This article explores guilt and perseverance in The Kite Runner as a motivation for an individual to seek redemption and achieve the satisfaction of self-actualization. Explained through the first-person narrative mode, the novel is structured as the journey of the memory of the protagonist Amir whose sense of remorse and guilt for the sin of having left behind his ever faithful friend Hassan, for reasons that are all too vague, they force him to commit acts of atonement by restitution. Amir's return to his homeland, tarnished and torn by war, fundamentalism and the turbulence of a Taliban-led regime, explains his journey to personal identity and redemption. Unlike Changez in The Reluctant Fundamentalist, in The Kite Runner, Amir faces no sense of identity crisis in his adopted homeland. Rather, he feels like an outsider when he returns to the changed reality of his hometown, Kabul. Amir's journey home to search for Hassan's surviving son Sohrab is filled with conflict, violence and violation. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In the novel, the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan is an unstable plane of clash and confrontation of identities and loyalties. As Seyham describes, the border inherently carries within it an idea of perpetual movement and comparison (201). The border is thus almost transformed into a real space in which comparisons between cultures, nationalities and languages take place, and in which, ideally, the culture of hybridity replaces the traditional idea of national identity. Amir is a cultural hybrid which makes him distinct and unique. Thus the novel revolves around the central axiom of the personal self permeated by prejudices and political permutations. Throughout life, everyone will face personal battles and guilt, some large and some small. Like the guilt of sneaking out, not doing your homework, or telling your thoughts. parents a little lie with a good purpose. People find peace of mind by redeeming themselves, in other words, let's do something that makes up for the cause of the guilt. Khaled Hosseini's novel “The Kite Runner” revolves around betrayal and redemption. Redemption is the act of saying or being saved from sin, mistake, or evil, which the main character Amir seems to need most. Amir lives with the guilt accumulated over the years due to an incident that occurred during his childhood. Amir's father's words still ring in his head: "A boy who doesn't stand up for himself becomes a man who can't resist anything." page 24. Even though Amir has destroyed many people's lives, and has had more than one opportunity to redeem himself for his guilt, he is no longer the selfish little boy he once was. How many times do you stop and think, “How will this affect everyone else in my life?” Amir had an opportunity in the alley, to put Hassan first and change the path of their lives, but he made the decision to turn around and run because it was what he thought was best for him: "I had one last chance to do a decision. One last chance to decide who I would be. I could walk into that alley, defend Hassan the same way he had defended me so many times in the past, and accept whatever would happen to me. Or I could run away. I ran. I ran because I was a coward. I was afraid of Assef and what he would do to me. This is what I am made believe. In reality I aspired tocowardice, because the alternative, the real reason I was running, was that Assef was right: nothing is free in this world. Perhaps Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to kill, to win Baba." Amir's selfish ways were the result of the lack of his father's affection in his life. As a boy, he was forced to deal with his father's disinterest in him, which made him incredibly jealous of Hassan. Amir could not understand then why his father adored his servant's son more than his own son. As tension increases between Amir and Hassan, Amir can no longer bear to see Hassan every day due to what Amir had not stopped and could not bear to see his father showing love to Hassan and not him. Hassan and his father are forced to leave their home after Amir puts his watch under Hassan's pillow and accuses him of stealing it. Hassan didn't even deny the accusations because he understood what Amir was doing. «Hassan knew it. He knew I had betrayed him and yet he was saving me once again, perhaps for the last time. pg.111Even after the alleged theft of the watch, Amir's father is willing to forgive Hassan, which stunned Amir and made him realize that the love his father has for Hassan is greater than he imagined. Amir didn't just ruin Hassan's life; he also ruined many people's lives with his decisions after the alley incident. Baba lost the chance to see his son Hassan grow up and also lost the chance to bring him to America so he could start a new life. Sohrab lost both parents in the war because they still lived in Afghanistan, lost his childhood in the war and tried to commit suicide due to Amir going back on his promise to keep him safe from orphanages. Soraya lost her right to the truth when Amir kept her past a secret even as she confided hers to him. It's one thing to destroy your own life with guilt, but it's a completely different matter when you destroy the lives of others. Before Amir can take the path to redemption, Amir must realize that he cannot go back and change what did to him as a child and must find inner peace. Even if it weren't for Amir's actions as a child, Sohrab would never have needed saving, but saving Sohrab, the last piece of Hassan's life, makes all the difference. From the moment he chose to turn his back on Hassan, there were many opportunities “There is a way to be good again” page 238 for all his wrongdoings, but he chose not to take any of them. Sohrab was his last and only chance at redemption. “I have a wife in America, a house, a career and a family.” But how could I pack my bags and go home when my actions could have cost Hassan the chance to do those same things? And what Rahim Khan revealed to me changed things. It made me see how my entire life, long before the winter of 1975, when that singing Hazara woman was still breastfeeding me, had been a cycle of lies, betrayals, and secrets. pg.238Amir admits that he cost Hassan his chance at a good life and that he had many opportunities to change the outcome of Hassan's life. But in that moment he realized that he could lose everything he had built in America, but for the first time in his life, Amir didn't just care about himself, he came to terms with what he had done and was ready to redeem himself . at any cost. Amir finally became the man who defended himself and his sins. Throughout his childhood, Amir sought his father's affection and was never able to get it. His father had said, "I'm telling you, Rahim, there's something missing in that boy." pg.24 Il.
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