The Kite Runner Persuasive Essay

Redemption is possible.

“Come. There is a way to be good again” (Hosseini 192). In Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, the reader is introduced to the theme of ‘redemption’. This is a reoccurring theme for several cases, and Hosseini is quite fond of its resurrection. In the novel, the main character, Amir, had witnessed the sexual assault of his friend and half-brother, Hassan. Throughout the book, Amir faces internal struggles including the guilt of not saving Hassan, keeping the information to himself, and constantly avoiding any occurring problems.

Guilt is a supreme emotion. It envelops its captive in an overwhelming amount of angst and paranoia; a clear example of this case is the early stages of Amir’s battle. “’For you a thousand times over!” he said. Then he smiled his Hassan smile and disappeared around the corner. The next time I saw him smile unabashedly like that was twenty-six years later, in a faded Polaroid photograph” (Hosseini 67). For those who have read The Kite Runner, it is blatantly obvious how frequently Hosseini uses foreshadowing to further appall and captivate his readers. Twenty-six years prior to the famed assault, Amir juggles both his guilt and life in America.

Amir struggles to both face his secret and stay as far away from it as possible. “Hassan milled about the periphery of my life after that. I made sure our paths crossed as little as possible, planned my day that way. Because when he was around, the oxygen seeped out of the room” (Hosseini 88). In this quote it is extremely clear how drastically Amir goes out of his way to elude Hassan completely, for it pains him even physically to be around the boy. Upon doing this, Amir uses his tactic of evasion to almost punish himself before beginning the redemption process. He has to come to terms with himself before ever even thinking about whether or not he can make it right with Hassan