Alexander Pope once said, “To err is human; to forgive, divine.” (PhraseFinder). An adage many are familiar with, Alexander Pope’s thoughts on forgiveness reveal that everyone makes mistakes. We all sin. And eventually, we seek redemption to find peace. Khaled Hosseini delves deeper into this aspect of human nature in his novel The Kite Runner. A story about two inseparable friends, Amir and Hassan, growing up in pre-revolutionary Kabul, and experiencing a harrowing journey in the midst of Afghanistan’s undoing. In The Kite Runner, Hosseini uses the characters, internal conflict, and symbols, to reinforce its main theme: redemption is lead by repentance.
To begin with, the characters in The Kite Runner demonstrate how Hosseini conveys the natural …show more content…
As the story progresses Amir makes his journey towards redemption. Albeit it takes him several years, he grows as a person. Amir’s offense originated after the kite flying competition, and consequently, he is liberated from his sins through kite flying. As aforementioned, the story echoes the past and parallels it to the life Amir lives in the present. The Kite Runner refers to kites numerous times throughout the novel, but the theme is not missed when the text opens up with “I [Amir]...saw a pair of kites, red with long blue trails, soaring in the sky. They danced high above the trees on the west end on the park, over the windmills, floating side by side like a pairs of eyes looking down...suddenly Hassan’s voice whispered in my head: For you, a thousand times over. Hassan the harelipped kite runner.” (Hosseini 2). The representation of kites in this context signifies Amir’s decision to not do the right thing as Hassan was sexually abused in during his youth. He manipulated Hassan’s unwavering loyalty for him to gain his father’s acceptance, and that key was the winning kite of the kite flying competition. Amir deliberately throws away his friendship with Hassan by delivering the kite Hassan he ran to his father. Additionally, as aforementioned, the the novel ends with the scene of Sohrab and Amir flying kites at an Afghan gathering. At the gathering, Amir takes note of Sohrab’s faint smile : “it was only a smile...It didn’t make everything all right. It didn’t make anything all right. Only a smile. A tiny thing. A leaf in the woods, shaking in the wake of a startled bird’s flight...But I’ll take it. With open arms. Because it melts the snow one flake at a time, and maybe I just witnessed the first flake melting.” (Hosseini 371). Amir’s description of Sohrab’s response to kite flying liberates him, lessening his burden of his past guilt. Albeit Amir has given Sohrab a new life, it is only when he
To begin with, the characters in The Kite Runner demonstrate how Hosseini conveys the natural …show more content…
As the story progresses Amir makes his journey towards redemption. Albeit it takes him several years, he grows as a person. Amir’s offense originated after the kite flying competition, and consequently, he is liberated from his sins through kite flying. As aforementioned, the story echoes the past and parallels it to the life Amir lives in the present. The Kite Runner refers to kites numerous times throughout the novel, but the theme is not missed when the text opens up with “I [Amir]...saw a pair of kites, red with long blue trails, soaring in the sky. They danced high above the trees on the west end on the park, over the windmills, floating side by side like a pairs of eyes looking down...suddenly Hassan’s voice whispered in my head: For you, a thousand times over. Hassan the harelipped kite runner.” (Hosseini 2). The representation of kites in this context signifies Amir’s decision to not do the right thing as Hassan was sexually abused in during his youth. He manipulated Hassan’s unwavering loyalty for him to gain his father’s acceptance, and that key was the winning kite of the kite flying competition. Amir deliberately throws away his friendship with Hassan by delivering the kite Hassan he ran to his father. Additionally, as aforementioned, the the novel ends with the scene of Sohrab and Amir flying kites at an Afghan gathering. At the gathering, Amir takes note of Sohrab’s faint smile : “it was only a smile...It didn’t make everything all right. It didn’t make anything all right. Only a smile. A tiny thing. A leaf in the woods, shaking in the wake of a startled bird’s flight...But I’ll take it. With open arms. Because it melts the snow one flake at a time, and maybe I just witnessed the first flake melting.” (Hosseini 371). Amir’s description of Sohrab’s response to kite flying liberates him, lessening his burden of his past guilt. Albeit Amir has given Sohrab a new life, it is only when he