Guilt In The Kite Runner

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Would you be able to save a life in order to live one free of guilt? The novel The Kite Runner consists of a pair of best friends, Amir and Hassan. When Hassan faces a tragedy that could have been stopped or prevented, Amir feels guilt and moves to the United States. After many years of no contact; a friend calls Amir to ask him to return back from the United States. He learns Hassan and his wife have been killed. After hearing the shocking news, he also finds a dark secret ;he and Hassan had been half brothers. Under these circumstances the situation became a priority. Hosseini's novel The Kite Runner conveys the necessity of repenting one’s sins in order to live a life free of guilt through friendship. The author uses literary techniques …show more content…

The lamb is an important symbol to the novel. In Islam the lamb is a symbol of innocence and sacrifice.Amir describes Hassan looking like a lamb ,Amir says “I caught a glimpse of his face...It was a look I had seen before. It was a look of a lamb”(77).Hassans innocence was sacrificed by being raped. In this case Amir sacrifices Hassan over a blue kite by not stepping in. Amir also describes Sohrab ,Hassan's son,as looking like a lamb. Sohrabs’ innocence is also sacrificed by being raped by the same person his father was. But, in this event Amir saves him in order to feel guilt free by not helping his friend.In this case innocence is the sacrefice. The blue kite is also a significant symbol of the novel.The kite is symbol of Amir’s happiness and his guilt. Flying kites is what he liked most, not because it was the only way he could redeem himself to his father. But the kite takes a different significance when Amir allows Hassan to be raped because he wants to bring kite back as proof he had won the contest. His memory after that leaves the kite as a sign of his betrayal to Hassan. Amir doesn't fly a kite again until he he is with Sohrab at the end of the novel. Because Amir has already repented his sins himself, the kite isn't a symbol of his guilt. Instead, it a reminder of his childhood, and it becomes the way he is able to connect with

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