The Kite Runner By Khaled Hosseini

Amir’s mother, Sofia, dies in childbirth; Amir inherits her love of literature and probably her looks to some extent, but, her being dead, never receives any motherly love or guidance, which could have helped him out of the cowardly hole he later digs himself into. Amir’s father’s best friend and business partner, Rahim Khan, tries to give Amir the motherly love he clearly needs, fostering Amir’s love of writing and steadfastly standing up for him when Amir’s father, Baba, criticizes him, but Rahim Khan does not do enough to instill honesty, courage, and strength of conviction in young Amir. Amir’s best friend, Hassan, a servant a year younger than Amir, is everything Amir is not: athletic, brave, loyal, honest, and kind, inciting jealousy in Amir. Assef, a local bully, poses a real threat to Amir, hating Amir for the crime of befriending a Hazara (oppressed ethnic minority), but Amir is protected by Hassan, allowing young Amir to freeze and not stand up for himself in Assef’s presence. Last, but most importantly, is Amir’s father, Baba, and his views on Amir: he blames Amir for Sofia’s death,

As well as his need to recognize the past not hide from it. “I became what I am today…because the past claws its way out. Looking back now, I realise I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last 26 years” (1), this quote provides evidence that Amir has reflected his past mistakes and chooses to define himself as a result of them. Later in the novel, Amir finds a form of redemption for his inaction that night in the alleyway when he chooses to return to Afghanistan and save Hassan's only

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

The first time the reader is introduced to the theme comes at a time when Amir is feeling as though he is not deserving of his fathers appreciation. “Because the truth of it was, I always felt like Baba hated me a little. And why not? After all, I had killed his beloved wife, his beautiful princess, hadn’t I? The least I could of done was to have the decency to turn out a little more like him. But I hadn’t turned out like him.” [19] Amir is showing he feels responsible for his father’s misfortunes, and believes his father doesn’t love him since he and his father are so different. Amir constantly tries to redeem himself for “killing” Baba’s wife by trying to become a better son. Amir tries to become athletic like his father, but fails. Then tries to get into spectating soccer with his father, but he can’t do that either. Amir discovers through this that the traits he admires in his father are the things Amir lacks. These traits include strong values, success in business and life in general, as well as athleticism. One can see Amir’s attempts at redemption through his desire to become more like his father, even though he realizes he is

The guilt that Amir feels due to his destroyed relationship with Hassan haunts him throughout his entire life. First, Hosseini uses the scene of Hassan’s rape as a haunting source of

Amir had been around sadness and guilt all his life, a change in Amir’s environment would greatly influence a change as big as Amir’s character change. “All my life, I’d been around men. That night, I discovered the tenderness of a woman” (Hosseini 171). All of his life, Amir had been around guilt, sadness, death and hate. For once in his life, Amir had finally experienced true happiness and a change in environment.

This is just the beginnings of his guilt. We leave Amirs childhood memories and return to the summer of 2001, where Amir and Baba, Amir's father, have moved to America (191). Amir

For instance, by using the relationship between the past and present to influence Amir’s character development, Hosseini demonstrates how despite one’s best efforts, there is no way to escape the memories of the past. Memories follow individuals wherever they go and can torment individuals for the rest of their lives. Hosseini reveals how Amir’s past decisions shape his character development and his decision­making as the story progresses. When Amir was young, he was

First, Amir’s relationship with his father, Baba, helped create Amir’s identity. Their intricate relationship often left Amir feeling worthless as if he could not live up to the standards of a Pashtun. This negatively impacted Amir growing up; his values constantly changed as he tried to form a close bond with his father. Baba raised Amir to believe that everyone in Afghanistan had a certain role to play in life, but they should all be treated with respect. Baba’s values made Amir think he had disappointed his father. The high expectations that Baba had for Amir showed that he cared about their reputation. Being the child Amir was, he translated Baba’s hardness as though his father were unhappy to have a child such as Amir. Amir recounts the emotion displayed on his father’s face after an afternoon together; he laments, “Mostly I will never forget Baba’s valiant efforts to conceal the disgusted

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;

He looks at the past with several feelings, ranging from deep regret, to jealousy, to anger towards himself--or even his father. This haunting book presents the theme in a strong way as the character and his conflict develops. The first chapter is when the theme is broadly introduced. As stated in the quote above, Amir says that “…the past claws its way out.”

Despite this, some critics questioned whether the protagonist had fully redeemed himself. Amir's motivation for the childhood betrayal is rooted in his insecurities regarding his relationship with his father. The relationship between parents and their children features prominently in the novel, and in an interview, Hosseini

Lastly, we are told about the narrator himself. We know that Amir is a very regretful character as he is told he can be “good again,” insinuating that he knows he is bad. We also know that he is a slightly broken individual, as his life, and by extension, he was defined by this moment in the winter of 1975, and this moment was not an enjoyable one.

1. Amir recalls an event that occurred in 1975, when he was twelve years old and growing up in Afghanistan. He does not say what happened, but says the event made him who he is. “”Remembering the precise moment crouching behind a crumbling mud wall peeking into the alley near the frozen creek. I’ve learned how you can bury the past because the past claws its way out.” Realizing I have been looking into that alley for the last twenty-six years.