Guilt and Loyalty in The Kite Runner Literature Essay Sample

Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner follows two young boys as they grow up through a variety of themes. Guilt and loyalty, I believe, are two major themes in this work. In this text, the theme of guilt and loyalty is repeatedly demonstrated. These themes demonstrate how the characters in the book were affected by them.

The Kite Runner is a story about two young boys who grow up together. Amir lives with his father, Baba, and their two servants, Rahim and Hassan. Hassan became Amir's friend, yet one of them was far more trustworthy than the other. They encountered various difficulties in their friendship as they grew older, which eventually caused them to grow apart. And now Amir is plagued by guilt, whereas Hassan has been nothing but loyal to him.

Amir is plagued with guilt, and it is evident throughout the novel. Amir and Hassan entered a kite-flying event when they were kids, for example, and he feels guilty about it. The blue kite flew away after Hassan won Amir's kite, and Hassan wanted to go retrieve it for Amir because he won, kite running. After being congratulated, Amir rushed to find Hassan, but when he did, he saw that he was going to be beaten up by three boys. Hassan had two options: either give up the kite or be beaten. Hassan refused to give up the kite, so the boys beat him. They not only beat him, but one of them, Assef, raped him, and Amir did nothing but watch and then run. “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 stood up for me all of those times in the past- and accept whatever would happen to me. Or I could run. In the end, I ran. I ran because I was a coward.” (Hosseini 77). Amir kept quiet and chose to live with the shame of knowing what had happened to his friend rather than doing anything about it. Amir only cared about his blue kit, which he claimed was the key to his father's heart. “Behind him, sitting on piles of scrap and rubble, was my blue kite. The key to Baba's heart.” (Hosseini 71) This demonstrates that all Amir cared about was improving his relationship with his father and making him proud, rather than standing up for his friend. Amir wanted to change because of the guilt he had carried his entire life, but when he was an adult and wanted to visit Afghanistan, he discovered that Hassan was his half-brother, which increased his guilt. And when he found out Hassan had a son, he was determined to track him down and save him because Hassan had died. Amir did exactly that, doing everything he could to reclaim him, even confronting Assef. Even though he saved Hassan's son he still has so much guilt in him that he wants to redeem with his own son.

This brings us to Hassan's central theme of loyalty, which runs throughout the novel. That same day of the kite flying tournament, Hassan proved to be a very faithful companion to Amir. Hassan told Amir that he was going to go collect Amir's blue kite once he won, but after he started running, Hassan turned around and stated “For you, a thousand times over” (Hosseini 67). This was repeated several times throughout the book, and it demonstrates Hassan's devotion to Amir by stating that he would do anything for him. After rushing into an alley to fetch the kite, Hassan was pursued by a group of guys who wanted Amir's kite but Hassan refused to give it up, so one of the boys in the group, Assef raped Hassan as a punishment. “Amir agha won the tournament and I ran this kite for him. I ran it fairly. This is my kite” (Hosseini 72) “I've changed my mind,” Assef said. “ I’m letting you keep the kite, Hazara. I’ll let you keep it so it will always remind you of what I’m about to do.” (Hosseini 73). Hassan was raped by Assef at this very moment. This demonstrates Hassan's loyalty to Amir, as he would sacrifice everything for him yet Amir would not do the same for him.

Overall, I believe the two most essential themes in this novel are guilt and loyalty since it depicts the differences between the two children, their strengths and weaknesses, and what each of them would do for the other. It also demonstrates how it can alter your personality.