Cassidy Bulger Mr. Rigney AP English Lit October 22, 2014 Betrayal and Guilt in The Kite Runner In the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, betrayal and guilt are prevalent in Amir’s relationship with Hassan. Throughout the course of the novel, Amir betrays his childhood friend, and family servant, Hassan. Much of this betrayal occurs in their youth, and because the acts were so horrific and the guilt that Amir carries is so heavy, their relationship dissolves over time. After Amir wins the kite fight, Hassan runs off to find the losing kite in order to take it home to Baba as a sort of souvenir. After some time, Amir wonders why Hassan has yet to return the kite. He goes looking for him, and finds him just as he was being raped by Assef …show more content…
He becomes more reserved and spends more time alone. In fact, for a week, Amir barely saw him, which was unusual because the two had been such friends before. When questioned about Hassan’s odd behavior, Amir suggests an illness and persists that he does not know why he is acting the way he his. This period of solitude did not last forever, and soon Hassan began to rekindle their friendship, at which point Amir became rude to him. One day, Hassan expresses his desire to go for a walk with Amir and his confusion with why Amir does not want to play anymore. This causes Amir to snap, and which point he fires back: “I want you to stop harassing me. I want you to go away” (Hosseini 88).This statement is exactly what Amir does. He feels harassed and taunted by Hassan each time he sees him, and believes that his disappearance would alleviate …show more content…
Amir was successful in forcing him out of his life. Years later, Amir goes to visit an old friend, at which time he learns that Hassan has passed. “‘So they took him to the street-’ ‘No,’ I breathed. ‘-and order him to kneel-’ “No. God, no.’ ‘-and shot him in the back of the head’...But all I could manage was to whisper “No. No. No” over and over again” (Hosseini 219). The guilt that Amir had was a heavy weight that he had forgotten about, but now it was back. Amir never had the chance to apologize to Hassan, he never had the chance to reunite with him, and now he never