Examples Of Journey In The Kite Runner

Thesis: Betrayal leads to feeling of guilt which forces the person in search of redemption either directly or through indirect actions and gestures.

It affected Amir because he had a high regard on their relationship. “ A boy who won’t stand up for himself becomes a man that can’t stand up to anything “ . This quote foreshadows how Amir would not stand up neither for himself nor for other people such as Hassan. Indeed Amir have made several mistakes , for instance when he was spectator of his half brother getting sexually assaulted but did not try to rescue him . Amir did not act well but from another perspective he benefited from his bad actions to change into a better person, he learned how to be patient and how to catch up for bad sins. Thereupon, personality can not be toughen without adversities , they made Amir the person that he became, a man who stood up for his dad and who sought the best for Sohrab .

From time to time, Athena changes Odysseus' appearance, either to disguise him or make him look even more frightening than he normally would. As Odysseus prepares for a banquet in his honor with the Phaeacians (8.20-22), for example, she changes his appearance to make him look taller, massive, and more splendid. When Odysseus returns to Ithaca in (13), Athena disguises him as an old beggar. This shows how Athena is able to forge the theme appearance vs. reality.

Odysseus was endowed with increased beauty and godliness. Thus, Athena created an illusion that he is much more good looking and godly than ever imaginable. This disguise allows Odysseus to appear much more presentable to Nausicaa when Odysseus first arrives.

The novel of the Kite Runner as a whole is riddled with different journeys which are undertaken by different characters. These journeys are both physical and spiritual yet the most apparent journey is Amir's journey from Afghanistan to the USA and back again, this takes place from the beginning on the novel to the end of the novel and as accompanied by Amir's journey or quest for redemption. Despite Amir's journeys being one of the more notable ones he is not the only character on a journey as Rahim Kahn is also on his final journey in search of a final resting place.

During Odysseus’ wanderings, a change comes over him. A change that is motivated by the immense suffering he brings both on himself and on those around him through his prideful actions. Beginning with the prideful raid on the city of the Cicones and culminating with Odysseus taunting the newly-blinded Polyphemus, Odysseus’ pride heaps more and more suffering upon himself and often kills those around him. Because of this increase in suffering, Odysseus changes. He becomes more humble, more tactful, less of a barbarian and more of a planner; this change can been seen primarily through his diplomatic actions in Phaeacia and his cunning use of Athena’s disguise during his time of testing in his own home.

My topic for this ISP will be the comparison of journey motif in the movie Kite Runner and the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. While analyzing the two, I will observe how journey motif takes place and is a shared theme in the narratives. In both the movie and the book, I will highlight how the different adventures, the two different characters face, guide them to their freedom. Weather it be, Amir, who travels to the United States after the war, or Mariam’s journey of being a women in the war. Both characters embark in a journey, in which the future is unknown , yet they both find freedom and personal liberation in the end.

Novelist and poet, Rainer Maria Rilke once said, “The only journey is the one within”(Rainer Maria Rilke Quotes). Meaning, what makes a journey important is how one changes and learns from the experience. The claims made in this quote are well proven in relatively new literature and even one of the oldest poems still studied today. The Odyssey is a famous, well known epic poem. It was written by the renowned poet, Homer, in ancient greek times. The Odyssey follows a man known as Odysseus, he just left fighting in the Trojan war after years. Odysseus has quite the adventure due to the gods’ and goddesses’ constant manipulation, all in the hope of reaching his homeland, Ithaca, and beloved family. Quite the opposite, much younger and shorter “The Journey” is a poem written by Mary Oliver in the 1900s. This poem relays what a journey really is and the purpose of going on journeys. Despite the differences between The Odyssey and “The Journey”, the two both use figurative language to convey a very similar message. People embark on journeys to fill an empty void and learn what they appreciate in life.

