‘There is a way to be good again’ (Hosseini 2). This is perhaps the enthralling statement in the novel. Uttered by Amir’s most trusted friend, the words serve to assure Amir that there is yet hope for redemption. Redemption is especially an important theme in the Kite Runner because sin and guilt resonate throughout the story. These words hit Amir like a hammer and he realizes that though his quest for salvation has not been quenched years on, there might just be a way out. For decades, Amir was haunted by his childhood memories despite his concerted efforts to repress them. It is this story of seeking elusive salvation that transcends time and culture to give us a well-crafted and highly emotive story in the kite runner.
Growing up, Amir, the protagonist, and Hassan, the servant’s son are inseparable and, like every boy their age, mischief follows them everywhere they go. They would’ climb trees in the driveway and using a shared mirror, reflect sunlight into their neighbors houses, annoying them terribly.’ (Hosseini 3) The boy’s friendship was in spite of their different religious sects or even class, Amir being the boss’ son and Hassan the servant’s. The only thing that puts a strain on this friendship bond is Amir’s perception that his father could love Hassan better. Amir, in his innocence, was constantly seeking for a way to redeem himself to ‘Baba’ having killed his mother in childbirth and not being as good as his father.
The most defining moment in the novel happens when Hassan is raped by Assef, their antagonist during a kite flying competition. When Assef tries to steal Amir’s and Hassan’s most prized possession, the blue kite, Hassan is adamant, and he refuses to part with it. He pays the price by being raped by Assef, a Taliban whose sense of freedom is spraying a multitude with bullets. That Amir is unable to defend his friend becomes his worst nightmare. The guilt he carries weighs him down, so much that the self-loathing he previously harbored for not being a perfect son to ‘baba’ increases tenfold. When he looks at the blue kite and then sees his friend’s pants on a heap of bricks (Hosseini 66) he is so overwhelmed by guilt that he bites into his fist, so hard, that it bleeds, and he weeps. The ‘lamb’ look on Hassan’s face is more than he can bear. He knows that Hassan was raped for protecting his kite and at that moment, he realizes that he has betrayed his only friend, a friend who could have as easily laid down his life for him.
Despite the fact that he pretends he knows nothing about the incidence, Amir finds all ways possible to make it up to Hassan and rid his guilt which haunts him so much he becomes an insomniac. It is pitiful that a small boy his age would carry so much guilt and work so hard to redeem himself. His attempts to avoid thinking about Hassan and the horrible incidence by reading, writing and studying do little to alleviate the pain he feels. When he feels ready to forget, he invites Hassan to read with him under s pomegranate tree, but he then realizes that his quest for redemption has not been quelled. He puts up a futile attempt to redemption by picking up a fight with Hassan, hoping that maybe Hassan will hit him so hard that they will now be even. To his frustrations, Hassan does not hit him back. When Amir insists to Hassan to ‘Get up! And Hit me back! (Hosseini 80)Hassan reacts by hitting himself instead which further aggravates Amir.
Amir realizes that the journey to redemption is not going to be an easy one and decides that he must separate himself from Hassan so as to attain true healing. In his final attempt to seek forgiveness from Hassan, he leaves him envelopes of money and his new watch. Although Hassan does not carry the valuables, as they leave with Ali, we cannot ignore the gesture that marks Amir’s start of a journey to redemption. With the war break out in Afghanistan, Amir and his father flee to America, and while he is comfortable there, miles and miles away from the horrible memories, he is still unsettled. The distance has not brought him any form of redemption. When he is about to give up, someone gives him a lifeline, and he is not ready to let it go. Not this time.
It is interesting to note that throughout the story, Amir is seeking for atonement, for redemption through forgiveness of things that he had little or no control over. As a small boy, he does not fully comprehend the dynamics that govern master-servant relationship, and while this is ethnically defined, he feels responsible. He feels guilty of Hassan’s determination to suffer on his behalf and although his decisions, in part, have devastating repercussions for Hassan, he is still but a boy. It does not warrant the guilt he carries along for so many years. His shortcomings are perfectly understandable, and we have all been guilty of most of the mistakes he commits, we have treated our friends in spite, we have been cowards, we have jealously sought and guarded our parents’ approval, but few of us have suffered have the proportions Amir did. His crimes may have been awful, deeply, but they are forgivable in equal depth. However, the author indicates to us that finding atonement within ourselves, forgiving ourselves is ‘the way to be good again’ (Hosseini 2)’
Works Cited
Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. New York: Riverhead, 2003.
