The Kite Runner Analysis

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.

First, Amir’s constant regrets prevent him from feeling satisfied with his life, contrast to Hassan’s minimal regrets. Amir’s most haunting regret is that he did not stand up to Assef while Hassan was getting raped in an alleyway. Amir's regret of not standing up for Hassan, starts to haunt him when he states, “I understood the nature of my new curse: I was going to get away with it...That was the night I became an insomniac”(86). This quote shows that the mistake Amir made is going to stay with him and negatively affect how he lives his life. Amir could have helped Hassan, and it would have helped Amir toward a happier future. Hassan grows up not having any major regrets, so nothing will come back to prevent him from being happy. Even after Hassan underwent getting raped for the kite, he does hold that as a regret. Hassan letting go of the event is shown when he tries to keep his friendship alive with Amir and does not

A factor which helped to define the selfish character that Amir had become, was the rape incident that Hassan was a victim to. Kite flying was a traditional event that happened many times

After Amir puts his watch under Hassan’s bed, Baba calls Hassan and Ali to question them and although it is a lie, Hassan admits to stealing the watch. Amir realizes this is “Hassan’s final sacrifice for me…[even though] knows I’d seen everything in that alley...He knew I had betrayed him and yet he was rescuing me once again” (111). Hassan has every right to reveal the truth about what Amir is doing, but he has always been loyal to him by taking the blame; this time it is not any different. However, his loyalty, or his “final sacrifice” causes him to move out of the only home he has ever known. Additionally, children should not keep secrets as it puts an immense amount of pressure on their shoulders. Hassan’s loyalty is also shown after the kite tournament when Assef wants the blue kite: “Amir agha won the tournament and I [Hassan] ran this kite for him. I ran it fairly and this is his kite” (77). Hassan’s self-expectation to be loyal to Amir; by not handing over the kite; prompts Assef to sexually assault him. After this incident, Hassan does not smile for a long time as it resonates with him for his whole life. Ultimately, the expectation Hassan has for himself to be loyal to Amir results in the loss of essential parts of his

Even avoiding Hassan cannot erase the memory Amir is trying so hardly to forget. He is constantly followed by the guilt which immediately followed his actions. It is suffocating him, stealing the air from his body. Seeing Hassan magnifies the inescapable feeling that builds in his chest, and seeing him when he is not present angers Amir. Hassan is well aware of Amir’s betrayal, but he continues to be a faithful friend and an obedient servant and this frustrates and confuses Amir. He cannot understand why Hassan treats him well when he deserves the exact opposite. This irrational anger towards Hassan drives Amir to sabotage Hassan and his father’s place in Baba’s household. Amir hides money under Hassan’s bed in his hut for Baba to find later. Though Baba immediately forgives Hassan’s supposed crime of theft, he and his father, Ali, make the decision to leave the property and live on their

The past is a great reminder to humans of what they have done. It can do many things to help us grow such as teach us our mistakes or important lessons. The past can also crawl under our skin and haunt us for many years. It all depends on what you decide to do with your past — do you decide to grow from it or let it be a constant reminder of your failures? In The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, ‘Slumdog’ star Freida Pinto: Film Industry too male-dominated by Tara Kelly, Catriona Davies and Lauren Said-Moorhouse, and the film Slumdog Millionaire, the past helps the character’s reach their coming of age in different and unique ways.

To begin with, one of the most horrific ways that Amir abused their friendship was using Hassan in his own selfish ways to attain what he desires. Despite the fact that running away from the scene where Hassan was being raped was wrong in itself, Amir is thinking to himself, “Nothing was free in this world. Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay […] to win Baba” (77). Amir within those few short seconds had made up his final decision; Hassan was going to be the price he paid to uncover his own selfish pleasures while including winning the love of his father, Baba. In addition, he believed that the only way he would achieve what he wanted, the blue kite, was to sacrifice Hassan to any destruction that could possibly come his way. Without a

As a child Amir was continuously looking for the approval and acceptance of his father. He felt Hassan was creating the distance and lack of connection between his father and him. When Amir found Hassan in the alley being raped by Assef, he did nothing. He had the time to realize what he was seeing was a horrible, and that not trying to stop it was a cowardly thing to do, “quote.” but still he ran away and did nothing. Hassan had never betrayed Amir, he had always been by his side, and he had even chosen to protect Amir’s kite knowing his safety was at risk in the alley. Amir had the opportunity to stop thinking about himself and to protect his best friend. He could have chosen to stand up for the person that had always stood up for him, but

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

Hassan’s character development is exclusive to ‘pre-rape’ to ‘post-rape’ times. Hassan goes from a loving, brotherly relationship with Amir, to cold and distant. As exemplified through these ‘pre-rape’ and ‘post-rape’ quotes: “I spent most of the first twelve years of my life playing with

In the novel, Hassan got the kite for Amir but was then cornered by Assef and his friends. As said in the book, Amir just watched as Hassan was getting raped and chose to run away “I could step into that alley and stand up for Hassan-the way he’d stood up for me all those times in the past- and accept whatever happened to me. Or I could run. In the end, I ran.” The film showed exactly what everyone would expect to see.

Fatherhood in this novel is seen by different shade of colour, not knowing what the true shade really is. There are many turning points which show various stages in being a true father. Therefore, being a father is very difficult, having to overcome obstacles and being strong for each other. A well-known saying “like father, like son” is evident in this novel by the different ties of relationship each character had. In the novel, The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini proves that there is need of a fatherly figure when growing up. Having a father-son bond helps the child differentiate right from wrong. The relationship which demonstrates the need of a father figure is depicted by Baba and Amir, Hassan and Sohrab as well as Amir and Sohrab.

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).

Many different themes emerge as the course of The Kite Runner , but the most significant of them is the idea that violence makes people scared , it makes people always escape and does not have courage to stand up , which Hosseini primarily conveys through he uses juxtaposition, and symbolism to shows Amir's guilty and cowardly run away, while he allows Assef rapes Hassan and after a lengthy struggle , finally he decides to do thing to fix his faults when knowing Hassan is his half-brother . Amir's guilty and cowardly run away will be the focus in this section . The events are he allowed Assef rape Hassan and how the guilt affects his actions .

Although Amir and Hassan are best friends, Amir betrays Hassan when Hassan needs him the most. Amir does this all for his father’s pride. Amir has just won a kite tournament with Hassan. Winning is the first step to the kite tournament, but the next step is to secure the last kite by running it. As Hassan runs the kite he gets cornered by Assef and his two other friends. If Amir does not help Hassan then Assef will rape Hassan. While Amir is watching, he knows that “[he] has one last chance to make a decision. One final opportunity to decide who [he] is going to be. [He can] step into that alley, stand up for Hassan-the way [he has] stood up for [Amir] all those times in the past- and accept whatever [will] happen to [him].