No one is perfect and everyone makes mistake, but how does one come back from horrible things they have done and redeem themselves? The main character, Amir in The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini goes through a traumatic childhood that continues to haunt him throughout the rest of his life. He lives in a well off home with his father in Kabul, Afghanistan, along with their two servants Ali and Hassan. Having grown up together Amir and Hassan do everything together. A popular activity in Afghanistan is kite running, were the two make the perfect team, until one day a disturbing incident occurs. Soon after Amir moves away to American with Baba but the distance and time does not change the level of guilt within himself. Hosseini’s first line of …show more content…
He feels he must make things up to Baba for taking away his love. “Amir idolizes his father but often wonders how much Baba loves him. Baba can be unaffectionate and harsh with Amir. For these reasons, Amir is constantly seeking his father’s approval” (The Kite Runner). Which is why it is so important for him the win the kite running contest. Amir 's desire to please his father leads him to awful event that stays with him the rest of his life, Hassan getting raped. When Amir is contemplating helping Hassan he states, “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). At the moment all Amir can think about is getting the kite to show Baba and seeing him proud, he wants to help but is young and conflicted. Even though he won and Hassan returns with the kite, all Amir can feel is guilt as the days go by after. He uses his fathers one rule about sin against Hassan, "Now, no matter what the mullah teaches, there is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft. Do you understand that?" … "When you kill a man, you steal a life," (Hosseini, 18). To try and free his guilt he blames Hassan for stealing by planting a watch and money under his bed. …show more content…
Sohrab is Amir’s nephew, he is family and he must take care of him, after all he did save his life. Amir wants to adopt Sohrab and bring him back to America with him. Without proof of his parents death, Sohrab cannot be determined as an orphan. “Sohrab is deeply scarred by the loss of his parents, and it becomes difficult for the young boy to trust people. When Amir nearly fails in his effort to adopt Sohrab after rescuing him, the boy tries to kill himself rather than face losing his surrogate parent” (The Kite Runner). He must go to a calm and save environment, after all the abuse he has endured. When Sohrab finds out that may not happen for him he tries to commit suicide, [Sohrab:] "You promised you 'd never put me in one of those places, Amir agha," he said. His voice was breaking, tears pooling in his eyes” (Hosseini, 350). Amir is compelled to get Sohrab to America for not only his wellbeing, but for Hassan and himself. He is able to figure things out but Sohrab stop talking, he won’t open up to anyone, until one day on the beach he sees the kites. Amir buys a kite for them and teaches him some tricks, a smile finally emerges from Sohrab. Amir is finally at
Amir lets Sohrab smiles again by running the kite for Sohrab just as Hassan ran his last kite for him half a century before. He pushes himself into a “servant’s” position. Through Amir’s self-sacrifice, hope for the future is restored. Amir can stand up for others and he is willing to sacrifice himself for protecting his family. He has forgiven himself due to his self-sacrifice, kite fighting reminds him of pleasure instead of pain in the end of the novel.
For this reason Amir really struggles with his actions but also it ruined his and Hassan's relationship. Another Theme In The Kite Runner is redemption like I said before Amir struggled with that all the way until his adulthood, when he and his dad moved to california he got a call saying Hassan had died along with his wife and their son sohrab was in a foster home being treated terribly. So Amir went to Afghanistan and got his son out of the foster home, Amir knows that he can never get over what happened to Hassan but he knows that this is a huge step to getting there for
Sohrab is taken home because of his attempt at suicide when Amir says he can stay at an orphanage. This event causes guilt for Amir so he takes Sohrab home with him. Imagine if your nephew tried to kill himself just because you mentioned him going back to an orphanage. After this most people’s immediate response would be to bring him home with them. Amir already lost Hassan and he can’t deal with the guilt of losing Sohrab as well.
Guilt is a product of betrayal. It becomes a constant reminder of a failure in human condition. People are flawed and incapable of perfection. It is human nature to often fail. But what makes people unique is the burden they feel when such failures leads to the sufferings of others.
