Redemption In William Shakespeare's The Kite Runner

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.

Sometimes mindsets are messed up based on how they were raised. But people's psychological mindset may change throughout their life. This roughly explains what has happened to Amir in the novel. In the Kite Runner, Amir’s psychological turning point is when Assef beats him, showing the theme of redemption rids guilt. Explained by Amir letting Hassan get raped, Amir pelting pomegranates at Hassan , and Amir taking care of Hassan’s son Sohrab.

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

“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.

Amir has shown to Baba that he is not a reflection of him, which makes Baba believe that it is not necessary to develop a connection with his son. This makes Amir feel guilty of himself which leads him to pursue a series of events where he attempts to win Baba’s love, even if those decisions put Hassan’s life in danger. After winning Baba’s affection and creating a stronger bond with his father in America, Amir still feels guilty for betraying his best friend in the winter of 1975. Amir’s guilt is not tearing his life apart as much as it did when he lived in Kabul, but it still affects him negatively. He is willing to do anything to let go of his guilt, even if it means putting his life at risk. After finding out Hassan is dead and he is Amir’s half-brother, Amir heads back to his childhood home during a time when the country is run by a terrorist organization, so he can rescue Hassan’s son, Sohrab, and finally be able to find peace in his life. Everyone makes mistakes in their life and even if those mistakes might have destroyed another person’s life, there is always a way to earn redemption and that is by letting the guilt that one carries lead to something

That is a vicious cycle within this book. For most of the book Amir deals with his problems simply by brushing them under the rug. By doing that he then creates a deeper hole than what he is already in. That is why Hassan’s name is such a sensitive subject. “I actually aspired to cowardice, because the alternative, the real reason I was running, was that Assef was right: Nothing was free in this world. Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba.” ( Housini 77) For example when his name is spoken Amir gets a funny feeling and instantly feels down. “I flinched, like I’d been slapped… Then I understood: This was Hassan’s final sacrifice for me… And that led to another understanding: Hassan knew. He knew I’d seen everything in that alley, that I’d stood there and done nothing. He knew I had betrayed him and yet he was rescuing me once again, maybe for the last time.” (Housini 105) When he finds out that Baba betrayed Ali he then realises that everything that he thought he knew was all a lie. “Huddled together in the dining room and waiting for the sun to rise, none of us had any notion that a way of life had ended.” (Housini 36) That then made him feel betrayed by Baba. Baba has been dead for a while now. There isn't much that Amir can do about that situation. Betrayal and punishment aren’t enough for him to feel redeemed. When he takes Sorab to the united states he then feels a sense of redemption

In the Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini wrote that “true redemption is […] when guilt leads to good” (Hosseini 302). this connection between suffering and redemption develops throughout the whole story. Hosseini hints that sacrifice leads to redemption in the book the Kite Runner through the actions of Baba, Sanaubar’s return, and Amir’s journey to atone for his sins.

Amir's life changed when he didn't do anything about trying to prevent his Hazara servant/half brother Hassan from being raped, which made Amir stay with this guilt till

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.

Hosseini shows that it is Amirs immense guilt that drives him to want to make things right and to earn redemption. We learn the basis Amir's guilt through his memories. It is caused by a lack of response at a time when his loyal servant and close friend Hassan is in trouble. Amir makes a conscious decision to hide in the distance and just watch, not because he was afraid. He sacrifices Hassan in order to earn his fathers attention and affection. This decision results in Hassan suffering though a traumatic experience and is the root of Amir's lasting regret.

My artwork represents the theme of redemption in The Kite Runner. In my drawing the moon and the tide represent Baba and Amir represented. Amir idolized his father, saying that his Baba had a black glare that would bring even the devil to his knees begging for mercy. The irony being that Baba’s glare brought Amir knees more than anyone else. After an episode of heart wrenching emotional neglect Amir says “I worshipped Baba with an intensity approaching religious.

Amir had great influences on him as a child; Baba was a brave person, generous to everyone, and should’ve influenced Amir to be the same. On the contrary, Amir was selfish and chose not to stand up for his friend, even when the situation desperately needs it. This is not because of how he grew up, of his environment. Amir’s genetics made him to be fearful and mean, as shown throughout the book. “I knew I was being cruel, like when I’d taunt him if he didn’t know some big word. But there was something fascinating - albeit in a sick way - about teasing Hassan.” (Hosseini 54). Even though Amir had great influences growing up, Hassan took the brunt of his attacks and neglect. Near the beginning of the book, Hassan is raped in the alleys running a kite for Amir. Going after Hassan, Amir finds Hassan while this is going on but does not stop the rapist or stand up for his friend. Instead, Amir ran away and proceeded to abandon Hassan emotionally after the event. Baba was a brave man and would’ve stood up for Hassan, regardless of the danger to him, but Amir was not influenced nearly as much by his positive environment rather than his negative cowardice, or

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.

Right after the Hassan’s rape, Amir cannot confront Hassan due to his inability to save him: “I didn’t speak to Hassan until the middle of the next week” (Hosseini 86). It is absolutely not Amir’s fault that Hassan was raped, however it is Amir’s fault that he is ignorant to rectify the situation by judging what is right or wrong. His sense of responsibility towards his action is where guilt comes from, and it is inevitable to remain ignorant from it. Even after years moving to America, he feels hesitant whenever people mention about Hassan. Baba mentions about Hassan that he wants to share the happiness and Amir’s growth with Hassan in the United States: “I wish Hassan had been with us today” (Hosseini 131). Amir’s reaction shows how remorseful he still is, as he claims that guilt is harming him: “A pair of steel hands closed around my windpipe at the sound of Hassan’s name”(Hosseini 134). The steel hands represent the stiffness of his guilt suffocating himself every second, and whenever people brings up topic about Hassan, his guilty conscience suffocates him. Likewise, Amir is not completely feeling free about Hassan even though he is miles away from him. Lastly, he is too late to learn from mistakes when he is told that Hassan passed away, thus he adopts Hassan’s son, Sohrab. Sohrab serves a huge role in this

Furthermore, in the novel we see a different situation where Amir had been a witness of seeing Hassan being raped but he did not do anything about it. Yet Hassan had stood up for Amir when Assef, a bully in the novel was trying to pick on Amir. This event haunted Amir throughout the rest of the novel, he knew that he could have done something about Hassan getting raped, instead he betrayed him and ran and pretended like he didn’t see anything. Amir was too selfish and was so focused on getting Baba’s approval that all he cared about was making Baba proud so he would accept him more. Hosseini himself writes, “I finally had what I’d wanted all those years. Except know that I had it, I felt as empty as this unkempt pool I was dangling my legs into” (Hosseini 85). Hosseini reminds us that Amir had achieved what he was hoping for, which was Baba’s approval. Even though, Amir had gotten Baba’s approval he had this big guilt due to the fact that he betrayed Hassan, this leads to Amir not being able to be himself and happy.