The themes of Betrayal leading to remorse and redemption are portrayed in the two literary pieces, The Kite Runner by
Khaled Hosseini and Atonement by Ian McEwan. The protagonists, Amir in The Kite Runner and Briony in Atonement, sought redemption as their pasts, filled with the memories of betraying their loved ones, comes back to haunt them.
These themes are explored through the use of characterization, setting, structure and various literacy techniques.
Characterization in The Kite Runner and Atonement help explore the inner thoughts and actions of the protagonists, showing their motivation to betray their loved ones in part with class difference and jealously. These two literary pieces depict the setting to explore the inner thoughts of
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Similar to Amir, Briony betrays Robbie in small ways, first by reading his letter sent for her sister, Cecilia, and then declaring him a ‘sex maniac’ as parallel perspective plays an important role in understanding of Robbie during some events, especially when he is with Cecilia. These events lead Briony to betray
Robbie when she testifies against him for a rape case of Lola, especially when Briony knows it was Paul Marshall and not
Robbie. When Robbie is taken out into the police van, the surrounding is dull and dark, symbolizing his life deemed for darkness and dead ends. Through various literary devices and characterization, Hosseini and McEwan have shown the inner thoughts, actions and motivations of the protagonists to betray their loved ones.
‘Remorse leads to redemption!’ This quote fits well with the path the protagonists take in The Kite Runner and
Atonement. Both the literary pieces showcase the psychological and moral growth of the protagonists from youth to adulthood, a genre known as Bildungsroman, as they seek a path to redemption. This is evident when Amir starts to have flashbacks about his past as he says Looking back now, I realize I have been peeking into that deserted alley for
... Finally, Amir chooses to redeem himself by opting to protect Hassan’s son Sohrab. The guilt which estranged Amir from his childhood friend in a way manages to reunite him with Hassan, albeit in a different manner. Thereby, the two works that are Macbeth and The Kite Runner not only present before the humanity, the immense power and potency of guilt, but also emphatically reveal the eventual consequences of the guilt traceable to an evil act or an act of cowardice or betrayal. These two works expose the psychology of guilt in a very vivid and threadbare manner, which explains their appeal and the human interest they accrue.
In Harry Mulisch’s novel The Assault, the author not only informs society of the variance in perception of good and evil, but also provides evidence on how important it is for an innocent person experiencing guilt to come to terms with their personal past. First, Mulisch uses the characters Takes, Coster, and Ploeg to express the differences in perspective on the night of the assault. Then he uses Anton to express how one cannot hide from the past because of their guilt. Both of these lessons are important to Mulisch and worth sharing with his readers.
Many people have done things that they can’t seek redemption for or can’t forgive themselves for, such as not being there for a friend when they need you most. Including Amir, from The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. Amir is best friends with Hassan, a Hazara boy. They grow up together, and Amir later finds out that they are half brothers. Hassan helps Amir, but he allows a boy, Assef, and his group of friends to rape Hassan, which he doesn’t think he’ll ever be able to forgive himself for. Amir is redeemed because he receives letters from Hassan, he adopts Sohrab, and fights Assef.
In Ananya Mishra’s article “The “Eternal Loop” of Guilt and the Attempt to Atone in McEwan’s Atonement and Hosseini’s The Kite Runner”, she deeply evaluates the character of Amir and his lifelong guilt. She notes Amir suffers from a deep emotional insecurity. His insecurity roots from the fact he is none of the things his father wants him to be; athletic, strong, and brave. His inability to stand up for himself and fight back disappoints his father. Amir is jealous of Hassan who is not only fast and athletic but also able to stand up to others on Amir’s behalf.
Guilt is seen throughout the book The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. Amir, as a twelve year old boy witnesses Assef rape his best friend. Initially he felt guilty for not helping Hassan, but the fact he did nothing about the situation made him carry his guilt with him. The smallest thing would bring him back to the moment of Hassan being rapped. Guilt, something Amir carries around because he feels bad about what he did, yet he still wants something to be done about the situation. Every time a chance comes up for Amir to relieve guilt he shoots it down and carries it longer. Amir holds on to his throughout his life, and it affects him both negatively and positively. He never able found true happiness, he lost he friendship with Hassan, and
Our choices in life signify who we want to become. Therefore, ones focus should be always on making the right decision. In “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini and “Two words” Isabel Allende, both the characters Amir and Belisa had a very difficult childhood where they had to make difficult decisions ,but there life changed according to how they responded. They both wanted to change there life ,but some of their decisions had such a great impact on there life, that they can never change. Moreover, Most of the times the surrounding that a person is associated with influences decisions that they make in there life. It forces them to change. Amir made a decision of not helping his friend in the time of crisis which impacted his future severely.
