Compare And Contrast Rostam And Sohrab In The Kite Runner

Khaled Hosseini writes the novel, The Kite Runner to make readers think of how his use of symbolism and other

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.

The Kite Runner is a novel that is considered to be a fictional memoir throughout the life of the main character, Amir. Starting in 1975 Afghanistan, the sentiments between the Hazaras and the Pashtuns were very negative and violent. Afghanistan as a country was experiencing a lot of hardships as the two main races and religions that resided in the country began to fight, eventually leading to the war that is still going on today. As a nation, Afghanistan has a long and interesting history. The Kite Runner itself is written by an Afghan man, Khaled Hosseini, who himself lived in Afghanistan throughout these years. Growing up in Kabul, Hosseini grew up in an area later to be considered as more fortunate and more wealthy than those who lived elsewhere in the country. Khaled’s father worked as a diplomat at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kabul, and his mother worked as a persian language teacher at a high school for girls. Later on, after his father got a job in Paris, France. Hosseini’s family moved to France and were unable to return to Afghanistan due to the saur revolution, the initial segment leading to the Afghan civil war. The Kite Runner was written in California as Hosseini was studying in medical school, in order to become a doctor. The book itself is fictional, however much of the occurences in the novel are influenced based upon real-life scenarios and situations that occur during parts of the war. Specifically, this is portrayed via the arguments between the

Sohrab’s attempt of suicide shows that Amir still does not understand what Sohrab has been going through. In other words, he can’t see things from Sohrab’s perspective. Moreover, what happened to Sohrab shows that Amir has difficulty understanding how young and vulnerable Sohrab is. Every child has something in his or her mind that they are really afraid of, such as monsters or ghost, and Sohrab faced them all when he enslaved or watch her parents got murdered. He was a victim. When Amir broke his promise he gave to Sohrab, it made Sohrab feel insecure. Overall, being abandoned again was too much for Sohrab to take.

Khaled Hosseini, in his novel The Kite Runner describes a young man’s search for redemption from the guilt of his betrayal. In the winter of 1975, after the annual kite fighting competition in Kabul where Amir came out winner, he [Amir] confines himself in the chains of his guilt. Amir is the son of Baba, a man of great repute in Afghanistan; Hassan is the son of Baba’s Hazara servant, Ali. Despite the difference in class, tribe and reputation, Amir and Hassan grow up like brothers.

First, Amir promised Sohrab that if they get him into the US that he and Soraya will always love him (p. 324). This shows that he treats him like his own son because he will always love him just like a father would. He is worthy of forgiveness because he will love Sohrab like he never could love his brother for the twenty years that he was separated from him. After that Amir says to General Sahib, “‘You will never again refer to him as ‘Hazara boy’ in my presence. He has a name and it’s Sohrab’” (p. 361). Amir stands up to the General just like a father would, showing that he is treating him like his own child. He shows that he is worthy of forgiveness because defended Sohrab like he never defended Hassan in his times of need. Finally, Amir states, “‘For you, a thousand times over,’ I heard myself say” (p.371). This is an action that shows Amir treats Sohrab like his old friend because it is what Hassan said to him when they were best friends back in 1975. It shows that he is worthy of forgiveness because he never told Hassan that, but now he is making up for it by saying it to Hassan’s son. Amir treats Sohrab like he never treated his brother, showing that he is worthy of

Though the roads Hassan and Sohrab traveled on their way to resilience appeared to be parallel, they separated in an instant. Hassan’s difficult past was never able to discourage him for long. After each of his troubles, he was able to go home to Ali and sometimes Amir. He also had the love and support of

The Kite Runner was written by Khaled Hosseini and published in 2003. It tells the story of Amir, a young boy from Kabul, Afghanistan, and Hassan, his father’s Hazara servant. The story is set against a backdrop of tumultuous events, from the fall of Afghanistan’s Monarchy, through the Soviet Military intervention, the exile of Pakistan refugees to America, and the rise of the Taliban. The main theme of this book focuses on guilt and redemption. Throughout the novel, Amir is constantly trying to redeem himself. Early on, Amir strives to redeem himself through his father’s eyes primarily because his mother died giving birth to him, and he feels responsible. The more important part of Amir’s search for

