Alondra SerranoMr. CamberosEnglish Honors 10 August 23, 2018Title:Once you betray someone, all you can do then is redeem yourself. Although it may take years, or maybe even a life time, it is what should be done.
The book “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini depicts just that. In the book we come to understand that the main protagonist Amir, or antagonist as some may argue, has a past full of betrayal in his homeland, Afghanistan. Amir later goes on a journey to find redemption with his family and himself.
The persistent cycle of betrayal and redemption is what makes this book so riveting. Through his childhood Amir grows up in a single-parent household along with two lower class servants, Ali and his son Hassan. His mother deceases while giving birth to him, leaving Amir with just his father, who Amir calls Baba.
Amir never feels connected with Baba and thinks that Baba blames him for the perishing of his wife. Amir endlessly tries to win his father’s forgiveness but seems to fail every time. “Then I’d bring it home to him and show Baba.
Show him once and for all that his son was worthy. Then maybe my life as a ghost in this house would finally be over” (Pg.56). Amir is using figurative language to show how Baba makes him feel.
He feels ignored by Baba, and he knows that he has got to do the impossible to redeem himself to receive forgiveness from his father. Amir felt that winning the kite tournament he would finally receive the gratitude he longs for. “All I saw was the blue kite.
All I smelled was victory. Salvation. Redemption” (Pg. 65).
After winning the tournament, as hoped for, Amir and Baba were as close as can be. The only downside was that Amir and his best friend/servant, Hassan, were growing apart. All because of Amir’s betrayal.