He has unfinished business with amir.¨ When it's all done, only one of us will walk out of this room alive,¨ Assef said. ¨if it's him, them he's earned his freedom and to let him pass, do you understand?¨ What Assef is saying is that they have to settle their differences and if Amir wins then he gets to take Sohrab home. Amir is a good person, he is willing to get beat to death to save Sohrab. He is risking his life to save
On the hospital bed, Sohrab tells Amir that he is tired of everything, wants his previous life back, and that Amir should have just abandoned him to perish. Amir responds: “I can’t give you your old life back, I wish to God I could. But I can take you with me… You
Amir’s Redemption in The Kite Runner In The Kite Runner, Khalid Hosseini writes that Amir makes mistakes, and because of that, it takes his entire life to redeem himself. Throughout The Kite Runner, Amir is looking for redemption. One of the reasons why Amir redeems himself was to fix the wrong he did to Hassan in his childhood. On the other hand, many may believe that Amir didn’t earn anything and rather wasted his time in Afghanistan.
In the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, there are many different important conflicts throughout the story. These conflicts are brought upon by the recurring motifs, such as redemption and loyalty. The different dissensions support the ideas of characterization by how they react to the sudden adversity in their lives. Amir attempts to redeem himself through Hassan’s son, Sohrab, by saving him and giving him a better life. Further developing the meaning of the story, connoting the mental struggle and the way priorities change over time, keeping readers mindful of the motifs and how they impact each character.
Betrayal is an issue many can relate to, whether it is done by a family member or a friend. In the book The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, we witness betrayal play a vital role in the downfall of the main character’s Amir and Hassan’s friendship, and how betrayal was the reason for why Amir sought redemption in hopes to move on. The novel begins with Amir as an adult, recalling an event that took place in 1975 in his hometown Kabul, Afghanistan and how this event was what changed the rest of his life and made him who he now is. Despite this heartbreaking occurrence of Amir’s reluctance to help Hassan while he was being raped, it was the reason for why Amir later decided to be brave and stand up for what he believes in.
In Khaled Hosseini’s novel, The Kite Runner, Amir struggles to cope with his inaction during Hassan’s rape. Overwhelmed with guilt, Amir devises a plan to get Hassan and Ali dismissed so they would no longer be a constant reminder of all the times Hassan had protected him and his failure to do the same. The guilt of betraying Hassan burdens him for years, and even after he and Baba move to America, he carries the weight of his actions with him. However, after he accepts Rahim Khan’s request to rescue Sohrab and bring him to safety, Amir strives to leave behind the selfishness and cowardice he had previously succumbed to. Amir progressively begins to forgive himself for his injustices towards Hassan as he recognizes his evolution from a coward
However, Amir’s selfish ambition of proving his worth to this dad resisted his urge to try to help Hassan as he wants to able to take the kite home safely. Moreover, Amir presumes that his betrayal towards Hassan is like a curse in his life since he will not be able to forgive himself for this deception or free himself from the guilt that has taken over his
Amir, Baba’s son and the main character throughout The Kite Runner, betrays Hassan many times due to the fact of jealousy of the attention Hassan receives from Baba. First, when Amir tries to justify his actions he shows his motivations behind the betrayal. Amir states, “Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba” (Hosseini 77). Amir craves Baba’s attention so much that
The worst pain in the world is the betrayal of a friend. This can be said about two boys raised in Kabul. Despite coming from different social standings, portraying strikingly different characteristics, and leading contrasting lives, the novel, “The Kite Runner,” written by Khaled Hosseini describes how the relationship between Hassan and Amir still remained unbreakable. Friendship is a strong bond that can occur between seemingly similar individuals or people who contrast each others personalities.
In the novel, The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini tells the story of Amir, a young, Afghan boy who learns about what it means to be redeemed through the experiences he encounters in his life. The idea of redemption becomes a lesson for Amir when he is a witness to the tragic sexual assault of his childhood friend, Hassan. As a bystander in the moment, Amir determines what is more important: saving the life of his friend or running away for the safety of himself. In the end, Amir decides to flee, resulting in Amir having to live with the guilt of leaving Hassan behind to be assaulted. Hosseini shows us how Amir constantly deals with the remorse of the incident, but does not attempt to redeem himself until later in his life when Hassan has died.
Ashmita Bhatnagar Ms. Kanika Dang 29th November 2015 Khaled Hosseini in his novel the Kite Runner Explores the theme of sin and atonement “There is a way to be good again” Life is all about second chances, there are many mistakes committed by us in the past and the present. The novel the kite runner explores the mistakes committed by Amir and always hoped to atone the sins. Sins committed weigh on one’s conscience and it’s not every day that one gets an opportunity to redeem their misdoings.