The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is a story of betrayal that is set in Afghanistan. We're sorry, SparkNotes Plus isn't available in your country. In this particular quote, it was Amir betraying Hassan. In order to justify this betrayal Amir believes that "Nothing [is] free in this world. Amir twice betrays his loyal servant, Hassan, while they are still boys in Kabul: First, Amir fails to come to Hassan's aid when he is sodomized by Assef. 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Throughout the story, Amir remembers Hassan by his kind-hearted phrase, For you, a thousand times over, which evidences how magnanimous and. Complete your free account to access notes and highlights, Your father, like you, was a tortured soul. Never mind any of these things. Continue to start your free trial. Betrayal is the action of disloyalty towards ones country, a group or a person. You'll also receive an email with the link. Take a look at this passage, which is from Amir's perspective: After Amir witnesses Hassan being raped, he cannot stand being around him, which is a problem because Hassan is Amir's servant who lives on the same property. And I can't lie now and say my eyes didn't scan it for any rips.'. Introduction; We said our good-byes early the next morning. This shows how he is willing to sacrifice others for the benefit of himself. In fact, why did he ever have to feel Latest answer posted May 23, 2020 at 12:44:11 PM. Amir and Hassan were each others best friends and they grew together like brothers, though they didnt know at the time. Amir tries to rectify this years later when he returns to the Middle East to save Sohrab. Renew your subscription to regain access to all of our exclusive, ad-free study tools. Something warm was running down my wrist. (17.57-63). Why does Rahim Khan lie about the American couple? This is his chance to now become a man. Amir knows that Hassan is being brutally assaulted by Assef, a cruel and racist neighborhood boy, but chooses not to intervene. . That was a long time ago, but its wrong what they say about the past, Ive learned, about how you can bury it. The answer floated to my conscious mind before I could thwart it: He was just a Hazara, wasnt he? By signing up you agree to our terms and privacy policy. Professional Writer, Professional Researcher, B.A. | The betrayal of a loyal friend by a wealthier, more corrupt "master" is a recurring motif in The Kite Runner, and Amir and Baba 's feelings of guilt for their betrayals drive much of the novel's action. We hadnt told him. JavaScript seems to be disabled in your browser. His lack of action caused severe guilt, which he tries to escape throughout the entire story. Except hed been wrong about that. Maybe so. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. Personally, I couldn't see the tragedy in Rostam's fate. You have a visa to go to America, to live with me and my wife. Created by. Being betrayed by an individual will induce the feelings of being . Unlike Amir, Baba keeps the reminders of his guilt around. "No, please." . Most individuals choose their actions based on the situation and what the best possible outcome is for themselves. For example, when Assef and his gang come to torment Amir, Hassan comes to the rescue with his slingshot. Amir never wanted to return to Kabul, since he has a safe and quiet life in America with a wife, secure job, and a home. Nothing. Betrayal, a form of sin turns into a never ending cycle of guilt throughout the book. In The Kite Runner, does Ali know that Hassan is not his son? The different dissensions support the ideas of characterization by how they react to the sudden adversity in their lives. (Here, let me betray you. Amirs decision not to act also underscores the ethnic tensions between the Pashtuns and Hazaras, as Assef remarks coldly, its only a Hazara.. to start your free trial of SparkNotes Plus. But I didnt. For I sought to turn thee unto love, and I implored of thee thy name, for I thought to behold in thee the tokens recounted of my mother. As a bystander in the moment, Amir determines what is more important: saving the life of his friend or running away for the safety of himself. Your subscription will continue automatically once the free trial period is over. He doesn't defend Hassan from the neighborhood boys and almost blurts out that Hassan is only his servant and not a friend. But on another level, Amir has just committed a hefty betrayal on the same level as Baba's infidelity with Sanaubar. Shook his head. Thats what I told myself as I turned my back to the ally, to Hassan Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba. Hosseini shows us how Amir constantly deals with the remorse of the incident, but does not attempt to redeem himself until later in his life when Hassan has died. This theme was most important to the novel because the conflict in the book is intertwined with this theme, following the life of a man haunted by regrets. on 50-99 accounts. All I smelled was victory. Is it comforting at all to know his father made similar mistakes? Hassan has been cornered by Assef, who is sexually assaulting him; Amir has an opportunity to rescue Hassan, but he doesn't. Pure evil is represented in the book by Assef, who shows his lack of conscience when he rapes Hassan, and later molests Hassans son, Sohrab. Amir