The Kite Runner Amir Cruelty Analysis

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

Amir sees his friend in physical, mental, and emotional pain and does nothing to stop it. In order to justify this betrayal Amir believes that “Nothing [is] free in this world. Maybe Hassan [is] the price [he] ha[s] to pay, the lamb he ha[s] to slay to win Baba. [Is] it a fair price? The answer float[s] to [his] conscious mind before [he] could thwart it: He [is] just a Hazara [isn’t] he?” (77). In this quote Amir shows his selfishness in the quest for Baba’s affection. He points out that “nothing is free” as he is talking about the love that he yearns for from his father, because he craves this affection so strongly he allows Hassan to be injured as the price to attain Baba’s love. Amir views Hassan as expendable; he blatantly points out that Hassan “is the price he has to pay” as if Hassan was an object, not a human. The innocence of Hassan is shown when he becomes a

Shame means that you feel remorse for something weather it is your actions or the actions of another. But having shame about a certain action or event doesn't necessarily mean that you have to regret or even take back what happened because there may be justifications and sometimes you can’t justify how you feel or why you feel that way. That being said shame is both the greatest motivator and the greatest deterrent, a lot of people build their lives around forces like shame.

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. Although, Amir shows many acts of kindness and selflessness, in the end, he was not able to truly redeem himself.

The final guilt Amir struggles with is his guilt of apathy where he physically commits the action and instead of standing as a bystander becomes the person who committed the act, which gives him a different form of guilt. Amir feels apathy guilt through betraying his friend and kicking Hassan out of the house because he is a witness to the crime Amir has committed. Amir has guilt because he chases Hassan out, “I flinched, like I’d been slapped… Then I understood: This was Hassan’s final sacrifice for me… And that led to another understanding: Hassan knew. He knew I’d seen everything in that alley, that I’d stood there and done nothing. He knew I had betrayed him and yet he was rescuing me once again, maybe for the last time” (ch. 12). Amir

In the novel, The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini tells the story of Amir, a young, Afghan boy who learns about what it means to be redeemed through the experiences he encounters in his life. The idea of redemption becomes a lesson for Amir when he is a witness to the tragic sexual assault of his childhood friend, Hassan. As a bystander in the moment, Amir determines what is more important: saving the life of his friend or running away for the safety of himself. In the end, Amir decides to flee, resulting in Amir having to live with the guilt of leaving Hassan behind to be assaulted. Hosseini shows us how Amir constantly deals with the remorse of the incident, but does not attempt to redeem himself until later in his life when Hassan has died.

Amir is the villain of The Kite Runner because he is greedy for Baba’s love, this leads to his disloyalty to Hassan and demonstrates his cowards because of his feelings of his guilt. Amir, although living a luxurious life feels something is missing, and it’s his father’s approval, he would do anything for it. After winning the kite tournament went to search for Hassan to see him surrounded by Assef and his two friends but, “Behind him, sitting on piles, of scraps and rubble, was the blue kite. [His] key to Baba’s heart” (71). All he cared about was the kite he cut in the tournament, he even sacrificed his best friend just for his father’s love. Not only does he not help Hassan, but also has these thoughts afterward, Hassan put his life on the line and Amir starts to think, “Nothing was

The failure in Amir’s human nature is caring only for himself which leaves Amir to abandon the right decision, standing up to Assef even if it means suffering the same faith as Hassan. Amir, “ had one last chance to make a decision... I could step into that alley, stand up for Hassan--the way he'd stood up for me all those times in the past--and accept whatever would happen to me. Or I could run. In the end, I ran” (Hosseini 77). Amir fails to protect Hassan. Amir put his needs before Hassan’s needs. As a consequence of Amir’s failure, Hassan is raped by Assef. Amir feels his betrayal as guilt for what he allows to happen.

Everyone has heard the saying “nobody is perfect” and it is true we are all humans, we all make mistakes sometimes, but to what extent does someone stop forgiving when they have endured all the hardship a person gives them after they have been forgiven several times. There is a certain point in life when some people do not deserve to be forgiven because every time that person is forgiven, that person takes advantage it because that person knows they will be forgiven. There is one very prominent character in a story who fits the reason of why some people do not deserve forgiveness, especially when they've been given multiple chances to do the right thing. That person is Amir from the book the Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.

