Preview

kite runner essay

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1413 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
kite runner essay
Kite Runner Essay Amanda Beaven
The past, inevitable will always remain with you throughout your life and all your endeavours. The past is what defines us as individuals and guides us to new and better places in life. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini , a story built upon the events of the past and living with guilt which eventually leads to redemption, highly reflects the statement “the past is always there”. The poems ‘Invictus’ by William Ernest-Henley and ‘If’ by Rudpud Kipling also reflect ‘the past always being there’.

The Kite Runner, written by Khaled Hosseini, is a novel set in the midst of Taliban country, Kabul Afghanistan, in the mid 1970s up until the early 2000s. The novel highlights the differences within society, capturing the lives of two boys belonging to different religious adherence and defining the effects of the Taliban regarding these religions within society at the time. Amir, the protagonist is a Pashtun and we experience the story through his eyes and Hassan a Hazara, a slave to Amir, play the main characters in the novel.
The Kite Runner displays many different themes throughout the novel including the search for redemption and resilience, both having a significant effect on the novel and the characters within the novel.

The search for redemption makes up the heart of the novel with the main character, Amir venturing on a quest to clear his mind of all the inept things he has done and relieving the guilt that he has gained as a child. The main cause of Amir’s search for redemption occurs when Assef, the novels antagonist, rapes Hassan. The rape becomes a significant motif in the novel and a guilt stricken moment for Amir, who watches it happen “I had one last chance to make a decision. I could step into that alley and stand up for Hassan. Or I could run. In the end, I ran” This is a defining moment for Amir, we realise how much of a coward he is and how he would rather not hurt himself than to save his loyal friend.
The

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Review and think about the section titled "Contemporary Postmodern Understandings of Culture and Variation in Human Behavior" found in Chapter 8 of your text.…

    • 376 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Kite Runner, written by Khalid Hosseni is a novel, which follows the life of childhood friends Amir and Hassan who grew up together in Afghanistan during the seventies. Both had very different family backgrounds; Amir is the only son of a rich and powerful businessman while, Hassan’s father is a servant in Amir’s family. Amir and Hassan spent most of their free time together despite having very different personalities. This novel is told from the first person perspective by the main character, Amir. The novel is told as a story of Amir’s past, which contributes to the theme of loyalty and betrayal in the novel as it allows the reader to understand all aspects of Amir’s life. The reader is able to read exactly…

    • 1364 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Amir Vs Baba

    • 438 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is a story about a boy named Amir. The book is in Amir's point of view. The story follows the life of Amir from twelve year old boy to a thirty eight year old man. He used to live in Kabul, Afghanistan with Baba, his father. They had two servants, Ali and Hassan, his son. Throughout the story, both Amir and Baba made some questionable decisions to make Ali and Hassan quit their job.…

    • 438 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Rarely has a book left me speechless like The Kite Runner has. It was so beautifully haunting that I simply could not tear my eyes away from reading it. The portrayal of the characters emotions were so raw, that it left me in tears or crying in denial. Nonetheless Hosseini has published Kite Runner as his first book, which I find immensely awe worthy. To deliver a masterpiece that leaves its readers too stupefied to not deliberate in life is what amazes me about kite runner. Furthermore, the book has provided such realistic insight on the political upheaval that has occurred in Afghanistan. Within its 371 pages it has provided me a peak into the different ethnic groups and its social hierarchy. Not only does The Kite Runner emanate a wonderfully crafted story it also educates its readers with each turn of a page. Despite having a rather heated political situation circulating around the world presently, I still believe that people should read it. With so many misconceptions regarding Muslim nations floating around and eventually being seen as the truth, a read like this properly clarifies the gray…

    • 953 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When you read two great stories you always notice that they have things in common and some things different. From what I read “The Bean Trees” and “The Kite Runner”, their meaning had the most in common.…

    • 836 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the book "The Kite Runner" Amir and his father escape from Afghanistan before the Taliban can get them. Amir is happy to be in America because he longs for peace from what had happened to Hassan. Yet, he cannot escape the events that had happened that changed his life. He is still an insomniac and he carries guilt over not standing up against Assef when he was raping Hassan.…

