Brooke Ketterer Mrs.Elsbree English Lit AP 27 April 2023 The Kite Runner Q3 Essay Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner features a character's guilt leading to a constant search for redemption. As Amir, the novel’s protagonist, attempts to make amends for his past injustices, he undergoes several acts requiring courage and compassion readers had yet to have seen from him in the novel. Amir is haunted by his old ways which evidently resulted in his desire to fill the guilt with something meaningful. Amir’s aspirations to make amends for his past mistake are presented through his acts of bravery, which he commits in order to assuage the overwhelming guilt he feels after he betrays his friend Hassan. To accomplish this, Hosseini writes Amir as a character who is able to discard cowardice and embrace courage in order to claim the sense of redemption he longs for, ultimately illustrating that guilt fosters motivation to become a better man and make amends for past mistakes. At first, Amir was simply thinking about his personal desires and needs. Amir looked down upon his half-brother, Hassan, yet also grew …show more content…
Amir decides to go save Sohrab who has been taken by Assef, Hassan’s attacker, in order to atone for his mistakes. Amir gets severely beaten by Assef during the altercation, yet he still managed to free Sohrab, showing how he put a loved one's welfare above his own. Because he was able to stand up to Assef for Sohrab when he was unable to do so for Hassan, Amir's ability to take care of Sohrab and get him away from Assef shows how much he has grown as a person. Amir's willingness to risk his life shows how committed he is to atone for his transgressions, finding closure, and experiencing redemption. The fact that he overcame his prior pain to make up for his errors illustrates that acts of bravery can stem from inner
Once Amir found Sohrab, he is not able to take him without a price, Assef wants to fight Amir for the boy. Assef became a leader of the Taliban and once he found that Hassan had a child, he wanted to take him. Amir fought Assef only because it was Assef’s way of keeping his promise and it was Amir’s way to gain redemption. Amir felt like it was time to redeem himself for his actions that night in the alley. In the alley Amir watched Hassan get raped by Assef, he did this because he wanted to show his power.
After Amir meets with Rahim Khan and knows the fact that Hassan’s son, Sohrab, was in the orphanage, it is time for him to seek redemption. Amir decision of bring Sohrab to Pakistan is because of not only Rahim Khan’s request but also a way to be good again. It is his first active step he takes towards atoning for his past and it demonstrates Amir’s first conscious decision to think of another before himself, even it means risking everything he has, including his life and the welfare of his family. Amir now understands that he can endeavour to gain redemption by sacrificing himself to rescue Sohrab. As Amir continues to find Sohrab and tries to save him from Assef, he is willing to sacrifice himself for a chance to get Sohrab back.
The realisation that Amir gained was the boost of energy he needed to face the consequences of his past by going back to Afghanistan. This was the first step towards redemption: acceptance. Before this, he never thought of the need to justify his past actions, and so, Amir attempts to purge his guilt by commencing a journey back to Afghanistan, in which he would entirely redeem himself later on. In addition, Amir pardons himself by fighting a person he should have fought many years ago—a boy named Assef. Assef is a malicious, tight-fisted character who assaulted Amir’s friend, Hassan, in an alleyway 27 years ago.
A life full of guilt and regret is the life of Protagonist Amir in Khaled Hosseini’s novel The Kite Runner. Amir’s life is controlled by his guilt, the choices he makes are controlled by his guilt for his past actions in the “winter of 1975”. The impact that the guilt and regret have on Amir's life is shown through the way he struggles both at both young and old age. Khaled Hosseini uses lotus of author craft such as metaphors, and imagery to show Amir's road to redemption during his constant battle with guilt.
While in Kabul, Amir is told he needs to take Hassan's son back with him, but to do so he must fight his childhood bully, Assef. In the midst of this fight, Amir is relieved of the guilt he once felt, and remembers the way the
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.
And the harder [he] laughed, the harder [Assef] kicked [him], and punched [him], and scratched [him].”(289) Assef was screaming “WHAT'S SO FUNNY?”(289), but Amir kept laughing because deep down he felt healed, he felt healed because he was finally getting what he deserved for letting Assef assault Hassan. This demonstrates how Amir’s relationship with his past affects the theme that fear changes lives. In this instance, Amir’s life changes because he overcomes his fear and his guilt from childhood. By fighting Assef for Sohrab, he overcomes his fears and problems with standing up for himself and others, and by losing the fight so badly he finally gets the punishment he felt like he deserved for letting Hassan get assaulted. He no longer holds the guilt for what happened to Hassan so heavily in his soul.
Hosseini utilizes the contrast between Amir’s past aspirations with his present goals to represent how guilt changes one’s world from purposeful to miserable.
Amir stands up for Sohrab and himself by taking a beating from his former bully Assef. Amir knows what he must do: “‘we have some unfinished business, you and I,’ Assef said. ‘Remember don’t you?”(286). Amir was always seen as a coward and this is something he wouldn’t have done when he was younger. An example of this is when he left Hassan in the alleyway with the same person who he confronted to save Sohrab.
The author provides the reader with mixed feeling about Amir. In his childhood in Kabul Amir comes off as heartless person. He is this because he has done evil stuff in his life. In the beginning of the story something bad happens to Hassan, Amir says,¨In the end, I ran.
When growing up, Amir mistreated Hassan and took advantage of Hassan’s kindness and friendship. In one instance, Amir witnessed Hassan being raped by another boy, and he did nothing to stop it. Amir’s guilt from this event haunts him his whole life living in America and impacts his decisions. His journey shows his growth and is seen in his selfless actions. Throughout the novel,
To undo this guilt he does different actions in the positive way that show how his actions are now used for positive good deeds. Amir grows to become someone willing to die for Sohrab and believes Sohrab to be a part of his family which is ironic because Hassan was never able to become a part of their family due to social pressures. After Amir recognizes that Hassan knew all along Amir has a bigger feeling of guilt which is only washed away through constant deeds. One service is when Amir places the crumpled money for a positive outcome rather than to chase someone out, “ Earlier that morning, when I was certain no one was looking, I did something I had done twenty-six years earlier: I planted a fistful of crumpled money under a mattress ( 242) ”. As Amir grows as a character after ridding himself of different guilts he develops and grows by changing different actions that he has committed in the past as a sin.
Amir's acknowledgment of his actions serves as a crucial stepping stone on the path toward redemption. Furthermore, Amir's cowardice act which led to future guilt, also led him to the realization that he had done something wrong and wanted to fix it and redeem himself. Amir's realization is demonstrated when he states: “I ran because I was a coward. I was afraid of Assef and what he would do to me. I was afraid of getting hurt.
Amir, frightened and nervous, learns that the official is none other than Assef, the bully who had assaulted Hassan in the alley all those years ago. Assef promises to hand Sohrab over if and only if Amir can beat him in a fistfight. The fight starts badly for Amir, who is unarmed and weak. However, Amir, who can feel his ribs breaking, begins to laugh. He laughs and laughs and laughs as Assef throws down punches and kicks.
After rescuing Sohrab from Assef, Amir feels like he is making up for not being there for Hassan. Amir did something that was truly brave and noble. By saving Sohrab and giving him a better life in America, Amir was able to find a way to be good again. Just like Rahim Khan said he would over the phone. Amir will never be able to fully forgive himself for what happened in the winter of 1975, however, by working to become a better person, he can slowly redeem himself and move forward with his life.