Khaled Hosseini’s novel The Kite Runner is the journey of a boy, as he tries to find peace through atoning of his sins. Amir is the protagonist who goes on this journey. Amir’s father, Baba, has high expectations of Amir, which causes a strain relationship as Amir is unable to fulfill what is expected of him. This strain then acts as a catalyst for Amir’s crime against Hassan. This crime against Hassan and Amir’s subsequent guilt permeate the texture of the narrative.
Amir stands up for Sohrab by fighting Assef for him. When Amir returns to Afghanistan to find Sohrab proves to be the solution to his quilt towards Hassan, it also is the source of the redemption he so desperately wants to seek. He chose to find Sohrab and tries his hardest to give him a better life even if that does mean sacrificing his own safety. Therefor throughout “The Kite Runner” Amir is portrayed as a boy who is always trying to make up or redeem himself for the mistakes he made, but does redeem himself towards his father, Sohrab and especially Hassan. As Hassan’s and Amir’s father would say “a boy who can’t stand up for himself becomes a man who can’t stand up to anything” but Amir indicates he can
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.
He makes the anticipation of bad news worse than the bad news itself. As Kumalo “arrives” at the point of sorrow, it is a relief because although he still feels crushed to know all that has become of his son is a murderer, he at least stands on solid ground. This is shown when he goes to visit his son before the trial and loses respect for his brother because his brother refuses to try to grieve. He knows that by refusing to do so, his brother is also refusing to heal. Kumalo knows that there is no purpose in extending the journey, because then he would just be extending the pain.
A large aspect of the kite runner is the theme of destination; whether it may be the characters actual future prospects e.g Hassan’s future being bleak or whether It is the actual journey and location that they end up getting to e.g Amir and Baba moving to America . The journeys that Amir encounters are significant since they are reflected on how he is constantly running away from his past, desperately trying to rid himself of the guilt that he feels for betraying Hassan, the one person who was completely devoted to Amir. Amir himself states "I actually aspired to cowardice”, Amir knows that he is a coward, despite having a superiority over Hassan he did not have Hassan’s qualities that he truly seeks, which is things such as strength, determination and loyalty. Amir lets the guilt build up inside him, instead of talking about it. Going to America is a significant journey since it is showing Amir doing what he does best, running away from his problems.
Betrayal and Redemption In the novel, “The Kite Runner”, written by Khaled Hussein, throughout the story there is so much betrayal and redemption that Baba and Amir live most of their lives in feeling guilty for their betrayal and try to redeem themselves. Even though father and son are so different but then yet they are so much alike. Baba’s and Amir’s actions remind me of a cliché that says “like father like son” or “the apple does not fell far from the three”. A twelve year old Afghan boy, Amir, seeking acceptance and approval from his father by entering a kite-fighting tournament along with his servant and friend, Hassan; and on that same day a tragedy tears the two boys apart forever. "The Kite Runner" tell us, through Rahim Khan that, "true redemption is when guilt leads to be good again..." (page 40).
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini tells the story of Amir, and his struggle to move on from his past. He betrays his closest friend, and craves attention from a father that is not as honorable as he seems. In The Kite Runner, Hosseini suggests that memories often provide a foundation for one’s present day behavior. A clear demonstration of the crippling control that one’s past has is Khaled Hosseini’s use of the character, Amir. After betraying Hassan, and allowing the rape to take place, Amir is plagued by guilt.
Amir discovers how badly he treated Hassan in their past, that he wants to make up for it. I personally do not believe that Amir finds redemption because although he wants to redeem himself, he is only thinking of himself again. He never adopts Sohrab out of the goodness of his heart but
Lucas Harder In the novel Kiterunner by Khaled Hosseini, betrayal leads to foregiveness which eventually becomes love. Betrayal, which can be considered a form of sin, is enduring and becomes cyclical in The Kite Runner. For almost all of the novel, Amir deals with his guilt by avoiding it. But by doing this clearly does nothing toward redeeming himself, and thus his guilt endures. That is why he still cringes every time Hassan's name is mentioned.
His life is a web of lies and deceit in some form or another and the reader is set up to view Amir negatively. 1. * Amir’s inability to accept accountability or own up to his ‘past’ reaffirms his weakness in character. * Spends most of his life escaping the sins of his past which leads him to shame himself and with hold secrets. * Ultimate sin was the betrayal of Hassan, letting him get raped, then displacing Ali and Hassan from their home with Baba.