...Guilt is a cage that imprisons individuals because they are unable to forgive their misdeeds; the only way to free themselves is redemption. In Khaled Hosseini’s novel, The Kite Runner, guilt consistently plagues Amir, as he betrays his closest friend, Hassan, when they were teenagers. Now a grown man living in America, Amir receives a call from Rahim Khan, his father’s business partner, telling him to return to war-torn Afghanistan for a final chance of redemption by saving his innocent nephew’s life. Through examining Amir’s tumultuous life, Hosseini suggests that in order to be free of guilt, one must suffer the consequences of their actions, admit their mistakes, and redeem themselves. By suffering the consequences of his misdeeds, Amir takes a crucial step to absolving himself of guilt. After abandoning Hassan and allowing Assef to rape Hassan, Amir begins to...
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...In one second, a life could change. One could make a decision- not thinking about consequences and living in the moment- and that decision could stay with them for a lifetime. These decisions can lead to guilt. Through the situations of Amir, Soraya, and Baba, in Khaled Hosseini’s, The Kite Runner, guilt is deemed to be associated with the past and can be challenging to overcome. Amir is a carrier of guilt in the novel and it is seen to be an obstacle. This weight on his shoulders keeps him from progressing forward. His guilt stems from when he was a young boy and witnessed Hassan’s rape and did not tell an adult. This stays with his for the rest of his life. First, Amir believes: “It’s wrong what they say about the past, […] how you can burry it. Because the past claws its way out. Looking back now, I realize I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years” (Hosseini 1). Guilt...
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...Guilt and the search for redemption are two very important themes in “The Kite Runner”, as the reader watches Amir, the main character, deal with his guilt over the betrayal of a friend and the lengths he would go to gain forgiveness. Amir has always felt guilty over the loss of his mother. She died giving birth to him and he sees himself as his mother’s killer, the one who took Baba’s “princess” away form him. Amir believes that this is the reason why his relationship with his father is so strained and spends most of his childhood attempting to win his father’s love and forgiveness. His constant need of Baba’s approval is what drives Amir to want to win the kite fighting competition, to show Baba that he could also be a winner and make him proud. Amir is convinced that if he brings Baba the blue kite he will finally forgive him for his mother’s death and truly accept him. In his search for redemption Amir commits a terrible crime when he watches his friend Hassan get raped but does nothing about it. Instead of standing up to his friend and try to stop Assef from raping Hassan he hides and after pretends he never saw anything. He tries to justify his actions by saying that if he had intervened he would have gotten hurt, but he knows that the real reason why he did not defend Hassan is that he would have lost the kite and with it Baba’s love, so he sacrifices his friend for the approval of his father. “I actually aspired to cowardice, because the alternative, the real...
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...Djenny Lorjuste Guilt is a feeling of having done wrong or failed in an obligation. Guilt can cause someone to be betrayal the people around them. It can also make someone good again. Khaled Hussein’s The Kite runner the main character Amir guilt turns him into a better person. Amir transformed from someone who never stood up for anything one to some who does. In the beginning of the novel, Amir never treated his friend Hassan right. Amir watches his friend get rape. He never did anything about it. Amir was only thinking about himself. He tried to make his guilt go always by setting up Hassan and Ali. “I went downstairs, crossed the yard, and entered Ali and Hassan’s living quartes by the loquat tree. I lifted Hassan mattress and planted my new watch and handful of Afghani bills under it.”( Hosseini 102) Amir thought if he could get ready of Hassan his problem would have go away. Amir attempts to deal with his guilt by avoiding it. But doing this clearly does nothing toward redeeming himself, and thus his guilt endures. Even though t Amir knows he was wrong and was hurting everyone around him....
