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Guilt In Macbeth And Kite Runner

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The tragedy play Macbeth by William Shakespeare and the novel Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini are both stories about devastated characters who are plagued by their own guilt. Macbeth and Kite Runner both demonstrate that during the aftermath of a betraying deed, guilt will arise and will have a detrimental influence on one’s behaviors if one fails to redeem. It is initially the event of disloyalty that sparks the remorse of the individuals who perform it. In addition, if the guilt – ridden individuals fail to redeem themselves, their guilt will worsen and eventually lead to the destruction of their own lives. In both stories, the events of disloyalty are the main reasons for the guilt that the characters possess. In Kite Runner, Amir is accompanied …show more content…

As Assef, tortures and rapes Hassan in the alleyway, Amir cowardly watches. Amir does not return the loyalty Hassan has for him as he fails to protect Hassan. Immediately, Amir acknowledges his betraying actions, and begins feeling guilty for what he hadn’t done. ’I watched Hassan get raped,’ I said to no one…A part of me was hoping someone would wake up and hear, so I wouldn’t have to live with this lie anymore…I understood the nature of my new curse.” (91). His feelings of remorse continue to follow him into his adultery, as Amir states he has been “peeking into the that same deserted alley for the last twenty – six years.”. (1) In Macbeth, events of betrayal also arise, which results in the guilt that the main characters start to inherit. Macbeth, who was initially a brave and respected nobleman of Scotland, performs an unforgiving deed by killing his loyal counterpart, King Duncan, to be crowned king and satisfy his ambitions. Initially, King Duncan viewed Macbeth as a trust – worthy and loyal individual as he is “in double trust” with Macbeth. Despite the loyalty and trust that Duncan expressed towards Macbeth, Macbeth’s prophecies and Lady Macbeth’s convincing words were enough to motivate his ambitions to betray King Duncan. However, after committing the murder and claiming the crown, Macbeth is unable to enjoy his superiority. This is predominantly due to the growing sense of guilt that has plagued him for

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In Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, a major theme is guilt can consume one’s life unless they redeem themselves. This theme impacts the reader's view The theme comes across the novel repeatedly through different characters. For example, Amir starts the novel by saying that “. . . it’s wrong what they say about the past, I’ve learned, about how you can bury it.

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844 Words | 4 Pages

The author puts a lot of moral ambitious character in the story the Kite Runner. Amir is an example of a moral ambitious character. He is evil in the beginning of the story, but as he matures and grows up as an adult. The Kite Runner By Khaled Hosseini, is a novel about a young boy named Amir and how he grows up in the Afghan war and how life was during the war. Amir's Moral Ambiguity is important to this story because he provides readers to like and hate him.

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1089 Words | 5 Pages

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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879 Words | 4 Pages

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

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359 Words | 2 Pages

The opening paragraph of Khaled Hosseini’s novel "The Kite Runner" immediately expresses one of the central themes, guilt. Amir, the main character, is continuously antagonized by guilt. While on the surface, Amir seems to be a lighthearted child of a rich and popular father, he harbors the guiltiness of his sins deep within his heart. These guilts come back to haunt him throughout his whole life, resurfacing as vivid recollections in which he re-experiences his sins. While he tries to suppress his past and overlook these tragic moments, he feels remorse is persuaded him to take action.

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810 Words | 4 Pages

Guilt plays a strong role in motivating Macbeth, and causes Lady Macbeth to be driven over the edge of her being insane leading to her death. Throughout the story, there are many different types of guilty feelings that play a role in Macbeth’s fatal decisions and bring Lady Macbeth to commit suicide. Although there are many instances that show the power guilt has played on the main characters, there are three examples

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The act of holding onto guilt can stay with a person long after they are forgiven and forgotten. The guilt can stay inside, eating at them for years long after those who they have harmed have forgiven them. Their reattribution on a personal level takes longer, if at ever they can move on. The theme of guilt and atonement can be seen throughout the books “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini, “The Namesake” by Jhumpa Lahiri, and “The Dew Breaker” by Edwidge Danticat. Through all of the books, the guilt holds the characters back in their lives, creating divisions in their relationships with their loved ones and families.

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Amir does not like the choice he makes, to be a coward, when Hassan is raped. Amir immediately feels guilty and it gnaws at him. A couple of days after Hassan was raped, Amir’s guilt grows as well as his resentment. “I watched Hassan get raped… A part of me [hoped that] someone would wake up and hear, so [that] I wouldn’t have to live with this lie anymore…

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In the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, the author seeks a way to retrieve their lost honor and certainty. In the story, Amir loses his honor when he decides not to assist Hassan while he is being rapped by Assef. Amir continues to lose his faith in himself

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Betrayal is an issue many can relate to, whether it is done by a family member or a friend. In the book The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, we witness betrayal play a vital role in the downfall of the main character’s Amir and Hassan’s friendship, and how betrayal was the reason for why Amir sought redemption in hopes to move on. The novel begins with Amir as an adult, recalling an event that took place in 1975 in his hometown Kabul, Afghanistan and how this event was what changed the rest of his life and made him who he now is. Despite this heartbreaking occurrence of Amir’s reluctance to help Hassan while he was being raped, it was the reason for why Amir later decided to be brave and stand up for what he believes in.

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5-7). In this instance, Macbeth shows that he can feel guilt, and he exhibits this by demonstrating that he does not desire to end the life of a man whose family was already victimized at his hands. Guilt is the one thing throughout the entire play that stops Macbeth dead in his tracks and causes him to take a moment to consider his present and future courses of action. Although Macbeth was lead to commit murder by the witches’ manipulative predictions of the future, he is the one who ultimately makes the choices that prove that he is in control of his actions, even when his actions cause him to be filled with

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936 Words | 4 Pages

A Guilty Conscience: How Guilt Drives the Powerful to Insanity Guilt is the cause of the destruction of many, particularly in Shakespeare’s Tragedy of Macbeth. As Macbeth and Lady Macbeth continue to murder for the sake of power, they embark on opposite journeys but their guilt ultimately drives them both to insanity. Macbeth goes from being driven mad with guilt, to his instability causing him to murder recklessly. His wife goes from expressing no compassion or guilt to her guilt overcoming her and driving her to madness.

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824 Words | 4 Pages

Macbeths guilty conscience makes him unable to play the ‘true’ role of a villain of the play. Macbeth begins to see ‘false creations’ before murdering Duncan; the image of a floating dagger taunts Macbeth’s senses. Macbeth is devoured in his anxiety he starts to hallucinate the crime before going through with it. Macbeth is unable to dispose thoughts of his guilt and doubt, which prevents him from being stuck at the point where it is too late to turn back, yet the fear of his nature prevents him from turning completely into a ruthless coldblooded

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1054 Words | 5 Pages

As a result of her inability to escape the nightmare of immense guilt in sleeping or in wakefulness, Lady Macbeth crosses into the state of eternal sleep, death. In conclusion, William Shakespeare’s Macbeth demonstrates that a guilty conscience is a mind-probing enemy that can strike quietly and become a deadly, overpowering force that can subdue anyone with remorse. Through Lady Macbeth’s character transformation, the effects of a guilty conscience can thoroughly be seen. At the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth is an ambitious character that can repress her guilt to perform evil to a high extent.

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1398 Words | 6 Pages

He was so caught up with the personal gain of his crimes that he lost sight of the immorality. Through his sudden burst of regret and fear, Macbeth is exposing himself similarly to how the victims of his crimes were exposed in their state of sleep. The vulnerable state of the

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