Making big mistakes in his childhood, Amir has lived his own life with regret and the shame of the past, but tried to avoid it, as he made a commence in the beginning, " I knew it wasn't just Rahim Khan on the line. It was my past of unatoned sins." (1). Recalling of his past, Amir blamed himself as a coward, who had betrayed his childhood friend, Hassan. By taking the excuse what the most important thing to him is Baba's love, Amir consoled himself that Hassan was just a price which he needed to pay for it, because "Nothing was free in this world"
“The Scarlet Ibis” In “The Scarlet Ibis,” James Hurst uses symbolism to develop a theme that teaches when one pushes themselves he/she can overcome great obstacles, but sometimes pushing to far past ones limits can cause the opposite accomplishment. The characterization of ‘brother’ is a flashback of the self that the author uses to communicate the message of not letting pride get in the way of ones actions. The author teaches that when someone gets caught up in thoughts and self-focus it can lead to selfish actions or even cruelty that may later be regretted. The story reflects that life should be lived to its fullest and treasured. In the story “The Scarlet Ibis” the author, James Hurst, displays Doodle, the younger boy born with a birth defect, in the way that he describes the Scarlet Ibis.
The Kite Runner Practice Essay, Topic- Atonement Rose Ridgway Khaled Hosseini’s novel “The Kite Runner” follows the main character, Amir on a journey to redemption. Throughout Hosseini’s novel the idea that “guilt leads to good” is developed through the main characters Baba and Amir. It is evident within the novel that each of these characters suffer from severe guilt due to evil things they have done in the past. However it through the transition of guilt into goodness that Hosseini’s characters show that it is possible to atone for the previous wrong doings. Throughout the novel, Amir suffers from the physically and mentally debilitating effects of guilt caused by his past actions.
For the rest of his life, Amir regretted his lack of action and blamed himself for what he did to Hassan. So when Rahim Kahn pleads him to come back to Kabul and to save Sohrab, convinces himself to save Hassan's son since he could not save Hassan himself. He goes as far as fighting Assef and says that although he is beaten within an inch of his life, he, "felt healed. Healed at last." (p289).
‘There is a way to be good again.’ From this, you can tell that Amir is trying to gain forgiveness and wants to redeem himself of the actions that haunt him to this day. The moral standard Amir must meet to earn his redemption is set early in the book, when 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. As an adult, he can only redeem himself by proving he has the courage to stand up for what is right. The most substantial part of Amir’s search for redemption stems from his guilt regarding Hassan.
Sometimes there are hurdles in life that require great courage to overcome. We must utilize our inner strengths to motivate these courageous actions. Loren Eiseley sets an example of this in The Running Man- a chapter from his autobiography, All the Strange Hours. In this essay he reveals memories that show his lonely childhood which gives him the courage to overcome his problems. Loneliness is what ultimately sparks his courageous action later on in his life.
When Amir decided to run away from Assef’s attack on Hassan, it meant that he chose to protect himself rather than help his friend. Amir’s betrayal leads to the key idea of the need for redemption. The author, Khaled Hosseni, shows the importance of redemption through the narrator, Amir, whose sins in the early stages of his life, resulted in a sense of guilt. By the end of Kite Runner, Amir has freed his conscience from a cycle of lies and is relieved when he finally saves Sohrab, son of Hassan. From the opening of the novel it is shown to the reader that there is a gradual character development of Amir.
According to Keith Cunningham, a hero is the main character in the myth. He is the one who goes on a quest and succeeds. He has to overcome all obstacles to help other people. He is also the one who saves lives and provides necessary things to the lives of people who are in need or danger (340). We can see some qualifications of heroic characteristics might be changed due to the time; however, a core of heroic characteristics remains the same: heroes must struggle and undergo challenges in order to accomplish a mission for the sakes of other people or themselves.
Amir starts off as a loving and caring person—when Hassen is insulted by the soldiers, “I reached across [Hassen’s] seat, slung my arm around [Hassen], pulled [Hassen] close. [Hassen] rested his head on my shoulder” and Amir says “He took you for someone else,” I whispered”(8). Then, he becomes dishonest and untrustworthy: Hassen “knew I betrayed him and yet he was rescuing me once again, maybe for the last time”(111). These examples in the book show how the
a quick wit accompanied by extraordinary intelligence and a perspicacity for the journeys he must endure and the adversaries that he will have to thwart. Although, epic heroes are created to be a personification of perfection, they also have flaws. These flaws can be used against them by their enemies or even themselves. An essential part of becoming an epic hero is over conquering those flaws or learning to work with them. The two texts that we read contained to easily distinguishable epic heroes.