...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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...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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...love. This event leads to 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...
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...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...
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...Loyalty defines a person’s great devotion to another. These two works of literature integrated this theme of loyalty in both The Kite Runner and Beowulf. Beowulf from the epic poem Beowulf emphasizes the importance of loyalty. Beowulf is extremely loyal, as perceived in his commitment to his king Hygelac, to his entertainer Hrothgar, to his own loyal men, such as Wiglaf, and to his people. In contrast, Hassan from the “Kite Runner” shows loyalty for his friend Amir. It is in Hassan’s letter, years after their separation, that puts Amir on the way to redemption. And so, Hassan saves Amir twice, previously as a boy and later in the future, even after his own death. In both The Kite Runner and Beowulf, the authors express loyalty from friendship and from commitment....
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...Kite Runner vs. Poetry Key quotes: “A boy who won’t stand up for himself becomes a man who can’t stand up to anything” – Baba says this to Rahim Khan as a comment on the behaviour of Amir. Through this he identifies Amir’s greatest flaw: cowardice. It is this trait that leaves him desperately craving Baba’s love, and ultimately leads to be letting Assef rape Hassan. It also foreshadows Amir’s return to Kabul in search of Sohrab; the test of Amir’s character also tests whether Baba’s statement is true. “Huddled together in the dining room and waiting for the sun to rise, none of us had any notion that a way of life had ended” – This sentence appears towards the start of chapter five and indicates the fall of the monarchy and the descent of Kabul (and indeed Afghanistan) into political instability. The peaceful world Amir knows, made possible by Baba’s wealth, turns into one full of violence and uncertainty. It ultimately leads to Baba and Amir fleeing the country. “There is a way to be good again” – Rahim Khan says this to Amir over the phone when trying to encourage him to come to Pakistan and in the dialogue this appears like an afterthought. It reveals that Rahim Khan knows the truth about what Amir did to Hassan. It also ties into the theme of redemption, allowing the reader to believe that by returning to the Middle East, Amir will be given the opportunity to break the cycle of guilt he is trapped in. “My body was broken—just how badly I wouldn’t find out until later—but...
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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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...Mariana Jimenez Period 1 The Kite Runner Final Essay It is normal for human beings to make mistakes that cause oneself to feel guilt, but what matters the most is how one fixes their mistakes that dictates what kind of person they truly are. In the book, The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, it shows that the quest for redemption is the way to atone for guilt. The author uses the literary technique of symbolism to enhance the theme of feeling guilt and its quest for redemption throughout the book. Amir has done many things that cause him to feel guilt that cause him to go on a quest for redemption. For example, in the beginning of the book, Amir 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.”(Khaled Hosseini, 1) This shows not only how Amir has been feeling guilt for the last twenty-six years but also how one as a reader can see how Amir finds redemption later in the book. Amir has clearly stated that he has tried to bury his past, his mistakes, but they eventually “claw” back out, forcing Amir to face his guilt and redeem himself. Also, later in the book Amir says “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. He knew I’d seen everything in that alley, that I’d...
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...‘The Kite Runner’, written by Khaled Hosseini, is a novel based on the life journey of a man named Amir. Although very dark, through the use of important themes the book is made strongly relatable to young people. Three of these include: degradation, the fragile relationship between a father and his son and the pursuit for redemption. The fragility of a father and his son’s relationship is shown through the strong characterisation of both males and the constant use of proleptic irony embedded throughout their relationship. The symbols of rape express the theme of degradation and class discrimination, whereas the pursuit for redemption is conveyed through the dramatic sequences of events that occur during the course of the novel. Hosseini heavily emphasises the Afghani class discrimination, with the ‘pure’ Pashtuns being the dominate race over the low class, minority group of Hazaras. This degradation makes it very difficult for anyone to marry into another class and the Hazaras are often victims of physical, emotional and psychological abuse at the hands of Pashtuns. Hosseini uses the act of rape since it carries a great deal of significance as it demonstrates a symbolic violation of the powerless by those who have power. In each instance of rape we see that the rapist is always in a position of greater power both socially and physically. For instance, Assef, a well-known bully, is rich and has a politically powerful father, while, Amir’s friend and later, found to be half-brother...
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...Redemption Takes Over Mistakes are made by everyone, some are more extreme than others but they all have their benefits and consequences. In the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, redemption is a major theme. Redemption occurs in the characters lives through personal sacrifice and this also benefits others. Hassan, Baba and Amir are all characters in the book that go through self-sacrifice and benefit others to try and redeem themselves. Although they all go through this, they happen in different ways. First of all Hassan is a character in the novel who achieves redemption through personal sacrifice such as his rape event, going back to Baba’s house with Rahim Khan and spiritually when Sohrab hits Assef in the eye, while ultimately benefitting others. Hassan redeems himself spiritually because when Hassan and Amir were younger he tries to do the same thing as Sohrab, but didn’t actually hit Assef. Sohrab technically finishes the job for Hassan by hitting Assef with his slingshot. Another event that helps show this is that they both aim for the left eye. Secondly, Hassan goes through personal sacrifice when he decides to leave his home and lifestyle to go back to Baba’s house with his family and Rahim Khan. “Then he ask[s] me about your father. When I told him, Hassan burie[s] his face in his hands and br[eaks] into tears. He wept like a child for the rest of that night.”(207). “Agha sahib was like my second father… God give him peace.”(208). In these two...
