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Forgiveness In 'The Kite Runner'

678 Words3 Pages

Payton Silver
Mrs. Garland
English 12CP
10 March 2023

Forgiveness
“I wondered if that was how forgiveness budded; not with the fanfare of epiphany, but with pain gathering its things, packing up, and slipping away unannounced in the middle of the night.” Throughout the novel The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, Amir, the protagonist, goes through various bouts where forgiveness is essential. Growing up in war torn Afghanistan with his father, Baba, his servant Ali, and his son Hassan, Amir underwent trauma that led to years of torture. The first decade of Amir's life shaped what forgiveness meant to him and how he would eventually pursue it. The novel follows Amir as he finds the light in forgiveness after struggling with an internal battle …show more content…

For instence, after witnessing the rape of his bestfriend and doing nothing to stop it, Amir carried immense guilt until he got hurt by the same man, “The harder I laughed, the harder he kicked me… What was so funny was that, for the first time since the winter of 1975, I felt at peace” (Hosseini 289). Amir carried the guilt and shame for what had happened to Hassan for his whole life. It wasn't until Amir suffered at the same hands that Hassan suffered, until he received this punishment for his sin, could he forgive himself for what had happened all those years before. Additionally, Amir speaks about how forgiveness heals the soul, “My body was broken… but I felt healed. Healed at last” (Hosseini 289). What constitutes forgiveness is decided by each individual. For Amir forgiving himself meant equal punishment as the one he hurt. No matter how forgiveness is achieved, it remains essential to the soul and crucial to the path of …show more content…

For example, Baba had not just fathered Amir, he had been the father to Hassan as well, however this was kept hidden from everyone which led to Amir's anger at this revelation, “Baba had been a thief. And a thief of the worst kind, because the things he'd stolen had been sacred: from me the right to know I had a brother, from Hassan his identity, and from Ali his honor” (Hosseini 225). Growing up Amir idolized his father for his aptness, bravery, and ability to always do what was right. But now, he was left questioning all of this as his ideology of the world and everyone's place in it came crashing down. With nothing but disappointment and despair Amir grieved the man he knew as his father and was in desperate need to forgive. Eventually, Amir understands his fathers faults, compares them with his own, and realizes forgiveness is in action, “We had both sinned and betrayed. But Baba found a way to create good out of his remorse” (Hosseini 303). After Amirs chance at redemption he sees that his fathers redemption was apparent as well, feeding the poor, building the orphanage, giving out money to friends, etc. Everything his father did was tied to rectifying his wrongs. Amir restores his faith in his father after remembering the kind and charitable man he was trying to right his wrongs and atone for his

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