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Seeking Redemption In Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner

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Seeking redemption can be a powerful motivating force behind one’s actions. If a person is looking to be redeemed, the process in which they attempt to find redemption can change them as a person and drive them to do things they never previously would have. In Khaled Hosseini’s novel, The Kite Runner, Amir spends a large portion of the story seeking redemption from his past sins. This forces him to step away from his previously cowardly nature, and leads him to do things he never thought he could. Throughout the novel, symbols such as the kite, Amir’s dream of fighting the bear his father did, and the motif “for you a thousand times over” demonstrate Amir’s character development. The usage of kites throughout the book represents war, redemption, …show more content…

When Amir first witnessed Hassan’s rape, he stood by idly, too cowardly to interfere (put quote here). He valued bringing the kite home to his father as a trophy more than saving his friend from immense psychological trauma. At this point in his life, Amir thinks that he is nothing like his brave and courageous father, who fought a bear. He imagines the story of his father fighting the bear many times, with it clearly leaving an impression on him. Later in his life, when Amir is an adult, he has a dream about that very story. He dreams that his father is fighting the ferocious bear again, only to find out that it’s not his father fighting the bear- it’s him. This dream displays Amir’s character development symbolically, showing how he is no longer that cowardly little boy, but more like his father. This also shows that Amir has become strong enough to seek redemption. Lastly, in Rahim Khan’s final note, he states that Baba was a tortured soul, just like Amir himself (put quote here). Amir always idolized his father, doing almost anything for his father’s love and affection. However, in the end, they were always more similar than he ever thought. Amir’s dream of fighting the same bear as his father demonstrates that he has become like his father, who he previously thought that he was nothing like. When he has the dream, it shows that he is strong enough to seek redemption. In Rahim Khan’s final note, he notes that Baba was a tortured soul, just like Amir himself, and that the two were more alike than they

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