Free Kite Runner Essays: Character Analysis

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Recommended: Critiques of the kite runner

Life is a game of chess; one wrong move and the entire game could change its course. However it is upto the player to find a way to redeem himself by getting himself out of the predicament. The past has an action on our life, however, it does not govern us as individuals. It is up to us to make the best of our situation and move forward. This is best portrayed in Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner, where the protagonist Amir faces the worst situation a person could possibly be in: return to a warzone to save his half-nephew, or return back to safety in the United States. Throughout his life Amir questions whether standing up for something is truly worth the effort, and backs down whenever confronted, however using the lessons he learns throughout his eventful life, like standing up for someone, he faces his fears by confronting his past, Assef, and persists in giving Sohrab a better life in America against all odds. Amir chooses not to save Hassan, his only true friend, from Assef in the alleyway. This one mistake governs his life. In every …show more content…

From this, Amir saves Sohrab and continues to fight the American immigration department until he can bring Sohrab with him. Due to the trauma and fear of returning to an orphanage, Sohrab attempts to commit suicide, however, Amir provides him the resources to survive. In fact, he is so determine to save Sohrab that he prays after fifteen years and makes vows that he fulfils even after they come to America. Also, unlike Amir, Soraya had given up her attempts in engaging him (Amir 367). In the Sawl-e-Nau celebration, he flies kites with children and runs kites for Sohrab, just to get him to accept him. From his antiheroic ways, Amir has proved that he can go against any odds whether it be the government, his past, or social prestige to do what he is committed to

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    Amir’s redemption is a large part of the novel and is carried out almost entirely until the end of the story. He travels to rescue Hassan’s son, Sohrab, from the orphanage he was placed in after the death of his parents. He promises to find him a safe home with someone but after time passes he feels like this is not enough. He then speaks to his wife and decides to take Sohrab back to the United States with him and take care of his as if he was one of his own. Earlier in the novel when Baba is speaking Amir over hears his conversation as he is referring to him stating, “A boy who won 't stand up for himself becomes a man who can 't stand up to anything” (Hosseini, 22). Thus meaning that if he is able to stand up for himself as a young boy, when he is grown he will not be able to stand up for anything that is in his future. This is true throughout the story until he stands up for himself and Sorhab when he is arguing with his life long bully, Assef. Amir lacked the courage to defend himself in the novel until he finally took charge and went against

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  • with guilt comes a hope for redemption

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    As a young boy he made the wrong decision in life by letting Hassan get raped, which led to his guilt. The guilt grew to the point where Hassan and Ali had to move out of Baba’s house and start a new life away from Amir. Hassan’s son Sohrab is a significant character who represents Amir’s hope for redemption. Sohrab led to Amir’s redemption by giving Amir the opportunity to do good for his past actions. On the quest for redemption, Amir achieves the redemption he desired through his fight with Assef.

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    Amir also committed a sin that affected him negatively throughout his life. This sin occurred when Hassan, Amir’s best friend during his childhood, was getting raped by Assef. This situation occurred when the children were chasing kites. Hassan got the kite first, but Assef insisted that he wanted the kite. Assef also had a racial and religious prejudice against Hassan.

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    People need redemption from our continual sin, otherwise, we just wallow in the shallowness of that aspect of our lives. Sin stays with an individual and effects the way their lives are lived. Unless they confront their past the sin will always be present. For example, Khaled Hossei’s , The Kite Runner explains how Amir- one of the main characters in the novel redeems himself because he undergoes strong guilt from his past sins. By examining Amir’s sins in his childhood, in his teenage years and in adulthood, his attainment of atonement is revealed. Particularly Amir atones for his past sins of being an eyewitness of Hassan rape who is his most loyal and devoted servant. He is influenced by this moment because he realizes that Hassan always

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  • The Kite Runner Essay: Loyalty Throughout The Kite Runner

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    However there are some characters that become better people and change becoming a better, stronger, more loyal individual in the end. The individual that demonstrates this development within this novel is Amir himself. All of the guilt Amir holds with him as a child allow him to realize his duty to be loyal to his brother Hassan ion the end. An example of this is when Amir goes back to Kabul, Afghanistan to retrieve his nephew Sohrab. Amir says, “I remembered Wahid’s boys and… I realized something. I would not leave Afghanistan without finding Sohrab.’ tell me where he is,’ I said” (Hosseini 255). Here, Amir is at the orphanage waiting to find out where Taliban has taken his nephew. Amir remembers the three young starving sons of Wahid, a man whose home he had been in earlier, and realized that Afghanistan is not a safe place for Sohrab. Amir is finally aware of one thing, Hassan has always been there to protect Amir like a loyal friend and brother would and now Amir knows that it is his turn to return that loyalty to Hassan by protecting Hassan’s flesh and blood. A second example of Amir’s loyalty to Hassan near the ending of the book is during Amir’s confrontation with General Sahib and the dinner table after Sohrab is safe in America with him. Amir proclaims to General Sahib, “…That boy sleeping on the couch

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