The Kite Runner – Importance of Forgiveness Essay Example

Amir starts to worry and goes after him. Amir finds Hassan in an alley where Assef and his friends rape him. Amir just stands there; he’s scared and doesn’t know what to do, so he leaves the alley. When Hassan comes back, he is bleeding.

Hassan never tells anyone what has happened, and after this day the friendship isn’t the same anymore between Amir and Hassan. However, kindhearted Hassan unconditionally loves Amir like a brother and forgives him. Hassan will do anything to protect Amir. Years later, Hassan again explains his forgiveness by writing a letter to Amir. He writes that he was in a similar situation like Amir; he didn’t have another choice than watching someone being hurt. He writes, “… but what could I do except stand and watch my wife get beaten up? If I fought, that dog would have surely put a bullet in me…” (216).

Hassan tells Amir this story to make him feel better. Sometimes it is better to not get involved; it can make the situation worse. Furthermore, Amir forgives Baba for not telling him that Amir and Hassan are half-brothers. Hassan gets treated very well by Baba, considering he is a server at Baba’s house. Hassan gets great birthday presents, and he is always welcome to father-son activities with Amir and Baba. Sometimes Amir is jealous and doesn’t understand why Hassan gets treated the same as himself. Amir wants to be treated better, because he is Baba’s son, and Hassan is Baba’s servant.

What Amir doesn’t know is that Hassan is his half-brother. Years later, Rahim Kahn tells him this when Amir visits him in Pakistan. Amir learns that a

long time ago, Baba had an affair with a Hazara woman, which was socially unacceptable. Out of this affair, a child was born: Hassan. Hassan is not Ali’s son; Hassan is Baba’s son. Baba never tells Amir, and this makes Amir very angry and disappointed. For Amir, his father is a hero and not a liar. However, when Rahim Kahn explains Baba’s situation and why he acted this way, Amir starts to understand Baba, and he forgives him.

Finally, Amir gets over his guilt by going back to Kabul, rescuing Sorhab, and making up for what he has done to Hassan; he forgives himself. Hassan stands up for Amir many times, but Amir can’t stand up for Hassan when Hassan gets raped, and Amir can’t get over his guilt. When Amir goes back to Kabul, Rahim Kahn tells Amir to rescue Sorhab, Hassan’s son, from an orphanage in Kabul. Even though at first Amir doesn’t want to, he does finally go looking for Sorhab. Amir knows that this is his chance to make up for his past. He knows that he has to do this for Hassan.

Therefore, Amir hits the road and finds Sorhab not in the orphanage, but held captive by Assef. Amir finally stands up for someone, for Hassan’s son, and gets brutally beaten up by Assef. Amir feels great. “I laughed … and the harder I laughed, the harder he kicked me … I’d even been looking forward to this … my body was broken… but I felt healed“ (289). Amir knows that this is his punishment, and he knows that he deserves it. Standing up for Hassan’s son and later taking care

of him lets Amir finally get over his guilt and forgive himself.

Overall, the novel shows that everybody deserves to be forgiven; it may take more time for some to forgive, but in the end all the characters forgive each other. Hassan gets brutally raped, and his best friend doesn’t stand up for him. As much as it hurts, Hassan forgives Amir right away. Baba is a hero to Amir, at least until Rahim Kahn tells him about Baba’s dishonesty. Baba lies about what his relationship to Hassan really is. Baba is Hassan’s father, and so Hassan is Amir’s half-brother. When Amir starts to understand the reasons why Baba lied to him, he forgives him. Finally Amir does what Rahim Kahn tells him.

Amir rescues Sorhab from Assef and takes care of him. By taking care of Hassan’s son, he feels like he is making up for what he has done to Hassan. Amir can finally forgive himself. Rahim Kahn was right when he said, “There is a way to be good again” (2). The novelist, Khaled Hosseini tells a story that takes place in a broken world where many people do bad deeds; therefore, many deeds need forgiveness. Forgiveness is very important in this beautifully written novel; at the end they all forgive each other. Works Cited Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner New York: Penguin, 2003. Print.