Dunstan's Redemption In 'The Kite Runner'

While Amir is lying in the dark, with nothing but his own thoughts, he feels that his guilt is taking over his life. He realizes that he is going to get away with his betrayal and yet he feels terrible. He decides that the only way he is going to live with his remorse is to ignore Hassan, blot him out, so he does not have to think about his sin. Amir’s guilt is so great that he cannot bear to have Hassan under the same roof, so he commits another sin. He lies to his father and accuses Hassan of stealing. “…I took a couple of the envelopes of cash from the pile of gifts and my watch, and tiptoed out…I lifted Hassan’s mattress and planted my new watch and a handful of Afghani bills under it…I knocked on Baba’s door and told what I hoped would be the last in a long

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,

What is inscribed on the pomegranate tree in the back yard? So, why then is it significant that Amir tries to pick a fight with Hassan in front of that tree? (Think symbolism.) What ends up happening? Why is that symbolic?

19). Since Amir thought that he had killed his mother, he always believed that his father, Baba, hated him for it. Amir uses this perceived reason as explanation for why Baba stayed distant from him, and never addressed this issue, keeping the shame for something that he should not feel guilty for. Adding on, Amir also felt guilty for allowing Hassan to get attacked by Assef and not saving his best friend. After the attack occurred near the beginning of the book, Hosseini continuously mentions the event and how terrible Amir feels, even years after. This shame motivated Amir to go back to Afghanistan and find Hassan’s son, as well as bringing him back to America (Hosseini, 2003). Finally, Baba also had guilt to bear in the novel. Baba was Hassan’s biological father. “How had Baba brought himself to

While Amir defeats his final obstacle to win Baba’s approval, he reciprocally falls down and fails to show courage in Hassan’s rape. Amir assumes that Hassan “was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba” as he watches Assef sodomize Hassan, and he “actually aspired to cowardice” (77). The atonement of Amir’s sins to Baba sparks the commencement of Amir’s betrayal to Hassan. Furthermore, Amir runs away and hides from his sins in Amerca knowing that he cannot gain the courage to redeem himself and completely fulfill his quest to adulthood. Nonetheless, Rahim Khan provides Amir an opportunity to accomplish his redemption. After decades of hiding, Rahim Khan calls Amir to tell him to “come” back to Kabul since “there is a way to be good again” (192). Amir must successfully accomplish his final obligation to complete his quest to maturity. In addition, Amir must stop hiding like a boy and begin to stand up like a man. As Amir returns to Kabul to save Sohrab, and ultimately redeem himself, he must fight Assef one last time, which results in Amir’s “body being broken – just how badly I wouldn’t find out until later – but I felt healed. Healed at last” (289). Amir now receives his deserved punishment and, most importantly, he learns to stand up and finally matures into a man. Although Amir completes his quest to adulthood, readers must realize that Amir must ultimately grant Sohrab a

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

Another contribution of redemption Amir had for Hassan was when, Amir stood up for Sorab, trying to redeem himself to Hassan and his family. General Sahib states, I said “You will never again refer to him as Hazara boy in my presence. He has a name and its Sohrab” (315). It shows that Amir was trying who give back to Hassan`s family, to regain redemption, but to receive acceptance for all, things he has done in his past. He also feel that he was faithful to Hassan along and removing his guilt. Finally, another factor that contributed to redemption was when Amir won the kite tournament, to show the final like to his father. Amir believed his father does not love him, therefore he thinks winning the final kite would receive him more love, and affection. Ì was going to win, and I was going to run that last kite. “Then I'd bring it home and show it to Baba. Show him once and for all that his son was worthy. Then maybe my life as a ghost in this house would finally be over” (60). In conclusion, Amir received no redemption for winning the kite, and his dad gave him no attention to

Once back in Kabul, Amir takes steps he would never have imagined, which truly define his character. On his venture back to Afghanistan he learns the truth about Hassan’s connection with Baba. After hearing this Amir feels robbed of the truth and is angry at how his own father could hold this back from him. Despite his feelings, Amir realizes he must not only pay for his betrayal of Hassan but for Baba’s betrayal of Ali too. Amir knows he must face his fears and he understands this when he reveals, “I remembered Baba saying that my problem was that someone had always done my fighting for me" (Hosseini 239). Following this he undertakes a personal mission to find Sohrab and finds the courage to stand up to the Taliban, nearly dying in the process. During his quest Amir comes face to face with the disturbing Assef and fights him for Sorab, the ultimate sacrifice for his dead half-brother. While he is beaten he begins to laugh, which angers Assef even more. Amir explains that, “What was so funny was that, for the first time since the winter of 1975, I felt at peace" (Hosseini 303). After successfully bringing Sohrab back to California, Amir defends his Hazara nephew when General Taheri insults him. Over the dinner

