What Is Amir's Childhood In The Kite Runner

Moreover, Amir chose to be a coward and not to take stance, he always looked back at the incident and felt guilty for his decision. Amir was happy to move countries because he knew he would be able to bury his past behind and have a fresh start in America. Amir knew it had been his fault, he knew he could have done something, and he knew there was more than one option. Amir wanted to leave all his mistakes in Kabul, not have to face them, and not own up to them. Amir was relieved and was with his father’s idea of moving to America he stated, “I could wade into this river, let my sins drown to the bottom, let the waters carry me someplace far. Someplace with no ghosts, no memories, and no sins”. Amir’s fresh start in life was going well until Rahim Khan- his father’s business partner- asked him to pay a visit. Rahim khan stated over the phone, quote forgive me baba and yourself. Hence, Amir knew the only way he would be able to forgive himself because of his past would be to save the son of Hassan of his half-brother, Hassan whom he had wronged. Amir later adopted Sohrab and made sure no one would treat him rudely, similar to how hehimself treated Hassan or call him the wrong names. People will ask. They will want to know why there is a Hazara boy living with our daughter. What do I tell them?” Consequently, Amir forgave himself and moved on from

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

Amir's entire life had been haunted by what he saw happen to Hassan. Although he was a child at the time, he couldn't accept his shortcoming during a time of need. He was jealous of his father for being able to stand up for himself and others and Hassan's undying loyalty to him. He developed a pattern of behavior - of covering up his mistakes and hiding his past – that he could not rid himself of until he suffered like Hassan did. He made it up to Hassan by saving his son, and he made it up to himself by suffering the way he

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 some thought, Amir knows that he must go and find Hassan’s son, his nephew to redeem himself for the things he did to Hassan. Amir thinks to himself, “there is a way to be good again, he’d said. A way to end the cycle. With a little boy. An orphan. Hassan’s son. Somewhere in Kabul” (227). After feeling this sense of redemption, Amir does everything he can to bring Sohrab back to America with him, to help him start a new and better life.

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

    Amir had always regretted his actions that day in the alley and wanted to repay Hassan by taking his son Sohrab to America with him. As soon as Amir saw Sohrab, he saw Hassan in him and wanted to do anything he could to help and resolve his guilt. He wanted to take Sohrab back to America with him so he could have a bed, food, shelter, and a good life. Amir knew “there are a lot of children in Afghanistan, but little childhood”

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

Amir has shown to Baba that he is not a reflection of him, which makes Baba believe that it is not necessary to develop a connection with his son. This makes Amir feel guilty of himself which leads him to pursue a series of events where he attempts to win Baba’s love, even if those decisions put Hassan’s life in danger. After winning Baba’s affection and creating a stronger bond with his father in America, Amir still feels guilty for betraying his best friend in the winter of 1975. Amir’s guilt is not tearing his life apart as much as it did when he lived in Kabul, but it still affects him negatively. He is willing to do anything to let go of his guilt, even if it means putting his life at risk. After finding out Hassan is dead and he is Amir’s half-brother, Amir heads back to his childhood home during a time when the country is run by a terrorist organization, so he can rescue Hassan’s son, Sohrab, and finally be able to find peace in his life. Everyone makes mistakes in their life and even if those mistakes might have destroyed another person’s life, there is always a way to earn redemption and that is by letting the guilt that one carries lead to something

He first has difficulty finding Sohrab, but when he finally meets him, he notices a disconnect in his behavior and he can see how being institutionalized affected him. One day, Sohrab goes into a bathroom and tries to take his own life. Amir recalls his emotions felt when he states, “Later, they said I was still screaming when the ambulance arrived”(Amir 343). The moment Amir decided to take this journey, he mentally accepted the fact that he is now responsible for Sohrab's life. He wanted to bring him to America in order to give him a life that Hassan couldn't, and to make up for his past sins. He felt a great deal of responsibility to protect Sohrab, so it’s not surprising when he instantly feels guilty and betrayed. If Sohrab had been successful in his attempt, Amir feels like he would never be able to forgive himself and that he would have betrayed Hassan once again. This tragic event was yet another emotional and mental scar for Amir to put into his mind as Sohrab thought that it would be better to not live, than to go on with Amir. During the journey, Amir encounters his childhood bully and they get into a fight. He ends up badly injured and says “My body was broken-just how bad i wouldn’t find out until

In the same moment, he discovers that Hassan was brutally murdered by the Taliban and that he had left orphaned child named Sohrab in his wake. In an attempt to right his past cowardice, Amir decides “(He) would not leave Afghanistan without finding Sohrab” (255). Through this decision, Amir is allowed the growth he wasn’t able to achieve under Baba’s influence; as an adult responsible for his own choices, he doesn’t run away like when he watched Hassan’s rape in the ally. Instead, he learns of responsibility and selflessness as he risks traveling through a war-torn country to find a boy he has never met. His new resolve shows a tremendous change in his once cowardly personality - change that is dependent on his independence from his father.

Joss Whedon once said, “Redemption is something you have to fight for in a very personal, down-dirty way,” His words convey that the path to redemption is not easy, as demonstrated by Amir in Khaled Hosseini’s moving novel, The Kite Runner. In the beginning of his tale, Amir commits an irreversible mistake that seems to ruin the relationship between him and the boy he grew up with, Hassan. Amir attempts to prolong the consequences of his mistakes through pushing his loved ones away, though he ultimately ends up bringing another member into his family. The way Hosseini depicts Amir and his journey shows that, though he is not fully achieved retribution, he bound for it. Hosseini’s words and Amir’s actions convey that anyone can be redeemed,

He is told that Hassan had a son, Sohrab, and he needed a home. Amir was asked to adopt Sohrab, so he went back to Afghanistan to pick him up. Amir had a long, painful journey to get Sohrab because people were trying to kill Hazaras. Sohrab and Hassan were Hazaras, so sneaking Sohrab out of the country was not an easy feat. By the end of the book, Amir was proud of his sacrifice because he had his nephew with him and he knew he was

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.

The assertion that Amir became who he is now 12 years ago could be seen to be true. This being as his past played such a large role in shaping him into he is now: a guilt ridden man with no way to make amends. This lack of an outlet for his guilt, becomes one of the most motivating factors for his character change towards the end of the novel. If he had not sought a way to deal with his shameful actions the negativity would have spread throughout his life. Adult Amir seems to have trouble dealing with these emotions. He does however manage to “become good again” through the adoption of Sohrab. In making right by Hassan’s son he was able to make peace with his own cowardice so many years ago.