The Kite Runner Redemption

The Kite Runner written by Afghan-American author Khaled Hosseini. Also his first book written. It tells the story of Amir, a young boy from the Akbar Khan district of Kabul, who has a best friend that he would do anything for named Hassan. Themes of redemption are shown quite frequently in the book with a important scene showing an act of violence against Hassan that Amir could have prevented but he just stood and watched. The rest of the book shows Amir's attempts to make up for this mistake by rescuing Hassan's twenty years later. Throughout all of Amir’s life, he is looking for redemption. Whether Amir is saying the wrong thing or hiding himself from a hurtful truth so he won't hurt himself more, he always finds new things he will have to redeem himself for.

In this novel there are many different quotes about my theme, redemption. The first one that stood out the most was “ What was so funny was that, for the first time since the winter of 1975 I felt at peace. I laughed because I saw that, in some nook in the corner of my mind, I had been looking forward to this.” (303) This quote shows how Amir feels at peace after Assef almost kills him. He feel as thought taking the beating from Assef finally him showing that he would do anything for Hassan. He is, in a way finally redeeming himself for his wrong doing and he standing up for not only Hassan, but his son also.

My next quote comes from a letter that was written by Amir's old friend and he received the letter after just being being beaten by Assef. He reads the letter in the hospital and then without saying anything shoves it under his hospital bed one part of the letter stated, “Sometimes I think everything he did, feeding the poor on the streets, building the orphanage, giving money to friends in need, it was all his way of redeeming himself. And that, I believe, is what true redemption is, Amir jan, when guilt leads to good.” (316) This quote shows Rahim Khan's letter to Amir where he tries to teach him about redemption using his father as an example. This helps Amir understand how to redeem himself of all of his mistakes

My last quote comes from the beginning half of the book during the kite tournament. Amir has been searching for Babas approval his whole life and he believes by winning this tournament can help him achieve that, hers is the quote from the kite tournament, “I was going to win, and I was going to run the last kite. Then I’d bring it home and show it to Baba. Show him once and for all that his son is worthy. Then maybe my life as a ghost in this house would finally be over.” (60) In this quote Amir says that since he won the kite tournament, the only thing he needs to show his dad is the final kite. Amir thinks that his dad does not love him and unless he wins the kite tournament and brings home the last kite, his dad will continue to not pay attention to him.

In conclusion Amir has been fighting guilt and looking for ways to redeem himself his whole life. He knew after he betrayed Hassan he had ruined their relationship forever. That guilt of what he did do was haunting him his whole life, almost 20 years later Amir finally found a way to redeem himself even though Hassan is no longer living. This book shows people a lot about redemption and how someone feels after finally letting go of guilt even if it was years before.  

Cite this page