Shawn Corey Carter, known professionally as JAY-Z, is an American rapper and businessman. He has stated that "Identity is a prison you can never escape, but the way to redeem your past is not to run from it but to try to understand it and to use it as a foundation to grow." In the novels, The Kite Runner and A Complicated Kindness, the protagonists Amir and Naomi, have to overcome challenging situations which develop and help shape their identity. Neither protagonists fully realize or accept themselves until they face conflicts and difficult situations. It is through self-reflection on past circumstances that result in the protagonists learning and becoming who they want to be.
Simon Weisenthal has composed a novel that presents readers with a difficult set of questions that leaves them thinking for hours on end. He had been trapped in a room with a repenting murderer and is begged for forgiveness. He leaves with no response, but is tortured by his conscious as he thinks whether his actions were acceptable. The Sunflower tests its readers personality as they are asked to put themselves in Mr. Weisenthal’s position in that dark, suffocating room. Forgiveness is dependent on the reader’s personal experiences, personality, and attitude towards the criminal. But most of all, forgiveness should be genuine.
“It's wrong what they say about the past, I've learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out” (Hosseini). In The Kite Runner, Hosseini shares Amir’s journey to atonement. As Amir states, he was unable to bury his past, similar to his father, Baba, who spent the majority of his life haunted by his sins. While both father and son are consumed by guilt, the way in which they atone for their iniquities is dissimilar. 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 his. 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.
One of the biggest struggles Afghanistan has faced took place during the years of 1996to 2001 when the Taliban was in control. The novel The Kite Runnerwritten by Khaled Hosseini and the film Osama directed by SiddiqBarmak are two fictional stories that take place in Afghanistan during the time of the Taliban. The two works display the harsh reality of what it was like to be in Afghanistan during that time while also showing it from two unique perspectives. Throughout the works, the audience is able to identify the similarities and view differences in the stories through their explanations on the Taliban’s monstrous control, the lack of women’s rights and the daily dangerous lives of the two protagonists.
This letter and the fact that she caught Robby and her sister having sexual relations in the library, makes Robbie appear to be a “sex maniac”. So later on when her cousin Lola Quincy was raped she automatically assumes it to be the sex crazed gardener. This leads to the other major theme of discrimination between social classes. Though Robbie has been exceptionally well-treated and well educated, neither he nor the family members could ever completely forget that he is the” gardener", and that all he ever got was given as an enormous special favour and not by birth right.... ...
In a lifetime, one will face an abundance of personal battles in their decision making. When bad decisions result negatively, people find peace mentally in redeeming themselves of their sin through redemption. In Khaled Hosseini’s “The Kite Runner”, the main character, Amir, commits a sin and goes through great lengths to find redemption. Using metaphors, personification, and irony Hosseini expresses the theme of sin, suffering and redemption. Achieving redemption is a long journey people seek after suffering the consequences of sin.
In Ian McEwan’s novel Atonement, he illustrates a Bildungsroman, a coming of age of novel, that shows the reflection of the young protagonist Briony Tallis.From a young age, Briony was passionate about writing and desires to become a sophisticated writer that has recognition for her works. However, there is an alternative motive to her writing since it is her coping mechanism to the demons in her head and she chooses to express her thoughts and frustrations through her work. When Briony receives her rejection letter from the paper for her novel, McEwan reveals that people hide behind their decisions and attempt to justify their actions until others scrutinize their former mistakes.
Ian McEwan illustrates a profound theme that builds details throughout the novel Atonement, the use of guilt and the quest for atonement are used with in the novel to convey the central dynamic aspect in the novel. McEwan constructs the emotion of guilt that is explored through the main character, Briony Tallis. The transition of child and entering the adult world, focus on the behavior and motivation of the young narrator Briony. Briony writes passages that entail her attempt to wash away her guilt as well find forgiveness for her sins. In which Briony ruined the lives and the happiness of her sister, Cecilia, and her lover Robbie. The reality of the events, attempts to achieve forgiveness for her actions. She is unable to understand the consequences of the actions as a child but grows to develop the understanding of the consequence with age. McEwan exemplifies an emotional novel that alters reality as he amplifies the creative acts of literature. In this essay I will be arguing that, the power of guilt prevents people from moving on from obstacles that hold them in the past.
...of being a sexual maniac (McEwan 166). When the police question Briony she tells them it was Robbie, "I know it was him" (McEwan 181). It seems that Briony has a difficult time differentiating between knowing and actually seeing. Briony did not even think twice that maybe she misinterpreted Robbie and Cecilia's whole relationship, but instead she jumped to conclusion. Briony used her freedom of expression too much of her advantage. She used her imagination to describe these events and write the story in a way she would hope for them to play out. Briony was too young to understand the difference between reality and imagination and this led her not to consider the consequences of her actions. All that mattered to Briony was that she got attention from those around her. Briony had committed a serious crime and her actions led innocent Robbie to go to jail (McEwan 186).