Kite Runner Redemption Quotes

Redemption is defined as the action of saving or being saved from sin, error, or evil. Throughout life, individuals are faced with numerous incidences of redemption that can be taken up or ignored. Those who choose to take the opportunity are often able to grow mentally and accelerate much further than those who do not. However, what must be taken into account is that true redemption is for oneself rather than for others. For example, redemption by finally getting a well-deserved promotion which impresses others is not truly beneficial redemption. What must occur is happiness for the promotion within. In The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, the employment of redemption as a central idea prevails throughout the novel, specifically in the life

of Amir. In the non-fictional world, one ascertains that this concept proves post-conventional.
Amir begins the novel as a child who only aspires to impress others.

This is perceived as pre-conventional when examining his actions. However, in a way this appears normal due to the fact that children often focus on attempting to impress others. For example, as Amir watches his father he remarks, “Because the truth of it was, I always felt like Baba hated me a little. And why not? After all, I had killed his beloved wife […] hadn’t I? The least I could have done was to have had the decency to have turned out a little more like him. But I hadn’t turned out like him” (Hosseini 19). This quote essentially explains how Amir strives to act like his father and that he feels guilt in “killing” his wife. He feels as though impressing Baba will redeem his actions and lift the onus of the death when in fact, this corroborates very juvenile and pre-conventional. When he says that he, “felt like baba hated” him a little, the word hated is utilized in a way to explain that Amir is acquiescent with his guilt due to others. Another thing that

should be noted is the word “decency.” This word shows that Amir feels as though he is not accepted in the world. He believes that in order to be acknowledged, he must have the decorousness to do what is right in society. Later on in the novel, Amir is flying his kite in the kite wars and he ponders, “I was going to win, and I was going to run that last kite. Then id bring it home and show it to Baba. Show him once and for all that his son was worthy” (Hosseini ___ ). He shows here that he believes that he has to win for the approval of Baba. The term “worthy” accentuates his intent of winning. Amir has a robust necessity to feel worthy of others’ approval. The basis of pre-conventionalism is performing an action for some sort of reinforcement of one type or another. Clearly, Amir needs the reinforcement of worthiness to satisfy his needs.
One might notice a distinct milestone in the story involving Amir’s transition from pre-conventional to conventional.

Later on, Amir comments, “Listening to them, I realized how much of who I was, what I was, had been defined by Baba and the marks he had left on people’s lives. Now he was gone. Baba couldn’t show me the way anymore; I’d have to find it on my own” (Hosseini ___ ). This excerpt illustrates the turning point of the story of Amir’s redemption. The word “I” is extensively used in this specific quote showing that he begins to ruminate on how he should be changing himself for himself rather than himself for others. Another notable aspect of this quote is that Amir realizes that he is on his own now. This proves that he is now prepared to figure things out on his own which almost propels him past the conventional stage towards post-conventional. Further on in the book, Amir converses with Rahim Khan and states, “”You know,” Rahim Khan said, “one time, when you weren’t around, your father and I were talking…I remember he said to me, ‘a boy who won’t stand up for himself becomes a man who can’t stand up to anything.’ I wonder, is that what you’ve become”” (Hosseini ___ ). This extremely important quote shows that if Amir is unable to worry about himself as a child, he will be unable to help people out for nothing in return in the future. If Amir is a boy who can focus on redeeming his own actions in a post-conventional way, he will turn out this way in the future or

vice versa.
The final turning point for Amir in the story is displayed in the later portion of the book. As Amir reflects on what Rahim has told him to do he thinks, “As it turned out, Baba and I were more alike than I’d ever known. We had both betrayed the people who would have given their lives for us. And with that came this realization: that Rahim Khan had summoned me here to atone not just for my sins but for Baba’s too” (Hosseini ___ ). It is shown in this quote that Amir believes that he and Baba are both similar and that he understands what he must redeem. The word “betrayed” shows that betraying Hassan is what he has done wrong and the word “atone”, meaning to make amends or to repair, is equivalent to redemption of which he must do for both himself and Baba. The action of doing this seems pre-conventional at a first glance because it involves another person. However, the fact that this action is done for someone else and not to impress someone else shows post-conventionalism and even takes on a higher level of it because it goes above and beyond the traditional method.