A Lesson in the book The Kite Runner

The Kite Runner – A Tale of Guilt and Redemption
“For you, a thousand times over” (59) brings about the core essence of the great masterpiece constructed by Khaled Hosseini in The Kite Runner. The novel revolves around some themes; however, the theme of redemption overshadows every other aspect of the novel. The quoted statement is mentioned at different occasions in the novel as a sign of redemption from Ali, who was the son of wealthy Afghan merchant. At the very initial stage, Hassan had uttered these words, and he was Ali’s friend. However, he has witnessed him raped by Assef, who was the main antagonist of the novel. For the most part of the novel, Amir has been eagerly trying to make amends for his sins so that he could avoid the sorrows that have been caused. This is one of the reasons why Amir cringes to Hassan every time his name is mentioned.
From the very start till the end of the novel, Amir is plagued with a feeling of remorse and guilt starting with his relationship with his father. He has said, “I had killed his beloved wife, his beautiful princess, hadn’t I? The least I could have done was to have the decency to have turned out a little more like him” (17). Later in the novel, he has realized that he was wrong about it. However, this was not the only guilt associated with him alone. The very moment of Hassan being raped also redefined his dimension of guilt. He has uttered, “I became what I am today at the age of twelve” (1). This is the very reason he blames himself for protecting Hassan from being raped and left alone.

He has taken his failure as his greatest sin and realizes that he is cursed. He uttered, “I watched Hassan get raped … I understood the nature of my new curse: I was going to get away with it” (75).   Based on his very intentions and complex social strata of Afghan society, he has considered it as “the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay to win Baba. Was it a fair price? … He was just a Hazara, wasn’t he?” (68).
However, Amir has been presented with a chance of redemption in his life. He has received a call from Rahim Khan, who was a much more generous person presented in the novel. He has embarked on a trip to visit of his redemption. He has started unfolding those layers of internal damnation and self-remorse. As he begins to unfold those layers, he started losing the very weight of guilt from his shoulders. Rahim Khan made him realize that Hassan was his half-brother and was killed by one of the sinister acts of Taliban (Cliffnotes n.d.). However, he had been presented with a chance of forgiving himself when he found out that Hassan has a son named, Sohrab. Sohrab has been kept imprisoned by the Taliban official, Assef and is subjected to sexual abuse (Saraswat 170-171). Amir has gone into a fight with Aseef and taken him to the United States. At the end of the novel, Sohrab has his childhood back with Amir running kite with him. He has uttered the very same sentence, Hassan has told him, “For you, a thousand times over” (323).
The story behind the novel provides a sense of guilt and a way of finding redemption for that sin. In everyday’s life, humans make choices; some of them we are proud of and some of them we are not. The core essence of Amir’s life reflects our very own nature of doing wrong and making amends for it. The author has surely pointed out that we all have some choices in life that can avoid us feeling of shame and guilt (Sparknotes n.d.). Moreover, nature provides quite fewer people a chance to have redemption whereas other lives their lives in eternal guilt and discomfort. The lessons deduced from this very event surely serve as a reminder for each and every one of us to make amends for the sins that we have committed to avoiding such self-remorse. However, redemption is pictured as a way for the atonement of sins thereby providing an additional dimension of forgiveness as part of the novel. The main character, Amir, who has gone through tremendous mental agonies, has given people suffering from the weights of their sins to seek a way for redemption. The core essence of the novel put forward by Khaled Hosseini also reflects this very struggle of finding a peace of mind in the midst of chaos and ethical conflicts of society. The social and cultural diasporas of Afghan people was also eloquently defined and has presented a more vibrant outlook of Afghan people’s stance against the tyrants. The story surely has provided with some tragedies that allow us to ponder over the situation and stand by the righteous path to avoid such guilt and remorse.

Works Cited
Cliffsnotes, ‘Themes In The Kite Runner’. N.p., 2015. Web. 31 July 2015.
Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. London: Bloomsbury, 2011. Print.
Saraswat, Niraja. “Theme of Identity and Redemption in Khaleed Hossieni’s The Kite Runner.” International Journal of Interdisciplinary and Multidisciplinary Studies (IJIMS), 2014, 1(5): 166-175.
Sparknotes, ‘Sparknotes: The Kite Runner: Themes, Motifs, & Symbols’. N.p., 2015. Web. 31 July 2015.