When one commits a sin, there are typically many external consequences that follow. Some people also find themselves having internal conflicts due to feeling regretful for engaging in their wrongdoing. In Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, Amir commits a sin that results in him severing a brotherhood between him and his half brother and friend, Hassan. Due to the fact that Amir and Hassan had a very strong relationship growing up, it should have been implied that the boys would show each other undying loyalty. However, Amir neglects to defend Hassan on the day that he was raped. This decision to be a bystander instead of a hero leaves Amir with a heavy load of guilt that will not disappear. Luckily for him, he is given the opportunity to redeem …show more content…
himself by saving Hassan’s son, Sohrab, from a similar situation to the one from their childhood. Nevertheless, as Amir comes to realize, there is much more to redeeming himself than saving Sohrab this one time. He must undergo a complete character transformation and continue to live his life in a new way. In Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, it becomes clear that Amir is moving in the right direction on his journey towards redemption as his caring actions start to reflect those of Hassan. The journey towards redemption that Amir goes through is very much shaped by Hassan’s personality.
Amir has always known Hassan to possess all of the traits that a good and pure human being has. In his article “To be good (again): The Kite Runner as an allegory of global ethics,” David Jefferess discusses a theory that states that a person’s face determines how others feel that they must act towards them. He claims that Hassan’s face represents goodness and, “Amir’s redemption depends on his ability to fulfil this moral demand” (Jefferess 396). It seems as if Amir’s brain becomes wired to always relate everything back to his sin. The result of this is Amir constantly being reminded of this moment. This is likely Amir’s conscience speaking because for a majority of his life, Amir does not take action to redeem himself. However, his thoughts and feelings prove that he knows his action was immoral and he must redeem himself. Due to the fact that he recognizes that he needs to improve as a person, the way to go about finding redemption will be to begin to model his behavior off of how Hassan treated people. This causes the direct correlation between Hassan’s persona and Amir’s actions while working towards atoning for his sins. Growing up, Hassan was always friendly, loyal, and loving. He clearly shows his possession of these traits on the day that Amir and Hassan participate in a kite flying competition. After they win, Amir requests that Hassan runs for and …show more content…
returns with the flag of the child that the boys beat to become champions. Hassan response of, “For you a thousand times over!” seems to represent the core of his character (Hosseini 67). He constantly shows unwavering support for those he loves. Therefore, this kite is more than a memory from winning a competition; it symbolizes that Hassan would do anything for Amir. Amir clearly recognizes this as he shapes his entire journey around attempting to exemplify Hassan’s natural ability to care for others. Amir’s first step of finding redemption is accepting an offer that puts him outside of his comfort zone at the cost of saving someone else. Amir gets a call from his father’s old friend, Rahim Khan, who requests that Amir comes to visit him in Peshawar. Upon arrival, Rahim Khan informs Amir that Hassan died and in turn, left behind his son, Sohrab. Along with asking Amir to go to Kabul to save Sohrab, Rahim Khan informs him that Hassan is also Baba’s son. Amir gets very angry as this is a lot to take in at once. However, Amir eventually decides to accept this offer after reflecting on what this journey could do for him. “There is a way to be good again, he’d said. A way to end the cycle. With a little boy. An orphan. Hassan’s son. Somewhere in Kabul” (Hosseini 226-227). At first, Amir does not want to take this opportunity. Due to the fact that he is content with the life that he and his wife, Soraya, have built in America, any change does not appeal to him. Nevertheless, he gets past this because at this point, when he is many years past the day of his sin and he still intensely feels the guilt, he knows that it is time to fulfill his moral obligation and in that, become a better person, for Hassan. However, this will not come easily. Mishra, the author of “The ‘Eternal Loop’ of Guilt and the Attempt to Atone in McEwan ’s Atonement and Hosseini’s The Kite Runner,”discusses what must be done for one to completely atone. “To atone, the person who has sinned must repent for his sins, must be willing to take responsibility for the consequences of his crime, and must take action to transform himself” (Mishra 83). It is evident that at the core, Amir’s journey towards redemption aligns with these general steps. He begins to follow this outline by feeling sorry for what he did, and by realizing that everything that Hassan lost was essentially a domino effect from the day that he sinned. By recognizing that these actions make him selfish, Amir realizes that he must accept Rahim Khan’s offer. This will give him a chance at transforming himself so he has a chance at redemption. Therefore, this is a pivotal moment in Amir’s transformation from being a selfish coward to a selfless man. Recognizing that it is his duty to continue to be altruistic, Amir progresses on his journey by acting as he should have on the day that he sinned. Upon arriving in Kabul, Amir learns that Sohrab is being held in the house of a Taliban official. When Amir meets Sohrab inside of the house, Amir not only realizes that Sohrab is being sexually abused, but he also discovers that the Talib official happens to be Assef, the same person who raped Hassan. In order to be able to save Sohrab, Amir must fight the man whose actions indirectly lead him to a life of guilt. Although Amir receives many injuries from this battle, he wins. If Amir would have stepped in on the day that Hassan was raped, these two situations would have many parallels. They both include the same antagonist, Assef. Additionally, both would include Amir having to disregard social classes in order to do what is morally correct. Most significantly, Amir would be risking his life in both cases. As a child, his selfish desires were enough to restrain him from sticking up for Hassan. However, as Mabel Khawaja discusses in a critical evaluation of The Kite Runner, Amir is starting to become a different person. “When Amir’s character transforms, he is willing to risk his life for Sohrab” (Khawaja 3). Amir’s lack of bravery and surplus of selfishness causes him to sin. Therefore, Amir must lose these traits in order to have any chance at redeeming himself. Thus, by taking it upon himself to bravely save Sohrab from an unimaginable situation, he is able to become a hero, like he should have become many years ago. While he will still never be able to completely atone for his lack of taking initiative in the past, Amir’s actions are evidence of his ongoing transformation; he now shows that he genuinely cares for others as he risks his own life for that of a boy who he just met. Although some may argue that his intentions for doing so are selfish because he feels the need to find redemption, this still does not take away from the fact that Amir was willing to do so. If his intentions were completely selfish, he would have found a way around fighting Assef. Even with this much progress, the effort cannot be stopped here. Amir owes it to Hassan to continue to care for his son and in this case, that means taking on a larger role in Sohrab’s life than just his hero this one time. The genuine relationship that Sohrab and Amir eventually develop attests to Amir’s caring efforts to be a source of support for Sohbar.
For Sohrab’s sake, after Amir saves him, he attempts to build a bond that resembles a father-son relationship. In time, Sohrab opens up to Amir and admits that he feels as if he had sinned. Ironically, Amir describes the moment of Sohrab crying into his chest as a remarkable one,“As the boy’s pain soaked through my shirt, I saw that a kinship had taken root between us too” (Hosseini 320). This is the first moment that Sohrab does not seem distant. By emotionally opening up to Amir, Sohrab shows that he trusts him as a result of all of the genuine, father-like love that has been shown. By fulfilling this role that Hassan would likely want someone to play in his son’s life, Amir is continuing to transform and thus, redeem himself. Amir’s patience in waiting for Sohrab to open up is also significant in showing his progress. As Mishra describes in the article “The ‘Eternal Loop’ of Guilt and the Attempt to Atone in McEwan’s Atonement and Hosseini’s The Kite Runner,” Amir is willing to wait for Sohrab to become more comfortable with him. “Amir must make the patient effort to break this bubble and love Sohrab” (Mishra 87). In order to fully redeem himself, Amir must become a caring person. In that, he has to respect Sohrab and allow him to take his time in opening up. Amir could have tried to force their relationship to move faster in
order to convince himself that he is helping Sohrab. However, this would be counter-productive because Sohrab would notice Amir’s selfish ways and therefore, not open up to him in the way that he eventually does. Thus, Amir’s patience proves that he is becoming a fatherly figure in not just his own perspective, but in Sohrab’s as well. Additionally, he is doing so in the most selfless way possible; at Sohrab’s pace. Therefore, Amir continues to show his care for others. This budding relationship eventually leads to Amir adopting Sohrab as his own son. As Sohrab’s new father figure, Amir mimics the behavior of Hassan because he knows that by following in his footsteps, he will be able to clearly show his care. In the United States, Amir and his wife, Soraya, provide Sohrab with a home, toys, and love. Due to Amir revealing that he was planning to break a promise back in Afghanistan, Sohrab shows no signs of happiness for the first several months. However, one day at a gathering of Afghans at a park, Amir participates in a kite flying competition. After he makes an impressive move, Sohrab smiles. Seeing his interest, Amir then asks Sohrab, “Do you want me to run that kite for you?” (Hosseini 371). When they were children, Hassan used to run kites for Amir. This was one of his ways of showing loyalty to Amir. Now, Amir is going to run a kite for Sohrab. Due to the fact that Amir associates one running a kite for another as a generous act, he likely genuinely believes that by doing this, he is showing to Sohrab that he will be there for him. Sohrab is clearly accepting of these efforts because as Mabel Khawaja discusses in her essay, “Sohrab’s faint smile in the novel’s last scene is a clue that he will be happy with his new guardians” (Khawaja 3). By not giving up on Sohrab, Amir starts to see positive results. He is able to be reassured that his kind actions are being effective in helping him reach redemption because he can. Additionally, Sohrab’s gesture that shows approval of their efforts allows Amir to know that he is doing what Hassan would have wanted; make his son happy.
In the book Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer wrote about Christopher McCandless, a nature lover in search for independence, in a mysterious and hopeful experience. Even though Krakauer tells us McCandless was going to die from the beginning, he still gave him a chance for survival. As a reader I wanted McCandless to survive. In Into the Wild, Krakauer gave McCandless a unique perspective. He was a smart and unique person that wanted to be completely free from society. Krakauer included comments from people that said McCandless was crazy, and his death was his own mistake. However, Krakauer is able to make him seem like a brave person. The connections between other hikers and himself helped in the explanation of McCandless’s rational actions. Krakauer is able to make McCandless look like a normal person, but unique from this generation. In order for Krakauer to make Christopher McCandless not look like a crazy person, but a special person, I will analyze the persuading style that Krakauer used in Into the Wild that made us believe McCandless was a regular young adult.
As he grows into a man and pushes his regrets to the side - though not ever completely out of his mind - he learns to live through and accept the pain he caused both himself and his best friend, Hassan. Towards the end of the novel, Amir goes to great lengths to earn the redemption he feels he needs in order to finally be at peace. The Kite Runner asks the audience what it truly means to be a good person - do we need to be born with goodness in our hearts, do we live the way that is comfortable and right according to ourselves, or do we have to constantly fail and prove that we are good?
Hosseini’s purpose of writing the Kite Runner was to teach the readers the different ethnic groups in Afghanistan. The main character, Amir, is a Pashtun and Pashtuns are Sunni Muslims, then there are Hazara’s that the Pashtuns do not get along with. Hazara’s are not welcomed by the Pashtuns because they are different social classes.
Anticipation is prevalent throughout The Road, which is set by the narrative pace, creating a tense and suspenseful feeling and tone.
Taylor Swift is once again under fire over the allegedly racist theme of her new music video for “Wildest Dreams.”
