The Kite Runner Rhetorical Analysis

One of Amir's prime qualities of his personality is being able to redeem himself. Throughout the story, Amir makes horrible decisions like running away as Hassan is raped, and strives for the affection of his father through jealousy. Although he makes a lot of mistakes, Amir proves that he can be a sharpened person towards the end of the story when he tries to adopt Sohrab, Hassan’s son. Amir and Sohrab eventually go to America, and when Amir and Sohrab talked, Amir told him, “I won’t ever get tired of you, Sohrab...Not ever. That’s a promise. You’re my nephew, remember (Hosseini 324)?” Amir greatly redeems himself by taking care of Sohrab

After letting Hassan get raped by Assef, Amir cannot stand the guilt he feels. Every time he and Hassan cross paths, Amir is reminded of what happened. To finally stop the constant reminder, Amir “ … lifted Hassan’s mattress and planted my new watch and a handful of Afghani bills under it … Then I knocked on Baba’s door and told what I hoped would be the last in a long line of shameful lies” (Hosseini 104). Amir’s actions result in Ali and Hassan leaving Amir, Baba, and Kabul. Amir would never see Ali or Hassan again. Many years later on his way back to Kabul, Amir makes a stop at Wahid’s house. Wahid is the older brother of Farid, the man that has been driving Amir to Kabul. Wahid is very poor and can barely afford to feed his family, but offers Amir the last of their bread and vegetables. Wahid’s three sons stare as Amir eats, and Amir assumes they are looking at his watch. He gives his watch to the boys as a gift. Before leaving, Amir leaves another gift. “ … I did something I had done twenty-six years earlier; I planted a fistful of crumpled money under a mattress” (Hosseini 242). As a child, Amir gave up his watch and money to frame his friend. As an adult, he gave those items up to show gratitude and appreciation. Amir achieves redemption again by making up for the bad deeds he did during his

Once back in Kabul, Amir takes steps he would never have imagined, which truly define his character. On his venture back to Afghanistan he learns the truth about Hassan’s connection with Baba. After hearing this Amir feels robbed of the truth and is angry at how his own father could hold this back from him. Despite his feelings, Amir realizes he must not only pay for his betrayal of Hassan but for Baba’s betrayal of Ali too. Amir knows he must face his fears and he understands this when he reveals, “I remembered Baba saying that my problem was that someone had always done my fighting for me" (Hosseini 239). Following this he undertakes a personal mission to find Sohrab and finds the courage to stand up to the Taliban, nearly dying in the process. During his quest Amir comes face to face with the disturbing Assef and fights him for Sorab, the ultimate sacrifice for his dead half-brother. While he is beaten he begins to laugh, which angers Assef even more. Amir explains that, “What was so funny was that, for the first time since the winter of 1975, I felt at peace" (Hosseini 303). After successfully bringing Sohrab back to California, Amir defends his Hazara nephew when General Taheri insults him. Over the dinner

Not only did Amir risk his life by going back to Kabul, but he also saved Sohrab from Taliban officials and brought him back to Pakistan. After Amir went back to Kabul, he found out that Sohrab was being held at one Taliban official’s house. When he went there to get Sohrab, he found out that the Taliban official was Assef; the guy who raped Hassan. Assef agreed to let Sohrab go in exchange for a fight with Amir. While Amir gets beaten, he thinks about the day when he asked Hassan to punish him by throwing pomegranate at him. But Hassan did not and Amir felt like he wasn’t punished. After Assef beat him up, he felt that he was redeemed because he needed to be punished for his sins. On page 289, Amir narrates his fight with Assef, “What was so funny was that, for the first time since the winter of 1975, I felt at peace. I laughed because I saw that, in some hidden nook in a corner of my mind, I’d even been looking forward to this. – My body was broken – just how badly I wouldn’t find out until later – but I felt healed. Healed at last.” Amir felt that he was healed because he finally was punished physically for what he did to Hassan. He was physically damaged but at the end he was able to recover and take Sohrab back to Pakistan.

He sees the disconnection as an opportunity for a new beginning. Situational irony further enhances that Amir would like to move toward the future and never toward the past, and to urgently wash away his offense. He wants a new birth, free of sins he committed by letting Hassan be raped and lying to force Hassan out of his house to avoid guilt, but soon realises he has to face his conscience. After the death of Baba, Amir lives in his home with his wife, Soraya, when he receives a phone call from Rahim Khan in Pakistan. He had knew what Amir had kept all these years as he says “Come. There is a way to be good again” (193), and so came to a shock to Amir. All of Amir’s past that he tried to conceal in the river has resurfaced. There was a silhouette of shame over Amir. He had shamed himself by not helping Hassan when he was attacked, lying to Baba about Hassan stealing his money, and consequently creating a situation where Hassan and Ali had to leave their home. Rahim Khan speech suggests that Amir needed to right his wrongs that had been done, indicating to Amir that there is a chance to redeem himself for the sins he had committed in his

Hosseini shows this through his use of words to portray Amir's fear and cowardice. Amir says, “I ran because I was a coward. I was afraid of Assef and what he would 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 77). The author reveals this to show the thought process of Amir’s decision to betray Hassan which stalks him in the days to come. Amir allows fear to get in the way of him sticking up for Hassan which leads to his feeling of shame in the future when Ali and Hassan leaves Kabul. Ali says, “We are leaving….Life here is impossible for us now….” (Hosseini 106). Amir then says, “That was when I understood the depth of pain I had caused, the blackness of the grief I had brought onto everyone….” (Hosseini 107). Amir’s selfishness, fear, and cowardice developed the destruction of his brotherly relationship between him and Hassan which causes the regret he feels toward

Amir watches his best friend Hassan get assaulted by Assef and some of his friends in an alley on the way home from the kite tournament. However, Amir does not go and defend Hassan and struggles to forgive himself. Fast forward in the story Amir has been living in America for some time and decides to go back to Kabul to save Hassan’s son Sohrab who he had never met. “From the past that had come calling. And from this one last chance at redemption” (Hosseini 231). In other words, Amir is saying that if he doesn’t do this there is nothing he can do to redeem himself for what he did in the past. This will lead to how Amir will be willing to do anything to save Sohrab even if it means risking his life and leaving his family behind.

Although the guilt Amir feels about Hassan will never fully dissipate, he was given a chance of redemption. The war in Kabul and Amir relate in the fact that things were not like how they used to be, a lingering somber and void sensation. Being beaten by Assef gave Amir honorable relief, as he finally stood up with what was right. Amir

Then Assef was screaming. He put his hand where his left eye had been moments ago” (Hosseini, 291). Assef’s past finally caught up with him and the threats of Hassan had been passed along for Sohrab to finish. As destiny would have it, yet again Hassan’s bloodline continues to save Amir despite his legitimate effort to stand up to Assef. Amir had finally broken the shackles that bound him to his past, freed Sohrab, and “[Amir’s] body was broken-just how badly [he] wouldn’t figure out until later-but [he] felt healed.

Amir receives a letter from Rahim Khan describing a way to be "good again," or in other words; a form a redemption for his sins. Amir ultimately achieves redemption by rescuing Hassan's son Sohrab from the Taliban. Another example found in the book relates to Hassan and his son Sohrab. When Hassan was a teen, Assef rapes him resulting in some miserable years. At the end of the book, Shorab nails Assef in the eye with a slingshot to rescue Amir.