Amir has shown to Baba that he is not a reflection of him, which makes Baba believe that it is not necessary to develop a connection with his son. This makes Amir feel guilty of himself which leads him to pursue a series of events where he attempts to win Baba’s love, even if those decisions put Hassan’s life in danger. After winning Baba’s affection and creating a stronger bond with his father in America, Amir still feels guilty for betraying his best friend in the winter of 1975. Amir’s guilt is not tearing his life apart as much as it did when he lived in Kabul, but it still affects him negatively. He is willing to do anything to let go of his guilt, even if it means putting his life at risk. After finding out Hassan is dead and he is Amir’s half-brother, Amir heads back to his childhood home during a time when the country is run by a terrorist organization, so he can rescue Hassan’s son, Sohrab, and finally be able to find peace in his life. Everyone makes mistakes in their life and even if those mistakes might have destroyed another person’s life, there is always a way to earn redemption and that is by letting the guilt that one carries lead to something

Amir tries to convince others, and himself he deserves this throughout the book. Amir's journey and challenges revealed that he is on his way to redemption. Amir feels as though he can earn redemption to Hassan through Sohrab. After being beaten brutally Amir thought “What was so funny was that, for the first time since the winter of 1975 I felt at peace.

The moment Amir heard Baba explaining to Rahim Khan that Hassan stands up for himself and Amir, which leads him to conclude, “…there is something missing in that boy.” , Amir instantly behaves aggressively towards Hassan. This subconscious jealously causes Amir to betray Hassan in a variety of circumstances: the right of correct education, the act of allowing Hassan suffer, and the act of keeping quiet when Amir innated Hassan being a ‘thief’. Inevitably, Amir felt always challenged with his lack of confidence caused by Hassan being admired by Baba and being adroit, which lead to terrible decisions to a loop of

After the betrayal of Hassan, Amir feels ashamed of himself. He feels all of the guilt and does not know how to become good again. He feels this guilt for the majority of his life, even in America. Subsequently Amir and Baba moved to America, Amir meets a girl. He always finds excuses to go see her and finally decides that he wants to marry her. So Baba went to go ask her father for permission and he said yes. Shortly after receiving this news, Amir talks with Soraya, his wife, and she does something that Amir has wanted to do for quite a while, she tells him her secret. Amir “envied her. Her secret was out, spoken, dealt with. [he] opened [his] mouth and almost told her how [he’d] betrayed Hassan, lied, driven him out, and destroyed a 40 year

Baba finds redemption by giving Amir a better life and making him forget about his past, even though Baba suffers from moving to America from Afghanistan. This is then illustrated by when Baba says “Peshawar was good for me. Not good for you.” Then later continues to say “besides, I didn’t bring us here for me, did I?” (page 136).

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

Throughout the novel, Amir endeavors to be approved by his father, Baba, who is admired by people in Kabul. Unfortunately, Baba believes that Amir, unlike him, is very unmanly “and [that he] never fights back. He just... drops his head ” (Hosseini 24). Since Baba wishes for a son who would stand up for himself, he can’t help but observe that Amir’s friend Hassan, as the guy who “steps in and fends the [bullies] off” (Hosseini 24) is his idea of the ideal son. Though aware of his father’s expectations, Amir is unable to change himself and instead envies Hassan and the fact that Baba treats him like his own son by“[patting]Hassan on the back. [and even putting] his arm around his shoulder [like a fatherly figure]”(Hosseini 15). Despite the manifestation of this hatred in Amir, he continues to recognize the bond that he shares with Hassan, “ brotherhood between people who had fed from the same breast” (Hosseini 11) which is because both their mothers died during birth. The confusing emotions he feels for Hassan has Amir face a situation in which he acts inappropriately and allows the guilt to manifest upon him. After winning a very important kite tournament for the first time and “seeing Baba on that roof, proud of [him] at last” (Hosseini 71) Amir begins to search for Hassan who had gone to run his kite earlier. Finally, Amir finds him in a dark alley and as he “peeks around the corner” (Hosseini 75) he witnesses a sight that eradicated not only his relationship with Hassan but also Baba’s brotherly relationship with Ali, Hassan’s father. Peeking through the corner of the alley, like a bystander, he watches his one and only friend getting raped. The guilt that came upon him was for two reason; one, his lack of courage to stand up to