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Family Themes In The Kite Runner

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The Kite Runner, a book by Khaled Hosseini, is the story told by an Afghanistan-born man named Amir, who tells tales of his childhood with his friend Hassan; all leading up to an event that leaves Amir guilt-ridden and sets him on a course to not only redeem his conscience, but also to, in a roundabout way, return all the kindness Hassan had given him as a child that he had never appreciated. The Kite Runner showcases a family theme through many of these childhood stories that Amir tells. Baba, Amir’s father, plays an essential role in understanding how family can be defined in many ways with his contrasting views of Amir and Hassan. It is demonstrated that family doesn’t necessarily mean blood-related when we meet Baba’s close family friend and Amir’s ali, Rahim Khan. When Amir finds redemption for how he mistreated Hassan and takes in his son, Sorhab, is yet another unique form of how there is a clear family theme throughout the book. In the novel, Hosseini demonstrates his …show more content…

Amir tells endless stories of playing with Hassan as boys. He says many times that he and Hassan are like brothers and later finds out that they actually are brothers. Amir and Hassan are nearly inseparable when they are young as they do nearly everything together. They grow up together bonding through watching films, winter days with the tradition of playing cards and finally, Hassan being Amir’s devoted kite runner. A bully well-known amongst the kids named Assef will regularly torment the two of them and Hassan will always stick up for Amir, no matter how afraid he is. Though in many of the stories Amir tells that he is often rude and unfair to Hassan, Hassan has always been unconditionally kind and caring toward Amir. Hassan is devoted to Amir, no matter how much Amir pushes him away. As Hassan once tells Amir, “For you, a thousand times over” (Hosseini

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