...The Kite Runner shows that loss of innocence has devastating consequences on a person’s life. Khaled Hosseini’s, The Kite Runner, demonstrates the way in which the loss of virtue can tarnish a person’s life and have severe ramifications. Innocence can be tainted by traumatic childhood events; however, the person’s ability to move past this experience is determined by their strength and willingness to do so. Many people, who have lost their virtue, possess the mental stamina to move past their experiences and ease the impact it has on their life. Hassan is a character who compellingly reflects this notion. On the other hand, the main protagonist Amir believes he is unable to escape the guilt of his betrayal. It is his perpetual focus on his past that ultimately exacerbates the impact of his tarnished innocence on his life. However as time progresses, the impact his loss has on his life acts as an impetus to recovering and provides Amir with the motivation to move on and overcome the past experiences. At times people choose to chase the loss of innocence and willingly welcome the consequences it brings. Often the ramifications appear devastating to external figures but to individual the effects and desired. Assef evocatively reflects this idea and uses his loss of innocence to impose his corrupt sentiments onto others. Although a loss of virtue can result in severe repercussions in an individual’s life, their internal motivation and strength to overcome its impact allows them...
Words: 1100 - Pages: 5
...The Kite Runner by Khaled Hasseini The Kite Runner by Khaled Hasseini is an intriguing story of life in Afghanistan during a time period. Amir and his father, Baba are Pashtun’s living in a successful home in Kabul, Afghanistan while their servants, Hassan and his father, Ali whom are considered Hazaras lived in a mud hut on the same grounds of Baba’s property. Since being a Hazara was discriminated against in Afghanistan, Amir was bullied by Assef and his friends for hanging out with one. Later, a moment happened when Amir was twelve that changed everything and as he claims made him the man he is today. The discrimination of ethnic minorities in Kabul, Afghanistan shows disastrous events in the lives of two young boys. This story relates to past and present time Afghanistan. In Afghanistan, a Hazara is a persecuted ethnic group whom came from further East Asia. Their features are different from other Afghanistan’s because they have more of an Asian look and flat noses. Pashtuns, are a different ethnic minority and they are accepted. Pashtuns dislike Hazaras and cause many grief to them. Hazaras are sunni Muslim, as Pashtun’s are shia Muslim. They claim different features and speak different languages. Later, in the 1980’s when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, many fled to Pakistan. Later in the 1990’s, a group called Taliban’s began making severe changes in Afghanistan making living their more difficult...
Words: 1602 - Pages: 7
...Backstabbing the Ones we Love The book The Kite Runner by Khaled Hossein is a book about betrayal. On Dictionary.com the word betrayal is define as to be unfaithful in guarding, maintaining, fulfilling, or to disappoint the expectation or hope of other. Amir is constantly betraying the ones he loves especially his best friend Hassan one of Amir most loyal and caring friend. Amir throughout the book seems to accept the fact he hurts the ones he loves and even though Amir knows he is in the wrong constantly continues to betray and hurt his only friend Hassan and does these throughout the book. First, Amir betrays Hassan by denying his friendship in the book and being a jerk to him to make himself feel better. Amir betrays Hassan by denying his friendship. In the book Amir was asked if Hassan was his friend but instead of saying yea he just tell them that he is just his servant. This shows how crappy a friend Amir really is and how he is so embarrassed to let people know that Hassan is his friend. A real friend is proud to be your friend and wants people to know. What a betrayal on Hassan and Amir Friendship, a real friend is always your friend no matter what and isn’t your friend just sometimes or whenever he wants. Amir enjoys being a jerk to Hassan to make himself feel better. Amir knows that Hassan can’t read so he makes him feel stupid but making him read a book to show that he is superior to him. Amir also started to throw pomegranates at Hassan just because he is mad...
Words: 885 - Pages: 4
...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...
Words: 1416 - Pages: 6
...Book Review of ‘The Kite Runner’ “For you, a thousand times over”, this sentence said by Hassan to Amir has been on my mind since I finished reading the novel. The story took place in the 70s in Afghanistan. Amir was a child of a wealthy family and Hassan was the son of Amir family`s servant, Ali. They played and grew up together; the strong friendship bonded them like brothers. As can be seen from the novel and the sentence at the beginning, Hassan was willing to do anything for Amir whenever Amir encountered any troubles. Nevertheless, Amir made a terrible mistake when he watched and stood by, while Hassan was raped by Assef after winning the unprecedented grand kite game. In order to drive Hassan out of the house, Amir put his watch under Hassan`s pillow, implying that Hassan had stolen it. When Russia invaded Afghanistan, Amir left his hometown with his father and fled to Pakistan. In 1988, Amir and his family/father had a nice life when Amir graduated, having attended a public college in California. Afterwards Amir became a famous novelist. However, Amir suffered agonies of remorse as he could not forgive himself for his unatoned sin for betraying Hassan. At the end, Amir started his journey of redemption and came back to his home town and saved Sohrab (son of Hassan) from the Taliban after he received a phone call from Rahim Khan. The characters of this novel feel real because it is a biography of the author. The destiny of Hassan was miserable, not only was he born...
