The Kite Runner Evil Analysis

The novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini suggests that evil is not just subject to a mere one form, but rather appears in innumerable, disparate respects and that the simplest method in which to discern this myriad of evils is to categorize them into two separate groups - evil actions and pure evilness. An evil action is when someone deliberately behaves in a certain manner towards another person that consequently or directly causes the other person serious harm, whether it be physical or mental. An evil person is someone who does the aforementioned evil actions repeatedly and with no remorse or guilt, even taking pleasure in what they are doing. This is seen when Hosseini portrays the main character, Amir, performing evil actions in his youth, but then ultimately showing that Amir is a decent person that simply makes various unethical choices that he regrets for nearly two

Later, the character Assef is constructed to depict the epitome of pure evilness since, as teenager and adult, he harasses and torments innocent people for no significant gain other than personal satisfaction and amusement, without ever feeling the slightest bit of guilt or regret. Hosseini demonstrates the distinct disparities between being truly evil compared to merely doing evil actions through Amir’s own actions and subsequent feelings of guilt and regret, and his attempts to redeem himself compared to Assef’s lack of any emotions resembling remorse.

Amir is someone who has done evil actions in his life, but should in no regard be considered to be evil himself. Amir’s first act of evil is when he witnesses his friend, Hassan, being raped, thus resulting in him having to choose between two alternative courses of action - to “stand up for Hassan - the way he’d stood up for [him] in the past - and accept