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Amir's Journey Toward Identity In The Kite Runner By Khaled Hosseini

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Carson Lucia Mrs. Cipriano English 1 HH 03 March 2024 Amir’s Journey Towards Identity in The Kite Runner The Kite Runner is a novel by Khaled Hosseini that takes readers on a journey of a lifetime from the rugged lands of Afghanistan all the way to America, with events starting in 1974 all the way through 2001, and he does it all through the perspective of one person, Amir Qadiri. Readers get to see how one traumatic childhood event can unfold into chaos, affecting more people than anyone could truly imagine. One major recurring theme in The Kite Runner is Amir’s journey to find his true identity, which has mostly been shaped by past childhood experiences, values instilled by Baba, and personal choices. The first quote that really had an impact on the book …show more content…

Hoseini writes, “I don’t know at what point I started laughing, but I did” (Hosseini 289). This quote is extremely powerful for numerous reasons, the main one being that it kind of completes Amir’s journey in a sense. Throughout the entire book, readers see that Amir is never able to escape the mistake he made as a child. He has lived with the weight of his actions on his shoulders for years and years. Nothing he ever did could ever make up for his actions (or lack thereof), and he was living a nightmare. However, in this brief moment when he was getting the life physically beat out of him, he was finally at peace. No matter how brutal or close to death he was, this was the first time he was mentally alive since early 1975. In some sense, and in his own mind, Amir had finally made up for his actions, and Hosseini leaves it up to the reader if he started laughing because it was ironic that he was finally free at last, yet so close to death at the same time. The second quote falls in the final chapter of the book, chapter 25, and goes as follows, “For you, a thousand times over” (Hosseini

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He moved his head slightly and I caught a glimpse of his face. Saw the resignation in it. It was a look I had seen before. It was the look of the lamb” (Hosseini, pg.133). This is evident that Amir also witnessed something that’ll impact his life as much as O’Brien’s kill, knowing that he was there long enough to illustrate the whole rape

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A significant point when Amir understands that he must change his actions was at Baba’s funeral, “Listening to them, I realized how much of who I was, what I was, had been defined by Baba and the marks he had left on people’s lives… now he was gone. Baba couldn’t show me the way anymore; I’d have to find it on my own. The thought of it terrified me.” (Hosseini, 174) This thought process was the start of Amir’s personal journey; it was what led him to return to Afghanistan and later to adopt Sohrab.

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Amir didn't realize he effects of his actions until he saw how his father reacted to Ali's decision. Looking out his bedroom window, Amir said, "That was when I understood the depth of the pain I caused, the blackness of grief I had brought onto everyone" (Hosseini

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Amir first realizes the depth of his cowardice as he watches Assef rape Hassan in the alley and thinks, “I could step in into that alley, stand up for Hassan—the way he stood up for me all those times in the past—and accept whatever happened to me. Or I could run” (Hosseini 77). He has an epiphany that he could choose to be brave and selfless like Hassan and step up to Assef regardless of any physical consequences. However, despite his understanding that the noble choice would be to interfere and stop Assef, Amir is unable to act on it because his fear of Assef overwhelms him. The guilt that consumes Amir in the weeks following Hassan’s rape indicates that he understands the extent of his selfish behavior and needs to resolve it before he can forgive himself.

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My body was broken – just how badly I wouldn’t find out until later – but I felt healed” (Hosseini 289) This scene depicts the acceptance that Amir finally faces. He starts coming to terms with his past because he feels at peace over the fact that he is finally getting justice for Hassan. That he is brave enough not to run away just as Hassan would stay to fight. Amir sacrifices everything for Sohrab just as Hassan did for him once.

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- Assef kept roaring with each blow- what was so funny was that, for the first time since the winter of 1975, I felt at peace.- My body was broken just how badly I wouldn't find out until latest, but I felt healed. Healed at last. I laughed” (Hosseini, 289) This represents Amir finally getting what he feels he deserves for what he had done to Hassan, he has faced his demons and come to terms with his mistake. This helps show Amir's identity and how he has grown and become a stronger, more selfless

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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

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He learns to relinquish his selfish ways as he begs God to not leave “blood on Sohrab’s hands” no longer bound by his guilt and shame revealing to us, the reader Amir’s redemption. The older narrator reflects “It’s wrong, what they say about the past” as he acknowledges “the past always claws its way out” that he understands the depths of morality and has grown from it. Ultimately, Amir concludes “For you, a thousand times over”, the words of Hassan as he abandons his selfish ways, to serve and to

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