Personal Narrative Essay: The Kite Runner

Once back in Kabul, Amir takes steps he would never have imagined, which truly define his character. On his venture back to Afghanistan he learns the truth about Hassan’s connection with Baba. After hearing this Amir feels robbed of the truth and is angry at how his own father could hold this back from him. Despite his feelings, Amir realizes he must not only pay for his betrayal of Hassan but for Baba’s betrayal of Ali too. Amir knows he must face his fears and he understands this when he reveals, “I remembered Baba saying that my problem was that someone had always done my fighting for me" (Hosseini 239). Following this he undertakes a personal mission to find Sohrab and finds the courage to stand up to the Taliban, nearly dying in the process. During his quest Amir comes face to face with the disturbing Assef and fights him for Sorab, the ultimate sacrifice for his dead half-brother. While he is beaten he begins to laugh, which angers Assef even more. Amir explains that, “What was so funny was that, for the first time since the winter of 1975, I felt at peace" (Hosseini 303). After successfully bringing Sohrab back to California, Amir defends his Hazara nephew when General Taheri insults him. Over the dinner

“There is a way to be good again” (2). This is the line that rolls through Amir's mind over and over throughout Khaled Hosseini's novel, The Kite Runner. This is the story of a mans struggle to find redemption. The author illustrates with the story of Amir that it is not possible to make wrongs completely right again because its too late to change past. In this novel Hosseini is telling us that redemption is obtainable, and by allowing us to see Amirs thought process throughout the novel, Hosseini shows us that it guilt is the primary motivation for someone who seeks redemption. Hosseini also uses not only the main character, but other secondary characters to show how big of a part that guilt plays in the desire for redemption. In this

Born in Kabul, Afghanistan, Amir was the son of a wealthy social worker. He was brought up with the son of his servant, and perhaps his only best friend, Hassan. Amir had a rocky relation with his father. At times, it seemed as his father loved him but those moments didn’t lasted forever. He thinks Baba (his father) wishes Amir were more like him, and that Baba holds him responsible for killing his mother, who died during his birth. Despite being best friends, Amir thinks that Hassan is beneath him because he belonged to an inferior cast. He used to mock him jokingly or tried to outsmart him. In all fairness, it was Amir’s cowardly nature that

When they were still children Hassan and Armir were always abused by Assef. One day when Assef was about to beat them with his famous brass knuckles, Hassan showed courage and stood up for him and his friend. “ But perhaps you didn’t notice that I’m the one holding the slingshot. If you make a move, they’ll have to change your nickname from Assef ‘The Ear Eater’ to ‘One-eyed Assef’ because I have this rock pointed at your left eye’ (42). Hassan was willing to stand up for himself and his best friend even though there was a really good chance that it could end badly for the both of them but he just wanted to keep everyone safe. This comes into play later in the story, Hassan has died and Armir has learned that Hassan is actually his half brother and has had a boy named Sohrab. Armir needs to find Sohrab, and when he does he learns that he has been taken by a man, this man we learn is Assef. Assef tells Armir that he can have Sohrab if he fights him and only one of them will survive. In the beginning of the fight Armir is taking quite a beating but he feels as though he deserves it. “What was so funny was that, for the first time since the winter of 1975, I felt at peace... I hadn’t been happy and I hadn’t felt better, not at all. But I did now… I felt healed. Healed at last” (289). Armir felt as if he deserved the pain because of what he put Hassan through.

Completely by different circumstances are the members of the middle generation shaped – Amir, Hassan and Assef. Their childhood covers the transitional part of Afghanistan’s 20-th century history. Of course, the boys are really different in nature, but Soviet occupation is what caused such different roads to be chosen by the three characters. And that huge change in their lives determined who they are going to grow into as adults.

From reading chapters one to four, one of the main aspects of Amir and Hassan’s relationship is the sense of control Amir has over Hassan. It becomes apparent that Amir is the one with the most authority in their friendship when he ‘talked’ Hassan into firing walnuts at the neighbour’s one-eyed German shepherd, ‘Hassan never wanted to, but if I asked, really asked, he wouldn’t deny me’. This highlights the way Hassan looks up to Amir and obeys him due to their religious, cultural and social differences, ‘I was a Sunni and he was a Shi’a’. Nevertheless, Amir does express his sensitive side towards Hassan and feels protective over him, especially when he can see he’s upset, ‘I reached across my seat, slung my

One day Asseff rapes Hassan as an act of power, and Amir witnesses the actions but acts in a cowardly matter and simply avoids the matter by ignoring it. Amir then proceeds to cut off the relationships between himself and Hassan, “I actually aspired to cowardice, but the real reason I was running, was that Asseff was right. Nothing was free in this world. Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay to win Baba. Was it a fair price? The answer floated to my conscious mind before I could thwart it: He was just a Hazara. Wasn’t he?” Amir did it because the traditional and historical beliefs were more important than friendship. This action displays how being born in a different social class can outweigh all feelings of love and friendship with one of a different social group.

One triumphant day, Amir won the local kite fighting tournament and finally earned Baba’s praise. Hassan ran to retrieve the losing kite, which was considered a trophy, and told Amir “For you, a thousand times over”. When Hassan finally obtained the kite, he was cornered by Assef and his friends. Assef was the neighborhood bully and had tortured Amir and Hassan for years. When Hassan refused to give up the kite, Assef beat and raped him. Amir watched the whole thing but didn’t interfe because he didn’t want to lose the respect of his father. The guilt ate Amir alive. “That was a long time ago, but it’s wrong what they say about the past, I’ve learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out. Looking back now, I realize I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years.” Soon after the incident, Amir tried to distance himself from Hassan and Hassan and his father eventually leave. A couple years later, Amir and Baba flee to America to escape the war in Afghanistan. Amir graduates and gets married but even after all those years;

‘Maybe he’s sick’” (Hosseini 81). This was the scene after Amir watched Hassan be raped and he did nothing to help him. Even though Assef didn't hurt Amir in the cruel way he hurt Hassan, Amir was still hurt. Amir lost his friend because of Assef. Not because Hassan wanted to stop being friends but because Amir couldn't stand himself for not sticking up for Hassan. Assef is so cruel that not only does he directly hurt people he also indirectly hurt them. That is because the people in the story are all so closely connected when one suffers everyone suffers. Assef’s cruelty impacted everyone in the story and no one could escape him. Hassan impacted everyone in an opposite way, he strived to make everyone happy no matter what the cost was to him. “‘Hit me back!’ I snapped. Hassan looked from the stain on his chest to me. ‘Get up! Hit me!’ I said. Hassan did get up, but he just stood there…” (Hosseini 92). Even when Amir was mean to Hassan and begged Hassan to punish him for what he did, Hassan never cracked. Amir knew Hassan wouldn’t give in no matter how bad he wanted him to. Hassan impacted everyone around him in a good way because he was set in his ways. Even though

Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner is a remarkable coming-of-age novel describing and revealing the thoughts and actions of Amir, a compunctious adult in the United States and his memories of his affluent childhood in the unstable political environment of Afghanistan. The novel showcases the simplistic yet powerful ability of guilt to influence decisions and cause conflict which arises between Amir’s childhood friend and half-brother, Hassan; Amir’s father, Baba; and importantly, himself. Difference in class The quest to become “good again” causes a reflection in Amir to atone for his sins and transform into the person of which he chooses to be.

Since the beginning of time, women have had to fight rigorously for basic human rights. In the western stratosphere, those human rights were achieved in the early 20th century, but in a lot of eastern countries the battle for the women is just beginning, or worse hasn't even started. Women in Afghanistan have been subject to heinous circumstances, even though their religion, Islam "demanded that men and women be equal before God,"(Qazi). Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner offers a very insightful view of the governing politics of Afghanistan pre-Taliban regime and during the Taliban regime, and the differing situation of women in both those eras. Based on the book and outside research, it is evident that the situation of women in

From chapter fifteen the author changes the structure to chronological order and gives the stage to Rahim khan for a chapter(sixteen)in which we discover Hassan’s back story all these years. The author tells us those historical events that took place in Afghanistan affects the lives of the characters by contrasting Assef versus Amir. Assef is representative of the Taliban’s which represents new rules, discomfort, violence, new Afghanistan. Whereas Amir in other hand represents peace, old rules, old tradition, love and old Afghanistan. Hassan and Sohrab are a symbol of all the terrible things which have happened to both the characters and the country.

It’s been two days since then, Karim drove us to Palestine there I had planned to bury Baba’s body but, news of his death quickly spread throughout Afghanistan. Hordes of people began to show up. They were probably Baba’s friends or people he had helped in the past. I only recognized a few of the people here. It amazes me by how many people had been influenced by Baba. Then it was decided that we would have a proper funeral for Baba. All of the people there helped pay for the mosque and an imam khatib showed up to help with the prayer. Everyone showed up in nice clothes the day after while I was wearing a t-shirt and shorts. Once the prayers were over everyone paid their respects towards Baba. Then an old friend of Baba came up to me and said

First, Amir’s relationship with his father, Baba, helped create Amir’s identity. Their intricate relationship often left Amir feeling worthless as if he could not live up to the standards of a Pashtun. This negatively impacted Amir growing up; his values constantly changed as he tried to form a close bond with his father. Baba raised Amir to believe that everyone in Afghanistan had a certain role to play in life, but they should all be treated with respect. Baba’s values made Amir think he had disappointed his father. The high expectations that Baba had for Amir showed that he cared about their reputation. Being the child Amir was, he translated Baba’s hardness as though his father were unhappy to have a child such as Amir. Amir recounts the emotion displayed on his father’s face after an afternoon together; he laments, “Mostly I will never forget Baba’s valiant efforts to conceal the disgusted

The character of Assef is presented as a vile and heartless boy. He is disrespectful, a bully, a racist and a rapist. Amir recalls seeing his eyes ‘glinted with a light not entirely sane’. He is also referred to as a sociopath by Amir. Assef throughout the book commits horrific acts that are unjustified most of the time or are as a result of someone questioning his beliefs which are controversial.