Kite Runner Theme Essay

This ties in to the fact that if Amir had helped Hassan there would be a high probability of both of them getting hurt. The second point that ties in is that Hassan is a Hassar not a Pashtun and is therefore not regarded with the same level of respect and honor as a fellow Pashtun would. Another point that was brought up in the discussion is the question of Amirs religious alignment At his school he was taught as a Sunni Muslim; at home his father and seventh practices the culture of a Shi'a Muslim; and his father holds the opinions of an atheist. We reflected that Amir was most likely religiously confused and not holding any moral bearing due to his lack of a steadfast religious alignment. This could be one of the reasons that he might act in his childhood with such moral

This is a reoccurring theme for several cases, and Hosseini is quite fond of its resurrection. In the novel, the main character, Amir, had witnessed the sexual assault of his friend and half-brother, Hassan. Throughout the book, Amir faces internal struggles including the guilt of not saving Hassan, keeping the information to himself, and constantly avoiding any occurring problems. Guilt is a supreme emotion. It envelops its captive in an overwhelming amount of angst and paranoia; a clear example of this case is the early stages of Amir’s battle. “

However, after the competition Amir "watched Hassan get raped" which is something no one should ever have to witness (Hosseini 82). Amir backed down when he witnessed Hassan being raped and just let it happen. Amir standing witness to Hassan 's rape and leaving him to be taken advantage of by Assef shows Amir 's cowardice behavior and selfishness. Another low that Amir goes through is when he throws pomegranates at Hassan in the limited hope he would reciprocate his acts. Instead Hassan sat there confused and takes another pomegranate and "crushed it against his own forehead" to emphasize his loyalty to Amir (Hosseini 88).

Unfortunately, Amir, one of the victims, had not been young enough to not understand. As a child, he made the mistake of not helping out his half-brother, Hassan. Even if he could have done something, he didn’t because of his cowardice, which was followed by selfishness. Betrayal made Amir the perpetrator. Due to his act of cruelty, he carried stones of guilt over his shoulder which were never shared with anyone but his own mind.

He can not bear the scrutiny so he humiliates hassan in public by not defending him or protecting him and he humiliates him when they 2 are alone by telling petty lies to him. But the ironic thing is that the very shame he tries to avoid, becomes a worse self loathing shame latter from all his guilt. However, eventually Amir finds himself in a situation where a sense of family, redemption and belonging comes over him and is able to push his instinctual self preservation tendencies away and pay his respects to Hassan by defending and protecting his child. Coincidentally, where Amir prefered to be accepted, Hassan was never given

The final guilt Amir struggles with is his guilt of apathy where he physically commits the action and instead of standing as a bystander becomes the person who committed the act, which gives him a different form of guilt. Amir feels apathy guilt through betraying his friend and kicking Hassan out of the house because he is a witness to the crime Amir has committed. Amir has guilt because he chases Hassan out, “I flinched, like I’d been slapped… Then I understood: This was Hassan’s final sacrifice for me… And that led to another understanding: Hassan knew.

In the novel the Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini he illustrates the sacrifice one gives for love. Over the course of the novel Amir, Hassan, and Baba all face dramatic events that shape them to the person they are. Each one of them sacrifice a piece of their own happiness for the one they love. Hassan is loyal to Amir even though in their childhood Amir was not a good friend. Baba sacrifices his life in Afghanistan for Amir to have an education in America.

“I did not know what had emboldened me to be so curt, maybe the fact that I thought I was going to die anyway” (Hosseini 299). This quote is important because Amir carelessly argues with Assef and did not care with what he says. Amir is ok to do anything for Sohrab regardless. He already knows he is going to die so why not redeem himself. Furtherly, Hosseini writes, “Hassan had taken the pomegranate from my hand, crushed against his forehead.

Amir’s main enemy is guilt because it leads him to blame himself for the death of his mother and for his father’s lack of acceptance of him. Amir takes it upon himself to say that it is his fault that his mother is dead, and that he is the sole reason why his father does not like him for the way he is. He blames himself instead of blaming the possible natural causes of why his mother is dead - he does not let it go. He also does not accept who he is for who he is to his father, he feels the need that his father’s acceptance is not good enough; thus, he seeks the love he needs by doing what his father likes despite disliking such activities himself (examples, sports). Amir does not take in account that there are more reasons outside of his control for why things happen, why the

He also told him that Hassan and his wife were brutally murdered by the Taliban. He told him, "There is a way to be good again.". Amir subsequently decided to risk his life to rescue Hassan 's orphan son, Sohrab, and maybe then he can have an ease from the longtime guilt. Hassan in the novel is presented as a Christ figure.

Although, Amir shows many acts of kindness and selflessness, in the end, he was not able to truly redeem himself. To begin, Amir started his journey to redemption with conviction and confession although he was not very successful. The guilt bothered Amir very often even in his adulthood when he believed he had been denied “fatherhood for the thing [he] had done.” (188) Almost immediately after Amir watched Hassan get raped he believed he had done something wrong. He believed he could not have children with Soraya because he did not help Hassan, but he does not confess until more than fifteen years later.

While being beaten up by Assef, Amir feels at peace. He feels this ways because he feels that as he is taking the hits from Assef, it shows that he would do anything for Hassan. He is redeeming himself in a way that he is standing up not only for Hassan but also for Sohrab. Amir also stands up for his family, redeeming himself. " Hassan is dead now.

Amir is haunted by this guilt even when he is a grown man. He did redeem himself with Sorhab, adopting him and his sacrifices to save Sorhab. No matter what you have done, you can always have forgiveness. I agree with this but in this case Amir didn’t even help Hassan when he was being raped, I don’t think that could be

He thinks of himself as superior to Hassan and starts to become inconsiderate towards Hassan and his feeling. Deep down his heart he convinces himself that Hassan was a sacrificing lamb and that he could not help Hassan in any manner. Jenny Ivers too critiqued the same, “It is an unequal friendship- Hassan adores Amir while the latter takes advantage of the formers unswerving faithfulness.” This portrays that Amir subconsciously does what benefits him whereas Hassan, on the other hand, does what pleases his Amir agha despite the fact that it might ruin his reputation and his life. However, some of his decisions helped him redeem in his life.

Do you feel better?” (93). Hassan will not hurt Amir, even after all he has done to him. Because of Hassan’s response, this makes Amir feel worse and he becomes one step farther away from redemption. This signifies how redemption cannot be earned by making the mistake seem not as tragic than it was because this ultimately makes the guilt grow.