and Hassans relationship throughout the book, The Kite Runner, is based off of love, betrayal, and forgiveness. The exhibition of dishonesty through all roles is used to make the reader question themselves as to what they would do, if they were in the same situation. Amir, even as a middle-aged man, is still haunted by what he hadnt done for Hassan all those years ago. Sometimes, I think everything he did, feeding the poor on the streets, building the orphanage, giving money to friends in need, it was all his way of redeeming himself. He liked all of the chapters, the shahs of old, Feridoun, Zal, and Rudabeh. During majority of the novel, Amir attempts to deal with his guilt by avoiding it. He understands that the only way to convince Amir to go back to Afghanistan is through painful reminders of the past, demonstrated through telling Amir that there is a way to be good again, and by questioning Amirs courage, accusing Amir of being a man who cant stand up to anything (Hosseini 2, 233). Renews May 9, 2023 As Amir transitions into adulthood, Rahims role in the friendship shifts into someone who must push Amir to do what is best. Its like a teacher waved a magic wand and did the work for me. Historical Context Essay: The Kite Runner and The Taliban, Literary Context Essay: Coming-of-Age Stories, Khaled Hosseini and The Kite Runner Background. For most of the novel, Amir attempts to deal with his guilt by avoiding it. 'But despite Baba's successes, people were always doubting him. Their lives forever changed. ', While Hassan is willing to sacrifice his safety and self-respect to bring Amir his kite, Amir marginalizes Hassan as a disposable Hazara. "Did Hassan know?" The man needs some redemption. You remember, Amir jan, what a good kite runner Hassan was? His regret for not interfering when it happened and hiding his misguided choice infect his mind even in his adult life six years later when he moves to America. He is a living, talking, breathing testament of Baba's deception, which continues throughout Baba's life as he never admits to Amir or Hassan that he is Hassan's father. Betrayal is not being loyal to someone. I turned around, lifted the tarpaulin, and threw up over the side of the moving truck. 9 chapters | Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay . (14.18-19). This leads to his lack of action when he witnesses Hassans rape. Salvation. What can you possibly say to make things better? 3. You'll be billed after your free trial ends. eNotes.com will help you with any book or any question. Your group members can use the joining link below to redeem their group membership. When Amir witnesses Assef raping Hassan because Hassan will not hand over Amir's winning kite, Amir is faced with a choice. He was telling me how most people thought it was better to plant tulips in the fall and how that wasn't true, when I came right out and said it. Rostam mortally wounds his valiant nemesis, Sohrab, in battle, only to discover that Sohrab is his long-lost son. Betrayal is the central theme in The Kite Runner. As if car sickness was a crime. He moved, Hosseini uses parallel structure and class differences to exemplify the similarity in these relationships. The first time period this novel explores is Amir's childhood in Kabul with his friend and servant Hassan, Hassan's dad Ali, and Amir's father, Baba. Because to him, youre nothing but an ugly pet. You'll be billed after your free trial ends. Amir uses his friendship with Hassan for ulterior motives. For the next 7 days, you'll have access to awesome PLUS stuff like AP English test prep, No Fear Shakespeare translations and audio, a note-taking tool, personalized dashboard, & much more! Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. He uses Hassan as a scapegoat to win Baba, but upon accomplishing this task, he is riddled with guilt. Contact us Amir does not learn until he is in his late 30s that Ali was sterile. What was ironic about Kamal's death in The Kite Runner? We had both betrayed the people who would have given their lives for us. Conversely, Baba also betrays his sons. Save over 50% with a SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan! Amir recognizes this: like father, like son we both betrayed people who would have given their lives for us (226). During these times, there is a lot of betrayal between Amir and Baba, but also between Hassan and Amir. All that a man had back then, all that he was, was his honor, his name, and if people talkedWe couldn't tell anyone, surely you can see that." $18.74/subscription + tax, Save 25% At this point in the novel, Amir is beginning to become consumed by guilt over what he did to Hassan. Many problems in Amirs life are unwittingly caused by Hassan. His three sons were standing in the doorway watching us. Amir attempts to redeem himself through Hassans son, Sohrab, by saving him and giving him a better life. character, conflict, etc.). I could wade into this river, let my sins drown to the bottom, let the waters carry me someplace far. Kite strings are strung with broken glass, which cut competing kites loose, thus cutting them from the competition. Purchasing . Now that we think about it, this story has a lot in common with Oedipus the King and other Greek tragedies. copyright 2003-2023 Study.com. Educators go through a rigorous application process, and every answer they submit is reviewed by our in-house editorial team. