Amir's Response To The Theme Of Guilt In The Kite Runner

Have you ever felt guilty? Guilt can be a terrible weight to carry. If not dealt with, it can pick at you, and drag you down. Guilt can invade your subconscious, and affect your behavior without even knowing it. You might even avoid others in an attempt to hide your guilt, or only use your emotions instead of your head and act out irrationally. The book The Kite Runner talks about Amir, an Afghan boy who has guilt following him around most of his life. Amir is faced with many conflicts which all develop into guilt. These conflicts lead Amir to grow and develop as a person. In The Kite Runner, Amir's response to conflict introduces him to the theme of guilt, which eventually leads to his redemption. In chapters 1-9 of The Kite Runner, Amir’s

This guilt leads Amir to run away from difficult situations like seeing Hassan. This completely broke Amir and Hassan’s friendship, leaving Hassan lonely and having no clue why. This betrayal made the whole atmosphere of the house negative. Later in the novel, readers find that Amir “lifted Hassan’s mattress and planted his watch and a handful of bills” (104). Amir’s guilt grew so overwhelming, that it steered toward betrayal instead of talking through the situation. Amir develops a behavior of avoidance and only sees ways to get out of problems versus attempting to face and solve them. This causes him to create bigger conflicts overall, leading to more betrayal of the people he loves most. Which eventually developed into Hassan and Ali leaving, breaking Baba’s heart and ruining their family life and relationship. Overall, Amir’s response to conflict results in the theme of guilt resulting in betrayal. In chapters 11-14, Amir's response to Soraya not being able to have kids continues to develop the theme of guilt and regret. After treatments and treatments nothing worked. The reader learns that Amir “can almost feel the emptiness in Soraya's womb and it has seeped into the marriage, that emptiness, into laughter”