Redemption In The Kite Runner

In Khaled Hosseini’s novel The Kite Runner, Amir’s jealousy of Hassan pushes him to commit vengeful and manipulative deeds to someone who has undying admiration and loyalty towards him. Amir’s need to impress his father, in this case, the kite tournament, singles the start of his redemption journey. Hassan, in Amir’s eyes, is someone who he has no emotional connection, strictly a employer-servant relationship. However, the substantial event that sparks a considerable amount of guilt and shame in Amir is the event he witnessed involving Hassan and his lack of initiative afterwards. Everytime he sets out to redeem himself, Hassan becomes collateral damage; Amir’s quest to find redemption takes form in multiple ways throughout the novel.
The unusual amount of attention given to Hassan by Baba ignites animosity within Amir, which inspires him to emotionally and physically abuse Hassan. While it may appear that Amir plays with and gets along with Hassan like normal friends, a voice exists in the back of Amir’s head that poisons his mind, saying messages such as “Hassan never be anything but a cook. How dare he criticize you?” (Hosseini 34)” and “he’s not my friend! He’s my servant!” (Hosseini 41), prevents him from treating Hassan like a normal friend. In addition to Amir being jealous of the relationship that Hassan has with Baba, Amir has envy towards the connection between Ali and Hassan. However, Amir does not let himself feel such emotions. For example, when Hassan is