In The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, sacrifice plays a major role in the creation of the theme. Many sacrifices take place throughout the novel. From the sacrifice of Hassan in the kite race, to the sacrifice of Hassan when amir tries to set him up as a thief, to the sacrifice Amir makes when he goes to rescue Sohrab. All of these major events help make up the main theme of sacrifice. The first sacrifice in the novel is the rape of Hassan. Hassan sacrifices himself to Assef in the alley in order to keep the kite for Amir. When Hassan was running Amir’s kite for him in the race, he gets stopped by Assef who then tells him to give him the kite. Hassan is faithful to Amir, so he refuses to give Assef the kite. Assef says the Hassan has to give …show more content…
him the kite or else he would have to pay. Hassan refuses to give Assef the kite, so Assef rapes him. “Nothing was free in this world. Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba.” (Hosseini 77). Amir didn’t help Hassan because he felt as if he needed the kite in order to make Baba proud of him. What Amir didn’t know was that Baba didn’t want Amir to win the kite race in order to make him proud, he wanted Amir to stand up for himself and others. Amir feels as though he had to sacrifice Hassan in order to win Baba over. The second sacrifice is also a sacrifice of Hassan.
Amir wants to get rid of Hassan because he feels so guilty about the rape that he thinks it would be best if either him or Hassan were gone. Baba has always told Amir that the biggest sin was theft, so Amir tries to set Hassan up by saying he stole Amir’s presents. Amir went into Hassan’s room and put his new watch and money underneath Hassan’s mattress. Then Amir went over to Baba’s office and knocked on the door. He then tells Baba that all of his gifts are missing and that he thinks Hassan stole them. When they go to check in Hassan’s room, they find the gifts where Amir had left them: right underneath Hassan’s mattress. When Baba asks Hassan if he stole the gifts, Hassan says yes. Hassan knew that he had been set up, but he still took the blame for Amir’s sake, because if Baba found out that Amir had tried to get Hassan in trouble, then Amir would’ve gotten in a lot deeper trouble than Hassan did. “My heart sank and I almost blurted out the truth. Then I understood: This was Hassan's final sacrifice for me. If he'd said no, Baba would have believed him because we all knew Hassan never lied. And if Baba believed him, then I'd be the accused; I would have to explain and I would be revealed for what I really was. Baba would never, ever forgive me.” (Hosseini 105). Hassan had once again, sacrificed himself for Amir’s sake. Amir finally realizes how good of a friend Hassan truly is, and begins to feel more
guilty. The third sacrifice if the sacrifice Amir makes when he goes to rescue Sohrab. When Amir went to go get Sohrab and bring him back to America with him, Assef says he can’t take Sohrab. Assef says that there is still unfinished business between him and Amir and he wants to fight Amir. Assef put on a pair of brass knuckles and starts beating Amir. They continue to have their childhood fight that they were always meant to have. Assef begins to beat Amir harder and harder. Sohrab watched the whole fight unfold, and he wanted it to stop. He told Assef to quit hitting Amir, but Assef wouldn’t listen. Sohrab grabbed his slingshot and aimed it towards Assef. Assef saw that Sohrab was going to shoot him so he lunged at him, but when he lunged, Sorab let go of the slingshot and shot him in the eye. While Assef was down Sohrab grabs Amir and the two escape. “Mostly, I remember this: his brass knuckles flashing in the afternoon light; how cold they felt with the first few blows and how quickly they warmed with my blood.” (Hosseini 288). Amir sacrificed himself in order to get Sohrab. Assef could've easily killed Amir, so Amir really did put his life on the line for Sohrab. The Kite Runner has a major theme of sacrifice. Hassan sacrificed himself for Amir’s sake multiple times. Eventually Amir sacrificed himself to Assef for Sohrab. Sacrifice is a common occurrence in this novel.
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.
Hassan agrees and gives chase for the kite with Amir follow some time later on. However, during that time Hassan is corner by Assif and several others children. Hassan is then punished by Assif for protecting Amir, as well as being a different type of Afghani. In one swift motion, Assif performs a horrifying sexual act on Hassan, all the way Amir watch it far down a street. And what does Amir do? Well he ran as he put it, “I ran because I was a coward. I was afraid of Assef and what he would do to me. I was afraid of getting hurt” (77).
...and not self-sacrifice, giving a wide array of consequences. Amir serves as a way to show that it is possible to move from one end of the spectrum to the other. Jesus said in the bible, “There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends” (John 15:13), and an easy contrast to that made by the novel is “There is no greater sin than to lay down one's friends for one's life.” Whether as small as Wahid giving up some food to treat Amir like a guest, or as significant as Amir abandoning Hassan in his time of need, in The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini teaches that self-sacrifice brings wholeness while sacrificing another brings only guilt.
On a different occasion on chapter 8 after Amir’s birthday party, Amir collects the birthday money he had received and a wrist watch belonging to Baba and hid them under Hassan’s mattress. After planting the items under Hassan’s mattress then telling Baba that he thinks Hassan might have taken the items, when confronted by Baba about the money and watch Hassan innocently accepts the blame admitting that he had stolen the items himself even though this is not true. This is perhaps the greatest act of loyalty because Hassan understood that Baba valued honesty and he didn’t want him to think less of Amir, some have argued that Hassan took the blame instead because he was mistaken to think that this act would win back Amir and improve their relationship, Hassan also do not want to hurt Baba by revealing the truth about Amir’s acts. Amir is shocked and surprised by these extreme acts of loyalty. Thereafter Hassan goes away but has fond memories of Amir, he tells his wife and kid about how good friends they were, he does not speak ill of him at all and even learnt how to write so that he could write letters to Amir and update him on his life. Eventually when Assef comes to the house where Hassan, his wife and son are leaving to demand that he evacuate
After Amir wins a kite fight for the first time Hassan offers to retrieve it for him. After Hassan gets the kite he is confronted by the neighborhood bullies who demand the kite. Hassan is aware that the kite will improve Amir’s relationship with his father so he refuses to give up the kite and is ultimately raped. After this sacrifice Amir is too guilty to continue living near Hassan and he frames him for theft. In Hassan’s final act of sacrifice he admits to theft and leaves Amir and his father. Although Hassan’s rape is foreshadowed it still has a large emotional impact on the audience and allows the reader to gain a full understanding of all that Hassan is willing to sacrifice for Amir.
