In the novel “The Kite Runner” by Khalen Hasseini, one conflict that helps portray the key theme of redemption is Amir’s internal conflict due to the experiences he has had throughout his life. The key theme of redemption is understood by Amir’s experiences which include; his mother dying when giving birth to him, the rape of Hassan, moving to america, and the death of Hassan. Amir’s internal conflict is powered by his experiences. One experience that provoked Amir’s internal conflict is his mother dying at his birth. Amir feels responsible for the death of his mother because he knows that if it was not for him, she would still be alive. Amir’s father, Baba, always says to him “it’s not your fault” but Amir knows that he is the reason for his mother’s death. Amir feels that he needs to make it up to Baba for killing his wife and se he wins the local kite fighting tournament in Kabul. Bringing home the last cut kite impresses Baba and Amir feels as if he has redeemed himself for causing the death of his mother. This experience makes him feel guilty and, with this guilt travelling with his all his life, he knows he must redeem himself. This causes an internal conflict for Amir which helps the reader to understand the key theme of redemption. Another experience that caused Amir’s internal conflict is the rape of Hassan. When Amir wins the kite fighting tournament, Hassan runs for the last cut kite and yells to Amir “for you a thousand times over!” In doing this, Hassan comes across Assef who is also trying to receive the last kite. Hassan refuses to give up the kite because he is loyal to Amir. This is when Amir turns up to witness Hassan getting raped by Assef. Amir makes the decision to run away because he was not strong enough to step in and save Hassan. This decision causes Amir to become something that his father fears: “a boy who won’t stand up for himself, becomes a man who won’t stand up for anything.” With this lingering in his mind, it brews up an internal conflict that Amir then knows he must do something about. He must redeem himself for his actions as a child. With Amir’s internal conflict about the rape of Hassan and the decision he made, it helps the reader understand the key theme of redemption.
In his critically acclaimed first novel, The Kite Runner, author Khaled Hosseini tells the story of a 12-year-old Afghan boy named Amir, who seeks his father’s love but is hindered by his own cowardice. Both Amir’s cowardice and his father’s lack of attention are compounded by the people and events surrounding Amir, until they feed into each other in a vicious, never-ending cycle.
Forgiveness is a necessary part of human existence, although it is rarely easy to give, and sometimes hardest to give to ourselves. The Kite Runner illustrates humanity's tendency, and even willingness, to dwell on past mistakes. The opening sentence sets this theme with "I became what I am today at the age of twelve," as Amir unapologetically relates how he believes one action at that young age defined his entire life. However, as the novel progresses, the reader comes to the conclusion that it was not one action, but a series of choices and events that created Amir's persona as an adult. By holding onto his guilt and fear of discovery, Amir could only bury his past for short periods of time before his own conscience uncovered it and the
As I read through the book it had rhetorical strategies that helps present the guilt that Amir had within himself. When his father started bragging with joy about Amir's victory of the kite fight. Amir isn't matter of fact he is overwhelmed with guilt of event it led to, the rape of Hassan. His lack of courage which prevented him from stopping the rape, it fueled the guilt he already had. While his father is boasting about the kite fight, he thought to himself that he wanted to stick a knife into his eye. This shows pathos by helping the
In addition, symbolism is shown to portray redemption at the climax of the book. Amir has rescued Hassan's son, Sohrab, from captivity in Kabul. However, a recent life of sexual abuse has rendered his emotions inert. Attending an Afghan summer celebration, Amir notices a kite-fighting tournament taking place. Purchasing a kite for him and Sohrab, they accomplish in cutting another. Looking down at Sohrab, Amir sees the vacant look in his eyes is gone. “Whistles and applause broke out. I was panting. The last time I had felt a rush like this was that day in the Winter of 1975, just after I had cut the last kite, when I spotted Baba on our rooftop, clapping, beaming. I looked down at Sohrab. One corner of his mouth had curled up just so. A smile. Lopsided. Hardly there. But there” (Hosseini, 391). Thus Amir redeems himself, and thus it is shown that symbolism portrays redemption throughout the story.
