Guilt In The Kite Runner

In a lifetime, everyone will face personal battles and guilt. People find peace of mind through redeeming themselves or making up for their past actions. One of the central themes of the Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is whether Amir truly redeemed himself for what he did. He has been living with the guilt from a unspeakable past childhood experience his whole life. He had let his best friend, Hassan, be tortured and neither supported or defended him. The experience left a scar on both Hassan and Amir. Amir’s father’s words echo in his mind as he recalls the experience, “A boy who won't stand up for himself becomes a man who can't stand up to anything” (Hosseini, 2003). By the end of the novel, Amir finally learns stands up and earns the redemption

As children, Amir and Hassan would go kite flying together. They had won a highly sought after accomplishment of winning a kite running tournament, hence the name of the novel. When Amir asked for Hassan to get the last kite at the competition he yelled, “For you a thousand times over!” (Hosseini, 2003, p. 23). Hassan loved the thought of Amir being proud of him and would do anything in his capability to do so. Unfortunately, Hassan rarely received the credit and same recognition that Amir received because of his lowly social status of a Hazara. When Amir took Sohrab kite flying, it brought back memories of Hassan, Baba, and even the scent of Kabul. He felt like how he had once felt as a child. He glanced over and saw Sohrab smiling for the first time in America, “one corner of his mouth had curled up just so. A smile. Lopsided” (Hosseini, 2003, p. 370). That is when he truly knew he had redeemed himself. He asked Sohrab if he would like for Amir to go retrieve the kite. Sohrab nodded and Amir put himself in Hassan’s shoes. Running after that kite, Amir knew he finally was letting the guilt of his childhood go because he has finally redeemed himself once and for all.

In the novel, The Kite Runner, you can easily see that earning redemption for past actions to clear up guilt isn’t always the simplest. It takes blood, sweat, and tears to try to make up for what you once did. But it is clear, when Amir finally earns the redemption he seeks, every breath was worth it. Knowing Sohrab is safe and the fact he was able to finally able to repay Hassan’s loyalty shows that Amir can finally be at peace with himself. He can finally live with knowing he had finally found the redemption he was looking for his whole entire