Ashley Higgins
Mrs. Logsdon
Contemporary Literature
9 February, 2015
Topic 6 Rough Draft
Some say: what goes around, comes around. When there is no explanation for a tragedy, people tend to find a way to place blame upon themselves. Sometimes, it takes self-forgiveness and sacrifice for these people to resolve their internal battles and to live a joyous life. In Khaled Hosseini's Kite Runner, Soraya's inability to bear children is significant because Amir feels that the infertility is his punishment for his sins and Sohrab would be the key to not only his redemption, but would also fulfill his and Soraya's abandoned desire for a family.
Infertility can be a nightmare to a couple who long to start a family. It can lead to self-blame, resentment
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of one's spouse, and tension in the relationship. When Amir and Soraya find out that they are unable to have their own children, Amir finds a way blame to himself for a problem that is diagnosed as "unexplainable." He gives his reason for choosing to give up on a chance at fatherhood, explaining, "perphaps something, someone, somewhere, had decided to deny me fatherhood for the things I had done. Maybe this was my punishment, and perhaps justly so" (Hosseini 188). Amir feels so guilty over his betrayal of his childhood friend Hassan that he believes he is being rightfully punished with a childless marriage. In addition, he simply resigns to his fate because he does not know how to redeem himself after letting many years pass. As a result of Amir's discontented acceptance, there was a strain put upon his marriage to Soraya. Amir gives life to the stress by stating, "It had seeped into our marriage, that emptiness... And late at night, in the darkness of our room, I'd feel it rising from Soraya and and settling between us. Sleeping between us. Like a newborn child" (Hosseini 189). At this point, Amir has let his regrets manifest so deeply that it intrudes into his marriage. He believes it is fault for his wife being barren, and allows his guilt to drive a metaphorical wedge between the couple that could only be fixed with a child. However, many years later, Amir gains the opportunity to let go of his pain and fill the gap in his relationship. After many more years pass, Amir gets his chance to atone for his sins when he learns that he has a nephew named Sohrab through his late friend, and brother, Hassan.
He was told by Rahim Khan, an old, dying friend, that he could redeem himself and begin to heal by rescuing Sohrab from an orphanage. After rescuing Sohrab, Amir receives a letter from Rahim Khan that states, "A man who has no conscience, no goodness, does not suffer. I hope your suffering comes to an end in Afghanistan" (Hosseini 301). Rahim Khan understands that Amir's internal plight could start to resolve itself if he makes a sacrifice in Hassan's honor. Traveling to find the child is a dangerous journey, but Amir could seek solace in the fact that he is saving Hassan's child from suffering more tragedies. In addition, once he rescues Sohrab, Amir believes that the best option for him is to return with him to America. When Amir tells his wife about his journey, Soraya agrees that she wants Sohrab to live with them by telling her husband, "'Amir, he's your qaom, your family, so he's my qaom too'" (Hosseini 326). To the couple, Sohrab is the closest thing they will ever have to a child of their own because Soraya cannot have children. To them, this is their opportunity fulfill the desire to have a family and is also Amir's chance to make up for what he did to
Hassan. In the end, Soraya's infertility makes Hassan's fate and Sohrab's future more important to Amir. The belief that his misdeeds are what make him responsible for a childless marriage shows how remorseful he has been feeling for so many years. Rescuing Sohrab and taking him to America is his way of redeeming himself and finally expanding his family. His patience and loyalty to the child shows how far Amir come in his journey to becoming a selfless human being.
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
How much are you willing to sacrifice for another? Whether they are a family member or a complete stranger. In the novel The Kite Runner Baba was was willing to risk his life when he had stood up and was trying to stop the Russian soldier from rape the young woman as payment for letting them pass through one of the checkpoints. Then there had been Amir it was when he had suffered extreme injuries, nearly losing his life when he had fought Assef, so that he could save Sohrab for the abuse he was suffering from the Taliban. Both Character Baba and Amir were willing to sacrifice themselves for another person, regardless of who they were. Khaled Hosseini’s novel, The Kite Runner, teaches the reader sacrificing your life can lead to another person’s happiness through Baba saving the woman from the Russian soldier and Amir fighting Assef.
In the fantasy novel, The Last Unicorn, Peter S. Beagle wrote that “Real magic can never be made by offering someone else's liver. You must tear out your own, and not expect to get it back” (Beagle). While this quote is a bizarre non sequitur, its core holds true. It states that the only sacrifice that is truly worth anything is the sacrifice of one’s self. Too often in this age, people step on others to help themselves succeed, gain prestige and positions for themselves while leaving those stepped on in the dust. In 2003, Khaled Hosseini wrote The Kite Runner, which explores the same theme of self-sacrifice and love. It follows the life of Amir, a rich Pashtu boy, who spends his childhood in Afghanistan with his father, Baba and his ever-faithful servant and friend, Hassan. Eventually, Amir and Baba are driven from their home due to rising political and military tensions and flee to America, where Amir tries to bury memories of wrongs he had done in his old life. The climax of the novel sees Amir making a great and dangerous sacrifice to atone for those wrongs. In The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini makes evident the idea of love and self-sacrifice while simultaneously deriding the concept of sacrificing another person, especially exploring both with the character of Amir. Most of the characters make sacrifices for another person, and are portrayed afterwards as brave and noble, but the few characters that sacrifice another character are malevolent and dishonourable.
“The greatest sacrifice is when you sacrifice your own happiness for the sake of someone else.” Sacrifice does not come easy, but one sacrifice can inspire many as seen in the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. In the novel McMurphy sacrifices himself to undergo a lobotomy to inspire the other men on the ward that they aren’t crazy and they can stand up for themselves.
