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Monday, September 8, 2008

About The Kite Runner






















Loyalty and Redemption in The Kite Runner

Amir’s search for redemption and Hassan’s sense of loyalty are salient aspects in K. Hosseini’s touching story, The Kite Runner.
One of the most important themes is redemption. One of the protagonists and narrator of the story, Amir was not loyal to his best friend Hassan and he could not stand up for him when he needed his help. He watched him get raped by Assef and his friends, bullies who hated Hassan because he was an inferior Hazara. Amir was not able to do anything because he was paralyzed by fear. After this terrible event, Ali and Hassan left Amir’s and Baba’s home and they did not hear anything from them for many years later.
As time went by, Amir could not get rid of the ghosts of his childhood. He could not forgive himself for letting Assef and his friends rape Hassan. Amir grew up into an adult and he found the opportunity he had been searching in order to find redemption, there was “a way to be good again”. After the death of his friend he found the chance to help his son Sohrab who was in the hands of terrible people. He had been taken out of the orphanage and abused sexually. When he got to the place where Sohrab was, Amir found out that one of these men was Assef, the same who had abused Hassan long before. To free Sohrab, Amir had to fight Assef and he ended up very hurt and almost dead. But at the end he was able to take Sohrab out of that horrible place. This time Amir showed courage to stand up for what he wanted and the one he cared for. He did not reach redemption until the end of the story, when he saw a smile and a nod from Sohrab. This was the best that had happened to him in a really long time.
Amir was able to get the best and most fulfilling gift of all: redemption. When people do things that they are not proud of or they regret doing them they try to make amends. “True redemption is when guilt leads to good” (p.302).
Another principal theme of this novel is loyalty. It is represented mostly by Hassan, who was devoted to Amir, and would do everything he could to please him. He considered him his brother and his best friend. He would give his own life in order to save Amir’s. The phrase “for you a thousand times over” shows Hassan’s love and devotion to Amir. Even when Amir betrayed him, Hassan never showed resentment. He remembered him as a very good person. Sohrab told Amir that his father always talked very fondly about him. He said that he was a brother to him and an excellent person.
Loyalty is something that is not commonly found among people. To be loyal is to be devoted to the people you love, always telling them the truth and being by their side, helping them and forgiving any wrongdoing they have done to you. You will always be by their side and will never leave that person alone. Hassan was a perfect example of this. Amir could be considered the opposite all along the story, but in the end, something changed inside him, and he pronounced the same exact words “for you a thousand times over” to Sohrab. In a way, he is returning Hassan the loyalty that he had given him all his childhood.
The novel The Kite Runner makes an excellent reference of these two themes and helps the reader understand them through the different characters and the different situations in life. It also shows how important values such as loyalty and redemption are in people’s lives.

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