The Kite Runner Study Paper.
One of the most important stepping stones in every child’s life is when he or she makes a
vow to be best friends forever with another child. There are many ways of doing this but either
way, this promise is actually very important for children to prove that they have somebody who
they can trust. Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner features two boys, Hassan and Amir, whose
friendship is not as typical as those of most children. Even though they do carve into a tree that
they are the “sultans of Kabul” (Hosseini, 27), their friendship seems weak and one sided. The Kite Runner Study Paper.
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Whereas Hassan appears to be a selfless character that would sacrifice and stand up for anything
on behalf of his friend Amir, Amir on the other hand lacks such a deed. He (Amir) is cowardly
and fails to sacrifice anything on behalf of his friend Hassan. However, Amir gets a chance to
finally redeem himself to the extent of sacrificing on behalf of Hassan.
As indicated above, Khaled Hosseini’s circadian novel, The Kite Runner brings out the
aspect of sacrifice as one of the major themes depicted through the relationship found between
Amir and Hassan. In fact, there is a big possibility that the aspect of sacrifice is one central
theme or idea that opens up the entire novel. Sacrifice, as the author puts it, has been the way in which Hassan has lived his life. Hassan is a selfless character who does good deeds for Amir despite Amir’s lack of sacrifice. Hassan always sacrifices a lot of things with little or no concern
for himself and even as a child, Hassan made a number of decisions based on the aspect of
sacrifice. For instance, Assef is depicted as a local bully who dominated Amir on many
occasions. When Hassan and Amir are confronted by Assef, Hassan pulls out his slingshot after
politely asking him (Assef) to leave them alone. He says, “You are right Agah. But perhaps you
didn't notice that I'm the one holding the slingshot."(Hosseini, 42). The Kite Runner Study Paper.
Hassan’s show of sacrifice does not stop there. His deep affection and friendship towards
Amir makes him encounter dangerous situations due to his loyalty. For instance, it reached a
point when Assef and his group of friends trapped Hassan in the alley way as they tried to get
Amir’s kite from him. However, he defied them by arguing that the kite had been won by Amir
and he was not ready to hand it over to them. This situation makes Assef so angry that he rapes
Hassan as Amir watched from a safe distance. As evident, even in this stressful situation, Hassan
makes the sacrifice to protect Amir’s kite. He tells the bullies that, “Amir Agha won the
tournament and I ran this kite for him. I ran it fairly. This is his kite"(Zaleski, 43). The Kite Runner Study Paper.
Despite Hassan’s sacrifice, Amir lacks this deed throughout their friendship. However,
after living up with guilt for many years, Amir opts to carry out a dangerous mission as a way of
seeking redemption by almost sacrificing his life into rescuing Sohrab who is Hassan’s son. This
is an example of great sacrifice from Amir and “a way to be good again” (Hosseini, 2). When
Rahim asks Amir to undertake this dangerous mission, Amir responds and says, “I have a wife in
America, a home, a career, and a family. Kabul is a dangerous place, you know that, and you'd
have me risk everything for” (Hosseini, 221). Despite this, Amir goes ahead and carries out the
rescue mission hence showing or depicting great sacrifice. The Kite Runner Study Paper.
As indicated above, after several years of carrying the burden of guilt, the search for
redemption forced Amir to sacrifice a lot on behalf of his friend. Hassan had done a lot for Amir.
He encountered rape and beatings among others for purposes of pleasing Amir. However, at one
point, Amir says, “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’d stepped up for
me all those times in the past—and accept whatever would happen to me.” (Pearson, 66). This is
a show of sacrifice on Amir’s part as a way of redeeming himself from the guilt that was
tormenting him for years. The Kite Runner Study Paper.
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Hassan and Amir are affected by the idea of sacrifice in a number of ways. Hassan, for
instance, is affected by being sacrificial in a number of ways. In this context, it is important to
understand that sacrifice is portrayed as being the exploitation of an innocent person. First, as
indicated earlier in the literature, Hassan’s act of sacrifice makes him encounter rape from Assef.
His decision not to hand over Amir’s kite to Assef makes him the sacrificial character that
undergoes rape (Noor, Ronny and Hosseini, 148). The Kite Runner Study Paper.
Secondly, Hassan is affected by such a deed (sacrifice) as he seems to stand up for Amir
on a number of occasions. At one point, Amir plants an expensive watch to Hassan’s room after
feeling horrible of what had happened. Later on, Hassan is confronted and asked by Baba if he
had stolen the watch and in a thin and raspy voice he accepted that he had stolen the watch
(Hosseini, 66). Amir was expecting Hassan to say no so as to he (Amir) could feel better. This
shows how the aspect of sacrifice affected Hassan greatly.
Third, by choosing to sacrifice on behalf of Amir, Hassan gets hated by Amir. In
particular, when Hassan gets raped, Amir begins hating him as he feels like he (Amir) cannot be associated with a raped person. His guilt makes him to dislike Hassan as he can’t bear being with
a raped person (Hosseini, 69). The Kite Runner Study Paper.
Similarly, Amir is also affected by the idea of sacrifice too. Throughout the reading, it is
evident that Amir is severely affected by his mother’s death which in turn is the sacrifice of life.
Amir’s mother died when giving birth to him making Baba to raise him (Amir) alone (Hosseini,
6).
Closely related to the above, the act of sacrifice affects Amir greatly as it makes him
want to redeem himself and make up for his mistakes. Sacrifice fuelled his desire to go and
rescue Sohrab who was sexually being abused by Assef. By doing so Amir feels healed.
Lastly, sacrifice affects Amir as he changes and finally able to stand up for the people he
loves, something that he had never done before. The act of sacrifice makes Amir to change and
become a better person by sacrificing himself and doing better things for everybody unlike
before (Zaleski, 43). The Kite Runner Study Paper.
In conclusion, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is an amazing piece of work with
variety of themes such as love, betrayal, redemption, and sacrifice among others. The
relationship between Hassan and Amir features an aspect of sacrifice especially on the part of
Hassan. It is a story about friendship that fades away as it is weak and one sided. Overall, it is a
good piece of literature worth reading.
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Work Cited
Hosseini Khaled. “The Kite Runner”. New York: Riverhead Books (2003): 1-374. Print.
Noor, Ronny and Khaled Hosseini. "The Kite Runner". World Literature Today 78.3/4 (2004): The Kite Runner Study Paper.
148.
Pearson, Geraldine S. "The Kite Runner – By Khaled Hosseini." Journal Of Child & Adolescent
Psychiatric Nursing 20.1 (2007): 66.
Zaleski, Jeff. "The Kite Runner." Publishers Weekly 250.19 (2003): 43. The Kite Runner Study Paper.
