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The kite runner themes essay
The kite runner as a struggle for redemption
The kite runner as a struggle for redemption
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opic :“The Kite Runner.”How does the theme of shame and courage Evolve Throughout the novel?
Informal paper #1. Have you ever wonder, How does Shame and Courage affect someone you love? A deep sense of love and belonging is the need of all people,we are biologically cognitively, physically and spiritually wired,to love and be loved and to belong. Therefore, when these need are not met we do not function as well as people who are love and belong. Thus people break, fall apart, hurt others in an and unloving and cold manner. all these stem from the guilt of your pass of shame,Until we practicing the courage it take to own our stories and tell the truth about who we are then the freedom from guilt will not achieve . So it is with these character
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Baba ask the Russian soldier “Where is your shame?” He spoke back “ There is no shame in war”, Baba says “you're wrong, war doesnt negate decency, it demands it, even more in the times of peace” (pg.118). In that moment Amir showed admiration for his fathers courage, which he didn't have to help Hassan. Even though Baba has courage, his secret sins causes him shame, and that shame has a lot to do with the way his relationship with Amir evolve. When you live in shame, you do a lot to cover up your deeds. Sometimes it lets you put expectations on the ones who are closet to you. It lets you become angry, guilty, impatient, and ruthless. Until you get rid of that guilt by addressing the truth about what bring about that shame, then one will not truly be happy. No earthly possession can bring you true happiness. As the text says, “Baba and I live in the same house, but in different spheres of existence”, (ch.6 pg.49). As you can see, shame brings about division in these characters life, that even though they have all the money to buy everything they wanted even a pair of servants, but they still weren't happy because of the guilt, shame has brought onto
It is not often that Amir’s love for Baba is returned. Baba feels guilty treating Amir well when he can’t acknowledge Hassan as his son. Baba discriminates against his son Amir by constantly making him feel weak and unworthy of his father. Baba once said to Rahim Kahn, “If I hadn’t seen the doctor pull him out of my wife with my own eyes, I’d never believe he’s my son” (Hosseini 23). Amir doesn’t feel like a son towards Baba since he seems like such a weakling. This neglect towards Amir causes him to feel a need to be accepted by Baba to end the constant discrimination from his father and he will do anything for it. “I actually aspired to cowardice, because the alternative, the real reason I was running, was that Assef was right: Nothing was free in this world. Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba” (Hosseini 77). Amir did not stop the rape of his good friend for one sole purpose. Amir felt that he had to betray his own half-brother to gain th...
“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.”(Eleanor Roosevelt). Courage and bravery are two of the well-demonstrated themes in the novel “The Kite Runner”. The novel establishes courage through consistently maintaining responsibilities and the ability to redeem and persevere events and actions. Rather, bravery is demonstrated in the novel as the ability to stand up for anything that goes against teaching and values. Bravery also goes above and beyond courage, and can be seen as an act that may challenge someone physically, emotionally and mentally. The novel is
“You've gotta dance like there's nobody watching, love like you'll never be hurt, sing like there's nobody listening, And live like it's heaven on earth.” Said a famous writer named William W. Purkey. Throughout the Kite Runner there were many mistakes that were made that each person let control their entire life. But like this quote says, you have to let those things go and continue to live your life and not let your mistakes define you. ? In the novel The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini’s repeated the use of rape, sickness, and sacrifice to represent many different things throughout the novel.
