Guilt In The Kite Runner

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Two Sides in Human Nature: Guilt and Redemption Pain, both physical and emotional, is guaranteed in life and the natural desire to rid oneself of it connects humanity. Khaled Hosseini explores what human nature truly means in his novel The Kite Runner by depicting the character of Amir, a man who spends his adult years attempting to relieve a haunting guilt from his childhood. Amir’s internal struggle between guilt and redemption illustrates how suffering is part of human nature and can only be extinguished when one acknowledges mistakes and uses them to change for the better. Amir’s guilt obtained in his youth follows him throughout life and causes prolonged suffering, which humanizes him as a character. Hassan, Amir’s childhood best friend, …show more content…

Amir discovers where Sohrab had been taken and must fight for his guardianship. Assef, a Taliban soldier who was also Hassan’s rapist and the neighborhood bully, challenges Amir to a fight for possession of the young child. Amir accepts and is badly beaten by Assef to the point where “[his] body was broken...but [he] felt healed”. (289) This final act of physical pain is also paralleled to Hassan’s rape: both sacrificed their physical health to help their loved ones. By taking on Hassan’s persona, Amir finally has become good again. A repeated action with an opposite outcome is incorporated into this novel by Hosseini to achieve the effect of change, specifically Amir’s transformation. Amir attempts to adopt Sohrab but he is shut down and breaks the promise; Sohrab is destroyed and attempts suicide. Amir waits in the hospital and since “[his] hands are stained with Hassan’s blood” , he prays that “God doesn’t let them get stained with the blood of this boy too”. (346) Amir has finally come to terms with his past actions and now fully accepts the blame. The pain from previous suffering has traumatized Amir, teaching him the importance of owning up to actions and preventing him from disregarding others’ feelings. The human condition is growth; Amir has shown significance maturity as a result of the suffering, proving how it is part of every life. Amir takes Sohrab to America where the boy feels out of place and eventually becomes ignored. However, Amir finally sees Sohrab smile when flying kites together, just like what Hassan and Amir used to do together. Amir describes the short but meaningful smile like a snowflake, explaining how “when spring comes, it melts one snowflake at a time…[he] just witnessed the first flake melting”. (371) Hosseini often reflects mood into setting and in this case, Amir begins to

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