Redemption In The Kite Runner By Khaled Hosseini
In The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, Amir goes through a lot. But he learns that you can be forgiven for things you have done. Amir gets to have another chance at life to make things right for good. In doing so he gets redemption. At the beginning of the novel, Amir lacks the courage to stand up for himself. By the end of the novel, Amir is motivated by feelings of guilt to seek redemption by saving Sohrab.
At the beginning of the novel, Amir lacks courage and is motivated to gain Baba’s approval. Amir says “A boy who won’t stand up for himself becomes a man who can’t stand up to anything.” (Hosseini 22) Amir has never stood up for what is right, which makes him a coward. He was never able to let go of what he did, due to his cowardness. He is seeking Baba’s approval but he will never get it due to how he took his mother’s life. Amir watches Hassan in the alley but does not do anything, he should have stood up to Assef. When coming back to Afghanistan Amir started to forgive himself for what he had done to Hassan.
At the end of the novel, Amir gains an understanding of what he did wrong in his past. Amir is guilty of what he did to Hassan. Amir says “I had one last chance to make a decision. One final opportunity to decide who I was going to be. I could step into that alley, stand up for Hassan—the way he’d stood up for me all those times in the past—and accept whatever would happen to me. Or I could run. In the end, I ran.” (Hosseini 77) Amir saw things being done to Hassan that should never happen but Amir didn’t stop it. His guilt was too strong to fully forgive himself but having Sorab to now take care of, Amir is getting a due over.
Amir seeks redemption by taking care of Sohrab. Amir says, “Would you like to come to live in America with me and my wife?” (Hosseini 320) Amir cares for Sohrab and the way he shows that is by wanting Sorab to be “his” maybe even be a part of his family forever. Amir wants to take Sohrab to be forgiven of the horrible things he did. By this, he got redemption for something that was not fixed before but is now.
Amir redeems his actions little by little. Amir takes Sohrab home to give him a better home but ruefully Amir wanted to take his nephew home to be forgiven. The reader can learn that your mistakes can be made up but it won’t happen fast it may take time.
