“There is a way to be good again.” Marks a point in Amirs life when he truly discovers redemption can be attainable even in the worst of circumstances. After years of dnial, lies, hiding and ignorance this phone conversation with Raham Khan plants the seeds for Amirs ultimate redemption. Khaled Hosseni’s The Kite Runner explores this theme as Amir faces emotional and physical hardship in an effort to quash the ghosts of his past. Throughout the novel Hosseni uses symbols to help illustrate Amir’s guit…
Amir and Hassan had a very complicated relationship in which both boys felt at times they had been close like brothers and at other times it was just more of a servant-master relationship. Their relationship can be one way at times and another way at other times. Sometimes Amir didn't see Hassan as a friend because friends stand up for each other and support each other and help each other in times of trouble and come to each other's defense when needed, and Amir did not do any of those things for Hassan. Amir feels guilty for the choices he made in the situations that were brought towards him but obviously he didn't feel guilty enough because he never tried hard enough to fix things. A huge theme throughout the entire book in which Amir attempts…
The political discourse and historical tragedies that affect a country can cause turmoil in the lives of the citizens that reside there. The people of Afghanistan have been forced to cope with the chaos of their country which has left them traumatized and inconvenienced. In the novel, The Kite Runner, each character has their lives drastically changed as the events of Afghanistan's past world issues create hardship, grief, and difference for the lives of Amir, Sohrab and Farid.…
Amir is very selfish and only does things for his own benefit. He did not have the courage or strength to step in and save his friend in the alley from Assef. He made the choice to betray his friend. As Hassan stood his ground in the alley and chooses to honor his promise to Amir and return the kite to him, Amir stood silent at the end of the alley and watched the beating and rape of his friend Hassan. The following quotation emphasizes how Amir is unworthy of Hassan’s loyalty: “I had one last chance to make a decision. One final opportunity to decide who I was going to be. I could step into that alley, stand up for Hassan – the way he’d stood up for me all those time in the past – and accept whatever would happen to me. Or I could run. In the end, I ran.” (82). Amir’s betrayal continues, as he later decides that he no longer wants Hassan and his father in the household, so he decides to set up Hassan and accuse him of stealing. “I went downstairs, crossed the yard, and entered Ali and Hassan’s living quarters by the loquat tree. I lifted Hassan’s mattress and planted my new watch and a handful of Afghani bills under it.” (110). Amir betrays Hassan by trying to have his friend fired for stealing. Hassan took the blame to keep Amir out of trouble. This…
After Amir wins the competition, Hassan goes to retrieve his kite, when he then gets into a brawl with Assef and his two other boys. When Amir goes to find Hassan, he sees how he is getting abused by Assef and decides not to do anything about. He thought to himself, “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” (Hosseini 77). In the end, Amir decided to run because he was a coward and only thought of the best for himself, not Hassan. Readers uncover irony within this section of the novel. In order for Hassan not to be raped, he had to give Assef Amir’s kite, which Hassan knew would help boost Amir and Baba’s relationship. So Hassan, being a great friend, sacrifices himself, just so that Baba can be proud of Amir for once. After the rape, Amir and Hassan become distant from one another. When the two are face-to-face, Amir wishes Hassan would punish him. For instance, he pelts Hassan with the pomegranates, because he wants Hassan to hit him back. Punishment, Amir feels, would at least begin to make up for the way he wronged Hassan. Hassan, however, will not retaliate, and that became the greatest torment for Amir. Since Amir is still filled with the guilt of leaving Hassan to be raped in the alleyway, he decided he has to put an end to this. Seeing Hassan everyday was a constant reminder of his wronged actions. So, Amir went into Hassan’s living quarters, lifted his “mattress and planted [his] new watch and a handful of Afghani bills under it”, which made Baba believe Hassan stole all those items (Hosseini 104). Baba begs for Ali and Hassan to stay with them, but Ali makes the final decision that it would be best if they…
Amirs selfish actions although unforgivable are in ways not only his fault. When Amir “ran” from Hassans rape, it was not because he was just a “coward” Amir had been pushed away by his father and yearned for his affection so much that he thought, “Hassan was the price to pay.. to win Baba” and his affection, this is significant because it could be argued that if Amir had not had to win Babas affections the key scene of Hassans rape may have turned out differently and Amir may not have felt the guilt and need to commit his following selfish acts.…
He can also be called Amir's protector, guardian and teacher because Amir learnt many things from Hassan. From a readers point of view we could never question Hassan's loyalty towards. We see many examples of Hassan's loyalty for example daily routine of serving, sticking up for him against Assef and of most loyal act sacrifice himself for Amir and be raped by Assef. Hassan's action or qualities can never be questioned as wrongdoing or selfish. "For you a thousand times over" Amir on the other hand, we can see many actions of self-centerness, betrayal and jealousy. Through out his childhood he always tested Hassan's loyalty but never tested his own loyalty. Amir while yes being a friend with a Hazara is loyal thing, Hassan was only the backup. " Wondered why he never includes you in games when he has guests? ...something he can play with when he's bored, something he can kick when he's angry." In reference to Baba and Amir, they were not very alike because they shared no interests. Even though Amir cried out for his fathers love, Baba could never accept his Amir for who he was. Baba always wanted more from Amir, to stand up for himself, to be a man and not to sit around and write and read. Amir was not strong minded or willed and was highly emotional and self absorbed. But 26 years later, after the sexually assault of Hassan we see a very different…
The first step to redemption is acknowledging what has been done wrong. This may seem easy, but it took Amir decades to get past this step. After Hassan was raped, Amir didn’t tell anyone about it, which built up a lot of guilt and stress in him. Amir avoided Hassan, and whenever he was…
