Redemption In Macbeth And Kite Runner

Improved Essays
The plot of Macbeth and Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini and William Shakespeare seems to revolve around this idea of betrayal and redemption. But there is no coming back from or redeeming yourself from betraying your best friend. In this essay you will be hearing how betrayal took advantage of a friendship and how betrayal and power turned another man into a maniac.

Amir betrays his best friend Hassan many times in the Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini but the one that stands out the most is when he watches his friend get brutally raped by the neighborhood bullies and instead of running in and stopping them or at least provoke them he runs away like a coward. “I ran because I was a coward. The real reason I was running, was that Assef
…show more content…
Malcolm, awake!” (II.iii.79-80)”
The reason behind this murder of Duncan was because Macbeth was told by three witches that he will be king someday but in Macbeth’s selfish eyes he sees only one way… killing the present king. This idea of betraying someone that he had brought into his castle as a guess haunts Macbeth all throughout the evening, but his wife Lady Macbeth persuades him into doing it by telling him what great things will come out of it. This act of betrayal affects Macbeth's character development because once he has killed Duncan and the guards and framed them, he starts to become the slightest bit paranoid thinking that someone is going to find out about what he did. But this only turns things sideways because that one betrayal lead to a series of other ones including Macbeth killing his best friend Banquo because of his paranoia and guilt which also lead to Macbeth becoming a complete maniac.

In conclusion you can see that betrayal played a big role in both of these books and how betrayal ruined a childhood friendship and drove a man insane. Betraying the people they were closest to was never a good idea for either of these characters because as a result in doing so it only left them both in a pit of

Related Documents

  • Decent Essays

    Amir Round Dynamic Protagonist About 38 years old Coward, selfish, and ignorant Narrator of the book, changes from being selfish to being selfless “Looking back now, I realize I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years. ”(1) Amir is guilty of not helping Hassan when Hassan was raped in the alley. He is haunted by the fact that he betrayed his friend and this event repeats in his mind over and over again.…

    • 603 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Malcolm’s speech in the final scene of the play to his noblemen signifies that he has matured into a worthy ruler, signifying the end of Macbeth’s reign of terror on Scotland and the beginning of a new era. Through the coronation of Malcolm as king, this speech represents the theme of power in the play as it is shifted off of Macbeth’s shoulders, onto Malcolms. Since Malcolm has inherited his rightful throne as King of Scotland, his first decision is to reward his colleagues for all they have done to help him, saying that not much time will pass before he evaluates their contributions and repays them for the help. This is unlike Macbeth because Malcolm has already shown characteristics of a humble ruler that actually cares about his citizens.…

    • 770 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Right after Macbeth murders Duncan, he stays in the room, then Malcolm walks in, seeing his father’s dead body besides Macbeth. Macbeth then threats Malcolm, causing him to escape to England, changing the the dramatic irony caused by the murder of Duncan in the play. As well as, Malcolm is shown as a fragile character during the play, who would not fight for the throne by revealing the truth about Macbeth. Malcolm’s character in the movie causes a big gap in the plot between the movie and the book.…

    • 1050 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Amir’s betrayal to Hassan by running away like a coward when Hassan was getting raped by Assef in 1975. It is understandable that he ran away because he was a scared twelve year old. But his actions he later regretted so much that he wanted to chase away his shame. And the only way to that to him at the time was to make Hassan leave. To accomplice that he framed Hassan by putting money and the watch Amir got from Baba under Hassan’s mattress.…

    • 539 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As a king of Scotland, Macbeth manages his destiny by believing his prophecies will come true. He keeps his rulership of the Scottish kingdom by murdering everyone that would find out his sin of killing King Duncan. Throughout the play, Macbeth tries to manage his destiny by believing the prophecies he received from the three witches will come true. After Macbeth receives the prophecy that he will become the king of Scotland, King Duncan declared that his son Malcolm will be the Prince of Cumberland. At this point, Macbeth starts to plan his future.…

    • 811 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Introduction and Quote Isaac Singer once said “When you betray somebody else, you also betray yourself.” Isaac’s theory on betrayal, shows that betrayal is linked to guilt. By “betray[ing] yourself,” you are submerging yourself into the monster of guilt. When you betray someone, it might seem like a good idea in the moment, but overtime you betray yourself. The built up feelings become overwhelming and you end up punishing yourself even more than you punished the victim.…

