Kite Runner Guilt Essay

Webster’s Dictionary defines the word “Guilt” as a cognitive or an emotional experience that occurs when a person realizes or believes accurately or not that he or she has compromised his or her own standards of conduct or has violated a moral standard and bears significant responsibility for that violation. Guilt is closely related to the concept of remorse. In the book Kite Runner Amir the main character carries a vast amount of guilt and remorse with him wherever he goes. In this essay I going to explain the facts surrounding the reasons that Amir feels and carries so much guilt and how he tries to avenge the wrong things that he has done in his life.

The story begins describing the main characters in the book which are Amir who is telling

the story and his close friend Hassan who is considered in the beginning to be a Hazaran; which in modern day terms that means he is a minority. Amir also describes his parents and Hassen parents. Hassen parents are Hazaran and are basically servants or workers for Baba which is Amir’s father, but Amir consider Hassen to be his friend. Amir also goes in to great detail about his father and his relationship with him. Baba is a well-respected man and despite what people said he couldn’t do he turned around and proved them wrong by doing it. Some would consider him the man of all men and that puts a great pressure on Amir to live up to his father’s name. Sadly, Amir feels as if he is a failure in his father’s eyes and really wants to please him. Once in the story Amir describes the shame his father feels when he tries playing soccer and fail miserably. He really just wants to please his dad but he feels he fails every single time. To make things worse Amir feels a tremendous guilt because his mother died while giving birth to him, which is only the beginning of his guilt filled life.
Amir was supposed to be close friends with Hassen who he called a Kite Runner.

Amir would go up to the hill and read to Hassen because he knew he really loved it and honestly so did Amir. These two always had each other backs. One day they were approached by a local bully named Assef. He was bullying them and was about to fight Amir and Hassen pulled his sling shot out and ran Assef and his crew off from messing with them. The reason Amir Calls Hassen “Kite Runner” is because he chases kites in a game, what consider a kite flying war. He is the best kite runner, Amir says he will know where the kite will land well before it even falls. One day after winning a Kite Flying event Hassen went to run after Amir kite to bring it back to him as promised and was cornered by the same mean bully Assef and his crew. Assef is trying to bully Hassen out of Amir’s kite but Hassen will not give in. Amir goes to look for him because he knows that he should be back by now, he kind of runs into them down an alley way. Instead of approaching the boys Amir hides he is afraid of Assef so he watches from afar. What happens to Hassen is another route cause of Amir’s guilt filled life, Hassen is raped by Assef! . “I actually aspired to cowardice, because the alternative, the real reason I was running, was that Assef was right: Nothing was free in this world. Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win

Baba.”
Hassen being raped was the worst thing that could have happened to Hassen and even worse to Amir, The rape of Hassen damaged their friendship tremendously because Amir was there and did nothing Amir didn’t know that Hassen saw him there but instead of facing Hassen he distanced his self away from him. One day Hassen asked Amir to go to the hill and read to him and before they could make it there he asked him basically why don’t you hang out with me anymore? Instead of answering Amir just yelled and walked away, again afraid to face his fears. On Amir’s 16th birthday his father threw him a big party where he received lots of money and jewelry. Amir wanted to get rid of Hassen for good so he knew that Baba had taught him that that there was no sin greater that stealing. Amir decided to get rid of him he would set him up by making it look like he stole his birthday money and jewelry which he planted under Hassen’s pillow. The plot Amir performed was the reason behind Hassen and his father being put out of the house even the Baba really didn’t want to Ali, Hassen father insisted that they left. This was just a way for Amir to get rid of Him so that he wouldn’t have to deal with the pain of seeing his friend after being raped and doing nothing.
Years went by and Amir still carried pain and hurt from the way he abandoned Hassen. The story plot then changes. This story takes place in America where Amir and his father have moved. Everything aren’t all peaches and cream as it was back in their country things are a lot different in America. They have to live by the laws of this land and not all the people in America are friendly and trusting like in their country, says Baba.
After years of living in America Amir’s father get sick and dies but Amir is still left with the guilt and shame of that fact that he believes his father thinks he is a coward and that he will never amount up to the man that he was. Amir still wants to prove that he is not a coward and continue to live his life trying to prove just that. Sometime went by and Amir ended up going back to his country because his friend Khan called him there because he was ill. Kahn reason for having Amir there wasn’t only because he was ill but Kahn wanted to tell him about Hassen.
Kahn had been living in Baba’s old house taking care of it until his return, but Kahn wasn’t alone, Hassen lived there as well. The story of Hassen being there wasn’t one that ended well but it was one that changed Amir’s life again. Kahn told Amir that Hassen and his wife had been killed there at Baba’s home by the Taliban and their only son lived but was taken away to an orphanage. Kahn also revealed to him that Hassen wasn’t Hazaran but he was indeed his half-brother, the son of Baba. This shocked Amir but he thought back to the years when they grew up together and put 2 and 2 together and believed Kahn’s story.
Amir thought to himself he had to do something to get his nephew, Sohrab back and got help from Kahn’s associate, his name was Farid to do just that. Farid took Amir to the orphanage where his nephew was supposed to be but he wasn’t there. They were informed that he was taken by the Taliban. They set up a meeting with the Taliban official where he was supposed to talk about getting his nephew back. Fear takes over once while waiting but Amir talks to himself and says stop being a punk. Soon after the Taliban comes into the room where Amir was waiting and rips off Amir’s disguise. Amir informs him again that he is only looking for his nephew and they bring him in. The Taliban official then asks Amir “whatever happened to old Babalu,” a name Assef used to call Ali, and Amir realizes that the Taliban official is actually Assef. Shocked that Assef was the official Amir tries to offer money to pay for his nephew but Assef declines. Assef only wants to hurt Amir.
Amir took this beating like a man he says he remembers laughing while Assef was beating him with his brass knuckles, he felt relieved. “My body was broken—just how badly I wouldn’t find out until later—but I felt healed. Healed at last. I laughed.” He actually looked forward to that and actually felt healed from guilt and grief at that moment. Just like Sohrab’s father Hassen he carried a slingshot and he raised his sling shot and told Assef to stop. Assef tried to come for Sohrad but he fire and shot Assef right in the eye and Amir and Sohrad was able to run out and get away in the car outside where Farid was waiting for them.
The story goes on and Amir finally felt relief that he proved he was no longer a punk, which would have made his father proud. Also he save his nephew from Assef and the Taliban and moved him back to America with him, which brought a small bit of peace to what he had done to his half-brother Hassen. After all this I believe he no longer has to live with guilt and remorse and he can just have a happy life with him his wife and his nephew.