...How betrayal can lead to redemption Betrayal is an issue several people can relate to, either done by a family member or a friend. In the book The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, we witness how betrayal played a vital role in the downfall of the main characters Amir and Hassan’s friendship, and how it influenced Amir’s pursuit to redeem himself in hopes to move on from his mistakes. The novel begins with Amir as an adult, recalling an event that took place in 1975 Kabul, Afghanistan and how this event was what changed the rest of his life and made him who he now is. This event was Amir’s reluctance to help Hassan while he was being raped, and how this impacted his desire to, later on, mature and be “good” again. Khaled Hosseini shows how Amir’s Islamic faith and guilt over abandoning Hassan ultimately led Amir to forgive himself and seek redemption. All in all, this novel demonstrates that even in cases of betrayal, redemption is possible. In The Kite Runner, Hosseini tells a story of the close friendship of two young boys who come from different social classes, Amir, the Pashtun wealthy boy and Hassan, the Hazara servant. Taking place in Kabul, Afghanistan in the 1970s a time where there was a huge...
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...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 around the same topic of when Amir says to himself "I watched Hassan get raped" (Hosseini 91). Hosseini shows how Amir reacts with this betrayal by having...
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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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...reading both “Oedipus Rex” and “The Kite Runner” the authors of each employ the device of irony to develop the major themes in both text. Irony is the expression of using one’s meaning by language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for emphatic effect.Throughout each story the irony was used to reveal truth, mood, and lessons. Displayed in the book “The Kite Runner”, many ironic scenes were present. This leads to the reveal of the mood of the story. In the book it states “ You steal a wife’s right to a husband, rob his children of a father.”(pg18) In this quote Baba tries to give knowledge to his son Amir but the shaded fact about it is that he steals his servants wife and has a son with her. The son that has become from...
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...Many characters in The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, and Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, commit acts of betrayal. Amir betrays his best friend Hassan more than once because he is too scared to own up to his actions, while Lady Macbeth betrays Macbeth due to her own selfishness and greed. Acts of betrayal are committed out of pure selfishness, and the more acts one commits, the easier it becomes to continue. However, they always have negative side effects. Amir committed an act of betrayal towards Hassan by watching him be sexually assaulted and not helping, although he knew he should. He considered helping because Hassan would have helped him if the situation was the other was around. He did not help because he was too scared of what Assef would do to him. Amir knew what he was doing wrong, and he knew he should have stood up for Hassan, as stated in this quote: “In the...
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...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...
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...forgiveness. Forgiveness plays an important part in The Kite Runner. Hassan had forgiven Sanaubar after she abandoned him when he was only a few days old. Hassan had forgiven Amir many times for acting like a coward. Amir goes on a journey seeking forgiveness by raising Sorab as his own child. Hassan had forever given Sanaubar after abandoning him when he was only a few days old. Hassan took her in, and treated her as if nothing had happened since she left when he was just a baby. Hassan himself has...
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...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.” Amir thought in the beginning of the novel “The kite runner”. In the novel we meet two boys from two different ethnic groups living in Kabul, Afghanistan. Amir copes with his decisions 26 years after betraying his best friend, Hassan to get the attention and acceptance from his beloved father. The novel is written by Khaled Hosseini in 2003 and is a redemption story. In order for Amir to cope with his guilt, he needed to find redemption of his betrayal of Hassan. Amir develops through the story and is a dynamic person. The protagonist of the novel is Amir. He is the son of Baba, a wealthy man living in Kabul in Afghanistan. Amir and his father Baba are Pashtun, the larger ethnic group in Afghanistan. He thinks that his father blames him for killing his mother during childbirth, and he tries to get his father’s acceptance and attention. Amir as a young boy is very jealous of Hassan, and the attention Baba gives to him. The only time he really gets Baba’s attention and love is when he and Hassan wins the kite tournament i 1975. Amir describes himself as a coward, a description that is made clearly when Hassan gets raped by Assef, when Amir is watching without doing anything. “From just around the corner, I could hear Assef's quick, rhythmic grunts. I had one last chance...
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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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...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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...Nothing Gold Can Stay Guilt. Cancerous almost, spreading through your body, manipulating your thoughts, working as a deterrent against any type of long term vivacity. As seen in Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner one of the main themes is seeking redemption. Hosseini uses the motif of selflessness to show that in order to seek redemption and earn it, you must have the self-motivation deeper than other people pushing you (illustrated by Rahim Khan motivating Amir with his phone call). For most of the book, Amir has little self-confidence to achieve redeeming himself. It was an incredibly afflictive situation for Amir or any person to go through. Selflessness does not have a determined end or beginning; it happens when you’ve given your best...