    • 1653 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    After hearing the witches’ prophecy, Macbeth’s interest is sparked yet he does not know if it will come true. Once the first part of the prophecy is fulfilled and he becomes Thane of Cawdor, the possibility of him becoming king seems more real and he is stirred with desire. Once Malcolm is named Duncan’s heir, his ambition increases and he wants the stars to “hide [their] fires” and not let the “light see [his] black and deep desires” to become king (Macbeth 1.4). Lady Macbeth is much more up front about her ambitions and assures Macbeth that he “shalt be what [he was] promised”, however, she does not think Macbeth has what it takes (Macbeth 1.5). She tells him that he is “too full o’ the milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way” which is meant to spur him on and encourage his desires (Macbeth 1.5).…

    • 1814 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    People every day act in a gritty way that impact society and then lead people into situations that are not always good for them. In The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini, includes many scenes where characters act in audacious ways. In the novel, the main character, Amir, makes a decision one night to not help his friend, Hassan, when he is in trouble. This then leads Hassan to do many bold things to mend their friendship, only for Amir to then also do courageous things that only ended up leading their friendship to not work. That then led Amir to do certain things that affected him in both a negative and positive ways to make-up for his past actions and relationships with the people in his life.…

    • 1066 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Sharing his plan with Lady Macbeth, the would-be queen, shows he hoped “it would find welcome lodgement with her,” and she would encourage his greed for more power (Flathe 2). Realizing it is against his morals, Macbeth tries to back out of the murder plan but he is “charged with cowardice” by Lady Macbeth (Richardson 1). She scolds him for being too frightened to achieve his goal to become king and not being “the same in thine own act and valor as thou art in desire” (1.7.40-41). This accusation spurs his ambition and his greed, so he murders Duncan, knowing the prophecies are on his side. By committing this crime, Macbeth destroys a bond with a parent-like figure and violates the “powers of [his] own superego, or conscience” (Reid 5).…

    • 1131 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In life there are many people that can have a clouded vision in their moral decisions, Amir is a perfect example of moral ambiguity. In Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner young Amir makes some unethical decisions, he was selfish and afraid to stick for himself or others. He would later greatly regret these decisions. Amir spends the many years following his youth trying to fix is mistakes and truly redeem himself.…

    • 861 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The absence of guilt can destroy a human mentally, physically and emotionally. This is because a lack of guilt can make a human lose the things that make them human. They will lose morals, they will misuse power to destroy relationships so they can gain more power. Without guilt a human will have a loss of humanity, loss of morality and they will misuse power to destroy relationships to get more power. In Macbeth William Shakespeare portrays that the absence of guilt can turn a human into a cold, ruthless, vicious and cruel animal.…

    • 1148 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    When Macbeth’s conscience clashes with his ambition, it becomes major reason for his downfall. Macbeth was formerly a good man at the beginning of the play, he was a man with moralities and a good conscience, shown by his uncertain thoughts of murdering Duncan in cold blood. “I have no spur/To prick the sides of my intent” (I, vii, 25-26), shows that he could not spun himself to action without “Vaulting ambition” (I, vii, 27), and that is how it should be in the first place, but he was so easily deceived by his Lady Macbeth to overlook his conscience. While Lady Macbeth is the symbol of ambition, Banquo is the symbol of morality, he knew about the witches intent to “win us harm” (I, v, 132), and even warned Macbeth about it before Duncan’s…

    • 169 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    He ponders the possibility of becoming a monarch and sets his whole heart on the attainment of this goal” (Foster). That quote shows that Macbeth will do anything to become king, even ignoring his best friends orders. At the start of the play Duncan is the king, and he is the only thing that stands in between Macbeth and the crown. At first Macbeth is very hesitant about killing Duncan, and says he won 't do it, but after lots of convincing from Lady Macbeth he decides he should. After killing Duncan Macbeth thinks that his throne is safe, but it’s the opposite.…

    • 1802 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Redemption is the action of being saved from an evil or sin. In Khaled Hosseini’s novel The Kite Runner, the protagonist, is blamed for his mother’s death and feels that he sinned by killing his mother. She had complications while giving birth which caused her death. Amir’s father, Baba, sees his wife’s spirit in Amir.…

    • 964 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Kite Runner, written by Khaled Hosseini, tells the story of a character named Amir. The story follows Amir from the age of twelve where he commits his ‘sin’ which is standing by while his friend/servant Hassan is sexually assaulted by the book’s antagonist, Assef. Amir’s sin of not saving Hassan gravely affects him from that point on where he searches for a way to be good again.…

    • 918 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays