The Kite Runner: Reoccurring Theme Of Sacrifice

“No idea can succeed except at the expense of sacrifice; no one ever escapes without enduring strain from the struggle of life.” These words by Ernest Renan perfectly describe the reoccurring theme of sacrifice spread across the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. Throughout the novel, the varied use of sacrifice shows that not only is sacrifice important, but it is also vital.
One of the first and most prevalent uses of sacrifice is sacrifice to assist other people through difficult situations or decisions. When Amir tells Baba he wants to major in writing instead of becoming a lawyer or a doctor, Baba proudly announces “Baba is going to be a great writer… He finished his first year and earned A’s in all of his courses” (Hosseini

139). Instead of becoming bitter and ceasing to pay for Amir’s college, Baba congratulates Amir on his great feat and has faith that he will succeed in his writing career. Another instance of sacrifice to help others can be observed when Amir sacrifices himself to save Sohrab from Assef. When Assef says to Amir, “Of course [you can take Sohrab]... I didn’t say you could take him for free,” he is giving Amir the chance to either retreat from the situation harm free, or face his biggest fear, Assef, to save Sohrab (Hosseini 287). Instead of being a coward, Amir stands up to Assef and ends his villainous wrath. Amir comes out of the situation broken and bruised, but Sohrab and Amir have been liberated.
Furthermore, sacrifice is also necessary to please the people you care most about. To put it in Amir’s words, when he runs from the alley leaving Assef to rape Hassan, he convinces himself that “Nothing was free in this world. Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay… to please Baba” (Hosseini 77). Instead of saving his friend, his brother, from Assef, Amir chose to sacrifice Hassan’s innocence for a sad attempt at trying to win Baba’s approval. Another use of sacrifice to please others in The Kite Runner can be seen when Baba spends almost his entire life savings on Amir’s funeral. Amir was recalling his wedding day when he recalls “Baba spent $35,000, nearly the balance of his life… [on] the wedding ceremony” (Hosseini 178). Baba doesn’t need to spend any money for his son Amir’s wedding, but he sacrifices almost every last dime he has on trying to make his boy happy on the most important day of his life. Instead of having a minimalistic frugal wedding ceremony, Baba ensures that Amir’s wedding day is memorable.
Not only does sacrifice help other people or make them happy, but sacrifice is also used to move on and progress.

Baba was happier in Pakistan, but he moves to America knowing it is the right move to keep Amir and himself safe. When Amir questions Baba’s motives by saying “You were happier there, Baba,” Baba retorts with “Peshawar was good for me. Not good for you” further displaying Baba’s sacrifice to keep Amir happy (Hosseini 129). Even though Baba would be much happier back in Pakistan, he sacrifices his own desires for the most important person in his life, his son. If Amir and Baba had stayed in Pakistan, they would eventually have to face the Taliban and be required to move out anyways, or worse, be injured or killed. After Amir is in America for a while, he feels great remorse for the wrong he had done to Hassan and is determined to make things right. In the process, Amir sacrifices his higher class in an attempt to please Sohrab, a low class Hazara. When Amir cut the opposing kite with Sohrab, he asks Sohrab if he can run the kite and says “For you, a thousand times over” (Hosseini 391). Instead of acting like he is above Sohrab because he is a Hazara, he embraces the class difference and uses the famous quote from Sohrab’s Dad who Amir had done wrong several years

prior.
Overall, the characters in The Kite Runner have to sacrifice for one and another countless times throughout the course of the novel. Even though the characters sacrificing for others do not always reap the benefits, they do it knowing they are helping the people that they are most loyal to.