Odysseus tells Athena, whom he believes is a shepherd, a false account, of how he came to Ithaca, primarily since he needs to keep his identity a secret, familiarize himself with the situation on Ithaca and formulate a plan to execute the suitors. He perceives that he has arrived in a mist-shrouded and unknown land. And thus secondarily, he needs to present a feasible reason for being alone and stranded with copious amounts of treasure for safety reasons as well as to allay suspicion in relation to his identity. Athena affects how he tells his lie because he can see and listen to her. To manipulate her more effectively, Odysseus exploits these factors to produce a story specifically tailored to the information Athena provides.

This one decision left a stain on Amir for the next thirty years. A quote on pg. 88 states “I wish someone would wake me up, so I wouldn’t have to live with this lie anymore” This quote explains how guilty Amir felt after seeing Hassan get raped as he desperately sought for anyone to find out but didn’t chose to tell anyone the actual truth. Another example from the text is when Amir tries throwing pomegranates at Hassan, as an attempt to get Hassan to fight back and punish Amir for choosing to leave Hassan. However, Hassan refused to throw any pomegranates at Amir, but instead smashed one into his face. A quote on pg.94 states “I wanted Hassan to fight me back for the way I failed him” This quote indicates that Amir wanted Hassan to fight him back, so he could have the “punishment [he] craved” (93) This demonstrates that Amir wanted to feel the act of being punished for his wrongdoing, similar to how Hassan was brutally raped due to Amir’s apparent mistake. Amir’s guilt forces him to travel across two countries to seek redemption for the mistake he made. 15 years later, Amir’s guilt led him to make the hefty decision of returning to Afghanistan “to be good again” (189) by rescuing Hassan’s orphaned son, Sohrab, from the terrible conditions he was left to face in Kabul. Amir sees this as an opportunity to redeem and free himself from

     The characters' use of disguises in Homer's Odyssey is a crucial element that helps to catalyze the victory of good over evil.  Each disguise is unique, created for a specific purpose.  Before she talks to Telemachos, Athena disguises herself as a wise old man in order to ensure that her words carry weight and are taken seriously.  She knows that she must assist and encourage Telemachos into searching for his long lost father without revealing her divine nature, so she assumes the guise of Mentor because men were generally given more credibility in those days.  In a similar vein, Odysseus disguises himself as a homeless man in order to exude anonymity so that he can safely return to Ithaka where he

When speaking of the journey one is speaking of an act in which the mind or the body are going through a vigor of change and an instance of importance. The journey, whether literal or figurative, is a thing that could impact life, reason, and even passion for what one holds dear. Such as a woman realizing that medicine is their calling or a man having a roller coaster of emotions during their daily viewing of their favorite television show, a journey can be anything and at any level of life, but always an instance of importance.

Hosseini shows that it is Amirs immense guilt that drives him to want to make things right and to earn redemption. We learn the basis Amir's guilt through his memories. It is caused by a lack of response at a time when his loyal servant and close friend Hassan is in trouble. Amir makes a conscious decision to hide in the distance and just watch, not because he was afraid. He sacrifices Hassan in order to earn his fathers attention and affection. This decision results in Hassan suffering though a traumatic experience and is the root of Amir's lasting regret.

Many authors often use two contrasting places, such as two different countries, to emphasize the differences in ideas and reinforce opposed forces that are central to the work. In Khaled Hosseini’s novel, The Kite Runner, two countries that are seen as two polar opposites, Afghanistan and America, are brought together to reinforce two completely different lifestyles for a boy named Amir. Growing up in a country known as a land of terrorists and war changed him as he moved to America, known as the land of opportunity and freedom.

Odyssey a long series of wanderings filled with notable experience and hardships, or in other words the journey of life. Homer's The Odyssey is an epic poem telling of one man's journey. Odysseus, the chosen traveler of this Odyssey, represents the will and perseverance of all humanity. Odysseus' journey symbolizes the true toils of mankind's development through, agility, doubt, and faith.