Darkness In The Kite Runner

Brendan Fraser, an American-Canadian actor who has portrayed several different roles in his time, once proclaimed that “darkness serves a purpose: to show us that there is redemption through chaos.” Fraser’s statement reveals that in order to reach redemption, one must face darkness in his/her life. Though darkness can be hard to conquer, one can make the conscious decision to overcome it by venturing on a chaos filled journey that will ultimately pave the path to redemption. This is the case in Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, as Amir, a troubled Afghan boy, makes a corrupt decision that takes him on a journey to find redemption for the guilt that he feels. In the novel The Kite Runner, Hosseini uses Amir to reveal how betrayal over a loved …show more content…
The first thing that Amir is looking for after the raping is the kite, as he “scans it for any rips”. Amir is too busy searching the kite for any sign of damage that he completely overlooks the fact that Hassan has “mud smudges” on his “ripped” shirt, showing the disheveled state that he is in. Amir’s decision to put the kite, the object that holds within it Baba’s approval, over Hassan’s physical and mental state is a clear act of betrayal. Through this quote, Hosseini gives way to the fact that one can easily betray a friend by giving in to selfish thoughts and decisions without considering the repercussions, such as the guilt and emptiness that may …show more content…
When visiting Rahim Khan in Kabul, Amir finds out that Hassan and his wife were killed by the Taliban, leaving their son, Sohrab, to be orphaned. Though Amir feels distraught over the fact that he never got to explain to Hassan the regret he felt about what happened in the alley many years ago, he knows that giving Sohrab a nice home is a way to redeem himself for his actions. Amir searches everywhere for Sohrab, only to find him in the hands of Assef, the man that raped Hassan those many years ago. Assef and Amir decide that they will fight each other, the winner getting to keep Sohrab. As Assef begins to hit and kick Amir, Amir begins to laugh because “[he] sees that, in some hidden nook in a corner of [his] mind, [he’s] been looking forward to this…. [He] hasn’t been happy and [he] hasn’t felt better, not at all. But [he] does now. [His] body is broken - just how badly [he] wouldn’t find out until later- but [he] feels healed. Healed at last,” (255). To get beaten up by Assef brings Amir a sense of satisfaction, as he feels that it is a way to get even for his wrong doings. Amir shows how he is defenseless against Assef, as his body is “broken”, yet he feels at peace. He believes that since he is in the same situation that Hassan was, defenseless and broken, he can be forgiven because he has