Draft 1 – Sacrifice to Redemtion “When something bad happens you have three choices. You can either let it define you, let it destroy you, or you can let it strengthen you.”, said once by Dr. Seuss. In The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, Amir had gone through difficulties and has had to choose from the three choices. If Hassan didn’t sacrifice himself, Amir wouldn’t have become a better person. For the reason that Hassan was raped, Amir felt guilty and began regretting his actions. Every time Amir would do something mean towards Hassan, he felt guilty after the action. “‘Let’s see. ‘Imbecile.’ It means smart, intelligent. I’ll use it in a sentence for you. ‘When it comes to words, Hassan is an imbecile.’’… I would always feel guilty about it …show more content…
“I had one last chance to make a decision. One final opportunity to decide who I was going to be. I could step into that alley, stand up for Hassan – the way he'd stood up for me all those times in the past – and accept whatever would happen to me. Or I could run. In the end, I ran.” (Hosseini 77). Amir obviously shook by seeing his best friend raped, did not know how to react in the situation. Therefore, his fight or flight instincts kicked in and he ran off still in a state of shock. Perhaps the reason he never told Hassan was that he felt guilty that he did not do anything for him but ran. Even then, he just acted even worse than before, not changing for the better but for the worse. “Then I took a couple of the envelopes of cash from the pile of gifts and my watch, and tiptoed out. I paused before Baba's study and listened in. He'd been in there all morning, making phone calls. He was talking to someone now, about a shipment of rugs due to arrive next week. I went downstairs, crossed the yard, and entered Ali and Hassan's living quarters by the loquat tree. I lifted Hassan's mattress and planted my new watch and a handful of Afghani bills under it. I waited another thirty minutes. Then I knocked on Baba's door and told what I hoped would be the last in a long line of shameful lies.” (Hosseini 104). Sometimes people do one wicked …show more content…
When Amir went back to Afghanistan because of Rahim Khan’s letter, he went to redeem himself for his past mistakes. He needed to get rid of the guilt that has been haunting him for years. "What was so funny was that, for the first time since the winter of 1975 I felt at peace. I laughed because I saw that, in some nook in the corner of my mind, I had been looking forward to this." (Hosseini 289). 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. That boy sleeping on the couch is Hassan's son. He's my nephew. That's what you tell people when they ask... And one more thing, General Sahib, you will never again refer to him as 'Hazara boy' in my presence. He has a name and it's Sohrab" (Hosseini 361). Again, in this quote, Amir redeems himself to Hassan and his family by standing up to General Sahib. Proving to Hassan that he was faithful to him all along, removing his
Amir put his own feelings over Hassan’s, when Hassan needed a friend most, Amir wasn’t there for him. His one true friend, the person he grew up with, his brother, who he loved so dearly, was now suddenly pushing him away, just because he felt guilty. If Amir
Everyone has heard the saying “nobody is perfect” and it is true we are all humans, we all make mistakes sometimes, but to what extent does someone stop forgiving when they have endured all the hardship a person gives them after they have been forgiven several times. There is a certain point in life when some people do not deserve to be forgiven because every time that person is forgiven, that person takes advantage it because that person knows they will be forgiven. There is one very prominent character in a story who fits the reason of why some people do not deserve forgiveness, especially when they've been given multiple chances to do the right thing. That person is Amir from the book the Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.
After he talks to Rahim Khan, he tells him the Hassan not only his childhood best friend but his half brother. Amir tries to help Hassan's own son, Sorab, who is his nephew that is locked in a orphanage. He ends up finding out that a taliab took Sorab. He is shocked when he finds where he is. He finds out that the head person there is Assef.
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.
Lastly, Amir sacrifices his life to accommodate for Sohrab, Hassan’s son, after being taken by the Taliban. Amir resembles Baba because he too takes up redemption for the awful things he did. He understands the great danger Sohrab is in. He risks his life to help Sohrab; this shows loyalty to Hassan. Even though Sohrab is not Hassan saving his son shows that Amir is loyal to him.
