Motifs 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.

Amir resents his choice to be a coward when Hassan is raped. His guilt is immediate and it gnaws at him. A few days after Hassan was assaulted, Amir already feels guilt and resentment inside him. “’I [Amir]

The book The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is a story about two brothers who develop both emotional and physical scars that in the end shape them as individuals. This amazingly written novel will leave the reader sobbing at times of sorrow, and smiling and laughing at times of joy. This

Amir's entire life had been haunted by what he saw happen to Hassan. Although he was a child at the time, he couldn't accept his shortcoming during a time of need. He was jealous of his father for being able to stand up for himself and others and Hassan's undying loyalty to him. He developed a pattern of behavior - of covering up his mistakes and hiding his past – that he could not rid himself of until he suffered like Hassan did. He made it up to Hassan by saving his son, and he made it up to himself by suffering the way he

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

“A widespread mythological and literary motif is the one of two brothers, who hate or are in conflict with each other and which sometimes even ends in the murder of one of those brothers.”

He has traveled to Afghanistan to save his nephew he never knew. At this point Amir knows the dangers he faces in the war riddled country but he must seek a way to forgive himself for what he did to Hassan. In his quest to make things right again, Amir confronts Assef, ““WHAT’S SO FUNNY?" Assef bellowed. Another rib snapped, this time left lower. What was so funny was that, for the first time since the winter of 1975, I felt at peace. I laughed because I saw that, in some hidden nook in a corner of my mind, I’d even been looking forward to this.” (Pg. 289) This is a large turning point in the novel. Amir can finally feel like he is doing right by everyone and gaining redemption for his

After he nearly convinces himself Hassan is “not [his] friend,” Amir is ashamed for neglecting his best friend in pursuit of his own safety. By portraying Amir’s guilt, the author displays Amir’s conflicted feelings for Hassan—the person who he has always treated “like a brother”—thus highlighting his inability to be decisive. Hosseini seems to believe that, although humans make mistakes, the following guilt can strengthen a person’s relationships in the long-term, provided they avoid making similar mistakes in the future. Later in the story, Amir and Hassan have a second encounter with Assef when Hassan is raped, but Amir simply watches the scene as a bystander, traumatized and scared to stand up for his friend. Amir continues to carry the burden of guilt for the rest of the novel and expresses his frustration by attempting to cut ties with Hassan. In chapter 9, Amir frames Hassan for stealing by placing his birthday money and his watch under Hassan’s mattress. When Baba finds out that Hassan had “stolen” from Amir—as Amir had planned— Hassan shockingly admits to stealing the watch and money, even though he was not responsible. However, Baba forgives Hassan, leaving Amir in a

As argued with the ideas put forth by Foster in How to Read Literature Like a Professor, related patterns - found in plot, characters, and drama - occur across pieces of literature, which can make reading complicated pieces of literature easier. These patterns, which occur repetitively in different works, are noticeable after being constantly exposed to them. This allows a reader to identify patterns, and connect your earlier experience with the example right in front of you. For example, take the Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini uses a multitude of patterns and archetypes which have been used time and time again in several other works. Once everything in the novel is treated as a symbol, we can see how Amir’s travel to Afghanistan is a quest; how Hassan's character mirrors the mannerism of Jesus Christ; that the social hierarchies of Afghanistan have occurred across history, and more. In recognizing these in the Kite Runner, a

The Kite Runner is a powerful book contrasting selfishness and selflessness. The book follows the life of Amir, a character who experiences guilt and tragedy throughout his life. While growing up in Kabul, Amir witnesses the imperfect and prejudice society in his country. Within an imperfect society, there are many who are self-invested, and among those, there are those who are selfless. Characters Amir and Hassan possess selfish and selfless traits. The traits that these characters possess are influenced by fear, victimization, and loyalty, ultimately leading them to inaction and action.

In Khaled Hosseini’s novel, ‘The Kite Runner’, it is often thought that symbols and metaphors are used as visual representations to reinforce and put emphasis on important stages in the novel. In can be seen that symbols are used in the novel to highlight particular moments in key relationships. For example Kites, the Pomegranate tree, Scars and the Slingshot are each used to put emphasis on specific moments in the relationships between Amir and Hassan and Amir and Baba. Through using symbolism and metaphor to present these key

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;

Hosseini also states that Hassan’s lip symbolizes the cultural and social differences throughout the novel, and how Amir's slingshot symbolizes the loyalty, their childhood, and explains standing up for what is right. The Kite Runner is a story of about an Afghan­American boy named Amir who has flashbacks that visually depict how his life was when he was just a young boy living in Afghanistan. It was a time of injustice as he searches for a redemption of his past guilts. Hosseini shows readers how Amir matures, and how he felt about different experiences during his life back in Afghanistan. The Kite Runner employs symbolism to show the experiences and moments in Amir’s life that have meaning to him and have left an impact on his life forever. By using symbolism, Hosseini makes readers think about how much earlier experiences and moments have shaped Amir’s life in The Kite Runner.

Amir stumbles upon an alley. In the alley, he sees the Hassan trap by three boys named Assef, Kamal, and Wali. All they asked of Hassan is to give up the blue kite. However, Hassan’s loyalty and friendship toward Amir prevented Hassan to give up the kite. As the tension built, Assef lets Hassan have the kite, but in-return he does unthinkable. Assef rapes Hassan as Amir watched unnoticeably from the alley (Hosseini 62-66). This was Amir’s chance to prove his true friendship by stepping in to save Hassan. Instead, Amir ran “because I was a coward. I was afraid of Assef and what he could do to me. I was afraid of getting hurt. That’s what I told myself as I turned my back to the alley, to Hassan” (Hosseini 68). According to Amir, “Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba” (Hosseini 68). “He was just a Hazara, wasn’t he?” (Hosseini 68).

‘All I saw was the blue kite. All I smelled was victory. Salvation. Redemption’. Good morning Ms Hatton and peers. We have all faced challenges throughout our life, but it is how we endure and face these challenges that shapes and demonstrates our character. In the text The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, we see Amir, A young Afghani man struggle with guilt and identity as he grows emotionally and physically, challenged by those around him. Hosseini uses a multitude of language forms and features to investigate and explore the concept of challenge and endurance, and how forgiveness can free someone.