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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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...Research Paper on “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini Introduction: The international best-selling novel, The Kite Runner was first published in 2003 by Riverhead Books, written by the Afghan-born American novelist and physician, Khaled Hosseini. He was born into a Shia family in Kabul, and later on in his life when the family moved to Paris because of his father’s occupation, Hosseini’s family was unable to return to Kabul due to the bloody Saur Revolution; hence they had to seek political asylum in the United States. Being as young as he was, roughly 11 years of age, the actions of his home country must have left an impression on him. It is such a great read because among many other themes such as betrayal, redemption, bullying, inhumanities of revolution, discrimination, loyalty, hypocrisy, horrors of rapes etc. the main focus of this story is of a man who is haunted by his past demons. We see in some of the opening lines of the novel, “I became what I am today at the age of twelve, on a frigid overcast day in the winter of 1975… 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.” These opening lines gets the ball rolling on what is to come and to be expected from the story, of possibly an aged man who is looking back at the past and justifying how it has made him the way that he is to date. The setting vividly takes place in the disorderly country of Kabul, Afghanistan...
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...“Redemption” The Kite Runner Kati Hernandez 3/3/15 AP English 12 Period 1 Three Questions 1. Why do you think Baba refuses to refer to Ali as his friend? Is it the divide between servant and master? 2. Does a character like Assef even choose between good and evil? Could Assef be innocent in ways Amir is not? 3. Why doesn't Amir admire Rahim Khan as much as he admires his father? What does this tell us about admiration? Literary Criticism New historicism criticism insists that to understand a literary piece, readers need to understand the author's biography and social background. Every human action is actually the effect of a network of material practices. Every act of unmasking, critique and opposition uses the tools it condemns and risks falling prey to the practice it exposes. No discourse, imaginative, scientific, or archival, gives access to unchanging truths, nor expresses inalterable human nature. A critical method and a language adequate to describe culture under capitalism participate in the economy they describe. What makes a legend, is it someone who is a hero or someone who is infallible from making mistakes? In the novel, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, the character described as a legend is Baba. Seen as the most perfect figure to be looked at for its bravery, generosity and caring for others. His actions describe him better than words can, as he always defends others in time of need and stays loyal to his home and country...
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...The Kite Runner The Kite Runner is a great tale about betrayal and redemption, in the novel, the author uses diction to portray the theme through symbolism and through suspense, these elements help tell the tale of betrayal and redemption. In the first few chapters, Amir’s cowardice leads directly to the betrayal of Hassan. When is forced to stick up for the both of them, the cost is much higher then if Amir would of stuck up for both of them, leading to the rape of Hassan. Amir could of said something to Assef, telling him to leave them be, as Amir is pashtan and pashtans are a higher majority in Afghanistan, instead, Hassan being Hazara, the leading minority in their country, which are treated as servents and slaves, is forced to take action. Assef’s racism towards Hazaras is compared to Hitler and the jewish, showing immediately how his hate towards hassan is much greater then his hate towards Amir. When Hassan sticks up for them, the cost is much higher because of his racial minority. “Assef gritted his teeth “Put it down you motherless Hazara” (Hosseini 45) Amir’s cowardice is shown through fear as he thinks about his relationship with Hassan, thoughts of betrayal ponder his mind even before the rape. “But he’s not my friend! I almost blurted, He’s my servent!” (Hosseini 44) As Amir thinks of future encounters, He also fears for his safty, and Hassans, because he knows that Hassan will not always be able to save them with his slingshot. “Certin that Assef...
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...Connor Wallis The novel The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hossieni tells the story of Amir, who betrays his half-brother Hassan at the age of twelve. Twenty-six years later his father’s old friend, Rahim Khan, phones him and sends him on a quest for redemption, in which he has to rescue Hassan’s son Sohrab; who was taken to an orphanage after Hassan was killed by the Taliban. I think that the main theme of the book is redemption, and that Hossieni believes that we can become better people in our lifetimes. I will investigate this statement by looking closely at and analysing the actions of the characters Amir, Baba, and Assef. Hosseini believes that we can become better people in our lifetimes. At the age of 12, Amir watches a boy, Hassan, who would give his life for him, get raped by the neighbourhood bully Assef. “I opened my mouth, almost said something. Almost. The rest of my life might have turned out differently if I had. But I didn’t. I just watched” This observation is entirely true; the rest of his life would have turned out differently. He spent the next 26 years dwelling on this incident, and he wanted to forgive himself for what he had done. Hossieni’s purpose behind this event is to convey the theme of redemption and forgiveness by essentially recreating the same incident 26 years later, where Amir fights Assef so he can take Sohrab, back to America with him. He ends up taking a beating from Assef, which causes him to forgive himself, “I don’t know at what point...
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