Have you ever regretted a descion that you made in your life and wished you could have changed it? In the novel The Kite Runner, a boy named Amir struggles throughout his life to gain his father approval and makes a decision that will not only cost his friendship, but will also regret for the rest of his life. “I ran because I was a coward” (Hosseini 77). The scene in which Amir abandons Hassan to Assef and his group of thugs in Khaled Hosseini’s novel, The Kite Runner, is important because Hosseini uses it to establish that avoiding your problems can affect you for the rest of your life through Amir betraying Hassan and regretting it for the rest of his life throughout the novel.
Early in the novel, Amir sees Hassan cornered by Assef and his gang while trying to defend Amir’s kite he won with during the kite running tournament. He tries to decide whether he should save Hassan like he has done for him on multiple occasions or turn his back on his only friend. “I could step into that alley, stand up for Hassan-the way he stood up for me all those times in the past
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and accept whatever would happen to me. Or I could run. In the end, I ran” (Hosseini 77). This connects to the theme greatly because when Amir abandon Hassan to Assef and avoided the problem, he regretted for the rest of his life. If Amir would have stepped in, he probably could have save Hassan and things would have gone differently. Just goes to show how avoiding a problem can have such a big impact on your life and someone else’s as well. In another scene while Amir is driving, his wife Soraya talks about her past about what her father has done to her and how she regretted it. But Amir didn’t care much about Soraya’s past because he has a regretful past of his own and he has a lot of things he regrets doing too. But I think a big part of the reason I didn’t care about Soraya’s past was that I had one of my own. I knew all about regret” (Hosseini 180). Hosseini shows that Amir not being honest with Soraya made him feel even more regret about his decision of abandoning Hassan and also some of the problem’s that was going through his mind at the time. That’s why he didn’t want Soraya to talk more about her past because he was feeling guiltier about his own. He has kept a number of secrets in his marriage and it’s just adding to his list of regrets. Hosseini clearly shows how avoiding your problems can take a big toll on your everyday life. Later in the novel, Amir finds out from Rahim Kahn about the betrayal of baba’s brother Ali and Hassan.
He realizes he never knew anything about his father from the start and that makes him furious because throughout the story he tries to gain his approval. “I’m thirty-eight years old and I’ve just found out my whole life is a fucking lie” (Hosseini 223)! Hosseini shows with Baba avoiding telling Amir and Hassan the truth about them being brothers for all those years, Amir most likely would have treated Hassan differently. If baba would have come out and told the truth instead of avoiding the problem, Amir wouldn't have the regret he was feeling all those years. Hosseini displays the theme in this scene how keeping secrets and avoiding your problems can affect your life and the people around you. Just like how Baba didn’t tell his secret for all those years and it impacted Amir and Hassan’s life
greatly. In Conclusion, Hosseini displays the overall theme by showing how Amir betrayed Hassan, as well as when Soraya talks about her past to Amir and when Amir finds out baba’s secret that he has been keeping all those years’ without telling anyone. The theme of running away from your problems can cause a negative impact on your life is present throughout The Kite Runner and Hosseini does a marvelous job of showing that. I personally think it’s best to face your problems head on instead of avoiding them and regretting that decision in the future. If Amir would have done that and made different choices, his life probably would have gone differently instead of living a life full of regret because of the problems he chose to avoid.
Throughout Amir’s journey to absolve himself from the internal and distressing pain he has felt ever since witnessing the devastating altercation in the alley, trying to reach a standard his father, Baba, would approve of also took a toll on his childhood. Baba often speaks of how he cannot fathom the fact that Amir is a part of his bloodline. (quotes quotes quotes) Trying to achieve the perfect son status that Baba wanted Amir to be clouded his mind so greatly that, during the moment, Amir did not show compassion towards Hassan’s troubling moment of need. What matter most was retrieving the last fallen kite to his father to prove he was not a mistake that Baba made Amir believe he was. Even after Baba’s death, his actions brought more despair and uncertainty to Amir’s complicated life. The secrets and lies that were kept from Amir and even Hassan could have altered the fate of both men. (quote quote quote) Throughout the novel, Amir could arguably be considered as selfish, rude and mean toward his half-brother Hassan. However, since Baba never told the two about their true relationship Amir grew up disliking Hassan because he did not know that they shared blood. Knowing their true identities possibly could
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).
