Guilt is a major theme that intertwines the luxurious novels, as both the protagonists Amir, from The Kite Runner, and Piscine who is known as Pi, from Life of Pi, struggle due to guilt. To begin, in The Kite Runner the main protagonist Amir, a conflicted boy, makes some rash decisions which leads him to feel guilty. The reason why guilt eats Amir’s soul is because he sees his best friend/step-brother,Hassan, get rapped right in front of his eyes, and Amir did nothing about it. The reason why Amir is nothing to stop this horrendous act from taking place is because he was angry at Hassan for stealing Baba’s, Amir’s father, affection from him. Even though, Hassan did not intend to “sweep” Baba’s affection towards his way. The rape takes place …show more content…
Amir then said to himself, “ Nothing was free in the world. Maybe Hassan was the prize I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba” (Hosseini,77). There is allusion present when Amir says “the lamb I had to slay”, this is alluding to a celebration called Hadj. On this special day, Muslims around the world sacrifice a lamb for what they wish for. This tradition leads back to when Abraham was alive. “Abraham was childless, but God (Allah) promised him a son and gave him this son. God tested Abraham's faith by ordering him to sacrifice his son. Just as Abraham was about to kill his son, the angel Gabriël told him to sacrifice a sheep instead. In gratitude of God's mercy on this human, the Muslims sacrifice one or more sheep every year” (animal freedom). In order for Amir to get what he wants he had to sacrifice Hassan. Due to making the wrong choice, the guilt of witnessing Hassan’s rape and not being able to do anything to prevent the rape from commencing causes Amir to suffer from heartache. Guilt is present when Amir realizes that Hassan knew that he was in the alley. Even though Amir did not help Hassan when he was in trouble, Hassan still helps prevent Amir from getting in trouble; by accepting the lie that he stole the money from Amir. This is shown in the following
Hosseini uses the allusion to a sacrificial lamb when Assef assaults Hassan in the alleyway. Amir sees this attack but decides to do nothing but run away Amir thinks to himself “ He had the eyes of a lamb” referring to the bible when the prophet Abraham was going to sacrifice his son and his son accepted his fate, but god tells him right before he sacrifices the child to sacrifice a lamb. Hassan is seen as a sacrificial lamb because it is almost like he is being sacrificed for Amir. This allusion is used again when Hassan is framed for theft. Amir tells his father a lie about Hassan stealing but when Hassan is confronted about it, he looks at Amir and plays along with the lie, because Hassan would do anything for Amir just like how Abraham would do anything for God.
Amir makes hassan look like a thief by “planting [his] new watch and a handful of Afghani bills under [the mattress]” (Hosseini 104). Hassan knew of Amirs intentions that Amir wanted him to leave so Hassan lies and says that he stole it in order to remain loyal with his friend Amir. Thus, Hassan and his father Ali, feel like they can no longer serve Baba or Amir anymore and leave forever; Amir never sees him again. It was then that Amir realized how much of a horrible person he was and how undeserving he was to have Hassan. His father realized it was him and forgave him even though his father said “theft is unforgivable.”
Finding a Path to be Good Again Guilt is an emotion of a sinner, but guilt is not an emotion of evil. In fact, guilt is only felt by a conscientious individual who is aware of doing wrong, and through this strange emotion, people learn what wrong is. Therefore, guilt can be an emotion of opportunity to fix wrong if responded in the right way. However guilt can also intimidate as it is a forceful emotion that haunts people when it is not dealt with.
The author puts a lot of moral ambitious character in the story the Kite Runner. Amir is an example of a moral ambitious character. He is evil in the beginning of the story, but as he matures and grows up as an adult. The Kite Runner By Khaled Hosseini, is a novel about a young boy named Amir and how he grows up in the Afghan war and how life was during the war. Amir's Moral Ambiguity is important to this story because he provides readers to like and hate him.
(Hosseini, page no.18) .Amir takes his Baba’s affection toward Hassan-Baba’s servants’ son-in the wrong way for Hassan always showed a lot more similar qualities to Baba than Amir ever did. In an attempt to win his Baba’s
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.
