In the Kite Runner, Amir is faced by many challenges as he grows up. However, he manages to conquer all, and towards the end of the book, he redeems himself. Towards the end of the story, he learns to stand for himself and face his challenges. Initially, his father had advised him that that a boy who does not stand for himself will eventually becomes a man who cannot stand up to anything. As a boy, Amir never faced any of his challenge with courage. He failed to rescue Hassan from sexual abuse, broke the friendship between his father and Ali by implicating Hassan in theft and by trying to please his father to get his approval. As an adult, he is full of courage. He travels back to Afghanistan to make amends with Hassan, who is now dead. He finds Sohr
...ab, Hassan’s son under Assef’s watch who uses him to carry out his commands as he so wishes. To save Sohrab, Amir has to first deal with Assef. Unlike in the past where he was scared to confront him, Amir now takes courage and tackles Assef, finally rescuing Sohrab. In Khaled, (361), warns Assef from referring to Hassan as “The Hazara boy” Here, redemption is pin pointed in two ways, one, where Amir stands up against Assef and defeats him, and secondly where he manages to save Hassan’s son and takes him to America where he lives a good life.
Another way Amir manages to redeem himself is by accepting all his pasts and forgiving himself for all the wrongs he committed when growing up. Amir finally gets to accept that not everything ends in
happiness. He is not sure whether the story about him, his brother, and nephew ends in happiness. To him the greatest thing achieved is redemption, and he is very happy about it. According to Khaled, (359), when forgiveness hits him, he feels a great relief as all the pain goes away spontaneously. Previously, Amir hated Hassan since he felt that his father thought he was better. This is different towards the end when Amir is looking at Hassan’s pictures. He is redeemed from his past hatred. He no longer felt the hatred he felt before; instead, he admits that Hassan was indeed better than he was since he had inherited what had been pure and noble in Baba.
At the end of the story, Amir is teaching Sohrab how to fly kites. He redeems himself when Sohrab agrees that he should help him fly the kites in the back of his head, he uses the same words Sohrab’s father used when they were young…” For you, a thousand times over.” He feels that he is paying back Hassan’s debt, when he helped him fly kites by teaching his son. In Khaled, (371), he uses an example of flakes, which are once hard but are melted by the sun to symbolize redemption. This could mean that by finally saving Sohrab, the hard flakes, were his haunting past that was now melting away. The springs in this case could mean Sohrab’s new life.
In examination of the author’s current life, he has worked so hard to make amends with the people he betrayed in the past. The author now feels better since he has achieved to mend a bigger
part of his past. Betrayal has been an important lesson to the author. Without it, he would not feel the remorse to go back to Kabul and correct his mistakes. According to the author therefore, betrayal is not a strong idea but it is how others view actions. He is more careful not to repeat the same mistakes he committed in his early life. The author uses Amir’s current life to explain the aspect that life gives everyone a chance to correct his or her wrongs. Redemption comes with acceptance of new things, new people in our lives, losing loved ones as well as changing the environment. It was through this cycle that Amir finally made peace with his past. As the story ends, he is determined to go a step further to give Sohrab the best life he deserves in an effort to give him what he never gave his brother, Hassan. The Author’s past life hid much truth. However, the story reveals that no matter how long it takes, the truth will always come out, and when it does, we should accept it and move on with life.
Work Cited
- Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. London: Bloomsbury, 2004. Internet resource
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