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...In a lifetime, everyone will experience feelings of guilt, some large and some small. Such as guilt over sneaking out, not doing homework, or telling your parents a little white lie. People find peace of mind through redeeming themselves, in other words, we do something that makes up for the cause of guilt. Khaled Hosseini's novel The Kite Runner revolves around betrayal and redemption. Redemption is the act of saying or being saved from sin, error or evil, which the main character Amir seems to need the most. Amir lives with the guilt he has built up over the years because of one incident from his childhood. Amir's fathers words still echo through his head "A boy who won't stand up for himself becomes a man who can't stand up to anything." –pg. 24 Although Amir destroyed the lives of many people, and he has had more than one opportunity to redeem himself of his guilt, he is not the selfish little boy he once was. How often does one stop and think, "How will this affect everyone else in my life?" Amir had a chance in the alley, to put Hassan first and change the path of both their lives, but he made the decision to turn around and run because it was what he thought was best for him: "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. I ran because...
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...The author of ‘The Kite Runner' Hosseini employs a variety of symbols and motifs to create a deeper meaning throughout the book. Symbolism is the practice of representing a theme or idea by using symbols to create a deeper meaning, this is evident with cleft lip which is a symbol of Amir's and Hassan's social disparity, kites a symbol of happiness and guilt and the slingshot which a direct reference to David and Goliath. While irony is a motif because it is a recurring theme presented throughout the novel. The story revolves around two loyal friends Amir and Hassan, who are desperate to win the local kite flying competition. But both boys’ lives change for good that same afternoon when something devastating happens to Hassan. After the Russians invade, Amir and his father are forced to flee to America and amidst the turmoil Amir’s knows he will return to Afghanistan to redeem himself. Hosseini uses the cleft lip as a symbol to create a deeper meaning in the Kite Runner because it symbolizes Hassan’s status in society. This is evident because Amir and...
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...The Kite Runner focuses on the relationship between two Afghan boys Amir and Hassan. Amir is a Pashtun and Sunni Muslim, while Hassan is a Hazara and a Shi’a. Despite their ethnic and religious differences, Amir and Hassan grow to be friends, although Amir is troubled by Hassan, and his relationship with his companion, one year his junior, is complex. Amir and Hassan seem to have a "best friend" type relationship. The two boys, Hassan and Amir, are main characters in the book titled, The Kite Runner. The two boys have a relationship that is significantly different compared to most. There are many different facets that distinguish the relationship the boys possess. The boys do write their names in a pomegranate tree as the "sultans of Kabul" (Kite Runner 27) but, their friendship is not strong and it is one sided. Hassan has love for Amir. He loves him like a brother. Hassan is exceedingly loyal to Amir. The relationship between the two boys is emotionally wearing and rather gloomy for the most part. The main reason for their complicated relationship is the fact that Amir is Pashtun, and Hassan is Hazara. The Afghan society places Hassan lower than Amir. Hassan is Amir's servant. The placement of Hassan in the Afghan society disenables Amir from becoming Hassan's true friend. Amir sees Hassan as lower than human. Amir ruins the chance for friendship between himself and Hassan because he is jealous of Hassan, he thinks of Hassan as a lower human, and because Amir possesses such...
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...Khaled Hosseini uses the kite symbol in The Kite Runner as a description of Amir and Baba’s relationship, Amir’s guilt, and Amir’s rejuvenation. The kite is one of the only things that connect Baba and Amir. Amir is not good at the things most children in Afghanistan are, like soccer, and he exceeds in school. Amir always feels as though Baba never respected or thought he is a good son. Amir feels guilty when he thinks about kite flying. It reminds him of his childhood memories with Hassan, the friend he betrayes for a kite, letting him get raped. After this, his recollections drift to betrayal and guilt. Rahim Khan, a lifelong friend, Baba and Amir are connected through the flying of kites. Kite flying is an essential aspect of Afghani culture. Amir and Baba both have extensive experience with flying kites. Amir says that...