In his mind, he believes that Baba will send Ali and Hassan away, and, as a result, he will finally gain some peace. To Amir’s surprise, Hassan confesses to stealing his gifts without hesitation symbolizing “Hassan’s final sacrifice for [him]” (105). At that moment, Amir realizes that Hassan knew of his betrayal, which added to his already guilty conscience. Hassan could have easily told Baba the truth and he would have believed him because”[everyone] knew that Hassan never lied”, which, in turn, would ruin Amir’s relationship with his father (105). He probably knew that Amir was unworthy of his sacrifice, that he was the “snake in the grass, the monster in the lake”, but he lied for Amir’s own benefit
Journey to Redemption Throughout life, people will find themselves facing guilt or shame, some more significant than others. An individual experiences guilt knowing that they have committed some form of wrongdoing. To relieve themselves from this offense, they will try to be redeemed, or relieved from their sin. In Khaled Hosseini novel, The Kite Runner, Hosseini described Amir’s journey to redemption after he betrayed Hassan during their childhood years. The five steps for redemption are categorized as Conviction, Confession, Repentance, Restitution, and Reconciliation.
For the reason that Hassan was raped, Amir felt guilty and began regretting his actions. Every time Amir would do something mean towards Hassan, he felt guilty after the action. “‘Let’s see. ‘Imbecile.’
His decision to not intervene, is a selfish move that affects many. Another example of Amir's selfishness appears when Amir asks Hassan if he would eat dirt for him (Hosseini 54). Hassan being the good and loyal friend responds by saying yes, but questions why Amir would want to make him do such a cruel thing. I believe that Amir asked Hassan that to remind him of his position as a servant. Amir knew that Hassan would do anything for him.
The next morning, Amir mirrors an action he committed twenty-six years earlier with a different purpose. He “planted a fist full of crumpled money under a mattress” for Farid’s family to show gratitude and so they would be able to feed their hungry kids (242). As he reminiscences back to the first time he did this, his tone is no longer remorseful and abashed. In fact, the more selfless actions he accomplishes, the more he starts to embrace the changes in his behavior. Amir progresses to forgive himself for getting Hassan and Ali kicked out by counterbalancing it with his selflessness in giving Farid’s family
Throughout the book Amir struggles with the guilt of trying to redeem himself for things he did/didn’t do. For example, early on the book you learn that Amir feels guilty because his mom died giving birth to him. I think that this theme
For example, Amir insists that Baba visits a “...radian oncologist to talk to Baba into getting radiation treatment” (161) after being diagnosed with a metastasized form of cancer. From this quote, Amir’s intent is to help Baba survive the cancer so he can live a longer lifespan. Even after refusing to undergo preventive medical procedures, Amir remains faithful to Baba and fulfills his commands until his death in Chapter 13. Sacrificing Hassan to gain Baba’s affection is another horrifically indicative yet illustrative precedent of Amir’s past, specifically in the quote, “Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba” (77). To validate his reasoning for leaving Hassan, Amir uses self-deception into thinking that his relationship with Baba carried more value rather than a Hazara.
As the death of Simon symbolizes the sacrifice of Jesus, Hassan’s rape symbolizes the sacrifice of an innocent lamb. Just like how Simon’s death was for a greater purpose, Amir views sacrificing Hassan’s innocence as a sacrifice for the greater good. He sees the look in Hassan’s eyes, who is like the lamb getting sacrificed on Dhul-Hijjah, who “sees that its imminent demise is for a higher purpose”(Hosseini 64). To Amir, sacrificing Hassan is a fair price for kite, and Baba’s love. But the kite that Hassan brought back becomes a symbol of this sacrifice of innocence, and it haunts Amir for the rest of
This is the look” During the sacrifice when the lamb was held down and it’s throat cut we saw how Amir reacted he realized that the Lamb did not want to do what it did but he knew that the Lamb knew that it had to be done it was not an act of acceptance because with acceptance there comes no sacrifice. The point of a sacrifice is that