Relationship With The Past In Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner

In the novel The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini tells a notable coming-of-age story portraying the actions and thoughts of Amir, a penitent adult living in the United States and his reminiscence of his affluent childhood in the unstable political environment of Afghanistan. Throughout the novel Khaled Hosseini uses character description to display his thoughts on sin and redemption.

In The Kite Runner, the main character, Amir, made a life changing decision that put him into a state of darkness and depression. He made the decision to leave his childhood friend, Hassan, in an alley to be raped, which caused him to have a guilty conscious for years to come. The darkness that Amir felt was revealed when Amir and his father traveled in the tank of a gas truck, no light, just darkness. While in the tank, the author, Khaled Hosseini, added detailed memories of Amir and Hassan’s childhood. By adding these details, the reader was able to conceive an idea of how Amir truly felt about leaving Hassan in that cold and dangerous alley five years prior to traveling to another country.

The Kite Runner is the first novel of Afghan-American author Khaled Hosseini. It tells the story of Amir, a boy from Kabul, Afghanistan, whose closest friend is Hassan, a young Hazara servant. Novel turns around these two characters and Baba, Amir’s father, by telling their tragic stories, guilt and redemption that are woven throughout the novel. Even in the difficult moments, characters build up to their guilt and later on to their redemption. Their sins and faults alter the lives of innocent people. First, Amir and Baba fail to take action on the path to justice for Ali and Hassan. Moreover, Amir and Baba continue to build up their guilt due to their decisions and actions. Although Amir builds up more guilt than Baba throughout the novel, he eventually succeeds in the road to redemption unlike his father. After all, Amir and Baba have many chances to fix their atonements but Baba chooses not to and Amir does. Baba uses his wealth to cover up his sins but never atone himself while Amir decides to stand up and save Sohrab and finally finds peace. Amir and Baba’s reaction to sins essentially indicate their peace of mind and how they react to guilt and injustice.

The Kite Runner focuses on the journey of Amir as he struggles both mentally and physically to make up for a horrible wrong that he committed in his past that continues to haunt him to this day. He encounters many difficulty, fear, and happiness. Hosseini teaches his readers that it is necessary to channel one’s guilt into a means of redemption because although forgiveness may not be granted right away, as long as moral actions are taken, atonement will eventually ensue.

In Khaled Hosseini’s novel The Kite Runner, the main character, Amir, is able to right the past after carrying much guilt from his childhood. Although Amir revisits past trauma and is physically hurt, he is able to save the life of his nephew which shapes Amir to be a better person. The idea of having a second chance and the thought of redemption can influence individuals to change for the better. This leads to a change in character in Amir, which is displayed through repetition of the past, contrast of past and modern Kabul, foreshadowing, and the symbolism of kites.

An important theme that relates to the physical journey in The Kite Runner is the past. The influence of the past affects Amir in his life as we see from the very first sentence of the book until the end. “I became what I am today at the age of twelve, on a frigid overcast day in the winter of the 1975… 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,” (Hosseini 1). Throughout the book, Amir’s past haunts him in every action he takes and the journey for his redemption. To Amir, the past defines who he currently is. All of his feelings of guilt stimulate him to make up for his mistakes. For example, he feels responsible for the events leading up to Hassan’s murder by the Taliban because he pushed Hassan and Ali out of Baba’s house. So, years later when he goes back to visit Rahim Khan, Amir is told to make amends by finding his nephew, Sohrab. The past is mentioned in many parts of the book in his quest, Amir faces many obstacles from his past.

In the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, Amir craves his father's approval. Amir becomes jealous of Hassan and turns to cowardliness to hide his guilt for what he saw in the winter of 1975. The author develops the theme of betrayal and redemption throughout the novel by Amir’s experiences of betrayal from his father and by betraying others in return. Amir goes through his life wanting redemption for the sins he has committed.

