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The Kite Runner

The Kite Runner follows the journey from Kabul to California through the eyes of the protagonist, Amir. Amir is in search of his own identity throughout the text and is often consumed with winning the approval of his father, Baba. In doing so, he betrays his loyal friend, Hassan who always ‘stands up’ for him as Amir cannot do it himself. The notion of ‘stand up for himself’ is portrayed by Hassan as not just physically, but also emotionally confronting the problems which face Amir. Instead of vindicating himself, Amir pushes Hassan and Ali further away and escapes his guilt in the form of pursuing a writing career in California. However, when he realises the sins of Baba, the affection and approval that he once craved seems meaningless to Amir and it is the pest of unatoned sins which brings him back to Kabul. Here Amir learns to forgive his father and himself which is a precursor to gain an understanding of himself. Although Amir shows acts of cowardice and disloyalty in his childhood, it is his ability to learn forgiveness and his motivation to save Sobrab at the end of the text which proves that, despite Baba’s ideal, Amir does become a man who stands up for something, giving him purpose and redemption.
Amir is confused about who he is as a person, and in search for Baba’s affection, he fails to stand up for himself as a boy and most importantly, Hassan. Despite Hassan showing Amir nothing but his ‘goddamn, unwavering loyalty’, Amir fails to return the gesture. The climax of his betrayal is when he idly watches the rape of Hassan as ‘maybe he was the lamb I had to slay to win Baba’s affection’. The state of the Pomegranate Tree is not only used by Hosseini to symbolise the political situation, but also is a motif which represents the fall of Amir’s friendship to Hassan as the tree ‘hasn’t borne fruit for years’. This break in friendship is the ultimate example of how Amir can not stand up to correct his own guilt as a boy and eventually labels himself as ‘a...