Words: 1038 - Pages: 5
...The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini Novel The main protagonist in this novel would be Amir. Amir is the son of a wealthy muslim in Kabul. He is very sensitive and is always struggling for his father’s approval of him. After helplessly watching his best friend and half brother, Hassan, get raped, Amir runs off of his guilt while trying to discover a way to redeem himself. The main antagonist in the novel would be Amir’s father Baba, Hassan, Ali, Sorhab, and Assef. All the characters relate to each other in some way, shape, or form. In the novel, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, a young sunni Muslim by the name of Amir struggles to find his true path in life after experiencing traumatizing child hood events. Amir also struggles with attempting to have a strong bond with his father, Baba. Amir’s Shia’s Muslim servant, Hassan, is his best and only true friend. After Hassan is raped, their friendship was never the same. Amir and his father move to the states to escape war and terror in their home country of Afghanistan. After a few years Amir realizes that he will never be free from the history and turmoil of his homeland. Amir learns about relationships and how the relationships we have in our lives sometimes can over lap and make us into the people we are. Two major themes throughout the novel are betrayal and forgiveness. In the novel Amir deals with the guilt his has towards Hassan. Also, soon after learning about his father betrayal to Ali, Amir is disgusted with his father...
Words: 328 - Pages: 2
...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...
Words: 1429 - Pages: 6
...e Runner begins with our thus-far nameless protagonist explaining that the past cannot be forgotten. A single moment in time defined him and has been affecting him for the last twenty-six years. This moment was in 1975 when he was twelve years old and hid near a crumbling alleyway in his hometown of Kabul, Afghanistan. When the protagonist's friend, Rahim Khan, calls him out of the blue, he knows that his past sins are coming back to haunt him even in the new life he has built in San Francisco. He remembers Hassan, whom he calls "the harelipped kite runner," saying "For you, a thousand times over." Rahim's words also echo in his head, "There is a way to be good again." These two phrases will become focal points for the rest of the novel and our protagonist's story. Chapter Two The protagonist remembers sitting in trees with Hassan when they were boys and annoying the neighbors. Any mischief they perpetrated was the protagonist's idea, but even when Hassan's father, Ali, scolded Hassan, he never told on the protagonist. Hassan's father was a servant to the protagonist's father, Baba and lived in a small servant's house on his property. Baba's house was widely considered the most beautiful one in Kabul. There Baba held large dinner parties and entertained friends, including Rahim Khan, in his smoking room. Though the protagonist was often surrounded by adults, he never knew his mother because she died in childbirth. Hassan never knew his mother, either, because she eloped with...
Words: 4022 - Pages: 17
...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...
Words: 1568 - Pages: 7
...THE KITE RUNNER One December 2001 I became what I am today at the age of twelve,on a frigid overcast day in the winter of 1975.I remember the precise moment ,crouching behind a crumbing mud wall,peeking into the alley near the frozen creek.That was a long time ago,but it’s wrong what they say about the past,I’ve learned,about how you can bury 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. One day last summer,my friend Rahim Khan called from Pakistan.He asked me to come to see him.Standing in the kitchen with the receiver to my ear,I knew it wasn’t just Rahim Khan on the line.It was my past of unatoned sins.After I hung up ,I went for a walk along Spreckels Lake on the northern edge of Golden Gate Park.The early-afternoon sun sparkled on the water where dozens of miniature boats sailed,propelled by a crisp breeze.Then I glanced up and saw a pair of kites,red with long blue tails,soaring in the sky.They danced high above the trees on the west end of the park,over the windmills,floating side by side like a pair of eyes looking down on San Francisco,the city I now call home.And suddenly Hassan’s voice whispered in my head:For you,a thousand times over.Hassan the harelipped kite runner. I sat on a park bench near a willow tree.I thought about something Rahim Khan said just before he hung up,almost as an afterthought .There is a way to be good again.I looked up at those twin kites...
Words: 2993 - Pages: 12
...The Kite Runner: Violence, Guilt, and No Happy Ending Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner is an honest yet disturbing, work of historical fiction told from the point of view of the protagonist, Amir. He describes his childhood living in Afghanistan with Hassan, a Hazara boy, who worked as a servant to Amir and his father, Baba. A main conflict of the story is the fact that Amir allows Assef, the antagonist, to do horrible things to Hassan with no attempt to intervene. This scene is very intense and upsetting. Although it could be considered as a representation of “real-world” situations that sadly occur in the Middle Eastern area, the situation is purely troubling. Amir commits an act of dreadful betrayal. Hassan and his father part their ways with Amir and Baba, who go to America to live in California. They live a typical American life, making a good amount of money and living in a safe area, but Amir’s thoughts are filled with guilt and remorse. Amir’s guilt lasts ridiculously long. He says, “That was a long time ago, but it’s wrong what they say about the past, I’ve learned, about how you can bury 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”(1). This quote from Amir represents that although he tried to forget his painful past, he could not. He did not have the will power to simply drop what occurred between him and Hassan from his thoughts. The fact that he has not resolved...
