Preview

Redemption In The Kite Runner

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
513 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Redemption In The Kite Runner
The Kite Runner Essay
How is Redemption Possible?

“A man who has no conscience, no goodness, does not suffer,” Khaled Hosseini wrote in his novel, The Kite Runner. Redemption is an important theme throughout the book, and these words were used to reassure the protagonist, who was trying to get redemption. According to Amir’s lengthy redemption arc, redemption can be achieved by acknowledging one’s offense and proving their loyalty to whomever they wronged.
The first step to redemption is acknowledging what has been done wrong. This may seem easy, but it took Amir decades to get past this step. After Hassan was raped, Amir didn’t tell anyone about it, which built up a lot of guilt and stress in him. Amir avoided Hassan, and whenever he was
…show more content…
Amir climactically achieved redemption with Hassan when he rescued Sohrab from Assef and brought him to America at the end of the narrative. Although Amir wasn’t able to prove his final loyalty to Hassan himself, he was able to prove it to Sohrab, who was suffering in a way parallel to his father. This is supported by Rahim Khan in his phone call telling Amir to come back to Afghanistan, because “There is a way to be good again.” Amir’s loyalty was tested later in the book, when the American embassy said that Sohrab couldn’t be taken to the United States with him. Amir could have just given up then and left Sohrab in Pakistan in another orphanage. However, he worked to find a way to bring Sohrab to America. When faced with troubles, Amir stayed true and loyal to Hassan, letting him achieve ultimate redemption.
Although it took Amir a quarter-century to learn it, redemption can only be earned by acknowledging one’s sins and proving to whomever they wronged that they are really there for them. This is what Hosseini was trying to convey to his readers when he wrote The Kite Runner and included redemption as the main theme of the novel. No matter how long it has been, redemption can always be

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The Kite Runner explains the importance of being virtuous, and of acting ethically. Baba, Amir’s father, tells his son, “Now, no matter what the mullah teaches, there is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft…. When you kill a man, you steal a life. You steal his wife’s right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone’s right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness. Do you see?” (Hosseini 17-18). Amir lives by these words through his life, and remembers them as he attempts to redeem his past mistakes. The novel impresses upon the reader the importance of understanding concepts like these, and the disastrous situations which can result from ignoring them. Upon finishing the novel,…

    • 801 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    He has to find the way to earn forgiveness for himself and gain back some of his respect as a human being. He has too choose whether to continue being a coward like he was in the alley or stand up and take responsibility for his betrayal. In the second quote Hassan gives another example of hiss undying loyalty towards Amir and their relationship as more of brothers than master and servant. Amir does not give the same amount of respect or trust to Hassan even though Amir repeatedly betrays Hassan and breaks their relationship. He lives in his adult life reliving his mistakes towards Amir in his old homeland and had wished he wasn’t such a coward and stood beside Hassan as he did for…

    • 1513 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Amir is very selfish and only does things for his own benefit. He did not have the courage or strength to step in and save his friend in the alley from Assef. He made the choice to betray his friend. As Hassan stood his ground in the alley and chooses to honor his promise to Amir and return the kite to him, Amir stood silent at the end of the alley and watched the beating and rape of his friend Hassan. The following quotation emphasizes how Amir is unworthy of Hassan’s loyalty: “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 time in the past – and accept whatever would happen to me. Or I could run. In the end, I ran.” (82). Amir’s betrayal continues, as he later decides that he no longer wants Hassan and his father in the household, so he decides to set up Hassan and accuse him of stealing. “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.” (110). Amir betrays Hassan by trying to have his friend fired for stealing. Hassan took the blame to keep Amir out of trouble. This…

    • 1364 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Set throughout the time of Afghanistan’s feud with Russia and also the control of the Taliban cluster, Khaled Hosseini's novel The Kite Runner takes US through the excruciating journey that emeer (The main character) should endure to achieve redemption for his sins still as his father’s love. Hosseini shows US the death of a child's innocence once emeer horrifically witnesses his supporter, Hassan, obtaining raped and will nothing to prevent it, each attributable to the very fact of their social variations and also the ‘reward’ that emeer would gain if he let it pass. This death of emeer's innocence propels the story forward by pushing Amir to come back to extreme measures so as to disembarrass himself of the…

    • 182 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Before the incident, Hassan pledges himself to Amir saying, “For you a thousand times over” (67). The statement, as normal as saying I am here for you, takes on a greater meaning after Hassan, a young boy is raped. At the scene, Amir is capable of…

    • 1013 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Khaled Hosseini’s novel, The Kite Runner, the protagonist, Amir, the son of a wealthy Afghan shares an unlikely friendship with his Hazara servant, Hassan. The two boys are inseparable and Hassan’s loyalty to Amir is unwavering. Amir however, betrays their friendship. He tries to justify his disloyalty by claiming ethnic and caste differences yet any amount of reasoning cannot assuage his guilt. Even when Amir and his father flee war-torn Afghanistan to live in America, the shame Amir feels follows him for years. Twenty-six years later, Amir is given the opportunity to make up for his sins of the past and appease his guilt. In Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, the protagonist’s ability to overcome the guilt that plagues his life is dependent on…

