Richard von Weizsacker, a famous German politician, once said ¨Seeking to forget makes exile all the longer; the secret of redemption lies in remembrance.¨ This statement reveals that in order to achieve redemption and escape guilt, it is necessary to first accept and remember, rather than running away from the disgrace that caused said guilt in the first place. The longer it takes to remember means that more guilt that will bottle up and cause unwanted pain. So awful is this pain that Weizsacker recalls it as exile, a banishment from a happy, guilt-free life. Author Khaled Hosseini delves into the same idea of redemption being achieved after a long period of shame and regret. The main character, Amir, experiences a lifetime of guilt and shame
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Amir and Hassan grew up always being together, and even fed from the same breast, like brothers. They had a deep connection even though Hassan was just Amir 's servant. Doing almost everything together though made Amir realize that his own father, Baba, gave Hassan the attention and love that he himself craved. As they got older, Amir notices how his father treated his servant 's son and became unconsciously jealous of their relationship. His jealousy would show through in little things and eventually, their once extremely-close relationship turned into a one-sided friendship fueled by jealousy of his fatherś affections. At one point, Amir, Hassan, and Baba go to the market to buy a kite to fly in the annual kite competition, which is Amir 's chance to win back his father and gain his approval. As his son, Amir wanted a ¨bigger and fancier kite¨ and to his pleasure, Baba would buy it for Amir, ¨but then he would buy it for Hassan too. Sometimes [Amir] wished [Baba] wouldn 't do that, wished [Baba would] let [him] be the favorite¨(Hosseini 51). Even though Hassan is just a servant, Baba treats him as an equal, and as another son, which frustrates Amir. The big and fancy kite represents the childhood and youth Amir wishes he had, and how Hassan also got all of those things, including his father´s love. …show more content…
Short-term, following the rape of his best friend, Amir goes out of his way to make sure he does not interact with Hassan. Any relationship they had before the betrayal was gone and it was as if their friendship hadn 't even existed in the first place. The consequences of Amir 's betrayal though are very real, and they devour his soul for the rest of his life until he finally achieves redemption. Prior to this redemption though, Amir lives every moment of his life knowing that he betrayed Hassan and did nothing when he was in danger, like Hassan himself did for Amir so many times. Even after being betrayed and hurt by his only friend, Hassan continued to try and rebuild their relationship because he was so loyal. One day, sometime the next year following the rape, Hassan and Amir went up to the pomegranate tree on the top of the hill where Amir was to read part of his novel to Hassan, which also meant taking a big step by interacting with Hassan. After reading and the two started collecting pomegranates to bring back home when Amir threatened to pelt Hassan with them. He looked at Hassan once more before throwing several red pomegranates, each one exploding all over, and pleading Hassan to hit him back, so that ¨he [would give Amir] the punishment [he] craved, so maybe [he]
Amir and Hassan grew up always being together, and even fed from the same breast, like brothers. They had a deep connection even though Hassan was just Amir 's servant. Doing almost everything together though made Amir realize that his own father, Baba, gave Hassan the attention and love that he himself craved. As they got older, Amir notices how his father treated his servant 's son and became unconsciously jealous of their relationship. His jealousy would show through in little things and eventually, their once extremely-close relationship turned into a one-sided friendship fueled by jealousy of his fatherś affections. At one point, Amir, Hassan, and Baba go to the market to buy a kite to fly in the annual kite competition, which is Amir 's chance to win back his father and gain his approval. As his son, Amir wanted a ¨bigger and fancier kite¨ and to his pleasure, Baba would buy it for Amir, ¨but then he would buy it for Hassan too. Sometimes [Amir] wished [Baba] wouldn 't do that, wished [Baba would] let [him] be the favorite¨(Hosseini 51). Even though Hassan is just a servant, Baba treats him as an equal, and as another son, which frustrates Amir. The big and fancy kite represents the childhood and youth Amir wishes he had, and how Hassan also got all of those things, including his father´s love. …show more content…
Short-term, following the rape of his best friend, Amir goes out of his way to make sure he does not interact with Hassan. Any relationship they had before the betrayal was gone and it was as if their friendship hadn 't even existed in the first place. The consequences of Amir 's betrayal though are very real, and they devour his soul for the rest of his life until he finally achieves redemption. Prior to this redemption though, Amir lives every moment of his life knowing that he betrayed Hassan and did nothing when he was in danger, like Hassan himself did for Amir so many times. Even after being betrayed and hurt by his only friend, Hassan continued to try and rebuild their relationship because he was so loyal. One day, sometime the next year following the rape, Hassan and Amir went up to the pomegranate tree on the top of the hill where Amir was to read part of his novel to Hassan, which also meant taking a big step by interacting with Hassan. After reading and the two started collecting pomegranates to bring back home when Amir threatened to pelt Hassan with them. He looked at Hassan once more before throwing several red pomegranates, each one exploding all over, and pleading Hassan to hit him back, so that ¨he [would give Amir] the punishment [he] craved, so maybe [he]