Theme Between Oedipus Ax And The Kite Runner

The quote,“Guilt is to the spirit, what pain is to the body” said by Elder David A. Bednar, really proves that guilt can be very painful and it is especially painful for Amir because he dealt with the guilt of choosing to not help Hassan his whole life. As soon as Amir decided to run away instead of trying to help Hassan and stop him from being sexually assaulted by Assef, he immediately felt guilty and that stuck with him for the rest of his life. The author really shows Amir’s guilt throughout the novel through different negative events that always seem to happen to Amir, he uses the idea of “full circle” throughout the novel to express Amir’s guilt. In The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini shows the motif guilt by adding important details throughout the novel: these include how Amir continues to feel guilty for the way that he treated Hassan throughout their childhood, he never stood up for Hassan when he needed him the most, and even when Amir tried to get rid of his guilt by bringing Sohrab back to America, he still felt guilt for everything he had done to Hassan.

In the novel The Kite Runner the text explores many different ways the relationships and people surrounding a person can shape one's self, this is most prevalent in Amir. During Amir's childhood, he is constantly vying for Baba's attention and affection. Amir's cowardice is seen through many different examples in the novel, mainly Assef and his violent actions bring forth his cowardice in many forms. Hassan is Amir's best friend in the beginning of the novel, he is also a role model to Amir.

It is amazing how two literary works from different time periods and different cultures can portray the same theme. A major theme in both The Kite Runner and Oedipus Rex is the limits of free will. The way Khaled Hosseini portrays the theme in The Kite runner is the way that the majority of Pashtuns treat the Hazaras, they are either treated as objects that people can do whatever they want with, they are treated as second class citizens or they are servants to the Pashtuns. In Oedipus Rex, the way that the theme is portrayed is that Oedipus is bound to a prophecy that he heard when he was a child.

“Oedipus” written by Sophocles and “Odysseus” written by Homer both are Greek poets. Both stories share the same themes in ways where both of the epic heroes endure a conflict. The characters in these plays are attributed certain characteristics by the author. The characteristics suggested by the authors are intrinsic to the audience. They both have a complete and subjective understanding of work. Their characteristics are displayed through the characters actions, what the writer says about them, and what they portray on themselves. This will be the focus of the essay. Both Oedipus and Odysseus, spoken by others, they describe character traits.

Throughout the book The Kite Runner everyone experiences the loss of innocence but Amir experiences the worst way to lose his innocence. He losses his innocence by watching Hassan getting raped and thinking “Hassan didn't struggle. Didn't even whimper. He moved his head slightly and I caught a glimpse of his face. Saw the resignation in it. It was a look I had seen before. It was the look of the lamb.”(Hosseini 76). At this moment Amir had lost his innocence because he saw the lamb being slain and did not do anything to stop it. Amir, in addition, had another experience where he transformed, “I was the monster. That was the night I became an insomniac.”(Hosseini 86). This is Amir’s final turn to his loss of his innocence because he is the monster for not protecting Hassan. Amir having experienced these things made the whole story connect because any decision made further forward always came back to this very moment; Hassan and the alley.

The theme of death is present in Oedipus Rex towards the middle and end of the play. Death occurs when Oedipus kills his father when they cross paths. Oedipus and Laius cross paths and get into an argument resulting in Oedipus killing Laius and his guards. Death also occurs once Jocasta finds out she was married to her son. Jocasta felt disgusted and ended up killing herself because she did not want to her what everyone else would say. That is how the theme of death exists in Oedipus Rex.

In the book The Kite Runner Amir feels guilty about the things that he has done to Hassan. What he let Assef do to him in the winter of 1975, and the way he let Hassan cover for him through everything he did so he wouldn’t get in trouble, no matter how little or small. In the book Hosseini shows Amir’s guilt in the book when Amir tried to fault Hassan with stealing his presents. Hosseini states,“Baba came right out and asked. “Did you steal that money ? Did you steal the Amir’s watch, Hassan?” Hassan’s reply was a single word, delivered in a thin, raspy voice: “Yes.” I flinched, like I’d been slapped. My heart sank and I almost blurted out the truth. Then I

The beginning of Amir’s journey causes him to feel guilty enough that he causes a chain reaction where he inflicts more cruelty upon himself and others. Amir and Hassan used to live a simple life with the biggest negative in Amir’s life being the fact that his father liked Hassan more. Right after a kite tournament that Amir won, Hassan goes to run the kite for Amir, and Amir finds him being abused by Assef in an alley. Amir decides to do nothing and feels guilty about it for most of his life. Although the initial cruelty is inflicted upon Hassan, it is Amir who is hurt the most. His guilt causes him to inflict cruelty upon Hassan in order to cause Hassan to “give [Amir] the punishment [he] craved, so maybe [he]’d finally sleep at night” (92). Amir’s cruelty leads Hassan and his father to walk out of Amir’s life, leaving Amir and his father, Baba,

The main one that stands out for both is their anger issue. Oedipus obviously showed a lot of anger and when he did he would make mistakes. Jocasta, knowing the truth, raged into her bedroom cursing at Laius, at herself and “pulled her hair out by herself” that shows a lot of anger and right after she killed herself, while Oedipus also anger at the King Laius resorted to killing. They are also deniable. In Oedipus Rex they showed it a lot whenever the truth kept on being closer to be revealed they tried to find ways out of the truth.