Words: 608 - Pages: 3
...We make choices every day, such as what to wear to school or what to have for breakfast. Some of the choices that we make are bad, while others are good. As we know, usually, good choices lead to good consequences and bad choices lead to bad consequences. Throughout the novel, The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini has demonstrated the consequences of choices that are made through his characters. The first choice that indicates that choices have consequences was when Baba slept with Sanaubar, Ali’s wife. The next choice was when Amir hid his money and watch under Hassan’s bed. And the last, was Amir’s choice of not helping Hassan as he was getting raped. The first choice that leads to a consequence was Baba’s choice of sleeping with Sanaubar, Ali’s wife. After Baba slept with Sanaubar, the result was Hassan. Baba did this because, ``Ali was sterile`` (pg 243). The first reason that this was a bad choice was because; Baba was never able to treat Hassan as his son. Every time Baba tried to show some compassion towards Hassan, Amir would get jealous. For example, when Baba got a plastic surgeon to come over from India to fix Hassan’s harelip for his birthday, Amir got jealous because he thought that Hassan’s scar was the reason of Baba`s attention, “It wasn’t fair. Hassan hadn`t done anything to earn Baba`s affections; he`d just been born with that stupid harelip. `` (pg 50). Another consequence from Baba sleeping with Sanaubar was; Baba, Ali and Rahim Khan had to keep this a secret...
Words: 832 - Pages: 4
...Hector Farinas ENC1102 The Kite Runner. |Sacrifice is a major theme in this novel, which is demonstrated through the various relationships | |existing between Amir and his family. Amir feels guilt throughout the story towards those who have made sacrifices for him, such as those | |sacrifices of Hassan and Baba. Also, his character development throughout the novel allows him to be able to make sacrifices for those | |around him after realizing the nature of selflessness. With this intense moral realization, he is finally able to put his lifelong guilt to| |rest. | | | |In the beginning of the story, Amir is a egoistic twelve-year old living in Afghanistan, whose goal in life is nothing more than to gain | |the approval and affection of his father (Baba). His wealthy yet detached father has shown him mainly distance and indifference for Amir's | |entire life. Amir spends the entirety of his free time with his lifelong companion, Hassan, who cares for him with seemingly entire | |selflessness and affection. Amir is unable to return this affection, at least on the surface, frequently teasing Hassan and treating him | |rather badly. At this...
Words: 716 - Pages: 3
...The Kite Runner: Literary Response Journal The novel The Kite Runner discusses both the class and gender problems not only in Afghanistan but also in America, but mostly class problems. Amir and Hassan always played with each other even though Hassan was a Hazara and Amir is a Pashtun. It didn’t matter to Amir until they grew up a bit and he had people point it out. As especially when Assef told him, “How can you talk to him, play with him, let him touch you?” (Hosseini, 44). Amir starts to question his relationship with Hassan. He is scared to stand up to Assef because he doesn’t want to be an outcast in society, so he just keeps his mouth shut. However, Assef tells them that next time there will be consequences for they’re actions. A few years pass; Amir ends up winning the kite-flying contest. Amir is put through another situation that brought Hassan down, because of Amir’s “all talk but no action”; Hassan gets raped just for giving up the blue kite that he ran for Amir. Later when Amir goes back to Afghanistan, to get Hassan’ son. He is put into another situation; Sohrab is left in with no parents or anyone to care for him and then sold to Assef. Now Amir would have to face his past if, he wanted to let his nephew have a future. Sohrab is brought to America to live with Amir and his wife. As much as he is accepted by the two, that father of his wife does not. He says “So, Amir jan, you’re going to tell us why you have brought back this boy with you...
Words: 335 - Pages: 2
...The Kite Runner “That was a long time ago, but it’s wrong what they say about the past, I’ve learned, about how you can bury 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.” That quote by Amir illustrates the major theme of The Kite Runner, which is the past is always right behind you. The author Khaled Hosseini lets the reader know this at the very beginning of the book when the older Amir says “I became what I am today at the age of twelve...”, this lets us know that this whole book is based on the past and has always affected Amir’s actions. All the characters in this allow the past to control them. p Letting the past control your future will lead to your downfall in life. Everybody has a past and everybody has regrets, this is a fact of life. That theme resonates throughout the book as you meet new people and learn about their history. Every character in this book clings to their past as if it were a lifesaver and they were stuck in the middle of the ocean. In reality them clinging to their past is more like tying themselves to a boulder and sinking to the bottom of the ocean. If one cannot let go of the past one cannot move forward because they are always facing the wrong direction. For most of the book Amir allow the past to dictate his actions. Amir, the protagonist, tries to find Hassan so he can get his kite back and show his father that he won. After awhile he stumbles...
Words: 384 - Pages: 2