    • 575 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Set during the rough times of the Taliban's reign of terror in Afghanistan and Afghanistan's war with Russia, Khaled Hosseini's novel The Kite Runner takes us through the agonizing journey t main character Amir makes as he struggles to gain redemption from his past sins, as well as gain the acceptance of his father, Baba. Hosseini shows us the death of a child's innocence when Amir horrifically witnesses his best friend, Hassan, getting raped and does nothing to stop it because society's social rankings hold him back. This death of Amir's innocence propels the story forward by pushing Amir to come to extreme measures in order to rid himself of the guilt pressing down on him, and allows the theme of redemption to be displayed through his desperate journey. Hosseini employs the device of imagery throughout his novel, which allows the characters to come alive off the pages, and aids us in truly understanding the immense suffering and pain the novel's characters endure.…

    • 949 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Amir seeks redemption at all costs because he humbly recognizes his mistakes. First of all, he decides to return to Kabul to rescue Sohrab, Hassan’s son. So doing, he faces Assef, who is now a leader of the Taliban and the pedophile owner of Sohrab. “His name rose from the deep and I didn’t want to say it… but he was already here, in the flesh, sitting less than ten feet from me, after all these years. His name escaped my lips: “Assef” (Hosseni 295). In facing Assef, Amir…

    • 647 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Life lessons are most learned through mistakes and while the mistake may undermine one at the time, the lesson learned will be appreciated greatly in the end. In the novel, The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini we witness Amir gain redemption along with self-awareness as he goes through his journey to save Sohrab, his nephew. Amir made many mistakes in his life, especially as a young child, which he entirely regrets, but his fight for redemption allows him to discover peace within himself.…

    • 692 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Kite Runner Themes

    • 2157 Words
    • 9 Pages

    The Kite Runner is an Afghan American fiction novel written by Khaled Hosseini. In the text the story of a man, named Amir’s, past is told. In continuation, a reader of the novel may get the impression, at the beginning of the book, that Amir is just an ungrateful child that receives everything he wants, but in reality that is not the case. Throughout his journey he dealt with various hardships that inflicted drastic alterations on it. As readers explore a journey down memory lane with Amir, a magnitude of themes is presented through the challenges that Amir faces. Ultimately, the trials and tribulation that people face help mold them into who they are.…

    • 2157 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    `Of Mice and Men, and To Kill a Mockingbird; what do these novels have in common? Both show childlike innocence, and how it is annihilated in society by adults. However, Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner, thinks the exact opposite. His novel encompasses the topic of growing up, and how it is fueled by making and fixing mistakes that prompt mature decisions in the future. Throughout the novel, Khaled Hosseini depicts coming of age through the main character, Amir, a boy living in Afghanistan with his best friend and servant, Hassan. As a child, Amir makes bad decisions that end up hurting Hassan. The decisions he makes when he is more mature reflect Amir nearing completion on his path to manhood. In The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini portrays that coming of age…

    • 1417 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Role and Conflict

    • 1218 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Kite Runner, written by Khaled Hosseini, is a novel about power, justice, and both internal and external conflict. The feelings of jealousy and selfishness are continually shown by at least two of the main characters throughout the story. This is also a story of cultural power brought on by the influences of the Taliban within the Afghan society. Power is a constant theme throughout the novel and ties closely with the conflict in the characters.…

    • 1218 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Miss

    • 709 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In the novel ‘The Kite Runner’ the author employs scene and setting to enhance the narrative throughout the novel. We see changes in setting throughout the book from countries to remote landscapes, however within these larger changes there are smaller ones that we can identify to have a significance on key events.…

    • 709 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Kite Runner Thesis

    • 840 Words
    • 4 Pages

    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.…

    • 840 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the novel, ‘The Kite Runner’ violence is a key aspect of the story, which helps emphasize other elements such as character and plot. Hoesinni’s depiction through scenes of rape, violence, and death only broaden the significance of the novel.…

    • 695 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays