Drowning in Guilt: Review of The Kite Runner

“Every man is guilty of all the good he did not do,” Voltaire once said. Every choice in life comes with a consequence that follows. A common consequence is guilt, a bad feeling caused by knowing or thinking that you have done something wrong. Amir, the main character in The Kite Runner, discovers the consequence of guilt after making decisions throughout his childhood that were destructive. Khaled Hosseini describes the destructive ability of guilt to consume one’s life through the the relationships of Amir and Hassan, Baba and Ali, and Amir and Sohrab.

The guilt that Amir feels due to his destroyed relationship with Hassan haunts him throughout his entire life. First, Hosseini uses the scene of Hassan’s rape as a haunting source of guilt that Amir puts upon himself. The rape is also one of the primary events that ruins Amir and Hassan’s friendship. Amir offers a thought that describes the ongoing guilt he has been feeling early in the book: “Looking back now, I realize I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years” (Hosseini 1). This quote explains how Amir has been troubled by the guilt that has been forced upon him by watching the rape of Hassan that eventually destroyed their relationship. Second, the blue kite is a symbol of guilt that Amir feels about running from the rape. Walking away from the alley, Hassan “had the blue kite in his hands; that was the first thing [Amir] saw. And [Amir] can’t lie now and say [his] eyes didn’t scan it for any rips” (78). Amir’s selfishness shows through by placing his success above the well-being of Hassan. Third, the scar that Amir gets on his lip is used as a reminder of guilt that he feels from the destroyed relationship he once had with Hassan. As Amir is ...

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...lly, there is hope that things will be better again.

Hosseini uses the relationships of Amir and Hassan, Baba and Ali, and Amir and Sohrab to strongly explain how guilt is a powerful, resurfacing feeling that dominates people’s lives. Amir and Hassan’s relationship explains the guilt that is established at a young age but haunts and consumes Amir’s life forever. The secret sin that Baba hides from Ali describes how powerful guilt is by showing the necessity of redemption in order to repair a relationship. Guilt is established in Amir and Sohrab’s relationship through regrets and sins that were committed in the past. Aware of the destruction that the consequence of guilt possesses, people are provoked to think: are the choices at hand worth risking the important things in life?

Works Cited

Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. New York: Riverhead Books, 2003. Print.