The Kite Runner Guilt Essay

The Power of Guilt, Shame, and Betrayal, Sincerely; The Kite Runner

“Every man is guilty of the good he did not do.”-Voltaire. Guilt is the response to one’s own actions or lack of actions, it can either suffocate one until they are useless, or inspire a soul to purpose. Khaled Hosseini’s novel, “The Kite Runner” illustrates the power of a guilty conscience. The novel, “The Kite Runner” demonstrates how the person who has committed an act of betrayal is the one who is the most affected by it, because their guilt becomes a catalyst of their actions for the rest of their lives. This is shown through how Amir is affected by seeing Hassan getting assaulted, Baba’s nature, and how multiple characters come back to make up for their wrongdoings

Amir witnisses Hassan being mercilessly assaulted by a childhood bully, Assef, and chooses not to step in. The guilt of his lack of action immediately begins to seep into his everyday life. Because of this, he is pushed to the point of abandoning his lifelong friendship with Hassan. Amir drives Hassan from his home to gain his own personal relief of not needing to see Hassan around. “I wasn’t worthy of this sacrifice; I was a liar, a cheat, and a thief. And I would have told, except a part of me was glad. Glad that this would all be over with soon.” (Hoessini, 111). Amir had set up Hassan, making it look as if he had stolen from him. Hassan made a final sacrifice “admitting” to stealing the money. The amount of pain and suffering that Amir knew this would cause Ali, Hassan, and Baba, was immeasurable. However Amir’s shame drove him to take the actions he did regardless of the consequences. Furthermore, most of the repercussions from Amir’s guilt were detrimental to himself and others, however, near the end of the novel they developed into acts of kindness. “Earlier that morning, when I was certain no one was looking, I did

Sanubaur, who was Ali’s reluctant wife, was very strongly against Hassan being her son when she first had him, so much so that she abandoned him. Then after several years she came back to right her wrong. “You smiled coming out of me, did anyone ever tell you? And I wouldn’t even hold you. Allah forgive me, I wouldn’t even hold you.” (Hoessini, 221). It is unclear what Sanubaur had to do to get to Hassan, she had shown up at the doorstep dirty and beaten, and collapsed upon arrival. Sanubaurs remorse is evident, she is praying for god to forgive her. Her sinful behavior from years prior, that she could have let be and not done anything about, propelled her to find her son. Next, Amir goes through great troubles to save Sohrab, Hassan’s son, by taking him back to America with him as an adopted kid. “There is a way to be good again, he’d said. A way to end the cycle. With a little boy. An orphan. Hassan’s son. Somewhere in Kabul.” (Hoessini, 239). Amir was hesitant at first, but Rahin Khan’s words helped coax him into doing what he knew was right. Amir went back to Afghanistan after 20 years to save a boy he didn’t know existed, and to liberate himself from damnation. He felt as though doing this would make up for all the times he had betrayed Hassan. This journey had lots of expenses such as money,