    • 907 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    He is selfish, demanding, cowardly, disrespectful and jealous. He does not seem like the type of person that will do something for another out of the kindness of their heart. He always thinks about himself and what he wants. He has never sacrificed anything for the people he loves. Growing up with the memory of Hassan’s rape still fresh in his mind like a situation that has just unfolded has finally opened his eyes and makes him realize he needs to be brave for once in his life. So Amir acts. He goes back to Afghanistan to find Hassan’s son, Sohrab. Rahim Khan’s advice, “There is a way to be good again” (pg.2) helps Amir to put his feelings into action. Assef, now a Taliban officer, beats Amir up badly, but this, heals Amir of his wrong doings from the past and he takes Sohrab back to America with him to live a good life. Amir finally puts someone before himself after all the sacrifices Hassan has made for him in the past. This shows the love and sacrifice he makes for Hassan’s child knowing it is the only way he can ever repay Hassan for the years of mistreatment in their…

    • 978 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    A voice is heard in the wilderness telling people to “repent:” “Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turn to God” (3:8 Matthew). In this passage, Prophet John the Baptist is preparing people for redemption. If anyone returns from their evil ways, there will be a redemption and peace for the rest of their lives. These concept of redemption is seen in the movie, The Kite Runner, which takes place in the late 70s in Kabul, Afghanistan. Director Marc Forster tells the story of a friendship between Amir and Hassan, two young boys growing up in Kabul. Although, they are raised in the same household and shared the same wet nurse, Amir and Hassan grew up in different worlds: Amir is the son of a prominent and wealthy man, while Hassan is the son of Amir's father's Hazara servant. As a protagonist, Amir has many complexes and struggles with the consequences of the…

    • 988 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Redemption can also be passed down to someone else. Almost as if revenge. “If you make a move, they’ll have to change your nickname from Asseff ‘the Ear Eater’ to ‘One-eyed Asseff’…“ (42). That was the threat Hassan was saying to Asseff if he dare make a move towards Amir. He never shot that slingshot, and later on Asseff got revenge on him for even making threats towards him. Many years down the road when…

    • 638 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the novel, The Kite Runner, the author Khaled Hosseini depicts guilt and perseverance as the motivation for an individual to seek redemption and attain the satisfaction of self-fulfillment.…

    • 580 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    In the book Kite Runner, the main characters Amir and Hassan have special relationships. Amir is in the superior position, while Hassan is the submissive one to Amir. As Hassan was Amir’s servant, Hassan sacrificed himself in order to forgive Amir’s sins. Amir realized that his sins were not simple mistakes that could be forgiven. Amir’s abuse of his superiority brought him only sufferings to himself, not any benefits. This created the Fall in the relationship and eventually that fall brought the end, death, to their relationship. However, Amir’s dedication to wash his guilt brought a rebirth to their relationship in the end.…

    • 2025 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout this novel, there are several different events of betray depicted, mainly between Amir and Hassan. However, one of the most significant example is when Amir etches Hassan as he gets raped by Assef. Amir states, “I had final opportunity to decide who I was going to be. I could step into that alley, stand up for Hassan the way he stood up for me all those times in the past-and accept whatever would happen to me if I could run, In the end, I ran. It shows that Amir had a chance to save Hassan, however he ran out. (68)” It shows that Amir is a coward, and he runs always runs away from his problem. Furthermore, he backstabbed Hassan by not standing up, nor fighting Assef to help save him. Another example of betrayal is portrayed by Amir. After the rape incident that happened to Hassan, Amir did not speak up for him. As Amir thinks about the alleyways, and is constantly reminded about Hassan rather than speaking up for him, he wanted Baba to dismiss, both of them so they can move on with their own lives. Amir states, “I went downstairs, crosses the yard, and I 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” (9.21-22). Therefore, this shows now Amir lied and told Baba that Hassan stole the watch and money, when he was once betrayed, and deceived Amir. However, Hassan consistently stays loyal to Amir, and tells Bab that…

    • 564 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Everyone in their lifetime will acquire some form of guilt no matter how big or small. From not cleaning your room after your parents have told you for the thousandth time, or just telling a little white lie. The way we deal with this guilt is through redemption. Either telling the truth about not cleaning your room and then cleaning your room plus the bathroom or just doing something that makes up for the cause of guilt. Throughout The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, there is a theme of betrayal and redemption. This is mostly shown through the main characters Amir and his father, Baba. Amir is living with the guilt of what he did to Hassan in the winter of 1975 while Baba is living with the guilt of not being able to acknowledge Hassan as…

    • 215 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Once Amir gets some answers concerning Baba's transgression, he feels as if his whole life has been a cycle of disloyalty, even before he sold out Hassan. Be that as it may, having an essence of treachery himself does little towards recovering Amir. At the point when Assef very nearly murders Amir, he feels "mended," as if now that Assef has hurt him, he is recovered. He even tells Farid that in the room with Assef, he "got what he merited." In the end, Amir figures out that discipline is not what will recover him from his wrongdoing. It is not in any case sparing Sohrab. Keeping in mind the end goal to offer compensation for his transgression and Baba's before him, Amir must eradicate the lines of segregation he has lived with all his life…

    • 341 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Kite Runner Thesis

    • 840 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In the alley, when watching transfixed as Hassan is tortured and humiliated by Assef, Amir opts to “[run]. [He] ran because he was a coward. [He] was afraid… maybe Hassan was the price [he] had to pay, the lamb [he] had to slay, to win Baba”. Knowing full well that Hassan would have gone to any length to protect Amir, for his perpetual loyalty never faltered, Amir fails to help the one who was always by his side in his time of need. For purely egocentric and self-protective reasons, and the fleeting gain of Baba’s attention, Amir betrays Hassan in an appalling manner, severing the ties of allegiance and brotherhood once holding them together.…

    • 840 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays