Sohrab: The Kite Runner

939 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The psychological journey of the kite runner

When Sohrab was in the emergency room, Amir was not permitted to go in with him. For the first time in more than fifteen years, he prayed and recited the only words he could think of: “There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is His messenger” (306) until he fell asleep with fatigue. He believed that he was responsible for the suicide and this was God’s punishment for all of his sins. Amir was caught between the liberalists and the fundamentalists again. He dreamt of Sohrab, using the same razor that he had used to shave earlier, to commit suicide. Sohrab was luckily still alive but he had an extreme blood shortage. To repay God for his mercy, Amir returned to being a devout Muslim for the rest of the narrative. He was grateful for receiving an extended time to regain Sohrab’s trust and attempt to …show more content…

Soon, Amir and Soraya got jobs in a hospital located on the Afghan-Pakistani border. Hosseini used this to imply that the efforts of many people like Amir, Baba, and Soraya can help Afghanistan heal and become great again. One day in the local park, Amir bought a kite from an Afghanistani kite seller and took it over to Sohrab. Amir told him about Hassan and his superb skills at both kite-flying and kite-running. He asked Sohrab to kite with him, and as expected, there was no response. However, when Amir started to kite gleefully as he hasn't for decades, Sohrab followed him. With this scene, kites have returned to the novel as hopes for a brighter future. The simple action of Sohrab kiting with Amir proved that there is always hope in every situation. Amir demonstrated Hassan’s favorite trick to Sohrab, who showed a keen interest in kites like his father, and then he thought of his memories of Kabul as he severed the green kite's string. As if on instinct, Amir returned to his blissful memories of kite-flying with

Show More
Related

  • The Kite Runner: Similarities Between Book And Movie

    446 Words  | 1 Pages

    The attempted suicide is one of the main explanations of Sohrab’s behaviour when they arrive in America. Although Sohrab is much the same before the incident, he begins to open up to Amir just before the suicide attempt takes place. He then becomes mute and depressed which only occurs after the suicide attempt as a result of the complications. The entire scene being omitted from the film therefore neglects Amir’s desperation to atone for his past wrong doings in the novel. “I will think of Him every day from this day on if He only grants me this one wish: My hands are stained with Hassan’s blood; I pray God doesn’t let them get stained with the blood of his boy

    Read More

  • The Power of Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini

    2126 Words  | 5 Pages

    Kite Runner depicts the story of Amir, a boy living in Afghanistan, and his journey throughout life. He experiences periods of happiness, sorrow, and confusion as he matures. Amir is shocked by atrocities and blessed by beneficial relationships both in his homeland and the United States. Reviewers have chosen sides and waged a war of words against one another over the notoriety of the book. Many critics of Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, argue that the novel would not have reached a lofty level of success if the U.S. had not had recent dealings with the Middle East, yet other critics accurately relate the novel’s success to its internal aspects.

    Read More

  • Kite Runner

    1586 Words  | 4 Pages

    In Amir’s early childhood, kites represented happiness. Flying kites was his favorite pastime, as it was the only way that he connected fully with Baba, who was once a champion kite fighter. However, the kite takes on a different significance when Amir doesn’t stop Hassan's abusers from raping him in order to prevent the kite from being stolen. The kite serves as a symbol of Amir’s guilt throughout the novel. Hechose his fragile relationship with his father over the well-being of his best friend and half-brother: “Baba and I lived in the same ...

    Read More

  • The Kite Runner Compare And Contrast Baba And Amir

    671 Words  | 2 Pages

    There are many parallels between the first half of Amir’s life and the second half. Specifically, Hassan runs the blue kite for Amir during their adolescence and later Amir runs the kite for Sohrab. Moreover,

    Read More

  • Symbolism In The Kite Runner

    706 Words  | 2 Pages

    Flying kites was a source of Amir 's happiness as a child as well as a way to attain his father’s approval. In Kabul, Afghanistan, a kite flying tournament was held annually. Young boys laced their string with glass and attempted to cut the strings of other kite flyers. That last on standing was deemed the champion and the idol of all the younger children. Before Amir competed in his kite tournament, Baba said, “I think maybe you 'll win the tournament this year. What do you think?” (Hosseini, 50) Amir took this opportunity and told himself that, “I was going to win, and I was going to run that last kite. Then I’d bring it home and show it to Baba. Show him once and for all his son was worthy. Then maybe my life as a ghost in this house would finally be over.” (Hosseini, 50) Amir wanted the approval and affection of his father badly enough that he was willing to allow Hassan to get raped in order to attain it. After this kits became the symbol of Amir 's betrayal to Hassan. The kite ultimately becomes the way that Amir connects with Sohrab, mirroring how Amir connected with Baba when he was a

    Read More

  • The Kite Runner Quote Analysis

    353 Words  | 1 Pages

    He offers to run Amir’s last kite, a favor that isolates and makes him susceptible to an attack from Assef. The Hitler enthusiast sodomizes Hassan while Amir covertly watches, --- to do anything. Later in the novel, Amir tries to redeem himself with Sohrab, who is the prime symbol of redemption that will clear up Amir’s debt. The kite flying competition at the end of the novel is a deliberate echo of the past. Amir and Hassan’s roles are now switched; Amir is Sohrab’s kite runner.

    Read More

  • Hassan's Courage In The Kite Runner

    1019 Words  | 3 Pages

    Firstly, Amir becomes courageous after knowing Hassan is his half-brother, therefore he decides to face the challenge of finding Sohrab. For instance, Amir is transforming to think positively after knowing the truth: “Rahim Khan had summoned me here to atone not just for my sins but for Baba’s too” (238). Amir is convinced by Rahim Khan that he has the responsibility to save Sohrab from the orphanage, since they share the same blood. Amir also has to atone the sins from his past and Baba’s sin of lying through redemption. Secondly, the atonement Amir receives from Assef’s beating enables Amir to be freed from his guilt. For example, Amir says: “…for the first time since the winter of 1975, I felt at peace. I laughed because I saw that, in some hidden nook in a corner of my mind, I’d ever been looking forward to this…I felt healed. Healed at last.” (303). Amir feels a sense of redemption because what he did not do for Hassan, he can now do for Sohrab. Amir “earns his freedom” to leave Assef’s house as well as healing his guilt from the childhood. Thirdly, at the end of the novel, Amir finally finds his redemption through flying kites with Sohrab and running the kite for Sohrab. For example, “I ran. A grown man running with a swarm of screaming children. But I didn’t care. I ran with the wind blowing in my face, and a smile as wide as the Valley of Panjsher on my lips. I ran” (391). Amir running the kite for Sohrab symbolizes that he has redeemed himself from the guilt he has from the past, and the kite is no longer a symbol of his guilt. Finally, Amir has found redemption by acting courageously instead of cowardice, and he is no longer running from the past anymore; he is running towards the

    Read More

  • Redemption in The Kite Runner

    1028 Words  | 3 Pages

    As a foreword, the story of The Kite Runner focuses on a man named Amir. In his childhood, he enjoyed a high-class life in Kabul, Afghanistan, living with his father Baba. They have two servants, Ali and his son Hassan. They are Hazaras, a lower class ethnic minority in Afghanistan. In one Winter of their childhood, Amir and Hassan participate in a kite-fighting tournament; the goal is to be the last kite flying. When a kite is cut, boys chase after it as a trophy. Amir wins the tournament, and Hassan flies to catch the losing kite. Later, following Hassan's path, Amir comes upon a neighbourhood bully named Assef about to rape Hassan who has the trophy, the blue kite. Amir does not interject, believing this will secure him the kite. Thus, Amir sets forth a chain of events he must redeem in his adulthood.

    Read More

  • Namoos In The Kite Runner

    1718 Words  | 4 Pages

    Amir always yearned for his father's affection. So the relationship between Baba and Hassan made Amir jealous. Although, Amir knew that his chance to win his father’s affection would be by winning the local kite-flying

    Read More

  • Amir's Journey To Redemption Essay

    1068 Words  | 3 Pages

    Amir wakes up after fighting Assef in the hospital thinking about Sohrab, “for some reason I can’t think of I want to thank the child” (Hosseini 293). Sohrab is the first thing Amir thinks of when he wakes up in a groggy state in hospital. Sohrab was willing to attempt to save Amir’s life, a man he barely knew, even though it meant risking his own life. In this way, he was able to not only physically save Amir but also mentally because he allows Amir to complete his mission and redeem himself. While struggling against Assef, Amir thinks, “...for the first time since the winter of 1975, I felt at peace...I hadn’t been happy and I hadn’t felt better, not at all. But I did now. My body was broken...but I felt healed. Healed at last.” (Hosseini 289). Sohrab feels guilty for what he did to Assef, although it saved himself and Amir. Amir tells him, “There are bad people in this world, some people stay bad. Sometimes you have to stand up for them. What you did to that man is what I should have done to him all those years ago. You gave him what he deserved. He deserved more” (Hosseini 319). While talking to Sohrab, Amir acknowledges that he was wrong and that he could have avoided all his guilt, if he had only stepped in against Assef. But he had not, so part of Amir making up for his sins was to stand up to Assef, and win a fight against him. However, in the end, Sohrab is the one

    Read More

  • The Kite Runner

    670 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...made fun of him and treated him badly. This may have been an example of separation in Afghanistan and how society was divided. But when Amir moved to America he buried his past until he got a call from Rahim Khan to come back home. Amir agreed and went back to find out Hassan has died and the Taliban took Hassan’s son Sohrab. Amir agrees to rescue him because he feels like it’s his obligation to Hassan because of all the wrong he has done to him. This may be an example of friendship goes above all and that separation within class, race, religion, or political climate doesn’t matter to Amir. Amir takes Sohrab back home and at the end of the book he flies a kite with Sohrab. When they cut another person’s kite, Amir runs to get the kite and yells to Sohrab “For you, a thousand times over” to reflect Hassan’s memory and how Amir appreciates Hassan’s friendship.

    Read More

  • A Quest for Redemption by The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

    1131 Words  | 3 Pages

    It is difficult to face anything in the world when you cannot even face your own reality. In his book The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini uses kites to bring out the major themes of the novel in order to create a truly captivating story of a young boy’s quest to redeem his past mistakes. Amir is the narrator and protagonist of the story and throughout the entire novel, he faces enormous guilt following the horrible incident that happened to his closest friend, Hassan. This incident grows on Amir and fuels his quest for redemption, struggling to do whatever it takes to make up for his mistakes. In Hosseini’s novel, kites highlight aspects of Afghanistan’s ethnic caste system and emphasizes the story’s major themes of guilt, redemption and freedom.

    Read More

  • Guilt And Redemption In The Kite Runner

    1247 Words  | 3 Pages

    Amir also committed a sin that affected him negatively throughout his life. This sin occurred when Hassan, Amir’s best friend during his childhood, was getting raped by Assef. This situation occurred when the children were chasing kites. Hassan got the kite first, but Assef insisted that he wanted the kite. Assef also had a racial and religious prejudice against Hassan. 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. The only reason that Hassan got raped was that he was trying to get a kite for Amir. Now the kite acts a reminder to Hassan of his wrong-doing and it will now begin to haunt him for a long time. Although when in America, Amir does not get reminded about Hassan, deep inside he still feels guilty. Amir immediately begins to feel the most guilt when he goes to Iran when Rahim Khan, Amir’s childhood friend, asks him to come. He feels that Rahim Khan has reminded him of his “past of unatoned sins”(Hosseini 2).

    Read More

  • The Kite Runner

    1421 Words  | 3 Pages

    The other source of tension in Amir’s life is his relationship with Baba, his hard-driving and demanding father. Desperate to win his father’s affection and respect, Amir turns to the sport of kite flying, and at the age of 12, with the assistance of Hassan, he wins the annual tournament in Kabul. Amir’s victory soon is tarnished when he witnesses a vicious assault against his friend, who raced through the streets of Kabul to retrieve the last kite, Amir had sliced from the sky, and fails to come to his aid. Amir’s cowardness is compounded by a later act of betrayal that causes Ali and Hassan to leave their home, and he now faces the nightmare, bearing the burden of his poor choices for the rest of his life.

    Read More

  • The Kite Runner

    1432 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...r image had occurred from the past with the reversal it entails. The kite is important in this situation because the reversal could not have taken place in any other scenario. Sohrab would not interact with the world nearly at all at this point, and the only way it could have paralleled would be with a kite battle. Amir had traded places with Hassan through Sohrab with the use of the kite.

    Read More

More about Sohrab: The Kite Runner

Open Document