Redemption In The Kite Runner

While on a truck, he defended the women. Willing to take the bullet without hesitation, he put his life on the line for the stranger, for his passion had been stronger than his fear of death. Baba acted out of bravery due to his grand stature, level head, and big heart, “when all six-foot-five of him thundered into the room, attention shifted to him like sunflowers turning to the sun” (13). Baba was well respected in Afghanistan, and he knew that his voice would be heard; therefore, he used his power as a way to defend the defenseless. He was willing to sacrifice himself even though his son disagreed with the idea. Amir thought only of himself and that he would be left as an orphan if Baba was shot; whereas Baba wanted to help the woman as long as he was only risking his own life. His heart reached out for anyone needing an extra hand. He loved and cared for so many people, he wanted to help all of them. Baba put in hard work to help the people around him, and they all looked up to him due to “the marks he had left on people’s lives” (174). Baba’s willingness to sacrifice himself for strangers shaped his reputation in Afghanistan.

The only way to have full redemption is to tell the truth. In The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, Amir is a boy living in Kabul, Afghanistan, as the son of Baba. Who is a wealthy businessman of great success. He is a very generous person, building an orphanage, giving to the poor, and lending money to friends in need. Baba has a very well acquainted business partner and a good friend Rahim Khan, who gives Amir great attention that Baba does not give to him. They have Ali and his son Hassan, who are servants to them. Amir and Baba flea Kabul when the Soviets invade Afghanistan, leaving everything behind. When they emigrated to America, Amir and Baba live in great poverty. Baba is a manager at a gas station, then gets lung cancer and dies. He has a lot of guilt, giving to people and doing good deeds is not a way to redeem one’s self.

Readers must examine Amir’s redemption to Baba. Amir feels guilty of his mother’s death, his first sin to Baba. Longing for Baba’s love, Amir knows that Baba “hated me a little… After all, I had killed his beloved wife, his beautiful princess, hadn’t I?” (Hosseini 19). Amir’s day of birth starts his betrayal to Baba since his birth causes Baba’s wife to die. Furthermore, Amir continues

“For you, a thousand times over.” In The Kite Runner by Kahled Hosseini, there is a recurring theme of redemption that is portrayed by various literary devices. Kahled excellently juxtaposes devices such as irony, symbolism, and foreshadowing to show redemption within his first novel.

betrayed Hassan by not telling him that he was his real father, which subjected him to a life of bullying and poverty. Baba’s main concern was his “ honor, his name” (223), by not revealing his secret he was to keep him prestige status because that was “ All that a man has back then, all that he was” (223). By not telling Hassan that he was his father, he became a hypocrite. He referred to theft as “ the only sin’ and when you tell a lie “ you steal someone’s right to the truth” (225) but his betrayals for Hassan contradicts all his upheld morals, since “he committed the biggest theft because: the things he had stolen had been sacred: [...] from Hassan his identity” (225). Due to Baba’s Hassan is subjected a life of poverty and inferiority because he is not able to know his real identity as half Pashtun, but instead he is subjected to his identity as a full Hazara, which is looked down upon on society. Baba spends the rest of his life trying to forgive himself and gain redemption by “ feeding the poor on the streets, building the orphanage, and giving money to friends in need” (302). Through these acts of trying to forgive himself and gains redemption, because “ he found a way to create good out of remorse” (303). Through the guilt of his betrayal, he was able to forgive and achieve

Baba’s lack of faith prevents him from finding atonement through God. Moreover, Baba is unable to find holistic atonement because he fails to admit and reconcile his sins to those who are affected by them. Although Baba preforms small deeds to redeem himself, such as providing cosmetic surgery to Hassan, he fails acknowledge him as his son, which would allow Baba to achieve true atonement. Evidently, Baba’s actions illustrate he only sought personal redemption. For instance, in an effort to ease his guilt, Baba constructed an orphanage in Kabul. While this initially depicted Baba as selfless, it is later discovered this act of charity is preformed predominantly to alleviate his guilt. Rahim Khan later tells Amir, “ I think everything he did, feeding the poor, building the orphanage, giving money to friends in need, it was all his way of redeeming himself” (Hosseini 302). Although, as Rahim Khan also says, “real good was born from your father’s guilt” (Hosseini 302), Baba never achieved holistic atonement because he failed to make peace with Ali, Hassan and Amir. Opposed to amending his sins to the people directly affected by it, Baba preforms charitable deeds to his community to make himself feel better about his iniquities.

Jesus sacrificed his own life for everyone’s sins in order for redemption, allowing his followers to gain forgiveness. In the novel, The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, Amir understood that he must risk his own life in order to free him and his father from their sins. Amir desired rebirth of a new life, but he was unsure of how to live a life free of sin. In relation to the poem, Redemption, by James Casey, Amir was also running and hiding from his problems. Escaping to California with his father did not give Amir the refreshing start he had hoped for. Desires of Amir included: redemption for wronging Hassan, the approval of his father, and for overall acceptance and forgiveness.

How, after years of guilt, self-disgust, and deception, is it possible for one person to become good again? Entrapped in a cage of cowardice for so long, can they ever develop and grow as a normal human being? Amir, the anti-hero in Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, seeks to answer these questions in his own search for atonement through various existential events in his life.

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.

Throughout time, there have been many stories of redemption; downfalls and dramatic rises. In case you don’t know what redemption is, it is the act of saving or being saved from sin, error or evil, like Amir in the book The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini and Coach Roy in the film Rebound directed by Steve Carr. Both main characters from each piece of media share the theme of redemption by visiting a sentimental place to them and on the way, there is a special person who they want to impress. The novel The Kite Runner is about a man named Amir who was born in Afghanistan then eventually moved to San Francisco. But in order to redeem himself, he needs to travel back to his home country. The film Rebound is about a man named Roy McCormick, who

Whether it may be a false accusation or guilt that has been building up for the past twenty years, redemption is something that brings people to a realization of their actions. Many people, after redeeming themselves, come to a sense of intoxication because they feel as if they have learned their lesson even if it meant the hard way. Consequently, this is resulting Amir from The Kite Runner is starting to learn his lesson of not standing up for Hassan. Throughout the process of redemption, a person starts to feel fulfilled, almost as if they become “wiser” in a sense. Andy from Shawshank Redemption receives a false accusation for the murder of his wife. Some values held by people who go through the process of redemption include hope, a sense

Khaled Hosseini's, The Kite Runner, is a flashback narrated by a 40 year old Afghan-American man named Amir, who is plagued by his childhood sins until he seeks redemption for his wrongdoing and figures out that redemption requires painful sacrifice. Amir is a kid who experinced someone so loyal to him be raped and Amir did nothing to stop the rapist. One sin led to another and before Amir knew it, he was destroying his life. After his father died, who was someone who he looked up to most, Amir started to go on the path to redeem himself and his guilt where is when he learns the true meaning of sacrifice. Hosseini uses Amir’s misguided notion of sacrifice and his long journey toward redemption in order to ultimately convey that true

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.

Conflict between guilt and redemption has been one of the big themes of mankind, as it is described in many notable literary pieces and scriptures including the Bible. Similarly, The Kite Runner by Khalid Hosseini vividly depicts a young Afghan man, Amir, suffering between sin and guilt, realizing how he could’ve changed one’s destiny. This story is not merely about repentance, but also about the whole process of realization. Although Amir remains guilty by avoiding Hassan consistently after the betrayal, he seeks true repentance after realizing that apologies towards Hassan are too late.

Julia Annas argues that friendship is a personal relationship that is grounded in a concern that one friend has for the other and vice versa (535). The extract above, from Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, will be discussed in an attempt to look at themes of friendship, loyalty, betrayal and redemption. Hosseini’s The Kite Runner was first published in 2003, and has since been reprinted many times, due to its popularity. This essay will aim to discuss friendship as a constant theme throughout the novel, by looking at the following aspects; trust, loyalty, class and religious differences, betrayal and finally redemption, specifically in Amir and Hassan’s relationship. This will all be done by making reference to the extract above and contextualising