Comparative Essay Between the Kite Runner and Obasan

The Kite Runner is the first novel of Afghan-American author Khaled Hosseini. It tells the story of Amir, a boy from Kabul, Afghanistan, whose closest friend is Hassan, a young Hazara servant. Novel turns around these two characters and Baba, Amir’s father, by telling their tragic stories, guilt and redemption that are woven throughout the novel. Even in the difficult moments, characters build up to their guilt and later on to their redemption. Their sins and faults alter the lives of innocent people. First, Amir and Baba fail to take action on the path to justice for Ali and Hassan. Moreover, Amir and Baba continue to build up their guilt due to their decisions and actions. Although Amir builds up more guilt than Baba throughout the novel, he eventually succeeds in the road to redemption unlike his father. After all, Amir and Baba have many chances to fix their atonements but Baba chooses not to and Amir does. Baba uses his wealth to cover up his sins but never atone himself while Amir decides to stand up and save Sohrab and finally finds peace. Amir and Baba’s reaction to sins essentially indicate their peace of mind and how they react to guilt and injustice.

Amir’s mother, Sofia, dies in childbirth; Amir inherits her love of literature and probably her looks to some extent, but, her being dead, never receives any motherly love or guidance, which could have helped him out of the cowardly hole he later digs himself into. Amir’s father’s best friend and business partner, Rahim Khan, tries to give Amir the motherly love he clearly needs, fostering Amir’s love of writing and steadfastly standing up for him when Amir’s father, Baba, criticizes him, but Rahim Khan does not do enough to instill honesty, courage, and strength of conviction in young Amir. Amir’s best friend, Hassan, a servant a year younger than Amir, is everything Amir is not: athletic, brave, loyal, honest, and kind, inciting jealousy in Amir. Assef, a local bully, poses a real threat to Amir, hating Amir for the crime of befriending a Hazara (oppressed ethnic minority), but Amir is protected by Hassan, allowing young Amir to freeze and not stand up for himself in Assef’s presence. Last, but most importantly, is Amir’s father, Baba, and his views on Amir: he blames Amir for Sofia’s death,

Born in Kabul, Afghanistan, Amir was the son of a wealthy social worker. He was brought up with the son of his servant, and perhaps his only best friend, Hassan. Amir had a rocky relation with his father. At times, it seemed as his father loved him but those moments didn’t lasted forever. He thinks Baba (his father) wishes Amir were more like him, and that Baba holds him responsible for killing his mother, who died during his birth. Despite being best friends, Amir thinks that Hassan is beneath him because he belonged to an inferior cast. He used to mock him jokingly or tried to outsmart him. In all fairness, it was Amir’s cowardly nature that

The desire to feel loved and wanted by your parents can drive a person to go to extreme limits to get that love. One boy that goes to these extreme limits is Amir. All Amir wants is to have a good, strong relationship with his father. He feels the death of his mother was his fault, and he needed to make it up to his father. In doing so, Amir let’s horrible things happen to his friend Hassan. Many many years later, after fleeing to America, Amir returns to Afghanistan in search of redemption of his actions all those years ago. The theme of The Kite Runner written by Khaled Hosseini is redemption. Through Amir’s life, that’s what he’s been doing to himself, trying to redeem himself from his acts that have brought pain

Amir’s journey starts when Rahim Khan calls him up, telling him, “There is a way to be good again,” (Hosseini 202), provoking Amir to revisit his buried past. The words spoken by Rahim Khan resonates with Amir, because for his whole life, that was exactly what he was looking to do. During Amir’s childhood, Rahim Khan has always been like a father figure to him, filling the holes in his heart that Baba never paid attention to. Rahim Khan has always been the most empathetic towards Amir, understanding his need for affection and motivating him to put his words to action. Years later, Rahim Khan is still seen to have a significant impact on Amir’s life. Despite knowing that Amir was a bystander