Hassan would do anything for his friends and treat everyone, even bullies, with respect because his respectful dad, Ali, taught him to always be loyal to all, and never hurt anyone. Ali was Baba’s servant and long-time friend, and stayed close to him throughout their childhood and adulthood. Amir's actions showed how much of a coward he was. Amir suffered his whole life living with the guilt of knowing that Hassan was raped, much like Baba lived his whole life in guilt knowing that he stole the truth from Ali by committing adultery.
The Kite Runner has many themes throughout the book that carry out through the whole book, and shape the lives of the characters and their families. One of the main themes in the book is the theme of theft , as seen when Baba is revealed to be Hassan's father, “he’d stolen had been sacred: from me the right to know I had a brother." This sin of theft is shown to possibly be
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...
When Amir decides to plant his own watch and money under Hassan’s mattress he planned on getting Hassan in trouble from Baba. When Hassan is asked if he stole the watch and money he said yes. “I flinched, like I’d been slapped” (105). In this quote Amir shows that he was not expecting Hassan to respond in the way that he did. Right here is where Amir should have seen that Hassan cares about him and acted loyal like a real friend should have. Instead Amir Betrays Hassan again by not saying a word and letting Hassan take the blame for something he did not do. Amir continuously shows that he is Hassan’s betrayer by more actions that he
Amir and Hassan’s relationship is a recurring theme throughout the novel. In the ethnic caste system, Amir is a Pashtun and Hassan is a Hazara. Pashtuns are placed in a much higher caste than Hazaras, therefore Hazaras are treated as servants to the Pashtuns. Every morning, Hassan prepares Amir’s breakfast, makes his clothes and cleans his room for him. In the annual kite tournament, at least two people must work together in order to properly maneuver the kite, one to lead the kite, and another to feed the kite’s glass string. Hassan’s role is the latter. His role is to feed the kite’s string for Amir and run after any fallen kites. The glass string attached to the kite is dangerous as it is coated with shards of glass and leaves bloody marks and cuts on the hands. Although Hassan catches the fallen kites, he must always bring it back to Amir. One winter, when Hassan and Amir were waiting under a tree for the kite to come to them, Hassan asks Amir “Would I ever lie to you, Amir agha?” (Ho...
Because of this, Hassan is almost constantly bullied when he steps outside. Amir usually refuses to help Hassan, fearing he will get bullied for helping a minority. This type of thing built guilt up inside of him because he was then viewed as weak by his father’s friend. He overheard them talking and he was called weak because he would not even stand up for his best friend that he essentially lives with. He continues not to back Hassan up and starts being mean to Hassan, just like the other boys because he does not want to be viewed as weak.. During the kite runner festival, Hassan went to get the winning kite that Amir had knocked out of the sky. When he does, he is cornered by one of his bullies, Assef, and some of his friends. They take the kite and then rape Hassan. Amir stands nearby, watching the event take place and does nothing about it. Eventually he runs away trying to get the thought out of his head. Gradually over time, guilt builds up inside of Amir and it starts to become hard to even be around Hassan. This then leads him to frame Hassan for stealing his watch. After Amir does that, Amir finds out he forced his father to kick his brother out of the only housing he had. His father starts crying a lot and Amir feels that it is all his fault. Guilt impacts him very much even when he moves to America, he still
Because Hassan did not give the kite, Assef decides to rape Hassan as a “punishment”. Instead of helping his friend out, Amir just walked away from the scene and let Hassan get violated in one of the most vulgar ways. After this incident, Hassan quietly walked back home and gave Amir the kite for which he was confronted by Assef for. The kite in this situation proves to be an important symbol. Whereas earlier in the novel the kite represented happiness and fun to Amir, in this situation it represented sin and guilt to Amir.
In the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, the character Hassan plays an important role in the story. He is faced with many challenges, due to ethnic cultural collision, responding to it by not letting his loyalty or humanity falter, which relates to the novel because regardless of his statues and religion, Hassan would always protect Amir.
Author: Khaled Hosseini published The Kite Runner in 2003. By 2005 it became the number one New York Times Bestseller. Although this book was his first novel, people still couldn’t get enough of his story about the troubled friendship between two boys. Sylvester Stallone, an American actor, once said, “Most action is based on redemption and revenge, and that's a formula. Moby Dick was formula. It is how you get to the conclusion that makes it interesting”. From time to time mistakes are made every day, and however the story ends will describe your mistakes. In The Kite Runner, the kite is the most important symbol that represents Amir’s past; just like a kite flying in the sky full of soars and dives, Amir's life was the same way as a kite flies.
Courage and bravery are two main characteristics seen in characters throughout the entire novel. The Kite Runner; written and published by Khaled Hosseini, has hidden characteristics of courage and bravery within different characters. This meaning that the characters stood up for themselves, others and for what they believe is right from wrong. The three main characters that showed an ample amount of these characteristics were; Amir, Sohrab, and Hassan. These characters were the ones whom throughout the novel were evoking the reader's thoughts by making them think about what defined courage and bravery to them. Khaled Hosseini purposely put these characters, with these specific traits into the novel because he knew that it would have a true significance. In the novel,