Theme Of Betrayal In The Kite Runner

In the book the kite runner Amir betrays Hassan when he watches Hassan being abused by Assef. When Hassan is confronted by Assef he wants the blue kite but Hassan will not give it up. Assef Abuses him instead and Amir just hides in the corner and then runs away instead of helping Hassan.“I ran because i was a coward” (Hosseini)(pg82). This quote proves betrayal because this

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,

“This was Hassan’s final sacrifice for me… He knew I had betrayed him and yet he was rescuing me once again.” (Chapter 7) Betrayal in the novel Kite Runner, written by Khaled Hosseini, has many clips of betrayal between the characters. In this particular quote, it was Amir betraying Hassan. The main conflict of betrayal in the Kite Runner deals with the protagonist, Amir betraying his “best friend”, Hassan.

After Amir puts his watch under Hassan’s bed, Baba calls Hassan and Ali to question them and although it is a lie, Hassan admits to stealing the watch. Amir realizes this is “Hassan’s final sacrifice for me…[even though] knows I’d seen everything in that alley...He knew I had betrayed him and yet he was rescuing me once again” (111). Hassan has every right to reveal the truth about what Amir is doing, but he has always been loyal to him by taking the blame; this time it is not any different. However, his loyalty, or his “final sacrifice” causes him to move out of the only home he has ever known. Additionally, children should not keep secrets as it puts an immense amount of pressure on their shoulders. Hassan’s loyalty is also shown after the kite tournament when Assef wants the blue kite: “Amir agha won the tournament and I [Hassan] ran this kite for him. I ran it fairly and this is his kite” (77). Hassan’s self-expectation to be loyal to Amir; by not handing over the kite; prompts Assef to sexually assault him. After this incident, Hassan does not smile for a long time as it resonates with him for his whole life. Ultimately, the expectation Hassan has for himself to be loyal to Amir results in the loss of essential parts of his

Betrayal. The word betrayal means different things to different people. All people have been betrayed at some point in their lives, even if the situation was not serious. Khaled Hosseini uses betrayal in The Kite Runner in many different ways. All of the main characters are victims of betrayal or the perpetrators of it. Although all the characters of The Kite Runner experience or cause betrayal, three characters in particular cause or experience the worst betrayals.

“Sometimes, the person you’d take a bullet for ends up being the one behind the gun” (Picture quotes). People are not what they seem; selfishness and greed can play a huge part in betrayal. Betrayal often comes with great consequences of guilt or a need for forgiveness. Most often, it is driven by selfish desire, greed, hatred or lust. In most cases, the act of trying to redeem oneself becomes a prolonging guilt stuck for the rest of one’s life. Learning to forgive oneself becomes the passage to gaining the desired redemption. In the novel The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, Hosseini displays the theme of forgiveness and redemption. After Amir and Baba’s betrayal toward those most loyal to them, they realize that one must forgive themself

Honesty and respect are among many qualities that deep relationships carry, especially loyalty. In Khaled Hosseini’s novel, The Kite Runner, he uses two young boys to convey his theme, “loyalty is not freely given, it is learned.” This theme is portrayed as Hosseini uses examples of devotion from his character, Hassan, to teach Amir what defines loyalty. While these two boys grow up together and form a friendship, a life-changing event splits them apart, only to take Amir twenty-six years to discover the truth of their past, their fathers, and their lives.

To maintain a healthy relationship, trust must be built between people. However, actions can change the course of that relationship based on one decision. Throughout the novel, the readers get a glimpse of how choices the characters make can change the outcome of their lives. Throughout The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini uses the theme of betrayal to demonstrate the domino effect it can have on relationships.

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.

He writes ‘and maybe, just maybe I would finally be pardoned for killing my mother.’ Amir imagines that through the cutting of the string of the final kite, the blue kite, that he cuts loose his painful longing for his father's love and approval. At the end of the kite running tournament, Amir searches the neighborhood until he arrives at an alleyway, Assef and two other boys surrounded Hassan. Amir peers from a corner, Hassan stands strong when Assef refers to him as 'an ugly Hazara pet,' he refuses to hand over the kite. Hassan is not shaken by the words of Assef and the boys charge him. In fear and greed Amir keeps quiet and ultimately watches Hassan get

Since the fragile age of twelve, Amir has been living with the guilt of not being able to rescue is half-brother, Hassan, from getting raped. Being the son of a wealthy man, Amir had failed to prove to his father just how capable he was. Amir also felt very excluded from his father’s love because “Baba” would favor Hassan’s accomplishments over that of Amir’s. Hassan becomes the one thing in Amir’s eyes that was standing in between him and his father, and so Amir wins the kite flying contest just to prove to his father how capable he is. Celebration has come for Hassan, he starts to run everywhere. Next thing you know, he’s in the alleyway about to be assaulted by Assef.

Amir stumbles upon an alley. In the alley, he sees the Hassan trap by three boys named Assef, Kamal, and Wali. All they asked of Hassan is to give up the blue kite. However, Hassan’s loyalty and friendship toward Amir prevented Hassan to give up the kite. As the tension built, Assef lets Hassan have the kite, but in-return he does unthinkable. Assef rapes Hassan as Amir watched unnoticeably from the alley (Hosseini 62-66). This was Amir’s chance to prove his true friendship by stepping in to save Hassan. Instead, Amir ran “because I was a coward. I was afraid of Assef and what he could 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 68). According to Amir, “Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba” (Hosseini 68). “He was just a Hazara, wasn’t he?” (Hosseini 68).

Betrayal is a selfish action where one puts themselves before others which can result in painful difficulties amongst individuals. Most individuals choose their actions based on the situation and what the best possible outcome is for themselves. These selfish decisions of betrayal can cause lasting negative effects, damaging relationships and trust. Throughout the book, The Kite Runner, author Khaled Hosseini portrays the theme of betrayal in various ways through the actions of Amir, Baba, and Assef.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is a historical fiction novel set mostly in Kabul, Afghanistan and Fremont, California. The novel spans the time periods before, during, and after the reign of the Russians (1979-1989) and the Taliban’s takeover (1996) of Afghanistan. It is told through the first person perspective of Amir alongside his father, Baba, his half-brother, Hassan, and Baba’s companions Ali and Rahim Khan. Growing up, Amir and Hassan are practically inseparable, as they are always playing games, reading poetry, or simply spending time together. Hassan’s mother, Sanaubar, is never present during the children’s youthful years, but they both have Baba as a shared father figure in their lives. The themes of betrayal and redemption

Betrayal is the action of disloyalty towards one’s country, a group or a person. Sometimes betrayal can be considered a form of sin and this ends up occurring in The Kite Runner. During majority of the novel, Amir attempts to deal with his guilt by avoiding it. As time goes by this clearly does nothing towards him redeeming himself and therefore his guilt remains. This is why Amir crouches in fear every time he hears Hassan’s name being mentioned. “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” (Hosseini 1). This quote from the novel hints at the main point of the story and the reason he is telling it. To anyone as a reader the quotation is almost a teaser. It triggers a spark in the reader’s mind of what it could be without telling exactly what Amir is talking about. Later on in the story it then explains that the deserted alley Amir refers to is the place where Hassan was raped and Amir has not stop thinking about it since. This is what metaphor Amir used means how the past tries to claw its way out, because Amir had so much guilt the whole time. He kept trying