Throughout The Kite Runner this theme is shown many times without this aspect and understanding of this part of the book it would be incomprehensible. Amir eventually learns how to cope with his own guilt and his
The Kite Runner, written by Khaled Hosseini, shows how lying and deceit is a counterproductive route when trying to live with a dreadful past, exhibited through the actions of Amir. Amir’s decision to withhold the truth and blatantly lie in several situations due to jealousy and his desire for Baba to be proud of him amounts to further pain and misery for himself and those he deceives. Because of Amir’s deceit towards Baba and Hassan, his guilt from his past manifests itself into deeply-rooted torment, not allowing him to live his life in peace. The guilt from Amir’s past is only alleviated when he redeems his sins by taking in Sohrab, contributing to the theme that the only way “to be good again” is through redemption, not shunning the past.
People need redemption from our continual sin, otherwise, we just wallow in the shallowness of that aspect of our lives. Sin stays with an individual and effects the way their lives are lived. Unless they confront their past the sin will always be present. For example, Khaled Hossei’s , The Kite Runner explains how Amir- one of the main characters in the novel redeems himself because he undergoes strong guilt from his past sins. By examining Amir’s sins in his childhood, in his teenage years and in adulthood, his attainment of atonement is revealed. Particularly Amir atones for his past sins of being an eyewitness of Hassan rape who is his most loyal and devoted servant. He is influenced by this moment because he realizes that Hassan always
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...
The book’s opening chapter focuses on Amir's conversation with Rahim and Amir’s "way to be good again” (Hosseini 1). The reason Amir flies all the way to Pakistan leaving behind his wife and life in America is Rahim Khan. Amir desires to make up for what he did to Hassan, so he answers Rahim's quest to “be good again” (Hosseini 1). This meeting allows Rahim to tell Amir what he must do to make up for his past. Rahim tells him he must put his own life in danger to save Hassan’s son, Sohrab. At first, Amir wants to refuse Rahim Khan’s wish, thinking of his life back home. He also thinks about how Hassan’s life may have been different if Hassan had the same opportunities he had. Then he realizes, “ But how can I pack up and go home when my actions may have cost Hassan a chance at those very same things?” (Hosseini 226). Rahim Khan warns Amir that it cannot be anyone else; Amir must make up for his own sins. Although he knows it's dangerous, Amir agrees to get Hassan’s son for Rahim as his dying wish. Amir believes that saving Sohrab is “A way to end the cycle” (Hosseini 227). Amir’s commitment in the face of danger proves his determination to be better and finally atone for his sins. Amir realizes his mistake and knows he can't change what he’d done. Eventually, with Rahim's help, he begins to see saving Sohrab as a “way to be
The story The Kite Runner is centered around learning “to be good again.” Both the movie and the book share the idea that the sins of the past must be paid for or atoned for in the present. In the book, Amir can be seen as a troubled young boy who is struggling with a tremendous amount of guilt. It is easy to blame Amir’s actions on his guilt and his father’s lack of love for him.
...rough his actions to save Sohrab, Amir became the man his father had always wanted him to be. Although Baba never lived up to the persona he created for himself, Amir did, and that is why his attempts to achieve atonement were more successful than his father’s. While Baba was unable to seek more than personal redemption, Amir found atonement with himself, Hassan, and God. Amir also found the courage his father lacked to make the necessary sacrifices to achieve redemption. Amir’s ability to transform into a strong character was a result of what he learned from his father’s strengths and weaknesses. While Baba was unable to achieve true redemption, he was a true role model that provided his son, Amir, with the necessary skills to achieve atonement for both of them.
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.
Amir from The Kite Runner has two main desires throughout the story: “pleasing his father” and “Being a good friend to Hassan”. The two desires are constantly conflicting with one another as Amir tries to fulfill both
The search for redemption is prevalent through the description of Amir. Early in the novel, Amir strives to redeem himself in his father’s eyes. In order to do so, Amir feels as if he must win the annual kite-tournament. The redemption Amir seeks later in the novel is from his guilt regarding Hassan. In chapter three, Baba says, “A boy who won’t stand up for himself becomes a man who can’t stand up to anything” (Hosseini 25). This is when Amir’s moral standard for complete redemption is set. As an adult the only way he may redeem himself is by proving he has the courage to stand up for what is right.