Parallel Events In The Kite Runner

Through the use of parallel events along with themes, such as the journey towards adulthood and the search for redemption, Khaled Hosseini portrays a guilty Amir in search of redeeming himself and paints a story of "friendship, fathers, sons, betrayal, tribute and redemption" ("Novels which explore the struggle for modern identity"). Throughout the novel there are many parallel events that show Amir's quest to redeem himself, from his desire for acceptance in Baba's eyes to his guilt about Hassan's rape. These events put the novel in motion as it sets up Amir's want for redemption early in the book. Kite Runner begins with Amir relating his childhood memories during his and Hassan's life in Afghanistan. As a Hazara Hassan endures verbal and physical abuse because of being a minority and therefore has only a few friends including Amir. One day Hassan and Amir decide to go climb a tree and agree to take a short cut.
Unexpectedly they run into Assef, a school bully, who attacks Amir for the sheer fact of Amir standing by Hassan and calling him a friend. "I treated Hassan well,
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 times in the past-and accept whatever would happen to me. Or I could run. In the end, I ran" (Hosseini 77). The theme of journey towards adulthood emerges as Amir loses his innocence in life. Before the major event involving Hassan, Amir lived a normal life and did normal things in belief that the kite flying victory would guarantee a happy ending for him and Hassan. But in all actuality "Amir was just starting to think about real issues in life, his faith and the complex meaning of relationships and friendships, when the fateful day of both victory and defeat changed his life forever. Growing up was no longer gradual-he was thrust into adulthood" ("The Kite Runner as a Coming-of-Age