Guilt In The Kite Runner

Guilt can follow anyone like a shadow. It adds up easily, eventually causing its victims to either succumb to it or get their redemption. In Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, Hosseini brings up the interesting dynamics of guilt and redemption. Through Amir and Hassan’s friendship, the author shows the impact of all these things on an individual, and how time only brings more regret. Using motifs and the complex characterization of multiple figures in The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini shows how one person’s decision can have an affect on their life along with multiple others’. In the novel, Amir and Hassan’s friendship is extremely one sided, which is influenced greatly by Amir’s envy. In Afghanistan’s society, Pashtuns are superior to Hazaras, which plays a

His regret seemingly builds with each day as more and more good things happen to him that he knows he doesn’t deserve. All of a sudden, when he gets that phone call from Rahim Khan, he sees his chance at redemption and wants to take it. He was looking for anything to fix what had happened all those years ago, and the words “there is a way to be good again” compelled him (Hosseini 1). When told that Hassan was blood related to him, however, even more guilt piled on him. Knowing that he and Hassan had more of a bond than just being nursed by the same person made him rethink all of his life choices. He thought about how he could have treated his own brother how he did when they were children. How he had just watched as Hassan had been assaulted. His culpability is what gave him the strength and motivation to save Sohrab from the Taliban and finally change his character. He decides, going into the Talib’s home after seeing the Talib brutally kill two people that same day, that this time was going to be different. He has a moral obligation to return the favor “after all the times Hassan had saved him” (Hosseini 70