The Theme of Guilt in The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Imagine a perfect world where you and your family have everything you've ever wanted: the perfect house , the perfect jobs , the perfect friends. But then in just a blink of an eye it’s all gone, the things that once brought you joy no longer bring you the same joy. And suddenly everyone and everything you once had is just a distant memory that brings you pain. This is how Amir felt after the night in the alley that night his whole world changed and the person that once brought him joy no longer brought him joy. He couldn’t be happy no matter what direction  he went in due to the guilt he felt because of Hassan’s assault. The kite that  flew high in the sky  no longer had the same meaning it once did to Amir because when he looked at it now all he felt was nothing but guilt because of what he couldn't do for Hassan . In Khaled Hosseini's , The Kite Runner , Hosseini emphasizes the importance of how if guilt is not not dealt with it can lead you to a lifetime of pain  and grief .

Amir goes through many life changing and coming of age moments throughout the novel. While this is occurring readers see Amir be consumed by guilt. Towards the beginning before the assault the author emphasizes on what Amir had and what Hassan didn’t. Amir was able to read and write like any child that age in America but Hassan did not have that privilege. Therefore when Amir and Hassan went up to the pomegranate tree for Amir to read, he would tease Hassan. Although even though he teased Hassan the readers are able to concur, Amir did feel guilt about this when he says, “Still, I don’t know it.” If he felt the sting of my tease, his smiling face didn’t show it.“Well, everyone in my school knows what it means,” I said. “Let’s see. ‘Imbecile.’ It means smart, intelligent. I’ll use it in a sentence for you. ‘When it comes to words, Hassan is an imbecile.’” “Aaah,” he said, nodding. I would always feel guilty about it later. So I’d try to make up for it by giving him one of my old shirts or a broken toy. I would tell myself that was amended enough for a harmless prank” (Hosseini, 25). The author emphasizes Amir’s cruel ness in this quote by focusing on how Amir felt as if this was a harmless little prank because Hassan had no knowledge to fight back with. Yet the readers are also able to see from this that doing this sort of thing to Hassan made Amir feel guilty because he was treating him in a way that made Hassan feel like he was less than Amir. Amir ultimately holds on to this guilt because he feels as if he treated Hassan poorly as a child. Ultimately the reader can conclude that this is the beginning of the guilt that Amir will build onto throughout the next few years. When the story first begins the author foreshadows the assault and the guilt and remorse that Amir will experience through this coming of age novel. The readers can see this when Amir says , “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”. The author illustrates a picture in the reader's head with this quote allowing a peek into the novel before the reader knows the whole story. But just this one little quote has a huge impact because it allows the reader to understand how much guilt and how many mistakes Amir has made throughout the 26 years of his life. It supports my thesis because Amir learns he cannot bury his guilt that unless it is dealt with it will stick with you like it did with him for the past 26 years.

There is a wide range of ways Amir shows the readers how he feels guilt  and experiences it throughout the novel. The next way Amir’s guilt is shown in the novel is when right after Hassan’s assault in the novel. Amir recalls Hassan’s dream of the monster. In Hosseini , The Kite Runner Amir feels the guilt when he thinks of Hassan’s dream , “I thought about Hassan’s dream, the one about us swimming in the lake. There is no monster, he’d said, just water. Except he’d been wrong about that. There was a monster in the lake. It had grabbed Hassan by the ankles, dragged him to the murky bottom. I was that monster”( Hosseini, 56). This quote shows how Amir is slowly becoming consumed by the guilt for what he did to Hassan. Amir believed that winning the kite tournament would allow his guilt to be set free from the pain he had endured over the years from his father because of his mothers death but because of the new found guilt because of the betrayal of Hassan instead of reliving his guilt he has added on to it. Therefore was it really all the guilt from Hassan that really changed Amir’s life or was it the guilt from his father that changed Amir’s life ? Amir imagines a conversation with baba where baba really takes an interest in Amir other than just pushing him to the side like he normally does. In this quote we see how Amir really feels about his relationship with his father and the guilt that he feels because of his mothers death. We see this when Amir says , “And maybe, just maybe, I would finally be pardoned for killing my mother”(Hosseini, 40) . In this quote we see that all Amir wants in his life is to be accepted by baba and because his mother dies while giving birth to Amir baba feels as if it is Amir’s fault that his mother is dead. This guilt has consumed Amir ever since he was a young child but as he gets older we see him long even more for his fathers attention as he is trying to reconnect and get over the guilt because of his mothers death. Therefore overall Amir is not dealing with his guilt, making the guilt not only stay with him longer but also become more powerful over the years.

While Amir is growing up the readers can see him change and progress into society. But one thing never changed: he never stopped replying to people until the end of the novel. Amir and Hassan grew up close, they lived in the same house and they shared everything together. Amir was content with this except for when it came to Baba , Baba was his and Amir felt as if Hassan had his own dad and Amir had his. Therefore when it comes to Baba Amir was not willingly going to share. That’s why when baba would ask Amir and Hassan to go do something with him Amir would tell Baba a lie as to why Hassan couldn’t go. The reader sees this when Amir says , “Why not!” Lately, Baba agreed to everything I asked. Not only that, just two nights before, he’d asked me if I wanted to see El Cid with Charlton Heston at Cinema Aryana. “Do you want to ask Hassan to come along to Jalalabad? ”Why did Baba have to spoil it like that? “He’s mareez,” I said. Not feeling well. “Really?” Baba stopped rocking in his chair. “What’s wrong with him?” I gave a shrug and sank in the sofa by the fireplace. “He’s got a cold or something. Ali says he’s sleeping it off.”…“IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN just the two of us—that was the way I wanted it—but by Wednesday night, Baba had managed to invite another two dozen people ” (Hosseini, 53&54). In this quote the author emphasizes Amir’s feelings of being left out by his father. His father has never really taken the time out to have a relationship with Amir and it makes Amir feel guilty like he did something wrong to make Baba feel this way about him. But he also feels guilty that he lied to Baba and didn’t invite Hassan on this trip just because of the guilt that was eating away at him. And he ultimately will live with the guilt that he didn’t try and make things better with Hassan; he just pushed him away. I think this quote really illustrates how selfish Amir can be. The reader also can see this selfishness when Amir frames Hassan for taking his birthday presents. Which caused a massive blowout in the family. Yet we see Amir frame Hassan with no guilt until he starts to see the repercussions actually beginning to occur right in front of him. We see this when Amir says , “Either way, this much had become clear: One of us had to go” (Hosseini , 64). The author alludes to how selfish Amir is in this quote he has no remorse for the tears and sadness that are about to occur but of his actions. But after he starts to see these repercussions we really start to see the guilt build up on Amir. He almost feels as if he is the one guilty for Amir and Ali’s death because if he hadn't framed Hassan they wouldn’t have moved out and they would have been able to move to America with Baba and Amir. Ultimately Amir’s selfishness and actions led to the guilt that Amir felt in the future.

Throughout someone's lifetime they will ultimately experience some sort of guilt or battle. Yet human’s remarkably find a way to put themselves in a peace of mind that helps them make up for the previous guilt or battle. In Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner one of the main themes is guilt and whether Amir can redeem himself for what he did throughout the novel. He has struggled with this weight bearing guilt from his childhood for his whole life and is not only consumed by it but also tortured by it. Because he left his best friend to be assaulted without supporting or defending him. At the end of the novel Amir learns to stand up for himself and others and finds redemption in Sohrab. This is a very important lesson that many of us can learn from ultimately that no matter what we did in our past we have to learn to forgive ourselves and take steps forward instead of holding onto the guilt and constantly taking steps backwards.