The boys tells him to hands over the kite, but Hassan refuses. Hassan is beating up with no help from his best friend Amir, Amir is totally only watchs, “I realized I still hadn’t breathed out. I exhaled, slowly, quietly, i felt paralyzed. I watched them close in on the boy i’d grown up with, the boy whose harelipped face had been my first memory” (Hosseini 71). Hassan has always stands up for Amir, but Amir do not return the favor when Hassan needs him. Amir remember that he and Hassan are more than a friends they were fed from the same breast. Later on Hassan comes to Amir and he is bleeding he gives Amir the kite without saying a word, Amir either does not say anything “I opened my mouth, almost said something. Almost. The rest of my life might have turned out differently if I had. But I didn’t. I just watched” (Hosseini 79). From day to another Amir realizes his guilt for not standing for his loyal friend. ِAssef do not feels sorry for what he’s done and he says Hassan deserve it because he is a Hazara.

Both of these characters are similar regarding the trait of forgiveness. Although Amir never really apologized to Hassan for all of the evil things he did to him, Amir forgave himself and truly attempted to makeup for the mistakes he had made in his childhood, by making a new life for Hassan's son, Sohrab in his adulthood. One of the attempts Amir did to makeup for the betrayal of Hassan is to take a beating from Assef. When getting beat up by Assef, Amir feels good that he is standing up for himself and Sohrab, just like Hassan stood up for him in the alleyway. Amir also redeems himself from the guilt he had felt toward Hassan. An example of Amir feeling as though he stood up for Sohrab and redeems himself from the guilt or jealousy toward Hassan is when he says,” "He got mad and hit me harder and the harder he kicked me, the harder I laughed" (Hoseini,297). Hassan forgives Amir for betraying him in the alleyway by not bringing it up to Amir and throwing it away like nothing happened. In the end, both characters found a way to forgive one another for the main conflict within story, The Kite

The similarities between two unrelated books can be fascinating, that is the case of The Kite Runner, a novel by Khaled Hosseini, and Oedipus Rex, a play by Sophocles. The Kite Runner follows the journey of Amir, an Afghan boy, as he goes through the ups and downs of his life. Amir grows up with his servant’s son Hasan and an incredible friendship blossoms between the two boys. As the years go by, society puts all sorts of barriers between them, including ethnicity, religion, and literacy. Amir’s life completely changes when he witnesses the district’s bullies attack Hassan but flees instead of standing up for his friend. The guilt, resulting from his action causes their friendship to deteriorate and in the end, Amir manages to get rid of Hassan. Oedipus Rex likewise is a story of self-discovery, sins and, redemption. Set in the Ancient Greek Era, this powerful play tells the story of a King who, unintentionally, kills his mother and weds his mother. The plot follows his reaction as he discovers the horrible truth. Despite having different scenarios and settings, the books have some common themes, notably: guilt and redemption.

In Oedipus and Incendies there are both thematic and symbolic similarities. Like the tragedy, the film is based on a structure that begins at the end and ends at the beginning. Oedipus the King begins with the plague on Thebes. The cause of the plague, as Teiresias tells the Thebans, is Laius’s living murderer. The plague itself is a symbol of Oedipus’s discovery of his own past and the act of incest he unknowingly committed. Oedipus’s fate is sealed by the events of his past and he cannot escape his destiny. That is the nature of tragedy.

The contrast between trust in the gods' oracles and trust in intelligence and pride plays out in Oedipus Rex. Of course, the irony is, that Oedipus's and the oracles’ methods both lead to the same fallout. Oedipus's hunt for truth reveals just that, and the truth confirms the oracles' prophecies. Oedipus kills his father and marries his mother. The irony is that the reader knows this from the very start of this Greek drama. There is also irony in the fact that Oedipus is the one to solve the riddle of the Sphinx, which he embodies in every way, from a crawling baby to an old man with a cane. Oedipus’s life is just a pit of tragedy. Aristotle states, that to arouse emotions such as fear and pity, is to bring about catharsis. This is the aim of a great tragedy. The three themes of the novel Oedipus Rex; Aristotle’s study, the riddle of the Sphinx, and dramatic irony help to enhance the value of knowledge that is bestowed upon the reader, these themes create an awareness and an understanding of what leads to the tragic ending of this meritorious Greek tragedy.

After a thorough read of both Oedipus Rex and The Kite Runner, it is more than safe to assume that the two fictional stories share similar grounds when referring to their overall theme(s). Oedipus Rex samples feelings of impulsion, desire,guilt, and fear. While taking a look at The Kite Runner, it contains the same exact concepts. Between Oedipus and Amir, parallels could be drawn from anywhere based on a combination of their thoughts and actions. The theme; “irrational thinkings and doings are most likely always regretted”, describes both of the tales because of the protagonists’ downfall after their unwise ways of being.