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...Kite Runner: Redemption Amir’s Atonement When you do wrong, you are plagued with guilt. Guilt can be sinful; it stains your conscience and ruins your morals. Although these actions are wrongful, they can be atoned to through sacrifice or purification. People find piece of mind in doing something that makes up for the cause of guilt and this is especially eminent in Khaled Hosseini’s novel The Kite Runner. Although there are many ways to advocate to wrongful doing, through the main character Amir’s actions sacrifice was proven to be the most liberating act. Throughout the book, the main character, Amir, seeks redemption for his “…past of unatoned sins” (Hosseini, p. 1). These feelings of guilt arise at the beginning of his life, when his mother, Baba’s love, dies giving birth to him. From that point on, Amir strives to redeem himself because he feels he is responsible for her death: “Because truth of it was, I always felt like Baba hated me a little. And why not? After all, I had killed his beloved wife, his beautiful princess, hadn’t I?” (p.20). It is this guilt that Amir carries throughout most of his childhood and for which he tries to atone to with Baba’s love and affection: “Maybe he’d call me Amir Jan like Rahim Khan did. And maybe, just maybe, I would finally be pardoned for killing my mother” (p. 60). Amir competes against Hassan for the approval...
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...two paths, one in which a person tries anything to redeem themselves and another where selfishness takes over. Likewise, Macbeth by William Shakespeare and The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini use the main characters from their works to demonstrate that sometimes without a second thought, betrayal takes place. They also show how some characters use betrayal to their advantage while others redeem themselves, as well, how even those who stay loyal end up having to pay the same price. At the end however, how people react to the guilt that they encounter in the past is what makes them who they are in the future. Macbeth and The Kite Runner both show how the main characters betray those who respect as well as trust them. Macbeth's eyes are blinded by the power of the throne and he will do anything just to obtain it. Since no one expects Macbeth to betray anyone close to him, he takes this as an advantage and says to himself “a false face must hide what a false heart doth know.”(I, vii, 94-95) With this in mind, it is evident that Macbeth betrays Duncan, Banquo and the whole of Scotland. He uses his innocence and trust that he gained from others to hide what his true intentions are and ends up betraying many people just for the good of himself. Similarly, in The Kite Runner the main character Amir is troubled by the guilt that builds inside of him after he betrays his best friend- Hassan, his father- Baba and Hassan's father -Ali. All these characters are betrayed by Amir revolving...
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...The Kite Runner Psychoanalytic criticism was first founded and developed by Sigmund Freud. Freud’s theories were mainly sexual deriving from the libido which is a colloquial term for the sex drive. Freud has many theories which are based on sexuality. One of his many theories includes the theory subconscious mind. This theory states that the ego is divided into three sections, the id, the ego and the superego. The id is the mind’s more primitive and impulsive part of the ego, where are the super ego is where all of our morals and values are placed. The ego is the part of the subconscious mind which mediates between the two. When making decisions we make them based on these two parts of our subconscious mind. Freud believed that the subconscious sexual drives were the bases for all human behavior, and that dreams were an important indicator for understanding human behavior. The kite runner is a novel written by Khaled Hosseini, which first takes place in the city of Kabul located in Afghanistan. It’s a story about a man who is named Amir who reflects on his past as a child in Afghanistan. Amir lived with his father, and his servants, ali and Hassan During that time period was a caste system in Afghanistan which was in place. Amir and his father were Pashtu, which is considered “pure” afghan. They were placed much higher than their servants Ali and Hassan who were Hazara. After a kite flying competition that Amir and Hassan attended together, Amir saw Hassan getting...
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...The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is a beautifully written story about the life of one Afghani boy's struggle from riches to rags and finding the truth about people in general. The story is about two boys growing up in pre- Soviet and Taliban Afghanistan. Amir is a Sunni or the privileged class; Hassan is Shi'a, which is the lowest minority. Even still the two boys, grow up together as brothers. Until one horrible incident changes everything. The Kite Runner is a story about love, guilt, truth, and redemption. Amir grows up as the only son of a WEALTHY MAN in Kabul where life is rich and full of possibilities prior to the Soviet invasion. His father Baba is disappointed in the bookish, non-athletic child he must raise. Amirs' playmate Hassan, a Hazara servant seems to have more of Baba's respect than Amir. Baba's love for Hassan and his disappointment in his own son drive Amir to taunt and abandon Hassan, even though he loves him more deeply than even he himself knows. Amir, burdened by jealousy, can't come to his friend's aid when he brutally raped, not even on the most glorious day of their childhood when together they claim the kite-fighting title. When the Russian army invades, Amir and his father flee to the United States. Amir grows up poor and in a different land, but with the same Afghanistan culture. He marries, goes to college, while wondering what happened to his childhood friend, the one he betrayed. As time marches on, Amir loses his father and is summoned to Pakistan...
