In my english class we are reading the book called the “Kite Runner,” written by Khaled Hosseini. This book itself is about fierce cruelty and fierce love. This book can also be considered to be a journey novel. A journey of redemption and self- awareness. This novel is different because it starts at the end, meaning that when you read the book the “Kite Runner,” Khaled Hosseini starts to like give flashbacks on the things that happened in his life and the things he wished he could’ve done differently.
For an example, in the beginning of the novel it starts off with Amir getting a call from his friend named, Rahim Khan who is from Pakistan. His friend Rahim Khan asks Amir if he can go to Pakistan to visit him. But for some reason he said that he knew that Rahim Khan wasn’t on the phone alone, as he said in his novel. In his novel he had said that “It was my past of unatoned sins. ” After he had finished with the phone call he had walked over to a parked called the Golden Gate Park. As he was just walking around the park he had just zoned out. He was looking around just thinking.
Then he had noticed kites flying in the air different colors and different designs. As soon as he noticed them he thought of his best friend Hassan. In his book he had said “And suddenly Hassan’s voice whispered in my head: For you, a thousand times over. Hassan the harelipped kite runner. ” And he remembered that before he hung up the phone with Rahim Khan, he had remembered that he had said something before he hung up, “There’s a way to be good again. ” Just looking back at the whole book, the characters and the symbols and the themes somehow make up truths about redemption.
In Amir’s eyes he tries to retrieve himself for Baba, his dad by winning the kite tournament with Hassan and bringing back the opponents losing kite and bring it to Babe. He wants to do this because he feels as though it was his fault that his mother died. She died when she was giving birth to him. So he feels guilty for his mother’s death. So that’s why he tries to redeem himself with Baba, so that it sorta make up for what he had loss when he was born. But in his head he would always feel like that no matter what. Another way that Amir’s truth of redemption also comes out when his best friend got raped by Assef.
He saw it happening and didn’t bother to help him. His dad would talk to his friend, Rahim Khan about Amir, he would say “A boy who can’t stand up for himself becomes a man who can’t stand up to anything,” as said in his novel. When Amir was a little boy he would never stand up for anything, but now that he’s a man that’s the only way he can redeem to himself by having enough willpower to stand up for himself and to courage himself to stand up for things that are right. And with that being said Amir does stand up for what’s right when he goes to Kabul to save his best friends son.
Amir made the choices that he made because now he’s older and how he knows what to do. Amir is no longer a coward and would do anything to stand up to things that are right. As you read this book you would recognize the different themes that appear. Themes of sacrifice, honor and redemption. These three themes illustrate different things. For example, the theme of sacrifice illustrates Amir and Hassan relationship. I say this because Hassan would do anything for Amir, just to make sure he’s safe and feels protected by his best friend.
Hassan would make sure that Amir is good before himself and that shows a lot of sacrifice. The theme of honor is illustrated when Baba treats Ali and Hassan as if they were immediate family. Even when knowing that Hassan is actually Amir’s half brother, Baba still treats them with honor and respect. And lastly for redemption, Amir tries to redeem himself with Baba by receiving the losing kite. While Amir changed throughout the years, he obviously made some mistakes. That is the way life works no one is perfect and everyone makes mistakes and they learn from the mistakes eventually in their life.
Some mistakes that Amir has made in the novel is when he didn’t stick up for Hassan when he was getting rapped which is the saddest part of the novel, well for me. Another mistake that he made when things were going bad was when he went to Kabul to get Hassan’s son. It was a mistake because he was tricked and ending up getting really hurt with fighting with Assef. Not only did Amir make mistakes his dad also made mistakes by having Hassan being Amir’s half brother. But like I said before that how life goes, you make mistakes and you grow from them and you mature from then as well.
From the mistakes that Amir has made he learns that by dealing with these mistakes it’s the only way that he will grow into a better, less of a coward person. With this being said the symbols and the motifs of the story contribute to the themes of the story because the novel has everything to do with it. Everything that happened in the story has it connections to each theme and each motifs and each symbols has a certain meaning behind it. While you read this novel you can also catch the amount of honor that is shown. For me the definition of honor is a privilege, it’s respect.
In the novel honor is a huge part of the book. Honor is basically a characteristic in the book because that’s what Hassan and his dad Baba have in the novel. An honorable person without flaws is not perfect. Everyone has flaws. Theres three key components to honor, the three key components ia caring about others, speaking the truth, and standing up for what you believe in. These key components come together and relate to the the redemption because that’s what it is,basically standing up for what you believe in. Saving someone or something from doing anything bad.
Amir redeems himself by winning the kite tournament and giving Baba the losing kite for a souvenir. And by adopting Hassan’s son. Some of Amirs flaws were being a coward, not sticking up for what he thought was right, being a selfish kid. He overcomes these flaws by growing up and being coming a selfless adult. He knows that him being selfish as a child has caused him a lot of damage in his life. And he knows that he can not take it back, but he can grow from it. But don’t you ever wonder if Hassan was still alive what would happen? Or what would he say to Amir?
I believe that Hassan will still be the same person that he was when he was little. I feel like he would forgive Amir for everything and act like nothing happened. Hassan would be grateful that Amir was the person to adopt his son. And if I was Hassan I would do the same, I would forgive. Life’s too short to hold grudges and since Amir changed I would’ve gave him the benefit of the doubt. Everyone deserves a second chance but after that no more. Like the famous quote “ You can’t make the same mistake twice, the second time you make it , it’s no longer a mistake, it’s a choice,” written by Steven Denn.
