The Kite Runner a Novel Full of Betrayals

The Kite Runner, author Khaled Hosseini is a novel full of betrayals and people seeking their redemptions. The novel is based off a major betrayal but is surrounded by other betrayals. The main character Amir betrayed his best friend Hassan and later in his life he tries to seek redemptions for past deeds. After twenty-six years, Amir returns to Afghanistan in order to redeem himself but falls short of acquiring full redemption. Amir cannot completely redeem himself due to watching his best friend, Hassan, get rape and do nothing about.

Amir lets Hassan’s childhood and innocence be rob by Assef, and that’s something you can’t easily be redeemed from.

The first chapter of the book introduces Rahim Khan, a close friend of Amir’s father. Rahim Khan calls Amir and says, “There is a way to be good again” (Hosseini 2). Amir wants to seek that redemption that has been hunting him for years, but in order to try to redeem himself he must first go back to his homeland which is going through a war. Amir was hesitant of returning to Kabul, but he is informed that he most save Hassan’s son, Sohrab, who was taken to an orphanage after Hassan and Farzana, Hassan’s wife, were shot to death. Amir decides to go back to Afghanistan trying to save his nephew from the orphanage thinking it will redeem himself from what happened with Hassan.

Throughout the story, small events led to Amir’s betrayal. Amir was raised by a rich father and felt he didn’t get as much affection. When Baba gives Hassan a kite, Amir becomes jealous that Hassan is getting his father love. Amir feels that the way for him to have his father’s love is to get rid of Hassan. Amir thought that if he brought back the kite to his father he would have his father love. Amir thought that not doing anything while Hassan got raped was the price he had to pay to bring the kite back. Within the major betrayal of the story there is more betrayals by other characters. Baba had failed to tell Amir that Hassan was his half-brother and that costed most of the problems in the novel. Amir spent most of his childhood trying to get Hassan in trouble and sent away. Rahim Khan tells Baba that, “Children aren’t coloring books. You don’t get to fill them with your favorite colors” (Hosseini 21). Baba tries to make Amir a man who can stand up for himself and for others. Due to that Amir was scared to tell Baba that Hassan had got raped and he just watched. If Baba would have told Amir about Hassan being his half-brother, Amir might have stood up for his brother instead of trying to get rid of him to get all of Baba’s attention and love.

Even though Amir went to rescue Hassan’s son, it didn’t redeem him. The fact that Amir lied to Hassan that nothing was wrong when he pushed him away ruined Hassan’s life. Like Baba said, “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 to fairness. Do you see?” (Hosseini 18). Baba was a bit hypocritical with that statement, as he himself had robbed a child of a brother and a better life. Amir also kept a secret to himself and never told Hassan the truth. Due to Amir never confronting Hassan face to face, he could have never redeemed himself. The fact that Hassan died before Amir could reunite with him kept Amir short of the redemption he was seeking. Amir did good deeds to try to be good again. The rescuing of Sohrab was more for Amir to feel better about himself and try to live with the fact that he made mistakes in the past for being a coward.

In the winter of 1975, Amir betrayed his best friend, Hassan. Amir betrayal haunted him for twenty-six years, until he attempted to redeem himself. Amir return to his homeland Afghanistan trying to find a way to be good again. He is cut short of being redeemed when he is told that Hassan was shot and killed. He returns to Kabul in search of Sohrab. He finds and helps Sohrab, but the good gesture was more for him to be good again rather than a way to redeem himself. Amir never redeemed himself because Hassan died before they could even talk about what happened. The severity of the betrayal also plays a big part in the difficulty to fully redeem himself. Amir could never be redeemed for watching his half-brother, Hassan, get raped in the alley by Assef.

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