Early on, Amir strives to redeem himself in Baba’s eyes, primarily because his mother died giving birth to him, and he feels responsible. To redeem himself to Baba, Amir thinks he must win the kite-tournament and bring Baba the losing kite, both of which are inciting incidents that set the rest of the novel in motion. The more substantial part of Amir’s search for redemption, however, stems from his guilt regarding Hassan. That guilt drives the climactic events of the story, including Amir’s journey to Kabul to find Sohrab and his confrontation with Assef. 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.
Amir seeks redemption for his disloyalty to his best friend when he was a child, Hassan. Because of his fearfulness during Hassan’s rape, his betrayal of Hassan after the rape, and his committing of the worst sin in Afghani culture, Amir has to take himself on a long and weakening journey for his ultimate goal of total redemption that will eventually take him back to his violent and war-torn home country. When they were young, Amir and Hassan were really best friends; the two of them were inseparable. They used to climb the poplar trees in the driveway of Amir’s father’s house and annoy their neighbors by reflecting sunlight into their homes with a shard of mirror”. Even though the two young boys were of different social classes and ethnicities, they were able to remain best friends no matter what problems would face them.
The conversation between Amir and Hassan has Amir’s describing that moment to indicate the nature of his relationship with Hassan. We see Hassan serving him, like a Hazara does for a Pashtun, and telling Amir about his dream, which shows their friendship. Hosseini seems to have put that at the beginning to inform us once more of their relationship before it fluctuates later on. Some pleasant imagery is used of the weather and kite competition. The “blameless blue” sky has ironic implications of the blame we will soon put on Amir for betraying Hassan.
The most substantial part of Amir’s search for redemption stems from his guilt regarding Hassan. One of the most iconic and memorable events in the novel is the kite fighting tournament which leads to Hassan being raped by Assef, forcing Amir to make a decision that ultimately results in Ali and Hassan leaving the house as he couldn’t live with them anymore. Amir sacrifices Hassan after the tournament to get the blue kite so that he can please his father and finally get some recognition in his house. However, just to get some form of acceptance from his father, he ends up destroying the only true relationship he had with anybody. Hassan was loyal to Amir until the very end and even took the blame for the watch incident and quietly left the house.
The silent animosity between father and son ends when Amir joins and wins a kite-flying contest and ties his own father’s record in the number of kites he cut down. Later, the relationship between the two strengthens as they flee from war-torn Afghanistan and in the process Baba shows Amir how he stood up even to the point of risking even his own life in order to save an unknown woman from a Russian soldier’s vile intentions. As immigrants in the United States Baba once again shows Amir how he can make personal sacrifices for his son’s sake. Forced to live in a foreign country, Baba dies broken hearted but fully resigned to what Amir had made of himself – a writer happily married to a wonderful
In one situation, a bully named Assef is about to violently attack Amir for socializing with a Shi'a, but Hassan stands up for Amir and threatens to shoot Assef in the eye with his slingshot. Betrayal is one of major themes in this story. One day, Amir and Hassan win a kite tournament and as Hassan goes to run the last cut kite, Assef confronts him and says that he must give him the kite. Knowing how important this kite is to Amir in order to make his father proud, Hassan refuses to give the kite up. Amir goes in search of Hassan and as he hears Assef voice, hides.
The author, Khaled Hosseini, uses the symbol of the kite to demonstrate that every human has his or her ups and downs. To be able to understand the theme of the kite, the reader must understand how the kite reflects Amir’s life. Flying kites is what Amir enjoys the most as a little boy, also because he wants to be like Baba, a champion kite fighter, and this is when the kite is flying high and efficiently. In the book Amir says, “But all I head-all I willed myself to hear-was the thudding of blood in my head. All I saw was the blue kite.
They battle and Amir wins, sending the blue kite flying loose. Amir and Hassan cheer and hug, but Amir sees Baba motioning for them to separate. Hassan vows to bring the kite back for Amir and sets off. Amir reels in his kite and accepts everyone’s congratulations, then goes looking for Hassan, asking neighbors if they saw him. One old merchant asks Amir what he is doing looking for a Hazara.
From the opening of the novel it is shown to the reader that there is a gradual character development of Amir. He says, “Standing in the kitchen with the receiver to my ear, I knew it wasn’t just Rahim Khan on the line. It was my past of unatoned sins.” This is referring to Amir’s betrayal to Hassan, this use of dialogue shows the reader that Amir’s guilt has finally caught up with him. Amir and Hassan spent their childhood together as best friends and when Amir won his kite race, Hassan offered to fetch the winning kite. At this time, Assef the local bully approached Hassan to get the kite.
The Long Journey to Redemption The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini and Atonement by Ian McEwan Each Author goes into great depth about their protagonists' road to redemption; spinning tales of their protagonist's struggles growing up, all the while carrying with them the burden of guilt, and when at last grown up, each desperately seeking to atone for the sin they have committed against family and friend while living in a war-torn world. In his 2001 novel, The Kite Runner, the author Hosseini, draws a very clear picture of his protagonist and the story of betrayal and redemption set against the harsh circumstances of the 1970s-to-present day Afghanistan. Similarly, McEwan, author of Atonement, illustrates the life of his young protagonist, Briony, through her clever deception in an unkind and rigid England before and during the Second World War. The Kite Runner and Atonement share common features as in the authors' use of the protagonist's internal dialogue to signify their willingness to accept responsibility for their wrongdoing and their need to work toward atonement. Amir's admission of guilt and admission of the need to atone is revealed in his sombre reflection, “I knew it wasn’t just Rahim Khan on the line.