He sees the disconnection as an opportunity for a new beginning. Situational irony further enhances that Amir would like to move toward the future and never toward the past, and to urgently wash away his offense. He wants a new birth, free of sins he committed by letting Hassan be raped and lying to force Hassan out of his house to avoid guilt, but soon realises he has to face his conscience. After the death of Baba, Amir lives in his home with his wife, Soraya, when he receives a phone call from Rahim Khan in Pakistan. He had knew what Amir had kept all these years as he says “Come. There is a way to be good again” (193), and so came to a shock to Amir. All of Amir’s past that he tried to conceal in the river has resurfaced. There was a silhouette of shame over Amir. He had shamed himself by not helping Hassan when he was attacked, lying to Baba about Hassan stealing his money, and consequently creating a situation where Hassan and Ali had to leave their home. Rahim Khan speech suggests that Amir needed to right his wrongs that had been done, indicating to Amir that there is a chance to redeem himself for the sins he had committed in his

Amir’s misadventures begin as a boy living in an affluent Afghanistan world. On the day of his birth, his mother hemorrhages to death. Robbed of any feminine influence or comfort, he goes to his overshadowing Baba for love and acceptance. His father denies his only son the tenderness he desires, leading Amir to believe his father despises him. After all, Amir’s

Starts out with betrayal, and ends with a start of a new relationship. The Kite Runner is a very unique book, it tells a story about a young boy who experiences struggles in his life that inspires many young readers. The protagonist, Amir, is challenged by the events that occur in his life, which change his views on the people around him, as well as his thoughts. He struggles to keep a strong relationship with his father and his best friend. However, one event completely interferes his life and Amir moves to America.

The regret of not saving Hassan haunts Amir for the rest of his life and influence his actions. Amir’s guilt eats away at him and he wishes that Hassan will “ give me the punishment I carved, so maybe I’d finally sleep at night”(Hosseini 92). The guilt from Amir’s crime alters the rest of his life. Amir attempts to forget about Hassan “He succeeds in removing him physically, but the ghosts of the past are always present”(Hayes 1). No matter how far physically he gets away from Hassan, but his guilt still haunts him.

After receiving a call from Rahim Khan, telling Amir that there is a way to redeem himself, Amir sets out to Afghanistan to discover this path of redemption. After arriving at Rahim Khan’s Amir learns about Hassan’s life before he was killed. Listening to Rahim Khan tell him of Hassan’s life after Amir left Afghanistan only opens Amir’s eyes to the horrors of Afghanistan after the Taliban took over. He is heartbroken and shocked

Amir had settled in America and had cut off all connections of himself with Afghanistan. The physical journey helps Amir to establish his identity. Amir’s confrontation

The exultant atmosphere of Afghanistan is deteriorated by war, which forces Amir and Baba to flee to America. Amir has accepted his life and the hardships, as no amount of pain would eradicate the terrible guilt that has consumed him. The story turns out to be a redemption quest for Amir. The story

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, a story of a boy as he unravels his journey throughout his life. The novel consists of multiple themes such as love, friendship, betrayal, guilt, , secrets, loyalty, and redemption. As the main character, Amir recalls his past events, all of these themes start to unravel specific events that occurred in his life. “There is a way to be good again” (Hosseini 2) is where the novel unfolds the deep dark life of Amir’s regret and guilt, Baba’s secret, and Hassan’s devotion. The book is a true masterpiece which keeps the readers glued to the story as it unfolds. One of the reasons, the story attracts many readers is due to The United States recent conflict with Afghanistan. However, the story has a personal

On a day to day basis, an individual is faced with an obstacle they must overcome, ultimately defining their morals and values. In the literature perspective, the novel The Kite Runner delivers multiple thematic ideas that portray the struggles of characters in their ordinary lives. Khaled Hosseini, author and physician, released his debut novel The Kite Runner in the year of 2003. This novel is written in the first person narration of Amir, a Pashtun boy that lives with his father whom he addresses as “Baba” in a large estate in Kabul, Afghanistan. Hassan and his father, Ali, are servants that works for Amir’s father

The story is based on the life and journey undertaken by Amir, the protagonist. Hosseini expresses essential ideas in his novel through the themes of redemption/atonement, the relationship between father and son and lastly, the theme of degradation/discrimination. The author expresses these themes through the setting and characterization. Hosseini presents characters from different social status in Afghanistan and how this affected their childhood. Amir despite coming from a privileged class had to work hard for his atonement by going back to Afghanistan to face his demons as well as to mend his relationship with his father who had rejected him since his birth. On the other hand, Hassan, from the minority class suffered because of his social status after he was abused and mistreated by those in power. The Kite Runner is a story about two boys who grew up in different worlds because of the presence of various social classes in