This is because the Afghan culture does not adopt children. Disregarding this cultural difference, Sorab is a Hazara boy, but Hassan does not take the same cowardly route that his father did. Instead, he embraces Sorab like a son without the legal documentation of being his son. Amir loved Sorab and treated him like his own. Ironically, Amir’s wife is bearen, meaning she cannot bear children.
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.
However there are some characters that become better people and change becoming a better, stronger, more loyal individual in the end. The individual that demonstrates this development within this novel is Amir himself. All of the guilt Amir holds with him as a child allow him to realize his duty to be loyal to his brother Hassan ion the end. An example of this is when Amir goes back to Kabul, Afghanistan to retrieve his nephew Sohrab. Amir says, “I remembered Wahid’s boys and… I realized something. I would not leave Afghanistan without finding Sohrab.’ tell me where he is,’ I said” (Hosseini 255). Here, Amir is at the orphanage waiting to find out where Taliban has taken his nephew. Amir remembers the three young starving sons of Wahid, a man whose home he had been in earlier, and realized that Afghanistan is not a safe place for Sohrab. Amir is finally aware of one thing, Hassan has always been there to protect Amir like a loyal friend and brother would and now Amir knows that it is his turn to return that loyalty to Hassan by protecting Hassan’s flesh and blood. A second example of Amir’s loyalty to Hassan near the ending of the book is during Amir’s confrontation with General Sahib and the dinner table after Sohrab is safe in America with him. Amir proclaims to General Sahib, “…That boy sleeping on the couch
Within Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, one witnesses a tremendous act of self sacrifice. During a kite competition Hassan retrieves a kite to bring back to his friend, Amir. However, while running back to Amir, he is cornered by Assef, town bully, and his lackeys. Assef gives Hassan an option to give up the kite and be let loose, or keep the kite and be raped. Hassan’s self sacrifice is letting himself be raped for his friend. It was important for Hassan to keep the kite because Amir is trying to please his father who has neglected Amir. Getting the kite from the competition is the real grand prize and it would please Amir’s father. Amir sees Hassan being raped, but doesn’t do anything because of his cowardice. Hassan and Amir notice each-other at one point. That is when Amir knows he has lost his relationship with Hassan. Amir goes on to say, “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(sacrifice) was the price I had...
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2.1 million married couples experience troubles with infertility. Infertility is defined as trying for over a year and not becoming pregnant for women under 35 and trying for six months for women over 35. The cause of the infertility is a male factor one third of the instances, female another third, ten percent of the cause is a combination of both male and female factors and the remaining twenty percent is not apparent. In vitro fertilization is a process that tries to eliminate the problems inherent in the mother and father. It involves an egg is fer...
... Recovering from this rescue, Amir learns that an orphanage Rahim spoke of does not exist. This leaves him with the issue of what to do with this child. Amir ponders to himself, “I wondered what I'd do with the little wounded boy on the bed, though a part of me already knew” (Hosseini, 328). Related to redemption, this quote foreshadows that Amir will adopt and take Sohrab home. For what is he to do but save his brother's son? To redeem himself of a betrayal long ago Amir knows he has to take in and take care of Sohrab. Thus, foreshadowing is a principal device in evoking the theme of redemption.
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.
“The Emotional Effects of Infertility on the Couple Relationship.” IVF.com. Georgia Reproductive Specialists, 2007. Web. 22 Mar. 2010. .
During The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini reinforces the theme of the loss of innocence and redemption. Many characters lose innocence or are the cause of another character losing theirs. Amir both loses his innocence and that of others. His innocence is stolen by his father. In the novel Amir overhears Baba saying, “‘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 24-25). This affects Amir for his entire life as he tries to compete with Hassan for his father's attention. He does not realize that in doing so, this crumbles his world as he knows it. It makes Amir resentful, calloused, and even cruel, all of which are characteristics of someone who has lost their innocence. In turn, Amir’s loss of innocence causes other to lose their innocence because of his lack of courage and disregard for others feelings.
Guilt prompts Amir to go back to Afghanistan and drives Baba to care for Hassan. In the beginning of the book, Amir expresses that “it’s wrong what they say about the past… about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out(Hosseini 1).” Amir realizes this when the guilt never goes away from when he ignored Hassan when Hassan needed help. Amir constantly tries to forget about the past and how the rape impacted his relationship with Hassan and Ali. However, even with Amir’s efforts to obliterate the memory of the event, it resurfaces with Rahim Khan’s request to find Sohrab. Initially, Amir is reluctant to go to Kabul to look for Sohrab, but he remembers Rahim Khan saying, “There is a way to be good again(Hosseini 226).” Desperate for the chance to redeem himself, Amir returns to Kabul with the intention of transporting Sohrab to a better place. Amir understands that the only way for him to stop feeling guilty about the winter of 1975 is that he finds Sohrab and verifies that he lives a more secure life. In Baba’s case, he was able to care for Hassan as an uncle and the guilt he has inclined him to help others by building an orphanage. Also, with Ali’s permission, Baba is able to “[hire] Dr. Kumar to fix Hassan’s harelip(Hosseini 225)” and give Hassan birthday presents to show his affection. Caring for Hassan helps Baba get rid of the guilt he feels from the affair. Even though Baba could only show his love as a friend and not as a father, he embraces the opportunity with open arms. The guilt that both Amir and Baba experiences motivate them to do whatever they can to make up for their