The Kite Runner Character Analysis

Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner tells the haunting tale of redemption and how one choice could lead to a life regret and guilt. The story details the life of Amir, and the way he allowed a mistake to unfold, continuing a damning cycle his father Baba started. Yet this man who started the lie first appears as an icon of morality and determination. However, as each page unfolds it is unraveled that he is flawed just like the rest. Through Hosseini’s characterization of Baba, it is revealed that he is a man who donned the armor of morality, hiding the mistakes he committed within. Hosseini first presents Baba as a “towering Pashtun, [with] hands capable of uprooting a willow tree, and a black glare” (12), indicating a man who appears as intimidating both by
It is Baba’s choice that set the story of Amir and Hasan into motion. His brief moment of infidelity and the fact he was never able to fully claim his illegitimate son led to a chronicle of events that defined Amir. However, it was not only this choice that came to affect the people around him. The way he raised Amir under the constant pressure of being someone he was not, ultimately led for his son to believe he needed to prove his worth. During the kite contest Amir confesses that he needs to “Show [Baba] once and for all that his son was worthy” (56), showcasing a boy who has the incessant need to prove his self-worth. Despite this Baba never truly accepted his son as he was, and even confessed that Amir is “A boy who won’t stand up for himself” (22). Throughout the majority of his life, Baba tried his best to shape Amir into the son he designed. Just like how he bends the world into his liking Baba sought to mold Amir to be just like him. In the end, however, it was revealed that he was merely a man with a “tortured soul” (301), who saw redemption in the marks he would leave the