Key Themes In The Kite Runner And Oedipus The King

The Kite Runner and Oedipus Rex are both stories with a distinct theme and major plot twists. The Kite Runner is about a kid named Amir who grows up with this incredible guilt of what he had witnessed happening to his best friend, Hassan, who he would later find out is his half brother. Because Hassan died years later, Amir felt it was his responsibility to find his kid, Sohrab, and raise him as his own. Amir found where Sohrab was living and was flooded with emotions when he saw that he was being kept as a servant to Assef who has raped Hassan in their childhood. Similarly, Oedipus’ mother and wife, Jocasta, was flooded with emotions when she found out who Oedipus really was. He had killed his father, King Laius, and married his mother, Queen …show more content…
There are other sins, but they are just different versions of stealing. “‘When you kill a man, you steal a life,’ Baba said. ‘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 the right to fairness.’” Throughout the novel, the reader realizes how ironic this is. The reader realizes that Baba is a hypocrite. Baba constantly instructs Amir on integrity, marriage, and honesty, but he steals his friend’s wife and has an illegitimate son whom he keeps as his servant. He robbed Hassan of a normal life and a father. He stole Hassan’s right to the truth. Baba is supposed to be seen as this big, grand, father figure to everyone who looks up to him but in reality, he is a liar, phony, and a hypocrite. The reader thought Baba hated Amir when he said this because Amir’s mother died shortly after giving birth to him. Baba makes it seem like Amir stole his right to a wife but Baba actually might feel guilty for what he has done and for the rights he has stolen from …show more content…
Amir spent his life after seeing Hassan getting raped in guilt. He wondered what life would be life if he had told someone. Amir betrayed his best friend and he had two chances at redemption. Either right as he was getting raped, or years later when Hassan’s son was getting raped both by Assef. Instead of choosing the first path to redemption, Amir waited until he found another. He took that chance and won Sohrab, Hassan’s son. Amir laughed when he was fighting Assef and losing fairly bad because he had finally gotten rid of his guilt. The weight had finally been lifted off of his shoulders. I think Baba was a very guilty man, also. He was guilty for having a son with his best friend’s wife. He was guilty for keeping him as his servant. He was guilty for not telling Amir he had a half brother. Baba seemed like a very good man from the way Amir portrayed him to be, but Baba was a liar. Guilty of depriving his own son of a real life rather than being a servant to