For most of the novel, Amir attempts to deal with his guilt by avoiding it. However, doing this clearly does nothing toward redeeming himself, and thus his guilt lasts. He watches Hassan get raped by Assef and says and does nothing to stop it. Then to make matters worse he is cruel toward Hassan. He beats him, he throws pomegranates at him, he is no longer willing to be his friend even though that is the only thing in the world Hassan wants and needs after his horrific experience.
The strained father son relationship that Baba and Amir have is the catalyst for Amir’s crime against his half-brother Hassan. Amir’s strained relationship with Baba and his need for Baba’s acceptance has blinded Amir so that he is unable to see that his actions towards Hassan in the alley were unacceptable. The responder is given as insight into Amir’s thoughts through the use of first person narration, before, during and after the rape. This allows the reader to observe how the strained relationship between Baba and Amir has affected the motivation of Amir to commit his sin. Throughout the early chapter of the book we learn that Amir has “always felt that Baba hatted [him] a little.” He has always longed for his father’s approval, acceptance and admiration, as he feels responsible for the death of his mother.
He promises Amir that he will run down the last kite, saying, “For you a thousand times over.” (Hosseini pg. 70) This quote demonstrates how Hassan will do anything, anytime for Amir and his true feelings towards Amir. On another occasion, Amir asks Hassan to eat dirt. Hassan assents but doubts that Amir would ever actually ask him to do something so vile. Later in the novel, Amir plants money and an expensive watch under Hassan’s mattress when he can no longer bear to be around Hassan due to his guilt of not helping him during the rape.
Although Hassan stands up for Amir every chance he gets, Amir stands back and watches Hassan get raped when Hassan was on a mission to get the losing kite for Amir. This is just one of many events where Amir does not step up for Hassan but Hassan will do anything for Amir at the same time. His search for redemption also brings about some major events in the book such as his return to Kabul for Sohrab(Hassan’s son) and his confrontation with Assef(raped Hassan). Baba says that a boy who doesn’t stand up for himself becomes a man who can’t stand up to anything. As a boy, Amir fails to stand up for himself.
Since the day Amir is born, he feels that his father dislikes him. While his mother gave birth, Amir continually felt as though he had to fix the ruining of his father’s life of love with Sofia. After all, they did not have much similarity, leading to a problem; Amir really had nothing to do that could affect Baba since they have nothing similar. Baba was more energetic, confident, and big on taking risks whereas Amir is not. The differences between the father and son are so abundant that Baba emphasizes, “If I hadn’t seen the doctor pull him out of my wife with my own eyes, I’d not believe he’s my son” (Hossieni 25).
The Kite Runner Essay Test One of the main themes in the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is that redemption is the only way to move on from past mistakes and guilt. In the book Amir must overcome and escape the difficulties of his past mistakes in order to find redemption. Since he was twelve, Amir has been struggling with his sin against Hassan; the fact that he did not come to the rescue of his friend when he was being raped by Assef. Deep down Amir always feels like he should have done something and feels horrible because he had chosen not to. Due to his nagging guilt, Amir is not able to live a peaceful life.
* Ultimate sin was the betrayal of Hassan, letting him get raped, then displacing Ali and Hassan from their home with Baba. * Overcome by his guilt, he wants Hassan gone. Contextualise the quote. * Therefore, by not owning up to his wrong doings, he is forced to keep it a secret. 2.
When Amir want to make Hassan become a theft, baba turns him to shock “Except Baba stunned me by saying, “I forgive you” (Hosseini 112) Baba is a strictly person. He does not like any one do something bad and especially that is stealing. When baba says “I forgive you”, it makes Amir feel jealous to them. In the beginning of the novel, when Amir asks his father about which sin with baba is the biggest and baba answer that is stealing. This is the reason that makes him get shock.
–pg. 24 Although Amir destroyed the lives of many people, and he has had more than one opportunity to redeem himself of his guilt, he is not the selfish little boy he once was. How often does one stop and think, "How will this affect everyone else in my life?" Amir had a chance in the alley, to put Hassan first and change the path of both their lives, but he made the decision to turn around and run because it was what he thought was best for him: "I had one last chance to make a decision. One final opportunity to decide who I was going to be.
Someone who blames everyone else for the consequences of their actions? Someone who doesn't own-up to their actions and try to make the situation better again? Cole is that 'someone'. He goes to the island mad at his parents because all the other times that he was in trouble with the law, his parents would pay the fees and get him out, however, this time, none of that happens. It was his mistake for beating up Peter anyways, yet he's mad at his parents and his lawyer because they didn't get him out.