Baba ran from the truth, and so did Amir to protect the family name, even if that meant betraying the people closest to him. Baba was a man more worried about his image than anything, and that is what he taught his son as well. Slowly that is all Amir knew how to do: protect his family and himself, leading him into a life of guilt, and running from people when situations were challenging, instead of making the admirable decision and helping a friend. He shows his unconditional love when he suddenly packs up and leaves all he has ever known, “‘[Ali and Hassan] can’t live [there] anymore.life here is impossible for [them] now”’
Baba is displayed as an immoral man while at home because he is not loving to his son and he cheated with his friends’ wife and had a child. Even some of Baba’s good qualities such as his care for Hassan and Ali, his father, seem to have a selfish motive behind them because he wants to keep his son close to him. While Baba is never the fatherly figure in the first part of the book, once they leave their home, Baba seems to care a lot more about Amir. This may happen because he does not always have Hassan around to remind him of the terrible mistakes that he made in the past. However, even when Hassan is leaving, Baba still cares about him. Even though Hassan may be a symbol of past mistakes, he is still Baba’s son in the end and family always has a strong bond. Therefore, Baba’s character shows his moral side because instead of hating his illegitimate son, he cares for him as much as he can given the cultural standards of the two opposing religions. By healing his cleft lip and remembering Hassan’s birthday every year, Baba is able to show his caring side that is seldom seen with his relationship with
Amir trying to win the affection of his father, Baba, but it is a struggle because Baba seen how Amir is not like him at all when he was a kid, therefore he cannot really relate to Amir, so it seems like he is distancing himself from Amir. Alternatively, he tends to show more care for Hassan because Hassan possesses the traits that Baba carried when he was a young boy. Hassan repeatedly stood up for Amir and only did things that would make Amir happy and Amir eventually took advantage of that. Hosseini shows this by stating, “Sometimes, up into those trees, I talked Hassan into firing walnuts with his slingshot at the neighbor’s one-eyed German shepherd. Hassan never wanted to, but if I asked, really asked, he wouldn’t deny me. Hassan never denied me anything” (Hosseini 3-4). This is an example how Amir manipulates Hassan into doing things for him, while he knows that Hassan will not deny him because he just wants Amir to be happy. Someone would say that given their social statuses, Amir being a Pashtun and Hassan being Hazara; Hazaras being the slaves, the Pashtun the slave owner, that Hassan has to do whatever Amir tells him because of their rankings. Although, this is not the case because they do not go by these rankings, Amir is just being very manipulative because of the emotions that Hassan has towards him and his ultimate goal, being someone that Baba would accept and be proud
Throughout Amir’s journey to absolve himself from the internal and distressing pain he has felt ever since witnessing the devastating altercation in the alley, trying to reach a standard his father, Baba, would approve of also took a toll on his childhood. Baba often speaks of how he cannot fathom the fact that Amir is a part of his bloodline. (quotes quotes quotes) Trying to achieve the perfect son status that Baba wanted Amir to be clouded his mind so greatly that, during the moment, Amir did not show compassion towards Hassan’s troubling moment of need. What matter most was retrieving the last fallen kite to his father to prove he was not a mistake that Baba made Amir believe he was. Even after Baba’s death, his actions brought more despair and uncertainty to Amir’s complicated life. The secrets and lies that were kept from Amir and even Hassan could have altered the fate of both men. (quote quote quote) Throughout the novel, Amir could arguably be considered as selfish, rude and mean toward his half-brother Hassan. However, since Baba never told the two about their true relationship Amir grew up disliking Hassan because he did not know that they shared blood. Knowing their true identities possibly could
Joyce Meyer once stated that “character is doing something you don’t want to do, but you know you should do,” a quote that is effectively characterized through the novel, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. This story revolves around a young boy named Amir as he watches a grave sin committed upon his servant, Hassan, by a boy named Assef, and fails to intervene. As Amir continues his life journey regretful of the fact that he failed to protect Hassan, a constant weighing thought that he struggles with is the concept of morality and finding the strength to confront wrong despite fear. Throughout the entirety of The Kite Runner, Hosseini effectively juxtaposes Amir’s guilt and Assef’s lack of guilt to demonstrate that as one comes to regret one’s
While Baba attempts to live his life according to the Afghan saying, “Life goes on, unmindful of beginning, end.crisis or catharsis, moving forward like a slow, dusty caravan of kochis [nomads]” (Hosseini 356), Amir strays from this traditional perspective. Baba chose to continue his life unmindful of his past, while Amir, eventually decides to confront him. Although both Baba and Amir have acted immorally, the choices they make find redemption affect the success of their individual attempts. In the novel, Amir’s quest for atonement is more effective than Baba’s because he acts virtuously, while his father, acts selfishly. Ultimately, Amir is the more successful of the two because, in opposition to Baba, he seeks holistic atonement and is willing to make sacrifices to achieve redemption.
In conclusion irony, symbolism, and foreshadowing contribute to the omnipresent theme of redemption throughout The Kite Runner. Khaled Hosseini ties together seemingly unimportant details of the story to create irony, and juxtaposes segments of his book to show redemption.
