The Kite Runner: Forgiveness, Loyalty, and the Quest for Redemption
The Kite Runner: Forgiveness, Loyalty, and the Quest for Redemption Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner is an award-winning novel and considered one of today’s most popular, contemporary classics. The story is one of familiar themes such as loyalty, forgiveness, betrayal, love, and redemption. It follows the tale of Amir and how he must atone for his sins and find a way to “be good again” (Hosseini 2). The quintessential message of this book relies on the idea of second chances. Themes of redemption, betrayal, loyalty, and forgiveness are not only shown without doubt through this book, but are also common among many literary works and religions. Hosseini is successful in showing the significance of these themes throughout the novel.
The Kite Runner begins with a nameless narrator who immediately refers back to an incident that made him “become what I am today”(Hosseini 1). The narrator starts to recall a flashback and begins his story when he was a child. He admits that he regrets some things he did in his childhood and has been, “peeking into the that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years” (Hosseini 1): he has a guilty conscience. He bemoans this fact and shares this with no one. The narrator is named Amir, who is the protagonist of the story. Although he’s not the most supportive character in the book, Amir is the one the reader feels the most emotion towards. His characteristics are revealed when he is faced with an ultimatum to either to help his friend Hassan or run away. Amir chooses: “In the end, I ran. I ran because I was a coward. I was afraid of getting hurt,” which shows how Amir isn’t the most sympathetic or brave character in the book (Hosseini 77). He is changed after this event and is racked by a guilty conscience for the rest of his life. Amir isn’t heartless, but a conflicted character who is extremely cowardly and is raised to believe his friend is a servant of a lower social class. Amir’s actions are never justified, but the reader can see
The Kite Runner begins with a nameless narrator who immediately refers back to an incident that made him “become what I am today”(Hosseini 1). The narrator starts to recall a flashback and begins his story when he was a child. He admits that he regrets some things he did in his childhood and has been, “peeking into the that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years” (Hosseini 1): he has a guilty conscience. He bemoans this fact and shares this with no one. The narrator is named Amir, who is the protagonist of the story. Although he’s not the most supportive character in the book, Amir is the one the reader feels the most emotion towards. His characteristics are revealed when he is faced with an ultimatum to either to help his friend Hassan or run away. Amir chooses: “In the end, I ran. I ran because I was a coward. I was afraid of getting hurt,” which shows how Amir isn’t the most sympathetic or brave character in the book (Hosseini 77). He is changed after this event and is racked by a guilty conscience for the rest of his life. Amir isn’t heartless, but a conflicted character who is extremely cowardly and is raised to believe his friend is a servant of a lower social class. Amir’s actions are never justified, but the reader can see
Cited: Forster, Marc. dir. The Kite Runner. DreamWorks, 2007. Film. Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. New York: Riverhead Books, 2003. Print.