Examples Of Betrayal In The Kite Runner

The Kite Runner by Khled Hosseini follows the journey of wealthy Afghani boy, Amir, through the invasion of Afghanistan and the Taliban’s rise to power. Betrayal is a central theme in Kite Runner, and there are many instances of betrayal shown throughout the course of the novel. By far the most important is Amir’s betrayal of his best friend and servant, Hassan. Early in the novel, Amir wins a Kite Fighting tournament and Hassan goes after the second place kite, in a tradition called kite running. Amir goes to find Hassan and sees that, Hassan is cornered by a group of bullies led by Assef, a sadistic sociopath who confronted Hassan and Amir earlier. Amir leaves Hassan at the mercy of Assef and his cronies and Hassan is raped. This instance

He doesn’t acknowledge the enormity of his betrayal. It takes a visit with his extended family in the city of Jalabad for Amir to admit the truth of what happened the day of the tournament. When the rest of his family is sleeping, Amir sits up and says, “I watched Hassan get raped,” to the room of silent sleepers. He then goes on to state, “A part of me was hoping someone would wake up and hear, so I’d wouldn’t have to live with this lie anymore. But no one woke up and in the silence that followed, I understood the nature of my new curse: I was going to get away with it,” (86.) More than anything else, what hurts Amir about his actions is that no one else knows what happened to Hassan. As far as Amir knows, Hassan is not aware of Amir’s role in his rape. Amir feels that he has committed a crime, but he does not want to really tell anyone. If Amir really wanted to tell the truth of what happened, he could, but he’s too ashamed and too cowardly. Yet at the same time Amir wants someone else to know what he has done. Amir expects someone else to know or find out so that Amir can be punished and forced to face the weight of his crime. Amir realizes in this passage that no one is going to find out and punish him. He has to face what he has done on his own. Amir isn’t strong enough to do that on his own. His refusal to confront his betrayal lasts until the end of the

Amir goes to college and eventually marries, but he never truly moves past his guilt and shame from his betrayal of Hassan. During his wedding, Amir wonders, “If Hassan too had married. And if so, whose face he had seen in the mirror under the veil?” (171) Years later Hassan is still on Amir’s mind. Despite his best efforts to forget his betrayal, Amir can’t because he has never accepted his guilt or his crime. As result, on his wedding day, a day that should be filled with great happiness and joy, also reminds Amir of the one who he has betrayed and left behind. Amir lives with the guilt of his betrayal. At this point in his life, Amir makes no effort for redemption or forgiveness. His betrayal of Hassan is just one shameful secret of his past. It has become a passing cloud of shame, rather than a constant reminder. Amir doesn’t understand that he will not be able to move on or forget his betrayal. He must accept and atone to end his