After Amir wins, he turns back to look at Baba and he sees Baba “pumping both of his fists. Hollering and clapping. And that right there was the single greatest moment of my twelve years of life, seeing Baba on that roof, proud of me at last”(66). Baba now had something to be proud of in Amir. Baba had now accepted his son but Baba’s true transformation would come later when he and Amir leave Kabul and go to America. Baba leaves all his wealth, his power and all the respect he gained in Kabul to escape to America where he would end up working at a gas station and making close to minimum wage. Even though Baba moves to America, he never changed his principles; he just changed the way he acted around Amir. When Baba goes to the social services office, he “dropped the stack of food stamps on her desk. "Thank you but I don 't want," Baba said. "I work always. In Afghanistan I work, in America I work. Thank you very much, Mrs. Dobbins, but I don 't like it free money" (130). Baba acting differently in America was not all contributed to not having his wealth, but rather the way he lived. Baba did not feel as guilty living in America as he did in Kabul. While Baba was in Kabul, he could not share his wealth with his other son, Hassan, but now that Baba was in America with no wealth, he could focus on his relationship with Amir. On Amir’s graduation day, Amir says, “This was his day (Baba) more than mine. He
Though some may rise from the shame they acquire in their lives, many become trapped in its vicious cycle. Written by Khlaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner describes the struggles of Amir, his father Baba, and his nephew Sohrab as they each fall victim to this shameful desolation. One repercussion of Baba hiding his sinful adultery from Amir is that Amir betrays Hassan for his father’s stringent approval. Sohrab’s dirty childhood also traumatizes him through his transition to America. Consequently, shame is a destructive force in The Kite Runner. Throughout the course of the novel, Baba’s shameful affair, Amir’s selfish betrayal, and Sohrab’s graphic childhood destroy their lives.
Over the course of the novel, Baba implies that he is not proud of Amir and the only reason he knows Amir is his son, is because he witnessed Amir 's birth. He states to Rahim Khan that he thinks Amir needs to stand up for himself more often. Countless times during the novel, Amir feels like he has to fight for his affection, that he has to earn Baba’s love. In order to prove himself worthy of affection and to redeem himself for not being a son Baba could be proud of, Amir yearns to win the kite runner competition. He reminisces on a memory, when all “I saw was the blue kite. All I smelled was victory. Salvation. Redemption” (65). In the aftermath of Hassan’s rape, Amir got rid of Hassan so he would not have to face the cause of his guilt on a daily basis. Amir buries the secret of the rape deep within him, where he hopes that it will not come back to haunt him, which is not the case. “We had both sinned and betrayed. But Baba had found a way to create good out of his remorse. What had I done, other than take my guilt out on the very same people I had betrayed, and then try to forget it all? What had I done, other than become an insomniac? What had I ever done to right things?” (303). As mentioned earlier, Amir is not one who stands up for himself. In order for Amir to redeem himself for betraying Hassan, and not standing up for him earlier,
The themes of the loss of innocence and redemption is used throughout the novel The Kite Runner to make a point that one can lose innocence but never redeem it. Once innocence is lost it takes a part of oneself that can never be brought back from oblivion. One can try an entire life to redeem oneself but the part that is loss is permanently gone although the ache of it can be dampened with the passing of time and acts of attempted redemption. Khaled Hosseini uses characters, situations, and many different archetypes to make this point.
He would do anything, even as a small child, to please Amir. Even after he grew up and had a son, he told his son about his love for Amir. “And, under the same roof, we spoke our first words. Mine was Baba. His was Amir. My name.” (Hosseini, 12). If this was a teenage romance novel this would be a love triangle. Between Amir, Hassan and Baba. Amir spent his entire life trying to make Baba like him, to forgive him for killing his wife, to understand him, and get that special father to son bonding. Baba instead gave his attention to the servant’s son, Hassan. Later the story we find out that Hassan is Baba’s son too, but this is after both have died and Amir is a grown man. During his childhood Amir would have done anything to gain his father attention like Hassan had. Baba, feeling guilty, gave his attention to Hassan, and treated him kindly, out of guilt for not being able to recognise Hassan as his son. Yet Baba never treated Amir diskindly, other than the fact they never got along. Hassan did not go to school, and spent his time helping Ali with household chores, but got respected by Baba, and given gifts during holidays and a kite for flying season. Amir and Baba did not click in the way both of them wanted too. Amir tried to fake interests in sports for Baba, but after watching a rider get trampled by his horse, and started crying during the one and only sport event Baba took him too. “I cried all the way back home. I remember how Baba’s hands clenched around the steering wheel. Clenched and unclenched. Mostly, I will never forget Baba’s valiant efforts to conceal the disgusted look on his face as he drove in silence.” (Hosseini, 23) This was Amir memory of the sporting event. Amir need for love from Baba, led him standing in the alley watching Hassan get raped, knowing that when he brought that blue kite to Baba he will earn his love. Hassan on the other hand could not love Amir any less. To