Redemption in Family and Friends 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 …show more content…
“Please think, Amir jan. It was a shameful situation. People would talk. All that a man had back then, all that he was, was his honor, his name,...” (Hosseini 223). By Rahim Khan saying this, Amir now understands why Baba always tried to do good, because deep down inside he couldn’t bear to know what he’s done. He couldn’t love Hassan the way he wanted to. That’s why he built the orphanage and did so many other great things so he had something to distract him from his mistake and hopefully feel some redemption. Rahim Khan, Amir and Baba all redeem themselves through Sohrab. “I looked at the round face in the Polaroid again, the way the sun fell on it. My brother’s face. Hassan had loved me once, loved me in a way that no one ever had or ever would again. He was gone now, but a little part of him lived on. It was in Kabul. Waiting” (Hosseini 227). All three characters redeemed themselves through Sohrab. Rahim Khan finally told Amir the truth, also redeeming Baba, because by telling the truth, at least one of his sons knows the truth, and now Amir can do something right. That is to get Sohrab and redeem himself from
And that, I believe, is what true redemption is, Amir jan, when guilt leads to good" (260). This quote reveals Baba's sacrifices and his concern for the welfare of others. It illustrates his efforts
In many works of literature, the main character must sacrifice something significant to attain approval from one. However, they may realize that the sacrifice will cost more than what he or she is trying to gain. In the novel, The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, the main character, Amir sacrifices his friend, Hassan, to gain Baba’s love. Though Amir was born into a wealthy Afghan family with everything that he ever needed, his life is empty, as he feels deprived of connection with Baba, due to Hassan’s existence. Through cowardice, Amir uses Hassan to achieve what he wanted for all his life; however, Amir realizes that his selfishness cost him his happiness.
Decades later, when Amir is now married and lives in America, Rahim Khan calls him and asks him to come to Pakistan. After talking to Rahim Khan, Amir falls asleep, “And dreamed of Hassan running in the snow, the hem of his green chapan dragging behind him… He was yelling over his shoulder: For you, a thousand times over!” (Hosseini 194). Even after all this time, Amir can never forget Hassan, and with that, he can also never lose the feelings he had towards Hassan as well. As a boy, Amir was always jealous of the attention Baba gave Hassan, especially because he was just a servant.
Amir's desire is evident from the beginning of the novel as he covets the attention and love of his father. He views his friend, Hassan, as a mere servant, and is jealous of the affection that Hassan receives from his father. Amir's selfishness leads him to betray Hassan in order to win his father's love and approval, ultimately leading to the destruction of their friendship. One example of Amir's selfishness can be seen in the way he treats Hassan. Despite being his best friend and loyal companion, Amir views Hassan as inferior and undeserving of his friendship.
During his birthday party after the kite competition, Amir remembers Rahim Khan telling him, “‘Did I ever tell you I was almost married once?’” (Hosseini 98). Amir’s reaction was to think, “I’d always thought of [Rahim Khan] as Baba’s quiet alter ego, my writing mentor, my pal….But a husband? A father?”
Amir risked his life for Sohrab, Hassan’s son, to repay the wrong he commits toward Hassan. The recurring theme of sacrifice for the ones you love is presented all throughout the novel through Hassan, Baba, and Amir. Hassan and Amir are divided by economic differences throughout their childhood.
Following the conversation, Amir dwells on one thing, and that is the quote, “There is a way to be good again”(Hosseini 2). Amir travels to Pakistan and learns from Rahim Khan, his friend, a shocking truth. Hosseini depicts the scene,” Did Hassan know? … How could you hide this from me?
Amir’s Redemption in The Kite Runner 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.
In his mind, he believes that Baba will send Ali and Hassan away, and, as a result, he will finally gain some peace. To Amir’s surprise, Hassan confesses to stealing his gifts without hesitation symbolizing “Hassan’s final sacrifice for [him]” (105). At that moment, Amir realizes that Hassan knew of his betrayal, which added to his already guilty conscience. Hassan could have easily told Baba the truth and he would have believed him because”[everyone] knew that Hassan never lied”, which, in turn, would ruin Amir’s relationship with his father (105). He probably knew that Amir was unworthy of his sacrifice, that he was the “snake in the grass, the monster in the lake”, but he lied for Amir’s own benefit
When Amir went back to Afghanistan because of Rahim Khan’s letter, he went to redeem himself for his past mistakes. He needed to get rid of the guilt that has been haunting him for years. "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 nook in the corner of my mind, I had been looking forward to this." (Hosseini 289).
The significance of death in this case is shown throughout how Rahim Khan acts, and ultimately affects his actions that he makes. Rahim Khan calls Amir to come back to Afghanistan to tell him the truth about all the things that Baba had kept a secret, and also to persuade Amir to get Sohrab back. Rahim Khan states, “‘I want to tell you about him. I want to tell you everything’” (Hosseini 202).
Everyone has wronged someone in their past-- whether it was with an unkind word or with a betrayal. In Khaled Hosseini’s 2003 novel The Kite Runner, the main character, Amir, has to live with the guilt of wronging his servant, best friend, and secret half brother, Hassan, by watching passively as he gets raped. The Kite Runner tells of Amir, an upper class Afghan, and his childhood, immigration to America due to the Russian invasion, return to Afghanistan, and subsequent settling of debts. Amir’s guilt from not preventing Hassan’s rape causes him to drive Hassan away, and the guilt from both of these actions follow him throughout his life until he finds and adopts Hassan’s son and his nephew, Sohrab.
I want you to bring Sohrab here. ”(Pg. 220) I think the quote is trying to tell us that Rahim new how much Amir wanted to redeem himself so he gave
The Kite Runner describes the life of Amir. Before the war, he lived in Kabul with his father Baba, their servant Ali and Ali’s son Hassan. Hassan and Ali are from a lower class than Amir and Baba, but Amir and Hassan are best friends regardless. In this essay the assertion ‘Amir is selfish and
In the fiction novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, happiness and redemption are two separate occurrences in life that are achieved in different ways. A critic of the novel writes that The Kite Runner is a “thoughtful book in which redemption and happiness are not necessarily the same thing,” The happiness and redeeming qualities of the characters in the novel are not one and the same; sometimes, one is without the other. This leads to a disconnection between these two aspects. When Amir was a young boy in Afghanistan, the one thing that brought him true happiness was when Baba was proud of him.