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...well-to-do Pashtun boy, and Hassan, a Hazara and the son of Amir's father's servant, Ali, spend their days in a peaceful Kabul, kite fighting, roaming the streets and being boys. Amir’s father (who is generally referred to as Baba, "daddy", throughout the book) loves both the boys, but seems critical of Amir for not being manly enough. Amir also fears his father blames him for his mother’s death during childbirth. However, he has a kind father figure in the form of Rahim Khan, Baba’s friend, who understands Amir better, and is supportive of his interest in writing stories. Assef, a notoriously mean and violent older boy with sadistic tendencies, blames Amir for socializing with a Hazara, according to Assef an inferior race that should only live in Hazarajat. He prepares to attack Amir with his steel knuckles, but Hassan bravely stands up to him, threatening to shoot Assef in the eye with his slingshot. Assef and his henchmen back off, but Assef says he will take revenge. Hassan is a successful "kite runner" for Amir, knowing where the kite will land without even watching it. One triumphant day, Amir wins the local tournament, and finally Baba's praise. Hassan goes to run the last cut kite, a great trophy, for Amir saying "For you, a thousand times over." Unfortunately, Hassan runs into Assef and his two henchmen. Hassan refuses to give up Amir's kite, so Assef exacts his revenge, assaulting and raping him. Wondering why Hassan is taking so long, Amir searches for Hassan and hides...
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...Hosseini represents Amir’s feelings in many different ways throughout the Kite Runner. From after the rape scene that occurs between Hassan and Assef, Amir gains a horrible sense of guilt which remains with him throughout the whole remainder of the book. These feelings of guilt then lead to him being ashamed of himself, but instead of dealing with those feelings openly, he harbours them and then uses the first opportunity he can find to get rid of what he sees as the source of his guilt--Hassan. From the point Amir decided he was going to try and get rid of Hassan, he had gained a sense of confidence that made him believe that if Hassan was out of the way then he would lose his sense of guilt and be able to go back to living his care free life again. But this changed suddenly when Amir saw Hassan and Ali invited back to his father’s office and noticed their red eyes from crying and he states “...And I wondered how and when I had become capable of causing this kind of pain.” This quote shows how Hosseini wants the reader to acknowledge how Amir is aware of his actions and he is still taking full account for what he has done, and deep within he will always carry the guilt for not helping his friend. Moving onto when Hassan accepts taking the watch and money even when Amir and the reader both know that it was Amir himself who had planted them, allows Hosseini to represent the side of Amir that shows his ignorance towards Hassan dedication and devotion to him. To take things back...
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...THE KITE RUNNER by KHALED HOSSEINI Published 2003 Afghan Mellat Online Library www.afghan-‐mellat.org.uk _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 crumbling 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 see him. Standing in the kitchen with the receiver to my ear, I knew it wasn't just Rahim Khan on...
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...THE KITE RUNNER by KHALED HOSSEINI Riverhead Books - New York The author makes liberal use of _italics_ and I have missed noting many of them, but the rest of this text file should demonstrate good proofing. Copyright © 2003 by Khaled Hosseini Riverhead trade paperback ISBN: 1-59488-000-1 This book is dedicated to Haris and Farah, both the _noor_ of my eyes, and to the children of Afghanistan. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am indebted to the following colleagues for their advice, assistance, or support: Dr. Alfred Lerner, Don Vakis, Robin Heck, Dr. Todd Dray, Dr. Robert Tull, and Dr. Sandy Chun. Thanks also to Lynette Parker of East San Jose Community Law Center for her advice about adoption procedures, and to Mr. Daoud Wahab for sharing his experiences in Afghanistan with me. I am grateful to my dear friend Tamim Ansary for his guidance and support and to the gang at the San Francisco Writers Workshop for their feed back and encouragement. I want to thank my father, my oldest friend and the inspiration for all that is noble in Baba; my mother who prayed for me and did nazr at every stage of this book’s writing; my aunt for buying me books when I was young. Thanks go out to Ali, Sandy, Daoud, Walid, Raya, Shalla, Zahra, Rob, and Kader for reading my stories. I want to thank Dr. and Mrs. Kayoumy--my other parents--for their warmth and unwavering support. I must thank my agent and friend, Elaine Koster, for her wisdom, patience, and gracious ways, as well as Cindy Spiegel, my keen-eyed and...
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