Throughout this novel, there are several different events of betray depicted, mainly between Amir and Hassan. However, one of the most significant example is when Amir etches Hassan as he gets raped by Assef. Amir states, “I had final opportunity to decide who I was going to be. I could step into that alley, stand up for Hassan the way he stood up for me all those times in the past-and accept whatever would happen to me if I could run, In the end, I ran. It shows that Amir had a chance to save Hassan, however he ran out. (68)” It shows that Amir is a coward, and he runs always runs away from his problem. Furthermore, he backstabbed Hassan by not standing up, nor fighting Assef to help save him. Another example of betrayal is portrayed by Amir. After the rape incident that happened to Hassan, Amir did not speak up for him. As Amir thinks about the alleyways, and is constantly reminded about Hassan rather than speaking up for him, he wanted Baba to dismiss, both of them so they can move on with their own lives. Amir states, “I went downstairs, crosses the yard, and I entered Ali, and Hassan`s living quarters by the loquat tree. I lifted Hassan`s mattress and planted my new watch and a handful of Afghani bills under” (9.21-22). Therefore, this shows now Amir lied and told Baba that Hassan stole the watch and money, when he was once betrayed, and deceived Amir. However, Hassan consistently stays loyal to Amir, and tells Bab that…
At the beginning of the novel, Amir is a young selfish child who cares about himself and only himself, which is evident by the choices he makes. His obsession to please Baba, his father, causes him to betray his best friend, later known to be his half-brother, Hassan. Hassan was raped by Assef, the novel’s antagonist, because he was protecting the kite Amir yearned for to satisfy Baba. Amir later confesses, “Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba” (Hosseini 7). As a consequence, Amir lives with an abundant amount of guilt, in which he tries to avoid, but as the years crawl by, he is unable to find tranquility. His guilty conscious troubles…
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 sa 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…
Before Amir did those things to Hassan, he didn’t consider the consequence, the only thing he care is his Baba’s love. However, after Hassan leaved his home, Amir afraid face the things that related to Hassan, he didn’t realize the truth that the feeling is that come from his guilt of Hassan. For example: “I ended up tossing the book on the heap of gifts in the corner of my room. But my eyes kept going back to it, so I buried it at the bottom.” (Pg 100) Amir really knows what will he do to Hassan, he refuse to accept the things from Hassan, included the memory with him. Finally Amir makes Hassan leave from his Baba without guilt in his mind. However, with the time goes by, Amir gradually becomes more and more mature, he realized his wrong on Hassan and wanted redeem himself, for instance, Amir said: “But how could I pack up and go back home when my actions may have cost Hassan a chance at those same things?”(Pg 238) Amir was struggling with his past because the things he did to Hassan, he wanted redeem himself, finally the guilt forced him to go back home. When he during the journey that go back to pick Hassan’s child, he met Assef and fought with him, Amir said that “My body was broken-just how badly I wouldn’t find out until later-but I felt healed. Healed at last. I laughed.” (Pg 303). According to this quote, Amir felt healed because he thought it was a redemption, he wanted punish his cowardice and forced himself to face Assef. The guilt just like a nightmare which Amir wants to refuse and forgo it, he finally get a way to figure out…
Dr. Lickerman explains that,”To label anyone, even the most despicable of figures, as purely evil is to delude ourselves”(Redemption). Labeling Amir as a bad person suggest that he never did anything to change or continued to act as the same misguided boy from his past. Even with his weaknesses he turns his life around and transcends to do the right thing instead of behaving egocentrically. He puts massive efforts in helping Sohrab recover emotionally and physically. His recovery suits as his last step in finding peace with himself and accepting that he has no power in changing the past. Amir becomes a parental figure for him which helps him deal with his emotions until Amir breaks his promise. When Amir breaks his promise, he reminisces his past betrayal and must take another step to make things right with Sohrab. After the incident Amir saves Sohrab from the danger of Afghanistan and takes him back to America. Amir then expresses that he has, “brought Hassan's son from Afghanistan to America, lifting him from the certainty of turmoil" (Hosseini 356). His feelings change from guiltiness and self condemnation to clarity and peace when he stands up for Sohrab. He becomes his protector from society and himself. When General Taheri asks why he made such an effort for a Hazara, Amir responds, “He’s my nephew. That's what you tell people when they ask... You will never refer to him as ‘Hazara boy’...he has a name” (Hosseini 361). Standing up for Sohrab shows Amir’s development throughout the story, proving his goodness and redemption. According to Diane Barth’s study on redemption, “Development and growth only occur when we are able to recognize and attempt to rectify our transgressions”(How Much Guilt is Enough). Amir works his way slowly to change his actions becoming someone honest, caring, and…
Amir basically avoids Hassan as much as possible ever since the rape happened. Even when Hassan tries to play with Amir He barley speaks to him and his replies are short. This may not be the any other person would deal with a problem like this but Amir was just a scared little boy. He even goes out of his way to plant a watch he got and money for his birthday under Hassan’s bed to frame Hassan. Amir’s…
In the alley, when watching transfixed as Hassan is tortured and humiliated by Assef, Amir opts to “[run]. [He] ran because he was a coward. [He] was afraid… maybe Hassan was the price [he] had to pay, the lamb [he] had to slay, to win Baba”. Knowing full well that Hassan would have gone to any length to protect Amir, for his perpetual loyalty never faltered, Amir fails to help the one who was always by his side in his time of need. For purely egocentric and self-protective reasons, and the fleeting gain of Baba’s attention, Amir betrays Hassan in an appalling manner, severing the ties of allegiance and brotherhood once holding them together.…