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...Khaled Hosseini worked as a medical internist at Kaiser Hospital in Mountain View, California for several years before publishing The Kite Runner.[3][6][7] In 1999, he learned through a news report that the Taliban had banned kite flying in Afghanistan,[8] a restriction he found particularly cruel.[9] The news "struck a personal chord" for him, as he had grown up with the sport while living in Afghanistan. He was motivated to write a 25-page short story about two boys who fly kites in Kabul.[8] Hosseini submitted copies to Esquire and The New Yorker, both of which rejected it.[9] He rediscovered the manuscript in his garage in March 2001 and began to expand it to novel format at the suggestion of a friend.[8][9] According to Hosseini, the narrative became "much darker" than he originally intended.[8] His editor, Cindy Spiegel, "helped him rework the last third of his manuscript", something she describes as relatively common for a first novel.[9] As with Hosseini's subsequent novels, The Kite Runner covers a multigenerational period and focuses on the relationship between parents and their children.[2] The latter was unintentional; Hosseini developed an interest in the theme while in the process of writing.[2] He later divulged that he frequently came up with pieces of the plot by drawing pictures of it.[7] For example, he did not decide to make Amir and Hassan brothers until after he had "doodled it".[7] Like Amir, the protagonist of the novel, Hosseini was born in Afghanistan...
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...The Kite Runner Final Essay AG Novel A literary work conveys a compelling story specific to its time and place. Additionally, a memorable one explores issues and themes (universal truths) that are important, and timeless, for all readers. Keep this in mind as you think about each essay prompt. A convincing essay will include direct citations from the novel, commentary and use of scholarly analysis. Visit the Gale Digital Library, accessible from the Venture website (password: venture) to search for support. Additionally, use MLA format for your essay and utilize correct citations. Questions taken, in part, from the Khaled Hosseini Foundation curriculum. 1. Writer and human rights activist Isabel Allende writes of The Kite Runner: “This is one of those unforgettable stories that stays with you for years. All the great themes of literature and of life are the fabric of this extraordinary novel: love, honor, guilt, fear, redemption.” Which of these major themes resonates the most with you? Choose one to focus on and show how author Khaled Hosseini communicates this universal truth through characters, plot development and use of symbols. 2. In great literature, no scene of violence exists for its own sake. In a wellorganized essay, explain how a violent scene in The Kite Runner contributes to the meaning of the complete work. Apply the concept of an extended metaphor to discuss the political and social portrait of Afghanistan. 3. Leo Tolstoy once wrote...
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...‘The Search for Redemption’ The expression “riddled with guilt” is a good way to describe the main character‟s life, Amir, in the novel „The Kite Runner,‟ written by Khaled Hosseini. „The Kite Runner is a tale about an Afghan boy, Amir, who faces many hardships throughout his life as he grows from a boy living in a war-torn Afghanistan, to a successful writer living in America. Amir experiences many events that caused him to carry a great deal of guilt throughout his life. He needed to find a way to make amends which would allow him to forgive himself. Over the course of the novel, Amir sought forgiveness from his father, Baba; he looks for redemption for his betrayal of his friend Hassan, and by the end of his tale he manages to ease his conscience by saving Sohrab; Hassan‟s son. Guilt is a main theme that constantly occurs throughout the novel. Amir can trace his feelings of guilt back to the moment he was born since his mother died during childbirth; this causes Amir to believe that his father blames him for the absence of his mother. Amir often felt like he lets his father down, this can be seen when Amir states, „I will never forget Baba‟s valiant efforts to conceal the disgusted look on his face‟ (Hosseini, 23). This was Baba‟s, Amir‟s father, reaction to seeing Amir cry after witnessing a horseback rider being trampled to death. According to the Evidence-based CBT for Anxiety and Depression in Children and Adolescents, a study lead by Elizabeth Sburiati, „when a parental...
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