I stare down at the crumbs of shattered glass and trails of punch. I was mad that I was not crowned Homecoming Queen and smashed the punch bowl onto the floor. I ruined the night for both teachers and students with my selfishness. Now people are gone and I am alone staring at the mess I created. As I do this, I notice my new white shirt is blemished with red blotches. Apparently the impact of the smash was so hard, the punch somehow managed to reach me. I take it off, disgusted-- it is the evidence of my crime, a token that will trigger bad memories to flow in my head. But instead of tossing it, I decide to use it to clean up the damage. After glass and punch are off the floor, I then decide I might as well clean the entire gym-- all with that stained shirt. Cleaning will not bring back the night, but it will ease the pain I caused. At least now the Associated Student Body will not have to clean the gym themselves. If there is one lesson I learned from Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, it would be just that: “There is a way to be good again,” (2). Though it is Rahim Khan who verbalizes it, polar characters Baba and Amir are the ones who demonstrate that no matter how severe a sin is committed, redemption is possible and the pursuit of reaching inner satisfaction and peace can live on.
In the novel, there is a tale that Baba once wrestled a black bear in Baluchistan with his bare hands. Whether it is valid or not, it acts as a metaphor for what Baba can and would do. No matter how dangerous and hard of a task is, he will take the initiative and take on whatever is needed to be done. Such an example is when he stands up to a Russian soldier who wants a half hour with a lady as an exchange to let the truck pass through the Mahipar checkpoint. Although no one get hurts in the end, he put himself in a situation where he would rather have himself killed than to allow