4 | Rebecca Wright
1 | Rebecca WrightAnalyse how the theme of redemption is conveyed in Hosseini's The Kite Runner.The search for redemption is the main theme within this novel in two key ways. Amir wants to redeem himself in the eyes of Baba, his father. Amir believes Baba blames him for the death of his wife. After the kite tournament, when Amir gains Baba's approval to some extent, Amir seeks redemption off Hassan after running away from the alley where he was raped, because "we was just a Hazara, wasn't he?"The novel explains how Amir craves redemption from Baba throughout his life, and Baba hardly responds to Amir's love and sacrifice. During the novel, Amir realises he must "find a ...view middle of the document...
The way he can get Baba's approval is by winning the largest kite tournament in Kabul with Hassan, his friend. Baba tells Amir, "I think maybe you'll win the tournament this year." (Chapter 6). This gives Amir the determination to do well. Even during the tournament, all he thinks about is Baba, and how proud he'd be if Amir won. He triumphs in the tournament and Hassan retrieves the kite for him. Baba talks about the Kite Tournament to all his friends on the way to Jalalabad (Chapter 8). Even in chapter 10, when Amir has grown into a young man, he still seeks the approval off his father, and feels as if he is embarrassing Baba. Amir finally sees a similarity between him and his father later in the novel; they both betrayed their true friends and both sought redemption for their pasts.After Chapter 7, Amir also tries to redeem himself because of witnessing the rape of Hassan by Assef in the alley and not doing anything about it. It is ironic that this problem arises from the other. If the kite had been given to the other boys, Hassan would be fine, but Amir desperately wanted love from his father and this is one of the reasons why he let it happen. When this guilt first arises, he ignores it because he finally has the love off Baba that he always wanted; Baba was no longer ashamed to call Amir his son and was happy to read his stories. Hassan vows to bring the kite back, and does, but it comes at a cost, and Amir knows this, but puts the dreadful situation to one side, and embraces Baba's love. The first time Amir actually recognises the seriousness of the situation is when he says, "I watched Hassan get raped" (Chapter 8).We are aware that Amir starts to realise that he needs to redeem himself. He wishes that Hassan would hit him with the pomegranates and even though Amir is hitting Hassan, Hassan won't do it back; instead, he hits himself with the pomegranate and leaves (Chapter 8). Amir ultimately gets what he wanted. He comes face to face with Assef, the boy who'd raped Hassan, now a man. At the beginning, Amir says, "When a coward stops remembering who he is…God help him." (Chapter 22) This makes us think that he is giving up on redeeming himself, however he does succeed in retrieving Sohrab. Amir is severely injured by Assef, but he laughs during the fight, because he finally feels happy and "healed".Amir discovers more about himself as the story goes on. The rape of Hassan is put to the back of his mind until he is reunited with Rahim Khan, Baba's close friend (Chapter 15). It was said to Amir that, "A boy who can's stand up for himself becomes a man who can't stand up to anything." And so Amir decides he must act on the past and make things right. Rahim Khan tells Amir that Hassan is his brother. By chapter 18, when Amir has discovered the truth about Hassan, he questions the validity of Baba's words. "There is only one sin - theft". He believes Baba has denied him from a brother, Hassan from his identity and Ali from his hon...
