Guilt In The Kite Runner

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A World of Guilt: Amir’s Struggle to Become a Better Man In The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, Amir struggles to become a man. His idealization of manhood is largely derived from the influence of his father his primary role model, Baba. Baba is a strong, assertive and confidant man in Amir’s eyes and despite their differences, Amir strives to embody this type of masculinity. However, Amir only becomes a better man when he is broken down and beaten into a humble man. Amir’s relationship to his mother, father and half brother, Hassan, are guilt ridden and strained. Finally, Amir addresses this guilt and proves his remorse through selfless acts. It is through selfless acts that his sins of the past are settled and he is able to become a man and form a complete sense of self. Amir’s sense of guilt stems from the very moment he was born. Amir’s mother died in childbirth and at times, Amir feels like Baba resents him for taking the life of his beautiful wife. Throughout the novel, Amir continues to resent himself for not living up to his father’s reputation as a great man. Amir often backs down from confrontations, something Baba would never do. When Hassan is being raped for Amir’s kite, Amir watches only for a moment before running away. Baba on the…show more content…
At the beginning of the novel, Amir strives for redemption in Baba’s eyes and figures that by winning the kite-tournament he would be seen as a fellow man. However, Amir does not become a man when he brings back the kite for Baba because he sacrifices his loyal brother Hassan for the paper kite. Amir finally understands what it takes to become a better man in his moment of redemption when he instead, retrieves the kite for Sohrab. A symbolically selfless moment dedicated not only to Sohran but to his faithful brother Hassan; “For you, a thousand times over” (391,
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