On page 279, Amir sees Sohrab in real life for the first time. Details about Hassan from the beginning of the book are mentioned again, this time about his son. Hosseini uses the descriptions of Hassan’s ears, chin, round face, and his frame to compare Sohrab to his father. The mention of these details yet another time makes the audience reminisce about Hassan and then feel slightly grateful that his child seems to be like him, so he can live on. Sohrab is generally a character without a lot of details, and the purpose for this could be to make him seem more mysterious. Amir isn’t supposed to understand Sohrab and neither is the audience, because it’s hard to know why someone acts a certain way when you don’t know exactly what they’ve been through. Although the audience knows that both Sohrab’s parents were killed and Assef has abused him, it’s still hard to wrap your mind around what he might be thinking. Since the lack of details implies mysteriousness, bring the reader back to when Baba couldn’t understand Amir. This is a completely different situation but in a way, it’s similar, and it may be put in the book to show

Right after the Hassan’s rape, Amir cannot confront Hassan due to his inability to save him: “I didn’t speak to Hassan until the middle of the next week” (Hosseini 86). It is absolutely not Amir’s fault that Hassan was raped, however it is Amir’s fault that he is ignorant to rectify the situation by judging what is right or wrong. His sense of responsibility towards his action is where guilt comes from, and it is inevitable to remain ignorant from it. Even after years moving to America, he feels hesitant whenever people mention about Hassan. Baba mentions about Hassan that he wants to share the happiness and Amir’s growth with Hassan in the United States: “I wish Hassan had been with us today” (Hosseini 131). Amir’s reaction shows how remorseful he still is, as he claims that guilt is harming him: “A pair of steel hands closed around my windpipe at the sound of Hassan’s name”(Hosseini 134). The steel hands represent the stiffness of his guilt suffocating himself every second, and whenever people brings up topic about Hassan, his guilty conscience suffocates him. Likewise, Amir is not completely feeling free about Hassan even though he is miles away from him. Lastly, he is too late to learn from mistakes when he is told that Hassan passed away, thus he adopts Hassan’s son, Sohrab. Sohrab serves a huge role in this

"The Kite Runner" tells the story of two children growing up in the 1970s in Afghanistan. Amir-the protagonist is a young son of a wealthy businessman in Kabul. Hassan, son of his poor servant Ali, is his partner. The two boys are inseparable, even in an ethnically divided Afghanistan,

The film adaption of The Kite Runner does diminish the complexity of the story. In this essay the following arguments will prove this statement correct: Hassan’s presence is more absent in the film than in the novel, the absence of detail of the rape scene in the film compared to the novel and the lack of development for the character Sohrab in the film The Kite Runner. Hassan is less present in the film than the novel. Although he does leave when Amir frames him for stealing his watch and money, he plays a major role throughout the novel as he influences Amir’s way of thinking and actions. For example, in the novel when they are in the tank Amir is scared and Baba tells him to “think of something good, something happy – page 113” and all he can think about is the amazing time he had flying kites with Hassan.

Lastly, foreshadowing is widespread in The Kite Runner, and does not fail in contributing to the theme of redemption. As Amir and his wife learn of their inability to conceive, his mother-in-law states, “God knows best, bachem. Maybe it wasn't meant to be” (Hosseini, 96). This dialogue suggests that in the future there is a reason Amir's wife is infertile. Contributing to redemption, this is because Amir must save and adopt his dead

One of the major differences between Amir and Baba is that Baba is seen as courageous, while Amir is more cowardly. Amir always seems to let hassan stand up for him, instead of standing up for himself. “‘Self-defense has nothing to do with meanness. You know what always happens when the neighborhood boys tease him? Hassan steps in and fends them off.’” When Amir sees that Hassan is being attacked, he has to make a decision on whether or not to save him. “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.” He was too scared to stand up for his closest friend. When Baba and Amir were escaping from Afghanistan, they were stopped by some russian soldiers and Baba was faced with a similar choice. “But the Russian soldier shouted something that made the other

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