Hassan wasn't the strongest or biggest but he was the bravest and he had a strong heart. He

Because he protected Amir earlier and threatened to take Assef’s eye out, Assef seeks Hassan out and punishes him. Amir just sits and watches, but he is only eleven years old. Like in the earlier violent scene, Hassan remains courageous throughout the entire ordeal and continues to remain loyal to Amir. Even before the rape actually took place, Hassan defends Amir and states, ‘“Amir agha won the tournament and I ran this kite for him. I ran it fairly. This is his kite” (page number). Assef and his cronies had Hassan cornered, but instead of giving them what they wanted, Hassan continued to be a great friend to Amir and to fight for fairness. Hassan’s rape also marked a changing point in Amir’s story. Amir continually blames himself for not stepping up and stopping Assef and for everything that happens to Hassan thereafter. Before the incident, Amir and Hassan were, through their actions, close friends. But after the incident, Amir and Hassan are like oil and water, repelling against one another until eventually Hassan and Ali, his father, leave. All of this started with Hassan’s

He tries to redeem himself from what he did to Hassan. Amir doesn't know why he needs to go against, all he knows is that Rahim Khan needs him to come. ¨ I lay in the dark of the night Rahim Khan called and traced with my eyes the parallel silver lines on the wall made by the moonlight pouring through the blinds¨ (Hosseini 194). Amir's Moral ambiguity comes in when he decides to come back to Afghanistan. He decides to come so he can redeem himself from all the evil things he did while he was there. After he talks to Rahim Khan, he tells him the Hassan not only his childhood best friend but his half brother. Amir tries to help Hassan's own son, Sorab, who is his nephew that is locked in a orphanage. He ends up finding out that a taliab took Sorab. He is shocked when he finds where he is. He finds out that the head person there is Assef. He has unfinished business with amir.¨ When it's all done, only one of us will walk out of this room alive,¨ Assef said. ¨if it's him, them he's earned his freedom and to let him pass, do you understand?¨ What Assef is saying is that they have to settle their differences and if Amir wins then he gets to take Sohrab home. Amir is a good person, he is willing to get beat to death to save Sohrab. He is risking his life to save

Lastly, Amir sacrifices his life to accommodate for Sohrab, Hassan’s son, after being taken by the Taliban. Amir resembles Baba because he too takes up redemption for the awful things he did. He understands the great danger Sohrab is in. He risks his life to help Sohrab; this shows loyalty to Hassan. Even though Sohrab is not Hassan saving his son shows that Amir is loyal to him. He would do anything for Hassan to make up for his childhood. After finding Sohrab, Amir comes face to face with Assef, Hassan 's rapist. “Another rib snapped, this time lower. What was so funny was that, for the first time since the winter of 1975, I felt at peace. I laughed because I saw that, in some hidden nook in the corner of my mind, I’d even been looking forward to this… My body was broken – just how badly I wouldn’t find out until later – but I felt healed” (Hosseini 289) This scene depicts the acceptance that Amir finally faces. He starts coming to terms with his past because he feels at peace over the fact that he is finally getting justice for Hassan. That he is brave enough not to run away just as Hassan would stay to fight. Amir sacrifices everything for Sohrab just as Hassan did for him once. Amir finally shows the love for Hassan that was given to

In The Kite Runner, the author tells a story of the close friendship of two boys who come from different social classes, Amir being the wealthy boy and Hassan the servant. It takes place in Kabul, Afghanistan in 1978, a time where the separation of Hazara Shia Muslims and Sunni Muslims took place. A part in the book where we witness betrayal of their friendship and this division of culture is after the yearly kite tournament where Hassan goes after the kite Amir won and promises to bring it back to him. During his search for the kite, Hassan encounters Assef and his friends, who constantly bullied Amir, threatened Hassan to give up the kite or pay the price. Being that Hassan was loyal and wanted to keep his promise to Amir, he decided to pay the price which was rape. The saddest part was that Amir was there watching from a distance and was unwilling to help his best friend due to his lack of courage and inability to stand up for himself. Up until adulthood, Amir had to carry the baggage of betraying Hassan by not being there when he most needed him, this guilt tormented him to the point where he moved to America with his dad, Baba, as a way to escape his

In society today individuals face problems and setbacks in their lives, many strive to find a way to retrieve any lost honor and certainty that keeps their lives balanced. Honor is defined as “ a regard with great respect” can be understood in different aspects from individuals. Certainty, however, is a “ Firm conviction that something is the case”. Despite possibly knowing a method of a person’s preservation, actually being able to achieve this will be the greatest of them all. In the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, the author seeks a way to retrieve their lost honor and certainty. In the story, Amir loses his honor when he decides not to assist Hassan while he is being rapped by Assef. Amir continues to lose his faith in himself