Kite Runner Courage Quotes

“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.”(Eleanor Roosevelt). Courage and bravery are two of the well-demonstrated themes in the novel “The Kite Runner”. The novel establishes courage through consistently maintaining responsibilities and the ability to redeem and persevere events and actions. Rather, bravery is demonstrated in the novel as the ability to stand up for anything that goes against teaching and values. Bravery also goes above and beyond courage, and can be seen as an act that may challenge someone physically, emotionally and mentally. The novel is

based on two boys, living in two different caste systems, form an uncommon bond which is then tested through ethnic, religious and political tensions of the Afghan culture. Their values will be tested when facing the horror that lives in Afghanistan, many trying to correct sins and become good again. In the Kite Runner, there were many parts of the novel where characters were challenged either to act with courage and or bravery or to abandon these values overall. Some characters were able to overcome these challenges, but many were self-indulged and did not have the mindset to perform brave or courageous tasks. In Khaled Hosseini’s novel the Kite Runner, it was evident that the themes of courage and bravery were best performed through Baba, Sohrab, and Hassan.
In the novel, Baba is shown as a very strong and self-assured man, who performed many courageous and brave actions.

"But I knew he couldn't it wasn't in his nature" (, Hosseini, 122). In this quotation, Amir is describing how Baba has stood up to up for an Afghan women from being sexually abused by a Russian soldier. Even at gunpoint Baba did, not care about the dangerous situation he put himself into. Baba has always been a very courageous man, so Amir understood that Baba could not go against his values he has been preaching his entire life. He has also demonstrated courage when he got informed he had terminal cancer. He remained very calm and humble with hearing the news considering his disprove treatment for his cancer. This is an act of courage on Baba's part because it shows the ability is faced death right in the flesh, whereas most people would take the news very harshly. He has also demonstrated signs of true bravery throughout the novel, "I didn't bring us here for me did I?" (137). Baba has sacrificed his life in America and the culture and power he had in his hometown of Kabul, in order for Amir to attain a good education and life. This is a brave act of Baba because he risked his life trying to bring Amir a better life, he was stripped of a man of respect to an ordinary Arab immigrant. He has shown many courageous and brave acts in the course of his life through the way he was always generous and helpful towards his community and others. Baba is a very

influential man in the novel, however, this does not make him the bravest character in the novel. Baba committed several sins in his past, but he was able to correct his mistakes before he made.

The next character who showed the demonstrated the themes of courage and bravery is Sohrab.

Sohrab is a Hazara who endured many painful experiences throughout his life, regarding his position in society and family events. Sohrab has been raped and tortured throughout his life with the witnessing the death of his parents and living in an orphanage for the duration of his life. He still lives through every day of the pain and suffering he endures, “I want my old life back”(373). Sohrab displays courage because he still lives his life without the guidance and love from his parents. It has been seen though Amir that Sohrab and attained some of Hassan's traits, such as his eyes, personality and the way he carries himself. Sohrab shows Hassan's traits in him when he stands up to Assef, who is now the leader of the Taliban, “No more, Agha please” (304). Sohrab has the courage to stand up to Assef and save Amir who is a stranger at the time. He has been following the same values Hassan has always had which is to be kind, thoughtful and to always follow what’s right. Even though Sohrab has changed as a person through all the events he has been through, he has shown he never lost the ability to care or the ability to stand up for values that go against teaching. Sohrab established he was courageous in the novel, but one way he is brave is for going to America to live with Amir and Soraya. This is an example of true bravery for showing he is strong enough to start a new life in a

new country with a new family. To make an adjustment as drastic as this one shows he is more than man enough to handle the challenges to come. Throughout the novel he strongly showed he could be courageous and brave through his strong understanding of human values and maturity attained from a very young age. Sohrab however through his many acts of bravery and courage did not fully demonstrate that he is the bravest character in the novel. Sohrab appears in the very end of the novel, which gives him less time to develop and make more courageous and brave acts. The author makes it clear that Sohrab resembles Hassan, but does not fully maintain the same drive and helpfulness Hassan has throughout the entire novel. Sohrab remained to quiet at parts of the novel which restricted him from being the bravest character in the novel.
The final character that displayed the themes of courage and bravery is Hassan. Hassan is a Hazara who is persecuted by many throughout his life. However, he consistently overcome obstacles and persevered through many tough situations, “Amir Agha won the tournament and i ran the kite for him, I ran it fairly, this one is his kite” (77). This quote exemplifies the theme of courage through his ability to stand of to the well-known bully named Assef. Another time when Hassan showed courage was when all three of Assef, Kamal and Walid cornered Amir. Hassan pulls out his slingshot to protect Amir and say “perhaps you didn't notice that I’m the one holding the slingshot” (45). Hassan again shows his courage by protecting Amir from getting pummeled. Hassan throughout the entire novel has shown to be very courageous, although the final act he commits that truly shows bravery is when the Taliban ordered Hassan and his family out of Baba’s house. Hassan continues to protest, “They told Hassan they would be moving in to supposedly keep it safe until I return. Hassan protested again” (231). This quote from Rahim Khan shows the heart and bravery Hassan has to give his life up for something that has been in his family for years. This also demonstrated true bravery by Hassan because he is willing to go to endless limits to save his childhood house and memories he shared with his family. Throughout the entire novel Hassan continued to show courageous and brave acts. He persevered through many difficult and unthinkable situations. Hassan is the bravest character in the novel because he always put himself and his wellness in front of others. He never hesitated or held back on anything he felt was wrong. He always tried to do everything to the best of his abilities and he never complained whenever obstacles came in his way. Hassan is a very influential, brave and courageous character and is well deserving to be the bravest character in the novel.
Throughout the entire novel baba, Sohrab and Hassan demonstrated the true meaning to have courage and bravery. Baba showed it through his redemption his sins and the way his strong values on human dignity. Sohrab demonstrated these values through his kindness and early maturity. Hassan showed these values through his humbleness and toughness by overcoming challenges in his life. Each of these characters showed they could have a purpose in life, regarding what label or factors affected them. Each of them reflected the meaning to have courage and bravery, some people run away from difficult situations, while some decide to run into them and face the fear and become stronger as a result. Do not run away, run into.