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The scenes of innocent, yet precarious, friendship between two boys, Amir and Hassan (the son of Amir’s father’s servant), focus on what it means to be a true friend while mirroring the gritty conflict of Afghanistan’s volatile political and cultural history. The opening credits of Arabic-inspired calligraphy seem to represent the connection of all the characters in the story. This is a story of two boys in 1975, but also one that stretches the limits of culture and time to represent the most important of redemption
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When we sin, do we essentially become bad? Christians are taught that redemption is solely brought about through Christ’s sacrifice? Can it possibly be this simple? Is it possible that a symbolic act on Christ’s part can, in fact, save all of us from all our sins? If this is the case, why are we often unable to forgive ourselves? Why do we feel compelled to perform penance when we are told that our debt has been paid? Is there some action—work, not faith—required of us beyond believing in Christ’s gift of salvation? Do we, as human beings, have a debt to pay to fellow human beings (and animals) when we have wronged them? Can salvation truly be free, or, in order to believe that we deserve it, do we need to make retribution before being able to open ourselves to salvation? Is the act of salvation tied to the act of self-forgiveness? For Amir, achieving redemption requires more than faith in a …show more content…
Amir tries to win approval by writing stories that his father never reads. To his father’s disappointment, Amir is a coward; he relies on Hassan to defend them from their bully, Assef. Amir’s only adult supporter is his father’s friend Rahim Khan, played by Shaun Toub, to whom Baba despairs that Amir will ever amount to much by saying, “A boy who won’t stand up for himself becomes a man who won’t stand up for anything.” Rahim Khan, however, sides with Amir and encourages him in his writing. He willingly plays the role of a mother figure in the young man’s life, encouraging, comforting, and balancing Baba’s harshness. He also acts as Amir’s conscience throughout the movie, urging him to confess, to make things
When we sin, do we essentially become bad? Christians are taught that redemption is solely brought about through Christ’s sacrifice? Can it possibly be this simple? Is it possible that a symbolic act on Christ’s part can, in fact, save all of us from all our sins? If this is the case, why are we often unable to forgive ourselves? Why do we feel compelled to perform penance when we are told that our debt has been paid? Is there some action—work, not faith—required of us beyond believing in Christ’s gift of salvation? Do we, as human beings, have a debt to pay to fellow human beings (and animals) when we have wronged them? Can salvation truly be free, or, in order to believe that we deserve it, do we need to make retribution before being able to open ourselves to salvation? Is the act of salvation tied to the act of self-forgiveness? For Amir, achieving redemption requires more than faith in a …show more content…
Amir tries to win approval by writing stories that his father never reads. To his father’s disappointment, Amir is a coward; he relies on Hassan to defend them from their bully, Assef. Amir’s only adult supporter is his father’s friend Rahim Khan, played by Shaun Toub, to whom Baba despairs that Amir will ever amount to much by saying, “A boy who won’t stand up for himself becomes a man who won’t stand up for anything.” Rahim Khan, however, sides with Amir and encourages him in his writing. He willingly plays the role of a mother figure in the young man’s life, encouraging, comforting, and balancing Baba’s harshness. He also acts as Amir’s conscience throughout the movie, urging him to confess, to make things