The Kite Runner Quote Analysis

The love and disputes between father and son. The relationship that Amir has with Baba is quite complicated. Amir constantly tries to earn Baba’s love and respect while Baba has a hard time accepting how Amir is and compares him to Hassan. While travelling to Pakistan in the back of the truck Amir felt sick quite often by which Baba was quite annoyed. “I saw it on his embarrassed face the couple of times my stomach had clenched so badly I had moaned. When the blurly guy with the beads-the praying woman’s husband-asked if I was going to get sick, I said I might. Baba looked away.”In addition to this when Amir throws up, Baba apologizes to the fellow passengers to which Amir feels guilty and annoyed that he is just 18 and the way Baba is behaving is as if car sickness is a crime. This suggests that Baba was expecting Amir to be more self controlled and strong so that he didn’t feel sick showing us the conflicts he has with Amir as he expects a lot from him.

Baba says these words to Rahim Khan while he is talking about Amir at the end of Chapter 3, and the quotation reveals important traits in both Amir and Baba. With these words, Baba sums up one of Amir’s major character flaws—his cowardice—and Baba shows how much value he places in standing up for what is right. Baba is reluctant to praise Amir, largely because he feels Amir lacks the courage to even stand up for himself, leaving Amir constantly craving Baba’s approval. Amir’s desire for this approval as well as his cowardice later cause him to let Assef rape Hassan. The quotation also foreshadows the major test of Amir’s character that occurs when he

Further in the novel, in Pakistan, Amir learns in redeeming himself and Baba’s sins while talking with Rahim Khan. Rahim Khan then summons Amir in talking about Baba’s past deeds; how Baba tries redeeming himself by building an orphanage and helping the poor. Amir thinks about his life back in America, how he is a prolific author, writing stories and novels. Amir realizes that Hassan may have saved from being raped by Assef if his father has told him that they were related. Hurled around during the fight with Assef, Amir redeems himself of getting the punishment he feels he deserves.

“And where is he headed?’ Baba said. ‘A boy who won’t stand up for himself becomes a man who can’t stand up to anything,”(Hosseini 22). Amir admits that he is a coward, but sometimes uses it to get what he wants. For example, while Hassan was being bullied in an alleyway, Amir stood and watched instead of helping Hassan.

Forgiveness can be tough to tackle. Whether it be forgiving a friend, a family member, or something that happened in the past, it is extremely difficult to move on without forgiveness. The process of forgiveness can grow easier with age. Although for some, the process of forgiving never becomes easier. They live their whole lives feeling bad for themselves instead of forgiving the actions of the past and moving forward with their lives. The sooner one learns to forgive, the easier it will be to move on. In the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, Amir and Soraya both struggle with forgiving events from the past.

While Amir defeats his final obstacle to win Baba’s approval, he reciprocally falls down and fails to show courage in Hassan’s rape. Amir assumes that Hassan “was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba” as he watches Assef sodomize Hassan, and he “actually aspired to cowardice” (77). The atonement of Amir’s sins to Baba sparks the commencement of Amir’s betrayal to Hassan. Furthermore, Amir runs away and hides from his sins in Amerca knowing that he cannot gain the courage to redeem himself and completely fulfill his quest to adulthood. Nonetheless, Rahim Khan provides Amir an opportunity to accomplish his redemption. After decades of hiding, Rahim Khan calls Amir to tell him to “come” back to Kabul since “there is a way to be good again” (192). Amir must successfully accomplish his final obligation to complete his quest to maturity. In addition, Amir must stop hiding like a boy and begin to stand up like a man. As Amir returns to Kabul to save Sohrab, and ultimately redeem himself, he must fight Assef one last time, which results in Amir’s “body being broken – just how badly I wouldn’t find out until later – but I felt healed. Healed at last” (289). Amir now receives his deserved punishment and, most importantly, he learns to stand up and finally matures into a man. Although Amir completes his quest to adulthood, readers must realize that Amir must ultimately grant Sohrab a

As he leaps after the kite, he yells, “For you a thousand times over!” over his shoulder (Hosseini 67). While chasing down the kite, Hassan runs into Assef. Assef demands the kite as payment for previous embarrassments, but after Hassan refuses, Assef decides he will take something even more precious from him. At this point, Amir comes looking for his best friend and his trophy. He witnesses Hassan getting raped and quietly slinks away, not brave enough to protect his protector. Worse, Amir never acknowledges the incident, wounding Hassan deeper than any physical abuse. Ashamed of himself and his cowardice, Amir decides that the best way to be rid of his guilt is to make Hassan leave. He plants money and his watch under Hassan’s mattress with the hope that Baba will throw the thief out. Baba forgives Hassan, but Hassan and his father decide to leave anyway.

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.

