Kite Runner Friendship Theme

Friendship is essential to living a fulfilling life. To find a good friend is like finding buried treasure at the bottom of the ocean. Or a needle in a haystack. Many of us, like Amir, take friendship for granted. We don’t realize what we have until it’s too late. The common characteristics of a “perfect friend” is to be loyal, kind, honest, and supportive. Hassan was every single one of these qualities to Amir, and he knew it. Hassan did everything for Amir, he cares about him more than anyone else ever had. Although they were the bestest of friends, Amir was still embarrassed of Hassan. Hassan was commonly discriminated because of his hazara ethnicity. Amir grew up thinking he was better than him, and that’s what everyone else thought too. When tragedy struck, Amir panicked. Years later, Rahim Khan calls Amir, who is now an adult living in San Francisco. After all those years, Amir was still carrying the weight of his guilt on his back. He was still dreaming about Hassan in the alleyway. What happened to Hassan
has been eating away at his sanity for all these years. It’s like Rahim knows how bad Amir feels because when he calls, he says, “there is a way to be good again.” (pg 2) In the beginning of the story, you have no idea what Rahim Khan meant. You just know something dreadful happens. As you read the book, you learn what has happened and start to feel Amir’s guilt along with him. All he wants is to be redeemed from the claws of what happened that day to Hassan. Amir doesn’t know that Rahim Khan knows, he’s been carrying the burden all alone, when he didn’t have to. When he calls, Amir finally knows he knows, he’s eager; but also very terrified to finally fix his mistake from all those years ago. During the climax of the book when Amir confronts Assef, you really feel the pain that Amir has been through.
In order to fix his mistakes, he goes to save Sohrab, Hassan’s son. There is a lot of obstacles and dangerous situations Amir goes through in Afghanistan, all for Sohrab. During the fight scene, Amir just takes the beating. “What’s so funny?” Assef bellowed. Another rib snapped, this time left lower. What was so funny was that, for the first time since the winter of 1975, I felt at peace. (pg 289) You realize that this is exactly what Amir has been waiting for. All these years and he has had no punishment for his actions, he got away with abandoning his best friend in a time of need. Amir finally feels like he’s getting what he deserves. When I read this part of the book, my eyes swelled with tears. You realize how much Amir loves Hassan, and he isn’t afraid to hide it anymore. He’s ready to treat Sohrab the way he should of treated
Hassan. By the end of the book, Amir is finally set free. He feels like everything has been made right again. He’s living with his wife Soraya, and his nephew Sohrab back in San Francisco. Sohrab has had some struggles since leaving Afghanistan, but Amir makes it very clear that he is not giving up on Sohrab. He is doing everything he can to make that little boy happy, just how Hassan did for Amir all those years ago. “Do you want me to run that kite for you?” His adam’s apple rose and fell as he swallowed. The wind lifted his hair. I thought I saw him nod. “For you, a thousand times over,” I heard myself say. (pg 371) Amir is becoming Sohrab’s new Hassan. He wants him to have the same happy life as he had when he was little because of his best friend, and I thought that was pretty sweet. Friendship is such an important essential to life. Friends help you through your dark times, they carry you when you feel like you’re sinking. A good friend is like your soulmate, you’re always going to be connected. Amir realized what he had lost and became at peace with himself by the end of the book. Redemption is always an option, because you do not want to let your best friend go.