This is very hard on Amir because he ends up growing up without a real parental figure in his life and blames himself for his mother’s passing, for she had died giving birth to him. A few days before the day of the kite flying competition, Baba takes Amir and Hassan to buy kites from an old blind man. “If I changed my mind and asked for a bigger and fancier kite, Baba would buy it for me - but then he'd buy it for Hassan too. Sometimes I wished he wouldn't do that. Wished he'd let me be the favorite” (chapter 5). This displays Amir’s jealousy for his father’s interest in Hassan due to the fact that Baba treats Hassan like his own son and not him, leaving Amir feeling neglected and alone. At the kite fighting competition the next day, it came down to Amir and a blue kite, fighting for first place. When Amir wins the competition the blue kite fly’s off; so Hassan, Amir’s loyal best friend offers to go find the blue kite and return it to Amir. In the processes of looking for the kite, Hassan ends up getting cornered in an alley with three vicious bullies. Amir stumbles upon them in the alley but instead of stepping in, he thinks of how badly he wants the kite as well as his father’s approval so he chooses not to step in, as a result he watches his best
Throughout The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, the author shows us a major theme pertaining to forgiveness and how we feel guilt when we have not been forgiven. When developing this theme, the writer makes a strong link to the theme of immigration, and the feelings that immigrants feel when they leave behind their past to start a new future. Hosseini emphasizes throughout the book that the relationship between Amir and Hassan is stressed mainly by the feeling of lost forgiveness Amir feels, added to the fact that he left Hassan in Afghanistan while he and Baba left to America. These themes of immigration and forgiveness are placed in the forefront by Hosseini through the deepening of Amir’s internal feelings, beliefs, and conflicts, added to how Amir copes with the feeling of leaving Hassan.
In the novel The Kite Runner, the protagonist, Amir, is a young boy growing up in a well off family in Kabul, Afghanistan. Amir’s closest friend is Hassan, the son of his family’s beloved servant. Amir’s self image at the beginning of the novel is one in which he views himself as a coward, worthless and selfish.
Throughout the novel, the protagonist and narrator Amir receives many acts of loyalty from his brother and friend Hassan; these acts start off simple and almost meaningless to Amir, but as times get harder, Hassan’s loyalty proves strong. Hassan was very loyal and humble to those close to him and showed his devotion when he listened to everything Amir had to say and did whatever he wanted when he asked. Amir was reminding himself of the past and constantly bring him memories of Hassan and felt guilt at every moment. Amir reminded himself of the days in Afghanistan when Ali scolded Hassan for the things he had asked him to do, “But he never told on me. Never told that the mirror, like shooting walnuts at the neighbor’s dog, was my idea” (4). These actions were created by Hassan’s surroundings as he grew up, he was taught to be a Hazara servant, but once that friendship sparked between the two boys, Hassan didn’t want to lose that, Amir was his only friend. These small acts of loyalty sparked and grew more important to Amir. A major turning point in the novel was during the kite tournament, but upon finishing the race, Hassan tells Amir, “For you a thousand times over!” (67). This statement is a constant reminder throughout the novel that Hassan will forever be with him and that he will constantly put himself in danger for him and the people he loves. The proof of his loyalty increased that very same day when Hassan found the kite in an alley, but being cornered and harassed by Assef and his friends, he chose to stay and run that kite for Amir instead of handing it over. “‘Amir agha won the tournament and I ran this kite for him. I ran it fairly. This is his
Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner is an award-winning novel and considered one of today’s most popular, contemporary classics. The story is one of familiar themes such as loyalty, forgiveness, betrayal, love, and redemption. It follows the tale of Amir and how he must atone for his sins and find a way to “be good again” (Hosseini 2). The quintessential message of this book relies on the idea of second chances. Themes of redemption, betrayal, loyalty, and forgiveness are not only shown without doubt through this book, but are also common among many literary works and religions. Hosseini is successful in showing the significance of these themes throughout the novel.
“The Kite Runner” is the record of Amir, a Sunni Muslim, who fights to find his place on the planet in connection of the surrendered results and outcome from an improvement of traumatic youth events. Amir opens the novel in the present-day United States with a questionable reference to one of these events, and a while later, the novel flashes back to Amir's energy in Afghanistan. Notwithstanding common youth experiences, Amir tries to gain a closer relationship with his father; over the entire manage to grasp how to introduce suitable reparations in light of pre-immature decisions that have proceeded on consequences. “The Kite Runner” is a novel about affiliations, especially the relationship amidst Amir and Hassan, Baba, Rahim Khan, Soraya, and Sohrab and how the psyche boggling relationship in our lives spread and helped us realize making us the people we are. First Amir betrays Hassan
One triumphant day, Amir won the local kite fighting tournament and finally earned Baba’s praise. Hassan ran to retrieve the losing kite, which was considered a trophy, and told Amir “For you, a thousand times over”. When Hassan finally obtained the kite, he was cornered by Assef and his friends. Assef was the neighborhood bully and had tortured Amir and Hassan for years. When Hassan refused to give up the kite, Assef beat and raped him. Amir watched the whole thing but didn’t interfe because he didn’t want to lose the respect of his father. The guilt ate Amir alive. “That was a long time ago, but it’s wrong what they say about the past, I’ve learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out. Looking back now, I realize I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years.” Soon after the incident, Amir tried to distance himself from Hassan and Hassan and his father eventually leave. A couple years later, Amir and Baba flee to America to escape the war in Afghanistan. Amir graduates and gets married but even after all those years;
Amir is an intelligent boy and gifted storyteller. His desire is to please his father and make him proud. Amir is also a coward because he let his best friend be raped by Assef. Hassan is Amir’s best friend and servant of his father. He is loyal, always defends Amir, and listens to his stories. Hassan is a poor and uneducated boy. Baba is the father of Amir, a wealthy businessman, and biological father of Hassan. Assef is the character that makes Amir feels guilty and lack courage. After Amir wins the kiting completion, Hassan runs to bring the kite back. However, he is raped by Assef in an alleyway and the only witness is Amir Whese cowardice does not let him help his loyal friend. Amir and Baba escape to Pakistan after the Russian invade Afghanistan, and then to California when Amir graduates and meets his wife Soraya. Baba passes away and Hassan is murdered by the Taliban leaving his orphaned son waiting for Amir to get back to Afghanistan. In this novel, the author discusses how characters are products of their environment, and how this affects their lives, regardless at what their backgrounds are. Influences of environment emanate from
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
Throughout the “The Kite Runner”, many ways of redemption arise in this novel for past wrongdoings. Amir, the protagonist shows ways in which he redeems himself, especially towards Hassan. Amir and Hassan were inseparable at the beginning of their friendship. His need for redemption stems from his younger days where his actions got Haasan in trouble and blamed him for everything. Amir travels back to Afghanistan to get Hassan's son, Sohrab out of an orphanage. Then he faces the “bully”, Assef who raped Hassan. Amir's final act of redemptions comes when he leaves behind money for Farid's family, a childhood friend whose family now live in a war torn, poverty stricken Afghanistan.These acts of redemption lead to Amir's father, Baba showing
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini tells the coming of age story of the main character Amir. Throughout the novel, many themes are apparent as Amir gets older and deals with the events of his past. One of the main themes is regardless of any action there is always a way to redeem yourself. There are many examples of this theme in The Kite Runner, like when Rahim Khan tells Amir that he can redeem himself, another would be when Assef beats up/hurts Amir but he feels healed, finally were Amir is flying a kite with Sohrab and he smiles. The theme of redemption is present throughout the events of the novel.