A Redemption Journey in the Kite Runner - Essay Example

Analysing a Redemption Journey in The Kite Runner

Khaled Hosseini is a literary master that uses his takes to expound on several major themes. One possible theme worth analyzing is a redemption Journey in The Kite Runner. The theme of redemption is among the most significant of these themes, and various individuals try to make amends following their wrongdoings in the past. In the tale above, we see Amir, who acts as the main protagonist in the narrative share a story about his childhood. In his story, however, it becomes clear that the experiences he encountered as a child are bound to shape the novel's plot. Amir is on a quest to find redemption after he betrayed Hassan, who was once his best friend during this childhood. As an Afghani-American, he feels his cowardice led him to commit the gravest sin and betrayal in Afghani culture during the rape. To gain atonement, Amir will need to set out for a long, dangerous, and tedious journey back to his homeland. The journey will have him return to an Afghanistan that's still war-torn and ravished by violence.

During their childhood, Amir and Hassan had remained inseparable friends. The two would play all day long, and they frequently climbed the poplar trees that dotted the driveway to Baba's homestead. From the treetops, they would proceed to annoy their neighbors for good fun by reflecting light onto their houses using shards of broken mirrors. Despite coming from separate social backgrounds and ethnicities, the two friends were able to remain close despite the different circumstances that they faced. While Hassan belonged was considered to be of a lower class by being a Hazara, Amir, on his part, belonged to a higher class, by part of the Pashtun class and religious sect. Despite these differences, their friendship held strong, and both children were not bothered by the different social classes, or that his friend was a servant in Amirs household. Their friendship would, however, be shattered after Assef, another boy from the Pashtun social class, found and chased Hassan trying to steal Amirs stylish kite. Still, Hassan remains steadfast and refuses to surrender the kite. In his anger, Assef compares Hassan to a pet by calling him a loyal Hazara. Worse still, Assef proceeds to lunge himself at Hassan and proceeds to rape him as the ultimate effort of showing his authority over Hassan. Amir gets a view of the whole confrontation and the subsequent rape, but Amir is out of sight from both boys. In his cowardice, too, he remains hidden and doesn't raise the alarm in defense of his friend. Following the incident, Hassan walks towards his best friend, all the while weak and about to collapse. However, Amir proceeds to pretend that nothing out of the ordinary has happened.

His betrayal, however, beings to lead to various issues that affect the relationship with Hassan. As from an extract of the story below, Amir is filled with guilt for allowing the rape to happen. In the story, Amir is frequently consumed by his thoughts:

"Just like I pretended, I hadn't seen the dark stain in the seat of his pants. Or those tiny drops that fell from between his legs and stained the snow black" (Pg. 78).

In his guilt, Amir tries to get rid of some of his internal guilt and resulting pain by offering Hassan the chance to resort to physical violence against him.

". . . hurled the pomegranate at him. It struck him on the chest, exploded in a spray of the red pulp. Hassan cried with surprise and pain. "Hit me back!" Amir snapped" (Pg. 92).

However, Hassan refuses to be part of the violence or to harm his friend, and this causes Amir to be even angrier. Furthermore, every action Amir decides to take following the incident in a bid to reduce the guilt ends up only making him more miserable. Ultimately, Amir decides that the only way for him to be done with the guilt is by getting rid of Hassan. To fulfill this objective, he broaches the idea of getting new servants with Baba (his father). However, Baba is quick to rebuke him, and immediately rejects the notion of getting rid of Hassan's family, his father. Amir even reprimands his son for thinking such preposterous thoughts. Not content with his father's response, Amir takes matters into his own hands, for he is resolute in his quest to get rid of Hassan. Accordingly, he accuses Hassan of theft after secretly placing his watch plus some cash under his bed. On reporting the incident to Baba, Hassan is confronted about the stolen items. Having never denied Amir anything before, Hassan accepts accusations raised by Amir, despite theft being the gravest sin in Afghani culture. By accepting the blame, Hassan and his father have no alternative but to move out and find other living quarters. It is ironic, however, for Hassan had not stolen anything. In contrast, Amir, with his actions, had taken away the little innocence Hassan still had left after being raped by falsely accusing him of theft.

Despite the many faults witnessed in the main protagonists and a few other characters in the story, atonement is still achieved towards the end of the tale. Following the invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union, Amir and Baba flee to America, where they settle in the state of California among other refugee families from Afghanistan. In America, Amir assimilates much better and successfully as compared to Baba as he attends university, and soon after gets married and starts a family. The eventual passing of Baba sees Amirs last link with his old life seemingly cut. However, his past soon catches up with him when towards the end of summer, his friend, Rahim Khan, calls him from Pakistan. Rahim proceeds to ask Amir to plan to travel to see him, and knowing this is more than a casual request; Amir proceeds to make travel arrangements knowing that the time to atone for his pending sins was fast approaching.

On arrival to Pakistan, Amir learns that his boyhood friend, Amir, has been slain, together with his wife. Moreover, their only son, Sohrab, has been subsequently kidnapped. According to Rahim Khan, getting the son of Hassan back could be a way for Amir to atone for his sins and to gain atonement. On learning of the whereabouts of Sohrab, he quickly sets off to rescue him. Standing in the way of his plans of retrieving his nephew, however, is Assef, his childhood foe who refuses to give up the child into Amirs care without a fight. In the ensuing bout, Assef almost beats Amir to the death, but Sohrab comes to his rescue, just as his father did previously and saves Amir from certain death by shooting Assef directly in the eye using a slingshot. Accordingly, the narrative seems to come full circle with respect to the protagonist's character arc, and his quest for revitalization. While their life is nowhere close to perfect after that, he returns to the United States with the boy Hassan bore. Once settled, Amir further offers to be the kite runner for Sohrab, and this shines a glimmer of hope on him.

In the end, redemption is finally achieved, but this comes at a significant cost, and after multiple hard-fought battles, both physically, mentally, and emotionally. While Amir struggles to find his peace and makes a few wrong turns in the way, he can gain back some of his innocence from his childhood days playing with Sohrab and coming to his aid.