Examples Of Amir's Guilt

The Kite Runner: Amir's Guilt Everyone has experienced some form of guilt at some point in their life. The Kite Runner is a coming-of-age novel following a boy named Amir written by Khaled Hosseini. This novel starts out foreshadowing what's to come. Amir and Rahim Khan, Amir’s father's best friend, talking on the phone about Amir coming back to Pakistan. The novel then flashes back to Amir’s childhood in Kabul. During Amir’s childhood, he stood by and watched Hassan, his friend and servant, get raped. After Amir betrays Hassan by not stopping the incident, his behavior represents typical guilt, though some of his actions seem wrong. One of the first signs of Amir’s guilt is when thoughts of the rape kept him up at night. In chapter 8 Amir

A while after the rape, Hassan tried to reconnect with Amir, which made him annoyed. In chapter 8 Amir says, “To my dismay, Hassan kept trying to rekindle things between us. I remember the first time. I was in my room, reading an abbreviated Farsi translation of Ivanhoe, when he knocked on my door. “What is it?” “I’m going to the baker to buy naan,” he said from the other side. “I was wondering if you… if you wanted to come along.” “I think i’m just going to read,” I said, rubbing my temples. Lately, every time Hassan was around, I was getting a headache.” (Hosseini 87-88). While the rape was not Hassan’s fault, Amir still can not stand his presence. Although Amir responding like this is probably one of the reasons readers loathe him, Guy Winch Ph.D. says that this is normal guilty behavior. According to Winch, “Guilt trips make you feel guilty but also resentful.” (Winch 34). Amir keeps trying to avoid his guilt by avoiding Hassan, but it does not work. Finally, Amir decides to confront

Amir misled Hassan up the hill by telling him that he wanted to read him a story under the pomegranate tree. When they arrived at the tree, Amir picked up a pomegranate and asked Hassan what he would do if he hit him with it. Amir started throwing pomegranates at Hassan, begging him to throw them back. Amir says, “”Hit me back!” I spat. “Hit me back, goddamn you!” I wished he would. I wished he’d give me the punishment i craved, so maybe I’d finally sleep at night.” (Hosseini 92). Amir wanted some kind of punishment so he would not feel guilty about not stopping the rape. According to an article, “I Feel Guilty And I Deserve To Be Punished”, the author says, “You think you need to punish yourself in order to feel better. You won’t feel right until