Actions made in a moment of pain, anger or simple immaturity can take anyone to make mistakes that can change their lives completely. Everyone has something in the past that is shameful, embarrassing and regrettable that is kept present daily. Whether this event happened during childhood, adolescence or early adulthood, this event could haunt and have shaped that person’s life into what he or she is today. In a similar way, in the book The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is shaped by a tragic and eventful past that has shaped Amir’s, Baba’s, and Hassan’s life. The four literary elements that will be used in this essay that Hosseini strategically uses in this book are: irony, simile, Metaphor, and personification.
In the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, there are several major themes. One of the themes that stands out the most is redemption. This theme is shown through the thoughts and actions from the protagonist of the novel, Amir. He is seeking redemption for betraying his childhood best friend and half-brother Hassan. Due to Amir’s cowardice during Hassan’s rape, he feels guilty for committing the vilest sin in Afghan culture. “I had one last chance to make a decision. One final opportunity to decide who I was going to be. I could step into that alley, stand up for Hassan – the way he 'd stood up for me all those times in the past – and accept whatever would happen to me. Or I could run. In the end, I ran. I ran because I was a coward” (Hosseini 77). Deep down, Amir feels as if he should have done something, and because of his nagging guilt he is not able to lead a peaceful life. He
It is not often that Amir’s love for Baba is returned. Baba feels guilty treating Amir well when he can’t acknowledge Hassan as his son. Baba discriminates against his son Amir by constantly making him feel weak and unworthy of his father. Baba once said to Rahim Kahn, “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 23). Amir doesn’t feel like a son towards Baba since he seems like such a weakling. This neglect towards Amir causes him to feel a need to be accepted by Baba to end the constant discrimination from his father and he will do anything for it. “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” (Hosseini 77). Amir did not stop the rape of his good friend for one sole purpose. Amir felt that he had to betray his own half-brother to gain th...
Baba is a very high standing man in Kabul, but seems to be extremely harsh to Amir when he was a child. He is a very large, tough man who was very well known in the town and as Amir stated in the novel, “Lore has it my father once wrestled a black bear in Baluchistan with his bare hands” (Hosseini 12). This small detail of Baba makes it known to the reader that Baba is a man of great courage and strength. Some may think that an honorable man is one with no flaws, but many disagree. Every human being makes mistakes, including Baba. When Amir grows up and goes back to visit Rahim Khan in Afghanistan, he finds out that his father lied to him his entire life about Hassan being his half-brother. He also finds out from Rahim Khan that all Baba had back then “was his honor, his name” (Hosseini 223). He did not tell Amir and Hassan that they were brothers because they had a different mother and that would have made their entire family be looked down upon in the town. He did it for their own good, and wanted for them both to grow up as honorable men, like himself. There is a difference in making mistakes and trying to do what’s best to fix them, rather than making the same mistakes over and over again, which is what Amir seemed to do in the novel. Amir was the exact opposite of his father, which made it very hard for them to have a
As a result, when Rahim Khan had told Amir that Hassan and him were brothers and that it was Baba that was Hassan real father. It had hurt him especially since Amir is a grown man now and just finding out, it had hurt him because now that he looks at it he pushed away his brother. “How could you hide this from me? From him?” I bellowed.