He sets out to Kabul to get Sohrab, only to find that he is unable to bring him to Pakistan. Instead, he and his wife Soraya adopt him. By doing this, Amir granted Hassan’s wish by making sure that Sohrab did not grow up an orphan, allowing him to redeem himself. This is when Amir realizes that “it’s wrong, what they say about the past,” and he realizes that it is possible to “bury it because the past claws its way out” (4). This realization demonstrates that Amir matured over the course of twenty-six years, and he learned how to redeem himself from his

Baba would praise Hassan for his bravery which therefore caused him to compliment and give Hassan more attention than Amir. Eventually, Baba had doubt in Amir’s character, hence the conversation with Rahim Khan explaining, “ If I hadn’t seen the doctor pull him out of wife with my own eyes, I’d never believe he’s my son” (Hosseini 24-25). For this reason, Amir said, “ Nothing was free in this world. Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba” ( Hosseini 82). Amir allowed the rape to happen because he wanted the blue kite, which would convince Baba that he was a winner just like him, earning him Baba’s affection and approval were what he longed for. Above all, the price of the kite, as Amir states, was Hassan, and this is why Amir calls Hassan the lamb he had to slay; his jealousy over the love Baba had for Hassan caused him to risk every moral and value he held. Also, he resents his choice to be a coward when Hassan is raped which advanced to his immediate feeling

Amir’s cowardice led to guilt, which is why he searched for redemption the rest of his life. Baba states one of Amir’s major flaws, his cowardice, and Baba shows how much he values standing up for what is right. “A boy who won’t stand up for himself becomes a man who can’t stand up to anything” (22). Baba is reluctant to praise Amir because he feels Amir lacks the courage to stand up for himself, which leaves Amir constantly craving Baba’s approval. Amir is ashamed of not being the child Baba wanted, which leads to him feeling guilty. ¨After all, I had killed his beloved wife... The least I could have done was to have had the decency to have turned out a little more like him. But I hadn’t turned out like him. Not at all¨ (19). Amir is weak and a coward, whereas Baba is strong and will stand up for anybody. Amir’s fear shows again when Baba stands up for a woman who was threatened to be raped. “Do

Unfortunately, all people are human and are not perfect; they are meant to make mistakes. A person can make a huge mistake and may have to live with the feelings of guilt and regret. In some cases, these feelings remain on a conscience and cause a person to give up hoping for relief. However, no matter how much time has passed, a person can usually find a way to make up for the wrongdoing. In the novel, The Kite Runner, author Khaled Hosseini effectively expresses the theme that it is never too late for reparation when Amir saves his step-nephew Sohrab. The rescue was courageous and transformed him from a selfish child to a mature adult.

In Runner, Robert Newton conveys that Charlie the protagonist is bound to mature early to make completely selfless choices. When his father dies, Charlie is contrived to fill his father’s boots, meaning he had to take up his father’s role of being the financial provider of his family. Additionally, Charlie makes an altruistic choice by running for squizzy Taylor. Lastly, Charlie makes the self-sacrificing decision by gambling his large saving from Squizzy on the Ballarat Mile. In summary, Newton demonstrates that Charlie is forced into adulthood early through necessity and make self-denying decisions due to his family's desperate circumstances.

Minor misunderstandings and misinterpretations, such as Baba remembering Hassan’s birthday, spontaneously giving him the identical gift as Amir’s, and covering the cleft palette surgery fee, led Amir to augment his envy towards Hassan, who had everything he had wanted: earning Baba’s love for himself. Amir’s triumph of the tedious kite tournament event climaxed when he was too mentally weak to protect Hassan from being raped by the antagonist Assef. It was an unfortunate event since, in fact, after all this time, Hassan did everything in his power to protect Amir from being bullied by neighborhood kids to covering lies and excuses Amir had made for his troublesome actions. However, Amir, disregarding Hassan’s friendship, had only cared about one matter at that time: Baba’s affection and satisfaction towards him. The sole purpose of claiming champion of the kite tournament was to make Baba be proud of Amir, and only Amir. It was extremely ignorant of Amir to run away from the rape scene he could have prevented. It was even worse when he pretended as if nothing had happened. “For a week, I barely saw Hassan… Now only the folded clothes greeted me” (Hosseini 80). For awhile, Hassan disappeared in the

Throughout the novel, Amir endeavors to be approved by his father, Baba, who is admired by people in Kabul. Unfortunately, Baba believes that Amir, unlike him, is very unmanly “and [that he] never fights back. He just... drops his head ” (Hosseini 24). Since Baba wishes for a son who would stand up for himself, he can’t help but observe that Amir’s friend Hassan, as the guy who “steps in and fends the [bullies] off” (Hosseini 24) is his idea of the ideal son. Though aware of his father’s expectations, Amir is unable to change himself and instead envies Hassan and the fact that Baba treats him like his own son by“[patting]Hassan on the back. [and even putting] his arm around his shoulder [like a fatherly figure]”(Hosseini 15). Despite the manifestation of this hatred in Amir, he continues to recognize the bond that he shares with Hassan, “ brotherhood between people who had fed from the same breast” (Hosseini 11) which is because both their mothers died during birth. The confusing emotions he feels for Hassan has Amir face a situation in which he acts inappropriately and allows the guilt to manifest upon him. After winning a very important kite tournament for the first time and “seeing Baba on that roof, proud of [him] at last” (Hosseini 71) Amir begins to search for Hassan who had gone to run his kite earlier. Finally, Amir finds him in a dark alley and as he “peeks around the corner” (Hosseini 75) he witnesses a sight that eradicated not only his relationship with Hassan but also Baba’s brotherly relationship with Ali, Hassan’s father. Peeking through the corner of the alley, like a bystander, he watches his one and only friend getting raped. The guilt that came upon him was for two reason; one, his lack of courage to stand up to