Throughout The Kite Runner by Khalid Hosseini, there are many structural elements that support the theme of redemption and how salvation is possible no matter how terrible an act is. Early in the book, the main character Amir watches his friend/servant Hassan get raped by the neighborhood bully. After realizing what he had done, Amir felt incredibly guilty and it became impossible for him to even be near Hassan. After moving to America and growing up, he continues to struggle with his guilt, and keeps it buried inside. Eventually, he is faced with an opportunity for redemption, and there are many signs leading him toward it.
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.
The author puts a lot of moral ambitious character in the story the Kite Runner. Amir is an example of a moral ambitious character. He is evil in the beginning of the story, but as he matures and grows up as an adult. The Kite Runner By Khaled Hosseini, is a novel about a young boy named Amir and how he grows up in the Afghan war and how life was during the war. Amir's Moral Ambiguity is important to this story because he provides readers to like and hate him. The author provides the reader with mixed feeling about Amir.
The connection between the relationships of Hassan and Amir and then Amir and Sohrab thrive off of the conflicts and the recurring motifs throughout the novel. Amir lived his redemiton and his loyalty through Sohrab, trying to make what he did to Hassan feel like less of a burden on his shoulders. There are many different ways for one to redeem themselves, but there is no better way to show loyalty than to be present in a time of
In The Kite Runner, Khalid Hosseini writes that Amir makes mistakes, and because of that, it takes his entire life to redeem himself. Throughout The Kite Runner, Amir is looking for redemption. One of the reasons why Amir redeems himself was to fix the wrong he did to Hassan in his childhood. On the other hand, many may believe that Amir didn’t earn anything and rather wasted his time in Afghanistan. It might be thought that Amir did not revert his wrong to Hassan and did not redeem himself. Amir was able to do this in various ways throughout the book, especially towards the end. The Kite Runner by Khalid Hosseini shows that Amir is able to redeem himself from the wrong he did to Hassan by putting himself in danger to rescue Sohrab, by receiving a scar from the fight with Assef signifying his redemption, and finally by bringing Sohrab back to United States with him.
Holding a terrible truth that can lead to so much guilt can tear a person apart. Not only from themselves, but from others too. In the novel, The Kite Runner, there are many characters with many secrets that the others don’t know about. Two characters of many others are Amir and Rahim Khan. Amir is the main focus of the novel; it basically starts with his childhood all the way until he’s an adult. He was one of the most wealthy people in Afghanistan, until the Russian’s take over later on. His father, Baba, is very respected by others. Baba never paid much attention to his son, also his honesty with him was very poor. Therefore, Amir would spend most of his childhood with his servant, Hassan. Hassan is the reason Amir’s life changed forever, from
In Khaled Hosseini’s novel, The Kite Runner, Amir struggles to cope with his inaction during Hassan’s rape. Overwhelmed with guilt, Amir devises a plan to get Hassan and Ali dismissed so they would no longer be a constant reminder of all the times Hassan had protected him and his failure to do the same. The guilt of betraying Hassan burdens him for years, and even after he and Baba move to America, he carries the weight of his actions with him. However, after he accepts Rahim Khan’s request to rescue Sohrab and bring him to safety, Amir strives to leave behind the selfishness and cowardice he had previously succumbed to. Amir progressively begins to forgive himself for his injustices towards Hassan as he recognizes his evolution from a coward
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.
Guilt is like a scar; it is a painful reminder of an unpleasant situation and is ugly until accepted and moved on from. However, unlike some scars, guilt can dissipate over time as individuals learn to forgive themselves for their wrongdoing. Guilt, along with self-forgiveness, is frequently seen with morally ambiguous characters, such as Amir from Khaled Hosseini’s novel The Kite Runner. In the story, a young Amir fails to protect his friend Hassan from the antagonist, Assef, which results in the profound guilt that follows him into his adult life. Eventually, he finds a way to forgive himself for his misdeed, as do readers. It is through Amir’s experience that Hosseini
Betrayal is an issue many can relate to, whether it is done by a family member or a friend. In the book The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, we witness betrayal play a vital role in the downfall of the main character’s Amir and Hassan’s friendship, and how betrayal was the reason for why Amir sought redemption in hopes to move on. The novel begins with Amir as an adult, recalling an event that took place in 1975 in his hometown Kabul, Afghanistan and how this event was what changed the rest of his life and made him who he now is. Despite this heartbreaking occurrence of Amir’s reluctance to help Hassan while he was being raped, it was the reason for why Amir later decided to be brave and stand up for what he believes in. Hosseini shows us how the Afghani culture and Amir’s reluctance to help
As regular people we know that when we damage someone we love, we try to find redemption in any way possible. Fear, pride and many other factors play in the act of doing what is considered to be morally right. In Khaled Husseini’s The Kite Runner, the protagonist, Amir, deals with a situation where he is confronted by deciding weather to help a dear friend or ignore a harsh situation. All of this leads to the author using symbolism, irony and imagery.
In the book “The Kite Runner” kite flying is a symbol for innocence and love .Most of the major themes of the novel find their way into the image of Amir and Hassan flying kites.When Amir later tries to remember something happy, he pictures himself and Hassan flying kites.
Guilt is an emotion that comes from believing one was responsible for a particular mistake whether the assessment was accurate or not. (Powell)It can be described as “a bothered conscience” or “a feeling of culpability for offences”. One feels guilty when there is a feeling of responsibility for an action one regrets. (Barker, Guilt and Shame).A wrongdoer must deal with guilt by making atonement- by making reparation and penance.
Life is all about second chances, there are many mistakes committed by us in the past and the present. The novel the kite runner explores the mistakes committed by Amir and always hoped to atone the sins. Sins committed weigh on one’s conscience and it’s not every day that one gets an opportunity to redeem their misdoings. It’s only a fortunate few who are given the chance to atone for their sins.