Amir, before going into a flashback, receives a call from Rahim Khan and that one call transforms his life. Rahim Khan tells him that “There is a way to be good again” and Amir’s new life takes a turn once again (Hosseini 2). Later, Amir goes to Kabul to meet Rahim Khan; Rahim Khan reveals a secret that gives Amir the final opportunity to redeem himself and repent for his betrayal of Hassan. He learns that Hassan and his wife were “shot” by the Taliban and their son, Sohrab, was moved to an “orphanage” (Hosseini 220). He also learns that Baba “was married once before, to a Hazara woman” and Hassan is an illegitimate step-brother (Hosseini 222). The truth is out in the open, and Amir is shattered because he sees that actual kinship exists between him and Hassan. He is unable to understand the reality of his own life, and he questions everything in his past. The opportunity to save his nephew from the dangerous Taliban ruled Afghanistan, appears to be the only chance for Amir to repay his best friend, his stepbrother, and his protector: Hassan. Amir went on the journey to save his nephew from the horrific Taliban, and the circle of life was almost complete for Amir. He had left his friend to be raped by Assef and here he was again where either he could let the little child live a life of misery or face

When Amir joins with Rahim Khan he tells Amir that Hassan and his wife were shot in the back of the head, and their son, Sohrab, was put in an orphanage. Rahim Khan asks him to take him out and bring him to a better family, where he is safe; “Then I told him I was going to Kabul. Told him to call the Caldwells in the morning” (227). This is the first time Amir has stood up for Hassan, by saving his son. Even though Amir has no desire to go back into the danger place, Kabul, he is willing. He has a chance to be forgiving of his regret of not standing up for Hassan finally. This is the first major change of heart seen in Amir throughout the book. He does this to be forgotten of his past, and also for his “brother”. When Amir arrives to the orphanage Sohrab is not there. The owner said that a Taliban soldier pays him to take one child, to become a sex slave and it was Sohrab this time. Amir continues on his search for Sohrab, he goes to where the Talib is keeping him. After having a long conversation with Assef, he tells Amir he can take Sorab, but they have “unfinished business”. Assef takes out his brass knuckles and starts to beat Amir; “ I hadn’t been happy and I hadn’t felt better, not at all. But now I did. My body was broken-just how badly I wouldn’t find out until later-but I felt healed. Healed at last. I laughed” (289). This is when Amir finally stands up for Hassan. Amir knew when Assef told

It is not until years later in the second half of the book, and long after Amir has moved to America, that he attempts to redeem himself for his betrayal of Hassan. Fittingly, due to the cyclical structure, Amir must return to Afghanistan. He is called back by the pleading of his father’s old friend, Rahim Khan, whose dying wish is to see Amir redeemed. At Rahim Khan’s direction, Amir returns to the village from which he originally fled. He is meant to find Hassan’s orphaned son and return him to Pakistan where, supposedly, a couple is waiting to adopt him.

She returned to Hassan’s life. Sanaubar missed Hassan’s youthful years, and she made up for it by taking care of Sohrab the way she would have to Hassan if she did not leave him and Ali, her husband. Later in the story, Amir went back to Afghanistan after leaving for America due to the Soviet invasion. He went back to save Sohrab. While being beat up by Assef, his childhood bully turned Taliban official, Amir describes the experience, “My body was broken–just how badly I couldn’t find out until later–but I felt healed. Healed at last” (289). For years, Amir has been trying to escape the past. His remorse brought him back to Afghanistan to save Sohrab, fulfilling Rahim Khan’s dying wish. Amir has been struggling with his guilt, he knew he deserved the beating. He then felt relief knowing that this time, he tried to save someone. He redeemed himself by letting his guilt save Sohrab from Assef. Although it happened earlier, it was not revealed until later into the novel that Baba was Hassan’s father, therefore, he had sinned against Ali. As opposed to Amir and Sanaubar, Baba took a different approach in trying to redeem himself. Hosseini

Moreover, Amir’s sacrifice is also to help free Sohrab from Assef. Even when Amir would like nothing more than to leave Afghanistan, he stays—to help Sohrab. He spends countless hours talking to lawyers and on phone calls to ensure that Sohrab will never have to live in the “captivity” of an orphanage again.