Betrayal is one of the most prominent themes in the novel The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini. Hosseini chose to represent this theme through the decisions and actions of the main protagonists. Both Baba and Amir chose to betray the people close to them, which resulted in major ramifications for themselves and the people around them. With their betrayals came feelings of guilt. However Amir 's guilt was exponentially more conspicuous than Baba 's. It followed him into his adult life, and the impacts were quite negative and detrimental to both his personal health and his personal relationships. Hassan, on the other hand, chose to remain loyal to those close to him, regardless of the situation or the threats placed upon him. While this resulted in major consequences, it also demonstrated his capacity for kindness, caring, and loyalty. Even though he was confronted with traumatic experiences due to his loyalty, he was able to accept it, move past it and eventually heal. In turn, although his life was short, it was filled with meaningful realizations
This embarrasses and frustrates Amir. This frustration is one reason for Amir to slowly but surely push Hassan out of his life. Although it is not the most obvious reason, it is an underlying one. This is a mistake on Amir’s part because Hassan does so much for Amir, being the loyal friend that he is, and for Amir to push someone of such good moral and character out of his life, is a tremendous mistake on his behalf. It is quite obvious that Hassan would give his life for Amir, but, because of where Hassan comes from, Amir struggles throughout his childhood, to find a way to accept the friendship Hassan gives him.
What 's more, that is intriguing on the grounds that it was the same with their fathers. At the point when Amir is discussing his dad he says, "yet in none of his stories did Baba ever allude to Ali as his companion. The inquisitive thing was, I never considered Hassan and me as companions either". The expression "like father like child" splendidly portrays this circumstance. Some other time is when Baba takes Amir to the lake the day the halfway house opens, Baba advises his child to welcome Hassan to run with them. In any case, he doesn 't and concedes that "He requesting that I get Haasan as well, however I lied and let him know Hassan had the runs. I needed Baba all to myself". That was an exceptionally egotistical move since Amir was just considering himself and not about others. Amir and Baba are additionally both extremely egotistical. Amir is conceited in light of the fact that he couldn 't have cared less that Hassan was getting assaulted just with the goal that Amir could get Hassan 's kite. At the point when Rahim Khan is conversing with Baba he says, "you know, once in a while you are the most narcissistic man I
Khaled Hosseini 's novel, The Kite Runner uses lots of literary techniques. The authors use of craft reveals how Amir’s childish psychological state results in his betrayal of hassan and his irrational behavior afterwards. The main elements used are setting, conflict, and point of view.
There were ultimately two options: step up to the bullies and rescue Hassan, or run away. Even after hearing Assef say how Amir would never do the same for him, about how he would never stand up for him, he still chose to run away and pretend like he did not just witness what had happened. There is also a scene where Amir is feeling guilty and both the boys are around a pomegranate tree. Amir just starts pelting Hassan with pomegranates and threatens to throw him back. He exclaims, “You’re a coward,” (.).
In Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, the author follows the development of protagonist Amir through a life filled with sorrow, regret, and violence. Amir encounters numerous obstacles on his path to adulthood, facing a new test at every twist and turn. Amir embarks on the long journey known as life as a cowardly, weak young man with a twisted set of ideals, slowly but surely evolving into a man worthy of the name. Amir is one of the lucky few who can go through such a shattered life and come out the other side a better man, a man who stands up for himself and those who cannot, willing to put his life on the line for the people he loves.
A child who grows up in poverty will only want to change their life as they begin to grow up for all they know is suffering through the first few years of their life. In Khaled Hosseini’s, The Kite Runner, Sohrab, the son of Hassan and the nephew of Amir was left alone at a young age after watching his father die in the streets of Afghanistan, scaring him for the time being. He was left to fend for himself, being taken to a horrible place. He had to face the world alone and with no knowledge of any other family. He thought he was the only one left of his family and
When individuals heavily rely on others due to their immense respect and veneration for other people’s accomplishments, this voluntary dependence causes them to be incapable of making their own judgements without being easily affected by the values of others. It is only upon an individual’s ability to overcome their own hardships will they suddenly begin to realize their true potential and identity. In the novel The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini suggests that when individuals encounter a dilemma that significantly challenges their morality and trust for others, they become capable of overcoming these adversities and as a result, they are able to embrace their true individuality and identity. This is demonstrated through the character of Amir and the massive, internal moral dilemma he undergoes as a result of his lack of independence.