The Kite Runner Literary Analysis

Amir's forgiveness of himself is the most important one in the book and drives him to go back to Afghanistan.

However during his final return to Afghanistan he also states that the car sickness had gone which could show how he had finally adopted the morals and bravery of Baba and accepted the gravity and repercussions of the situation he was in. Another example which takes place as he returns to Afghanistan is his feeling of nostalgia. However he does not view his return to Afghanistan as a return to the place he was conceived in as he still considers himself a “tourist in his own country”. Overall his journey back to the country to rescue Sorab is not only a physical one but it could also have spiritual undertones as his return could symbolize his return from his old cowardly ways. This is reinforced by the fact that he left Afghanistan afraid and returned to it acknowledging the fact that the Taliban would likely try to kill him when he made his demands. Amir's return to America with Sorab can be seen as the final journey he takes part in yet it is not one filled with happiness and positive emotion as he is faced with Sorab's suicide attempt. However unlike in previous chapters Amir must now face the problem instead of running away and repressing it like he did with Hassan. This final journey serves to show us how Amir has finally changed and he no longer abandons problems even when it is in relation to someone he cares about, this journey could also serve as the ending of his

Born in Kabul, Afghanistan, Amir was the son of a wealthy social worker. He was brought up with the son of his servant, and perhaps his only best friend, Hassan. Amir had a rocky relation with his father. At times, it seemed as his father loved him but those moments didn’t lasted forever. He thinks Baba (his father) wishes Amir were more like him, and that Baba holds him responsible for killing his mother, who died during his birth. Despite being best friends, Amir thinks that Hassan is beneath him because he belonged to an inferior cast. He used to mock him jokingly or tried to outsmart him. In all fairness, it was Amir’s cowardly nature that

Eventually, Amir received a call from his old mentor, who told him to come back to Afghanistan because "there is a way to be good again." What Amir learned while he visited his mentor would lead him to what he considered redemption. Hassan had been killed, which Amir partially considered his fault, but Hassan's son, Sohrab, was still alive. With the idea of giving him to a good placement organization, Amir set out to save Sohrab. Amir found Sohrab in the possession of a Taliban member, the same man who had raped Hassan when they were children. In order to save Sohrab, Amir had to fight the man, and he was injured very badly in doing so. Despite his injuries, he felt better about himself. He felt free, at peace. He finally had the courage to tell his wife about what he had done, and that took a weight off of his shoulders, as well. Even though Hassan had forgiven him long ago, Amir refused anything less than Hassan's fate.

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 character of Amir goes through drastic changes as he moves from adolescence to adulthood. As a child Amir begins his life in Kabul, where his character is shaped through conflicts with his father and Hassan. Later, when he moves to America he leaves these conflicts behind and is able to create a stronger relationship with his father. However, when Amir is an adult he is called back to Afghanistan by an old friend to confront these earlier conflicts. In The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, observable changes can be seen in Amir’s character as he moves from Kabul, Fremont, and later back to Kabul.

Amir thought, “I could step into that alley, stand up for Hassan – the way he’d stood up for me all those times in the past…. Or I could run. In the end, I ran.” (Hosseini, 82) It was this conflict that changed the lives of all the characters. This was Amir’s, “final opportunity to decide who [he] was going to be.” (Hosseini, 82) As a result, He spent his adolescence ‘running’ away from his mistakes, because everywhere he looked “Kabul had become a city of ghosts…A city of harelipped ghosts.” (Hosseini, 144) To Amir, Hassan was haunting his memories. Amir couldn’t stand it so Baba and Amir moved to America. “For [Amir], America was a place to bury [his] memories.” (Hosseini, 136) In contrast to Kogawa’s novel, Amir’s actions resulted to the change of his life and the lives of people around him. Rahim Khan, a family friend, calls Amir in his adulthood asking him to come to Pakistan. Rahim Khan urges Amir, “There is a way to be good again.” (Hosseini, 2)

Mishra later supports this in her article by claiming, “the thing that makes him commit a crime for which he has to bear a lifelong sense of guilt in his inherent cowardice” (72). That being said, Amir was forced to face his guilt each time he looked at Hassan which caused him to frame Hassan and make him leave his home. Due to the closeness between Amir and Hassan’s family, Mishra claims “Amir destroys the only family that he and his father had in Kabul” (82). Later Mishra elaborates on Amir being left with a lingering sense of remorse and guilt that he can’t come to terms with despite the many years that pass. This is apparent through his Amir’s father’s passing, his return to afghanistan, his learning of Hassan’s passing, and the adoption of Sohrab.

Amir decides to come to Afghanistan after receiving a letter from his best friend Hassan. Hassan explained what had happened after he left Afghanistan. He explains his life in Afghanistan, and how his son Sohrab learns how to read and use the sling short. But he always tells him about his dream that he had. One day Amir will come back to Afghanistan, and if he does come back he will find a faithful friend waiting for him. Amir heads to Afghanistan, but he seems very scared. Because now Talban had power in Afghanistan. Amir finds out that Hassan was kidnapped by Assef. Assef was a bully. He had kidnap Sohrab. But now Farid and Amir arrived to talk with the Taliban’s to free Sohrab. Assef recognizes Amir and he beats him up in front of Sohrab.

When general find Amir had been talking to his daughter, not only her throw Amir’s story in the trash can, but also he tells Amir to remember that he is among other Afghans. “He signed and waved a hand ‘—even decent boy need reminding sometimes. So it’s my duty to remind you that you are among peers in this flea market’” (Hosseini 161). General rejects Amir because he doesn’t want a tragic happen again, the tragic that his daughter went away with a man.

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

Returning to his hometown, which has been destroyed by the new government, gives Amir a different perspective of what growing up in Kabul was really like for the lower class. In the novels

In The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini creates a portrait of the beauties and horrors of his hometown Kabul, Afghanistan based on real-life events. Hosseini depicts racial, religious and class issues in Kabul. The setting and social milieu drastically changed from the early 1970’s when the country was a secular regime (people were living their lives as they chose to) to the late 1970’s when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan and violence and instability began. The result of violence increased the inequalities between social class and religion. Hosseini shows how the novel’s setting and social milieu in Kabul directly influences and shapes the relationship between two young boys, Amir, an upper class Pashtun, and Hassan, Amir’s servant who is a lower class Hazara.

Amir had settled in America and had cut off all connections of himself with Afghanistan. The physical journey helps Amir to establish his identity. Amir’s confrontation

Social conditions are what shape a country. Over the years, people, not only in Afghanistan, but around the world create norms that define people’s roles in life, their future, and how they should be treated based on their gender and beliefs. Khaled Hosseini’s first novel, The Kite Runner, comments on the social conditions of Afghanistan through telling a story about the lives of two Muslim boys; a privileged Sunni Pashtun, Amir, and his long-time friend and servant, Hassan, a loyal but disadvantaged Shia Hazara. Hosseini expresses Amir’s uncertain feelings toward Hassan which form the decisions he makes throughout the book. These choices result in Amir destroying his relationship with Hassan. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini is a commentary on the social conditions in Afghanistan as shown through the roles of women and men in society and the ideals of Afghan culture. Unfortunately, these problems are still active in most of Afghanistan.