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

Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner is a fascinating book that through the story it releases a remorse content. Amirs character in the novel centers on Amir struggling throughout his life. When we discover how the winter of 1975 in Kabul makes Amir Jan become guilty of his actions. Amir is a character who Hosseini makes us feel compassion for. Amir has conflicted feelings toward his father, Baba, and especially his best friend servant, Hassan. Amir attempts to avoid his guilt, but it does nothing to help him redeem himself and therefore his guilt remains. That is why every time he hears his friend's name, Hassan, he quivers from the flashbacks he gets. Making us grasp how Amir stops himself from actually moving on and achieving more, proving that a life

In the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, Amir is a man who looks back on his life. At first, he feels only selfishness and terror caused by past tragedies. He grows up with his friend and servant Hassan whom he treats poorly and bosses around. Hassan is raped trying to protect Amir and Amir watches and says nothing. As they get older they fall out of contact and Amir moves to California while Hassan stays back in Afghanistan. Amir learns that Hassan is killed by the Taliban, and is asked by his trusted mentor Rahim Khan to go and take care of Hassan’s orphaned son. Amir gets scared and wants to run from this task. Rahim reflects with Amir, and tells him, “‘You know,’ Rahim Khan said, ‘one time, when you weren’t around, your father and I were talking. And you know how he always worried about you in those days. I remember he said to me, Rahim, a boy who won’t stand up for himself becomes a man who can’t stand up to anything. I wonder, is that what you’ve become?’” (Hosseini ch.17). Khan tells Amir that he must be strong and do what is right because he has never been courageous enough to commit himself. In order to forgive himself for his past, Amir must take charge of his future and finally find his voice. He must find the courage to do what he knows is right: go back in time and help the boy who could not be helped; rescue Hassan’s legacy. Amir had the support of

In the story, The Kite Runner, Amir have to deal with love and gilts in a very young age in order to lead him to be a great writer when he grows up. When Amir was young, his only goal at that time is to get attentions from his father. The only person that was close to him was Hassan, his servant and best friend. However one time Amir witnessed Hassan being bullied and raped and decided to not do anything. That have made a huge change in Amir's life and always makes him regret for not stopping that nightmare for Hassan. With all the bad stuff Amir was going throw in his childhood, he is able to become a more mature and stronger man because of his past.

Throughout the novel, “The Kite Runner,” by Khaled Hosseini, Amir is haunted by memories of his past. The theme has been, betrayal, loyalty, guilt and honor. The tone throughout is confessional. Amir the main character, is constantly troubled by his memory of Hassan’s rape and believes “he became what [he] is today at the age of 12,” because of his own cowardice at not stopping Hassan from being raped. After Hassan’s rape, Amir spends the rest of his life trying to redeem himself for his betrayal of his loyal friend. The rape leads Amir to his final quest for redemption when he is told “there is a way to be good again.” The climax of “The Kite Runner” is when Amir seeks to rectify the wrong he did to Hassan and finally finds Hassan’s son, Sohrab.

“True redemption is when guilt leads to good,” Rahim Khan asserts. Khaled Hosseini compels the readers to think in the novel, The Kite Runner, by analyzing Amir’s quests. Additionally, readers must understand Amir’s journey to maturity throughout The Kite Runner, as a Bildungsroman novel. Amir’s journey to redemption ultimately accentuates his quest for adulthood.

The Kite Runner, a novel written by Khaled Hosseini, follows the protagonist, Amir, as he recapitulates his life in Afghanistan and America in the eighties. As the story progresses, and grows in intensity with each coming event, the guilt that emotionally debilitates Amir becomes gradually more realized. However, while guilt plays a significant role in the development of his character, it is also the superiority complex he shares with Hassan and the visceral nature of Hosseini’s writing. The many horrific occurrences that take place in The Kite Runner are realistic and evocative for the sake of exploring Amir’s mind. With the addition of an emphasis on guilt as well as the tragedy in his relationship with Hassan, Amir’s character can be accepted

The consequences of the past are inescapable and the choices a person makes can influence the rest of his life. There is no way to change the past, so once important choices are made it is impossible to reverse time and change those decisions. Khaled Hosseini explores this idea of having to live with past decisions in his compelling novel The Kite Runner. To enforce the message of how inescapable the past truly is, the main character of Hosseini’s book, Amir, betrays his closest friend and struggles to cope with the haunting consequences of this betrayal. Through Amir’s complex character development and The Kite Runner’s distinctive plot structure, those who read the novel gain a deeper understanding of Amir’s decisions as a result of his past mistakes via Hosseini’s use of foreshadowing and flashbacks. By creating a unique relationship between the past and present in the novel, Hosseini urges readers to ponder the consequences of mistakes and reflect on their own past.