility: he runs after a kite for Sohrab, demonstrating that he is a “servant”, not a privileged Pashtun lording over a Hazara. He grabbed this opportunity to atone and make it up to Sohrab all the things he cannot do any more for Hassan. The earning of redemption that can only truly occur when one has accepted the nature of the events that would welcome the weight of the baggage
carried. The Kite Runner, through its use of a protagonists plea for Divine intervention for relief of such pain.
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 Kite Runner is a book about a young boy, Amir, who faces many struggles as he grows up in Kabul and later moves to America to flee from the Taliban. His best friend and brother , Hassan, was a big part of his life, but also a big part of guilt he held onto for many years. The book describes Amir’s attempt to make up for the past and resolve his sins so he can clear his conscious. Amir is worthy of forgiveness because although he was selfish, he was very brave and faced his past.
Actions made in a moment of pain, anger or simple immaturity can take anyone to make mistakes that can change their lives completely. Everyone has something in the past that is shameful, embarrassing and regrettable that is kept present daily. Whether this event happened during childhood, adolescence or early adulthood, this event could haunt and have shaped that person’s life into what he or she is today. In a similar way, the book The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is shaped by a tragic and eventful past that has shaped Amir’s, Baba’s, and Hassan’s lives. The four literary elements that will be used in this essay that Hosseini strategically uses in this book are: irony, simile, metaphor, and personification.
The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, follows the maturation of Amir, a boy from Afghanistan, as he discovers what it means to stand up for what he believes in. His quest to redeem himself after betraying his friend and brother, Hassan, makes up the heart of the novel. For most of the book, Amir attempts to deal with his guilt by avoiding it and refusing to own up to his mistakes. Because of his past, Amir is incapable of moving forward. His entire life is shaped by his disloyalty to Hassan and his desire to please his father over helping his friends. Throughout the novel, his attempts to atone for his sins end in failure, as neither physical punishment nor rescuing Hassan’s son, Sohrab, from Assef prove to be enough for Amir to redeem himself. Only when he decides to take Sohrab to the United States and provide his nephew with a chance at happiness and prosperity that was denied to his half-brother does Amir take the necessary steps toward atonement and redemption. Khaled Hosseini uses a series of symbols to reinforce the message that atoning for one’s sins means making up for past mistakes, rather than simply relying on forgiveness from either the person one betrays or from a higher power.
In the end, I ran.” ( ) This section of The Kite Runner was astonishing and unfathomable, but nevertheless sets the scene for Amir’s journey to redemption. Subsequently Amir began to develop guilt and believed the only way to be free from it was to push Hassan into leaving, which he achieved but soon realized that wasn’t what he had wanted. Years later, Amir had gotten the chance to redeem himself and become good again by rescuing Hassan’s son from the war ridden Afghanistan and bring him back to America.
Redemption is gaining honor and self-forgiveness through a selfless act that reflects off of one’s regretful actions of their past. In the novel, The Kite Runner, Amir is the main character who goes through many life struggles and mistakes, then finds himself on a road to redemption. Amir and Hassan were best friends throughout their childhood and Hassan was the honorable, trusting best friend, the one to always take a stand for what he believed was right. Amir’s lack of courage caused him to stay silent in the worst of times, letting Hassan get tortured for the things he did not deserve. The themes of sacrifice, honor and redemption are carried out in many ways throughout this novel being shown through the actions of Hassan, Baba, and Amir.
To atone for his past sins, he embarks on a journey back to Afghanistan to redeem himself to Hassan for not treating him the way he was treated. He redeems himself by saving Sohrab and giving him a safer and enjoyable life in the Untied States. Amir tyres to attain redemption to baba for being the cause of his mother’s death as he believes. Gaining his fathers love and care will make him feel redeemed from all of the resentment and lack of care that his father shows to him. He must prove to Baba that he is worthy of spending time with everyday because he feels the hatred that his father shows to him. One way how he gets redemption from his father is by winning the kite running tournament to prove to him that he is worthy of being his son. Amir’s path of redemption is not only directed to other people but personal redemption for himself. He attempts to redeem himself by building an orphanage with his wife Soraya and giving Sohrab the childhood that is safer and more suitable for a young boy to grow up in. Amir has to realize that the past doesn’t define who someone is although you can’t forget the past, the actions that they decide to do to redeem themselves from the past mistakes defines who someone is. If Amir’s mother did not die at birth would he be resented from his father greatly and have to make great
Amir gets more upset after this, thinking he can’t possibly fix this anymore. But he realizes he has one final chance at redemption, saving Hassan’s son, Sohrab. He needs to save Sohrab. Once he gets to where he is being held, he realizes Sohrab has been made into a sex slave for the Taliban.
(2) The Kite Runner follows Amir on his odyssey to redeem himself for his hurtful actions. Through this journey, Khaled Hosseini delivers the message that sin and guilt can always be atoned for. 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.
To begin, the first instance of redemption is found and portrayed through irony. As Amir's mother died giving birth to him, he has always felt guilty. Leading up to the annual kite-fighting tournament, Amir feels as if winning will redeem her death, and solidify his relationship with Baba. When he comes upon Hassan who is cornered by Assef, Amir feels as if his rape might be justified: “Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay to win Baba. Or was it a fair price?” (Hosseini, 82) If Amir gains the kite, he wins Baba's heart. Ironically, the sacrifice of Hassan is the catalyst to Amir's need for redemption. Instead of redeemi...
The story The Kite Runner is centered around learning “to be good again.” Both the movie and the book share the idea that the sins of the past must be paid for or atoned for in the present. In the book, Amir can be seen as a troubled young boy who is struggling with a tremendous amount of guilt. It is easy to blame Amir’s actions on his guilt and his father’s lack of love for him.
As a young boy he made the wrong decision in life by letting Hassan get raped, which led to his guilt. The guilt grew to the point where Hassan and Ali had to move out of Baba’s house and start a new life away from Amir. Hassan’s son Sohrab is a significant character who represents Amir’s hope for redemption. Sohrab led to Amir’s redemption by giving Amir the opportunity to do good for his past actions. On the quest for redemption, Amir achieves the redemption he desired through his fight with Assef.
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.
...achieves redemption and finally succeeds in overcoming his guilt. Hosseini uses this struggle to persuade those who feel extreme guilt for a wrongdoing to seek forgiveness and to help others in need. The author emphasizes that atoning one’s sins comes from reaching out to others. He expresses this when Amir offers to help Sohrab and he rids himself of guilt from his former relationship with Hassan. In addition, Hosseini writes to those who challenge the ideals of society in order to encourage them to create and follow their own values. The author uses Amir’s struggle in his relationship with Baba and his acceptance with Amir’s writing career to demonstrate this idea. Throughout his novel, The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini develops a main character that questions his decisions, yet conforms to societal ideals to represent his theme of redemption and self-acceptance.