Sanganeria 1 Innayat Nain Sanganeria Kanika Dang Eng, Thesis paper 8th November 2015 THESIS PAPER, THE KITE RUNNER Khaled Hosseini in his novel The Kite Runner illustrates how one seeks for redemption for the sins committed in the past. The Kite Runner is a heartbreaking story of two young boys and how the choices made in the past, changed their lives forever. Love, loss and betrayal are some of the themes in the novel which have been portrayed with a lot of sensitivity.
From him? … I’m thirty-eight years old and I’ve just found out that my whole life has been one [ ] lie”(Hosseini 206). The truth that Rahim Khan had disclosed was that Baba had illegitimately been the father of Hassan, therefore making Hassan Amir’s half-brother. This is an example of Hosseini using juxtaposition to illustrate Amir’s path to redemption because he ties this illegitimate brotherhood back to Amir’s initial perception of his brotherly relationship with
Amir’s Redemption in The Kite Runner In The Kite Runner, Khalid Hosseini writes that Amir makes mistakes, and because of that, it takes his entire life to redeem himself. Throughout The Kite Runner, Amir is looking for redemption. One of the reasons why Amir redeems himself was to fix the wrong he did to Hassan in his childhood. On the other hand, many may believe that Amir didn’t earn anything and rather wasted his time in Afghanistan.
Sacrifice, one the most prominent themes in Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, clearly determines a person’s unconditional love and complete fidelity for another individual. Hosseini’s best-selling novel recounts the events of Amir’s life from childhood to adulthood. Deprived of his father’s approval and unsure of his relationship with Hassan, Amir commits treacherous acts which he later regrets and attempts to search for redemption. These distressing occurrences throughout his youth serve as an aid during his transition from a selfish child to an altruistic adult.
The saddest part was that Amir was there watching from a distance and was unwilling to help his best friend due to his lack of courage and inability to stand up for himself. Up until adulthood, Amir had to carry the baggage of betraying Hassan by not being there when he most needed him, this guilt tormented him to the point where he moved to America with his dad, Baba, as a way to escape his
He resists for Amir whom he loves with his whole heart. Amir witnesses this struggle, but he does nothing; he runs away since “he was just a Hazara, wasn’t he?” (Hosseini 77). Amir has always believed, deep down, that his father favored Hassan, a Hazara, the dirt of Afghan society, over him, his own son. Seeing Hassan reduced to that level of baseness is perversely satisfying for him.
His decision to not intervene, is a selfish move that affects many. Another example of Amir's selfishness appears when Amir asks Hassan if he would eat dirt for him (Hosseini 54). Hassan being the good and loyal friend responds by saying yes, but questions why Amir would want to make him do such a cruel thing. I believe that Amir asked Hassan that to remind him of his position as a servant. Amir knew that Hassan would do anything for him.
Amir first realizes the depth of his cowardice as he watches Assef rape Hassan in the alley and thinks, “I could step in into that alley, stand up for Hassan—the way he stood up for me all those times in the past—and accept whatever happened to me. Or I could run” (Hosseini 77). He has an epiphany that he could choose to be brave and selfless like Hassan and step up to Assef regardless of any physical consequences. However, despite his understanding that the noble choice would be to interfere and stop Assef, Amir is unable to act on it because his fear of Assef overwhelms him. The guilt that consumes Amir in the weeks following Hassan’s rape indicates that he understands the extent of his selfish behavior and needs to resolve it before he can forgive himself.
Redemption in Family and Friends Holding a terrible truth that can lead to so much guilt can tear a person apart. Not only from themselves, but from others too. In the novel, The Kite Runner, there are many characters with many secrets that the others don’t know about. Two characters of many others are Amir and Rahim Khan.
In the novel, The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini tells the story of Amir, a young, Afghan boy who learns about what it means to be redeemed through the experiences he encounters in his life. The idea of redemption becomes a lesson for Amir when he is a witness to the tragic sexual assault of his childhood friend, Hassan. As a bystander in the moment, Amir determines what is more important: saving the life of his friend or running away for the safety of himself. In the end, Amir decides to flee, resulting in Amir having to live with the guilt of leaving Hassan behind to be assaulted. Hosseini shows us how Amir constantly deals with the remorse of the incident, but does not attempt to redeem himself until later in his life when Hassan has died.