The Kite Runner Analytical Essay

“There is a way to be good again” (227). The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, is an exemplary example of a bildungsroman novel. Amir, the protagonist, goes through his late childhood and adult life reflecting off his cowardness to not stand up for his best friend and foil, Hassan, who was a victim of rape. Amir spends his life morally developing from this moment, he eventually tries to redeem himself when he saves Hassan’s son, Sohrab, from an orphanage. Amir goes through the novel believing that Hassan’s life could have drastically been different if Amir was not disloyal to Hassan. Amir once pondered if it “[w]as too far-fetched to imagine that things might have turned out differently if I hadn’t” (226). Amir questioned if Hassan or Ali would still be alive if it were not for his actions, “Maybe Baba would have brought them along to America. Maybe Hassan would have had a home of his own now, a job, a family, a life in a country where no one cared that he was a Hazara” (226). Throughout Amir’s thoughts, it is inferred that he blamed himself for stealing Hassan’s opportunity for a different life. …show more content…
For example, when Amir reaches the milestone of getting married, he thought about Hassan and if he potentially has gotten married. This shows that even many years later, Amir still contemplates and feels regret about Hassan. When Amir graduated from high school, Baba mentioned Hassan and instantly Amir felt as if “[a] pair of steel hands closed around my windpipe at the sound of Hassan’s name. [He] rolled down the window. Waited for the steel hands to loosen their grip” (134). Although Amir betrayed Hassan during childhood, Amir still feels guilt throughout his adult life