Forgiveness: the Kite Runner

He knows that he needs to risk his life for Hassan’s son and be the person that Hassan had always been to Amir. Amir is finally able to make a good decision; a decision that would change his character and his life.

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

When Amir finds out that his childhood best friend, Hassan, was really his half brother, he was left in shock. He was even more shocked when, moments later, he was told Hassan was shot and killed by the Taliban, leaving his boy orphaned. Amir was terrified at the thought of what he needed to do. Rahim Khan asked Amir to visit knowing that Amir needed to fix the mess he created. His his lasting notes to Amir where, “There is a way to be good again, a way to end the cycle. With a little boy. An Orphan. Hasson’s son. Somewhere in Kabul” (227). The only way that Amir can begin to be

Finding redemption is often the only way many people can escape the demons of their past. Actions have consequences and those consequences haunt people for the duration of their lives. Khaled Hosseini, the author of The Kite Runner, presents seeking redemption throughout his novel by sharing the breathtaking story of Amir, a Sunni boy who struggles to forget his guilt­ridden past. Despite his greatest efforts, Amir finds it impossible to bury his past, so he returns to his home Kabul, Afghanistan to redeem himself of his wrong doings. By incorporating

Hassan is hurt and frustrated by the way Amir treats him after the betrayal, but he never blames Amir for the way he acted. He never forgets about Amir and remains his faithful servant and loving friend until his he is killed by Taliban soldiers, even though Amir and Hassan's paths

While living in Afghanistan, Amir witnesses the raping of his loyal friend and servant, Hassan. Instead of stepping up and stopping the horrific event from happening, "[Amir] bit on [his] fist. Shut [his] eyes" (73). Amir harbored the pain of witnessing his best friend suffering and believed that if he told anyone what had happened that he would be a disgrace to his father. Throughout the rest of his life, Amir believed that every bad situation was God punishing him for not standing up for Hassan. Because Amir was not able to forgive himself, he was unable to move on with his life and be at peace. He believed he was not good enough for anyone's forgiveness. After about twenty-five years, Amir saw his chance at redemption--his chance for forgiveness. He learned of Hassan's death, and that his only son, Sohrab was in an orphanage. Knowing the conditions of Afghanistan, Amir went to save Sonrab and bring him back to America for a better life. Upon returning to America, Amir had admitted his horrific event to Soraya and gained her

The Kite Runner is a novel that is filled with betrayal, guilt, and redemption. Khaled Hosseini uses past events to show how they can affect a character in both a negative and positive way. Due to past events, Hassan and Amirs' relationship is almost completely destroyed, and Amir is constantly overwhelmed with guilt. The past events both, positively and negatively, affect Amir where he must contend with the aspects of the past. Amir must make amends with his past where it served to benefit and hinder him because he struggles to get over the guilt of his betrayal, and tries to atone for his sins by going to Kabul.

He lives his entire life with the heavy burden of guilt, knowing he should have helped Hassan in the alley. He feels as though he needs to be punished to atone for his sins, causing him to lash out at Hassan. Amir keeps his guilt a secret for decades, even from his own wife. When Amir and Soraya cannot have a child, Amir thinks he might be being punished for his past, thinking to himself "perhaps something, someone, somewhere, had decided to deny me fatherhood for the things I had done. Maybe this was my punishment, and perhaps justly so" (188). Amir lives and thinks this way until he gets a letter from Rahim Khan, telling him there may be a way to right his wrongdoings. Amir goes to Afghanistan to rescue his illegitimate nephew, knowing he must do so alone for the sake of his personal redemption. After being beaten by Assef, saving Sohrab, and admitting his past to Soraya, Amir finally feels as though he has been redeemed. He finally is able to forgive

Redemption; it is often sought after suffering a defeat or committing a crime or wrongdoing. The past can never be undone, but only redeemed, or offset, by the present and future. In the dramatic novel, The Kite Runner, author, Khaled Hosseini, formed the main character of the story into a dynamic character in order to reveal that redemption can be achieved, even for someone with a sinister past. Amir, the protagonist of the novel, originally as an adolescent was weak and cowardly; Amir chose his own selfish desire over rescuing his loyal friend from abuse. Eventually, Amir’s life changed dramatically and he demonstrated selflessness and courage through his actions. Because of Amir’s alteration in character, he used his newfound qualities to

When Amir and his wife, Soraya, can’t seem to have a child, Amir believes that it is because of his wrongdoings in the past. Right up until Amir is in his 30’s does he confront his mistakes. It takes a call from Rahim Khan to persuade him that there is ‘a way to be good again’ (Pg. 2). Amir knows that he needs to make up to Hassan for the wrong that he did all those years ago, and so by confronting his mistake and trying to redeem himself by rescuing Sohrab, Hassan’s son. Amir’s confrontation with Assef when he is getting back Sohrab made him feel like he was confronting his mistakes and gaining redemption ‘For the first time since the winter of 1975, I felt at peace… In some nook in a corner of my mind, I’d even been looking forward to this.’ (Pg. 265). This is the punishment and redemption that he has been waiting all these years for, because Hassan wouldn’t punish him all those years ago when they were under the pomegranate tree.

The pursuit of redemption can be a road that obsesses individuals as it doesn’t allow them to live life without regret. Displayed in the novel, The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini vividly introduces the theme of redemption. As Hosseini utilizes the idea of redemption throughout the novel to give it significance and particular importance since one must experience a course of obstacles in order to redeem themselves fully. For example, many characters throughout the novel regret their actions that they made in the past, actions such as the ones that happened in the vicious city of Afghanistan. Hosseini always raises the thought of reclamation and reminds that recovery can't change the past occasions, however can change the point of view of an individual such as to edify themselves. This result throughout the novel by the protagonist Amir experiencing challenges so as to reclaim and self find himself. An individual must undergo a road that doesn’t make them live under regret but rather they must shape their past so their could live the future.

“I wondered if that was how forgiveness budded; not with the fanfare of epiphany, but with pain gathering its things, packing up, and slipping away unannounced in the middle of the night.” That quote from the book The Kite Runner was something that to me represented forgiveness. The quote was said by Amir after he had brought Sohrab to his home in America and he was closing his bedroom door. Amir thought to himself that maybe that was how the forgiveness started because he had basically hurt Hassan and thought maybe this was a way for Hassan to forgive him for the things that happened in the past. One of the major things that happened in the book and the movie was that Amir was called to go back to Afghanistan and rescue Sohrab. One of the major differences between the movie and the book was that in the book Hassan’s mom comes back but in the movie that is not shown. During all of this Amir was able to figure out how to redeem himself by going back to Afghanistan to rescue sohrab and Hassan was able to show forgiveness by letting his mom Sanaubar come into his house and treated her as family instead of just leaving her outside even though she wasn’t a very good person in the past.

The Kite Runner is an elaborate piece of work which invokes all kinds of emotions in the reader’s mind. Khaled Hosseini, manages to string together a number of themes and symbols in his novel and one of the strongest themes of the novel is “Sin and Atonement”. Amir, the protagonist of the novel lives with guilt after he doesn’t stand up for Hassan, his childhood companion and gets a chance at redeeming himself by returning to a terrorist occupied Kabul to save Hassan’s son, Sohrab. The novel provides numerous examples of atonement of sins and how people tend to ‘balance out’ everything with doing good deeds after committing a sin

Memories bring Amir bitterness for what he lost yet cause him to redeem and replace his negative memories with a positive present and future. The main subject of The Kite Runner is, redemption. Since redemption requires that somebody accomplishes something that needs rectifying, the past is profoundly associated with the topic and the present. The majority of the novel's principal characters, experience their present lives in particular courses in light of their past.

By representing the guilt of Amir’s past, by showing that it was not only Hassan’s rape, but his childhood of a “worthless” son that drove him to his actions of sin. There was more behind his story than just being too cowardly to save Hassan. It was his own nature, and his past that gave him no opportunity in his own mind to save Hassan. Now that the crime is committed, there is nothing Amir can do but let the whirlwind of sin, guilt and hatred for himself spiral around him and out of control. His redemption was hard fought. Every step he took towards creating peace with himself was torn from him by the reminders of