The Theme Of Redemption In 'The Kite Runner'

Improved Essays
“That I believe is what true redemption is, when guilt leads to good.” Redemption is often seen as freeing one’s self from error or sin but in Khalid Hosseini’s novel, The Kite Runner, it proves that true redemption is when good is brought out through guilt by helping both yourself as well as other’s. Amir has a past of “unatoned sins” and although he destroys the lives of many, he has several opportunities to redeem himself of his guilt; he works to not be the selfish little boy he once was. Guilt and regret in peoples past develop the idea that among bitterness and regret lays hope for redemption. It is apparent that Amir works towards absolving his guilt through many different situations such as framing Hassan, rescuing Sohrab and running …show more content…
He did this by travelling to Afghanistan to rescue Sohrab. Rahim Khan calls Amir where he indicates that “there is way to be good again.” Amir is hesitant at first but his guilty conscience takes over since this is his last chance at hope for redemption. He is making the effort to not only help himself but to help others as Sohrab is in danger and needs to be retrieved. Amir travels to rescue him only to find out that he is being exploited by a Taliban leader. At that point, Amir does not know that he will have to deal with “unfinished business” with his childhood rival again which turns out to be Assef. When he does confront Assef and fight him for Sohrab, he is doing what he should have done for Hassan years earlier. After being brutally beaten it leaves a strikingly similar scar to the one Hassan had which in a sense, merges their identities together. Amir finally learns to stand up for those he cares about as Hassan once did for him; he also becomes a father figure to Sohrab since he cares deeply for him. Sohrab continues to be Amir’s ‘trophy’ of redemption but it was truly kite flying that seals his idea of

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Later on, when Amir has matured as a character, he goes back to Kabul from America and brings back Hassan’s son, who is an orphan now, and decides to raise him as his own. “There is a way to be good again. ’’(Hosseini, 2)- As we know, Rahim Khan knows about Hassan’s rape and is telling Amir that he can redeem himself for what he had done in his childhood. “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.…

    • 1524 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    By the end of the novel Amir is now truly redeemed. He cleared his name, he righted a wrong. Most importantly he rescued Sohrab from the taliban where he was doomed to…

    • 861 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Amir's Redemption Quotes

    • 1015 Words
    • 5 Pages

    He went to Afghanistan, fought Assef, and made a promise to God. Amir went to Afghanistan so he could visit Rahim Khan before he died, he wanted to redeem himself and be good again. Once Amir found out where Sohrab was, he realized that the Talib was Assef, they cleared up unfinished business by fighting for Sohrab. While Amir was making plans for Sohrab to come back to America with him, Sohrab tried to kill himself because he did not want to return to an orphanage, Amir made a promise to God to follow a religion and always pray and never drop religion again. Amir has found redemption through doing the valuable actions that Rahim Khan started him on.…

    • 1015 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As he reached adulthood, he carried the guilt and shame and needed to clear his conscious. Redemption was what he seeked but what he really needed was to forgive himself. With this comes honor, not only to his name but to his family. All along though, what he really seemed was Babas approval. Amir sacrificed his relationship with true friend, Hassan and Hassan's well-being in order to gain social status but the ends never justified the means.…

    • 645 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This mistake to “ignore” Hassan is the beginning of many hard and regretful years for Amir. As time goes on and Amir continues to try to forget, a reminder of the past reappears and he is forced to face his bad decision and maybe earn redemption. When a family friend, Rahim Khan calls, and says, “There is a way to be good again”…

    • 846 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “It may be unfair, but what happens in a few days, sometimes even a single day, can change the course of a whole lifetime, Amir.” This quote, from the book, The Kite Runner, speaks of the theme of cautiousness and consequences. Although it is purely fictional, the story is strikingly realistic in that the critical decisions that the characters make are instances that could happen to anyone. The story itself is propelled by the aftermath of the winter of 1975. But Amir is not the only character who lives with regret.…

    • 722 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Heroism In The Kite Runner

    • 1019 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Amir goes back to Kabul and finds out Hassan and his wife have been killed and feels as if he has to save Sohrab to become a better person. An example from the text is, “You know… one time, when you weren’t around, your father and I were talking… I remember he said to me, ‘Rahim, a boy who won’t stand up for himself becomes a man who can’t stand up to anything.’ I wonder, is that what you’ve become?” (Hosseini, 221).…

    • 1019 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    By doing this, Amir has an unending feeling of remorse for not helping Hassan. He then chooses to go on this journey and finally is able to become "good again". Khaled Hossieni, in The Kite Runner, explores how the road to redemption begins with a moral mishap, such as Amir 's betrayal of Hassan, that causes and internal struggle, like guilt, and a desire to seek forgiveness and successfully atone for one 's past mistakes, as Amir does in confronting Assef and saving Sohrab. In order to win…

    • 1033 Words
    • 5 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

    Amir quickly becomes enraged, and storms off full of internal conflict. Eventually he remembers how he was disloyal to Hassan, and that Hassan may have had the chance come to America if Amir didn’t betray him. This realization turns Amir toward saving Sohrab, and completes Rahim Khan’s wish and journey for forgiveness because of his success in persuading Amir. By teaching Amir about forgiveness, and influencing him to find Sohrab, Rahim Khan demonstrates how one can guide others to redeem…

    • 1266 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Courage In The Kite Runner

    • 1152 Words
    • 5 Pages

    A father and son duo sit together in a dark metallic van. The boy shakes with fear while he grasps his father’s arm. Suddenly, the van stops, and the heavy doors swing open. The son watches a soldier make suggestive looks toward a woman nearby that make him feel queasy. The father stands up and defends the woman.…

    • 1152 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini chronicles the story of how Amir, a boy in Afghanistan, grows up to become a writer in America. Throughout his life, he endures hardships, attempts to gain his father’s respect, and struggles with a colossal degree of remorse over his past. In order to clear his guilty conscience, Amir must travel back to Afghanistan and rescue his nephew, Sohrab, from the Taliban. During the story, Hosseini is able to construct his plot effectively using the novel’s two major themes of suffering and guilt.…

    • 1183 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    "And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins" (Mark 11:25). In the novel, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, the topic of forgiveness plays a huge role in the main character Amir 's life. This novel is about a young boy named Amir who lives with his wealthy father and his servants in Afghanistan. While growing up in Afghan a life changing event occurs and causes Amir 's family to move to America. The servant 's son, Hassan, is also a major character who goes through some of the more difficult challenges in life.…

    • 1010 Words
    • 5 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
  • Improved Essays

    He goes on to tell Amir that Hassan and his wife got killed while his son, Sohrab, got sent to an orphanage. He asks Amir if he could go find Sohrab and bring him back to Pakistan where a family will care for him. This is the opportunity that Amir has been waiting for his entire life: a chance to redeem himself and make amends. After rescuing Sohrab, Amir spent much of his time attempting to justify his actions for the sake of Hassan. Sohrab had left Afghanistan a lifeless boy which caused him to enter America an empty soul.…

    • 1018 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays