Guilt and Emtions in The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

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Recommended: Emotional and psychological effects of guilt

“Every man is guilty of all the good he did not do.” – Voltaire. Guilt is an emotion that comes from believing that you were responsible for a particular mistake (usually the violation of some moral code) whether or not this guilt is accurate. In the novel The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, the main character Amir portrays guilt as being destructive. Amir’s experience leads to him feeling guilty for the rest of his life. This guilt breaks up the relationships he once had, it also affects the people around him. In the novel The Kite Runner, Khlaed uses Amir to show how violence leads to betrayal, then guilt and at some point destroys relationships between people. This is mostly proved in the novel by the impact of violence on Amir which leads him to betray Hassan his only friend, Amir’s reactions towards Hassan by not helping him turns into guilt and it all leads to the turning point for Amir, Hassan, Baba (Amir’s father) and Ali (Hassan’s father).

The impact of violence on Amir leads him to betray Hassan his only friend, brother and also servant by running away from helping Hassan. The first time Amir had to deal with violence was when Amir won the kite running tournament and Hassan as his loyal servant and friend runs to get the kite for Amir’s trophy. After a while when Amir noticed Hassan wasn’t back he begins to search for him and when he finds him, he recognized Assef a bully, raping Hassan. Amir was scared at first but then he convinced himself that it’s okay by saying “nothing was free in this world. Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay to win Baba. Was it a fair price? ” (Hosseini 82). This shows how Amir is not loyal to Hassan and it also shows that Amir would do anything to grab baba’s at...

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... friendships as Ali and Hassan leave and never come back again.

This novel is a really good example that shows how violence leads to betrayal, then guilt and at some point destroys relationships between people. When Amir got married he realizes the mistakes he made in the past and learns the true meaning of family and also learns what it’s like having a brother and a friend. This is because his father passed away and he has a new family that loves and cares about him. He realizes his mistakes and doesn’t want to make them again with his new family. Amir never talked about the fact that he betrayed Hassan to his wife because his wife was a very courageous woman. Kaled Hosseini did a really good job proving his point using things that can happen every day in ours lives. “You never know how strong you are until being strong is your only choice you have” – Bob Marley

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