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. The main conflict of betrayal in the Kite Runner deals with the protagonist, Amir betraying his best friend, Hassan. This situation emphasizes the idea of circularity because Ali devotes his whole life to serve Baba, with Hassan later showing a similar level of dedication towards Amir. This quote proves betrayal because this. It divides into three main sections of the main character Amirs life. He doesnt have any other paths of redemption. And this is what I want you to understand, that good, real good, was born out of your father's remorse. The novel is set in Afghanistan where loyalty and pride are held above all other standards, which is why Amir hides his many betrayals with lies or silence. It triggers a spark in the readers mind of what it could be without telling exactly what Amir is talking about. (4.23-24), Although you can read the story of "Rostam and Sohrab" as an allegory for Baba and Amir's relationship, we think the most obvious parallel is to Amir and Hassan. Speaking of which, Baba shows himself no stranger to betrayal himself. The novel The Kite Runner is a story about an Afghan named Amir who experiences and causes betrayals between friends and family. Oh yeah, the time Amir put a watch under Hassan's mattress in order to get his half-brother dismissed from the household. Amir believes that in this moment, he has won salvation and redemption, for his fathers respect and his mothers death he believes he caused. Rahim Khan closed his eyes. Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner 1244 likes Like "Not a word passes between us, not because we have nothing to say, but because we don't have to say anything" Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner 1205 likes Like "People say that eyes are windows to the soul." Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner tags: inspirational , life , metaphor 1032 likes Like His letter, which explains why they keep Amir in the dark illustrates the pain Baba faces as a man torn between two halves, a parent who [loves Amir and Hassan] both, but [cannot] love Hassan the way he [longs] to (Saraswat 8) (Hosseini 316). He likes to present himself as a moral man, a man to be admired, a respectable pillar of the local community. $18.74/subscription + tax, Save 25% And why not? Why does Amir accept Soraya even after she tells him of her past? To add to the betrayal, when Hassan returns with the kite after being raped, Amir's first thought is to check to make sure the kite isn't damaged. Baba would dismiss them, there would be some pain, but life would move on. He dropped the spool and took off running, the hem of his green chapan dragging in the snow behind him. The most significant example of betrayal in The Kite Runner is Amir's abandoning of Hassan to be brutally attacked and raped by Assef, the local bully. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness." Kind of like when we used to play insect torture. These two acts haunt Amir well into manhood, and he comes to realize that only a selfless act of bravery will allow him to atone for his transgressions. By never revealing the truth to them about Hassan's parentage, he denies them the opportunity to connect as brothers and denies Hassan the privileges that Amir has. Amir's broken promise has disastrous consequences: Sohrab tries to kill himself. Betrayal is also seen when Baba feels that his son Amir will never be good enough. Right now I'm going to run that blue kite for you," he said. I blinked, saw I was still biting down on my fist, hard enough to draw blood from the knuckles. Our, "Sooo much more helpful thanSparkNotes. Cut the opponents. Was it a fair price? Amir Quotes from The Kite Runner. I laughed because I saw that, in some hidden nook in the corner of my mind, Id even been looking forward to this My body was broken just how badly I wouldnt find out until later but I felt healed. Why does Amir sometimes treat Hassan badly in childhood? In the end, I was a Pashtun and he was a Hazara, I was Sunni and he was Shia, and nothing was ever going to change that. Betrayal Amir Because the past claws its way out. : ("Cain and Abel" seems just as appropriate as "Rostam and Sohrab. I stopped watching, turned away from the alley. Except now, he was the ant and I was holding the magnifying glass. Amir has just learned that Baba had betrayed Ali, Babas servant and friend, by fathering Hassan. The way the content is organized, LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in, Compare and contrast themes from other texts to this theme, The ThemeTracker below shows where, and to what degree, the theme of Betrayal appears in each chapter of. Your group members can use the joining link below to redeem their group membership. What can you possibly say to me? Please wait while we process your payment. The Kite Runner centers around Amir's betrayal of Hassan when they were young boys. Members will be prompted to log in or create an account to redeem their group membership. If so, does Amir's helplessness in this situation force you to reinterpret Amir's earlier abandonment of Hassan? Its like a teacher waved a magic wand and did the work for me. Amir could and should have intervened, but chose not to because he was jealous of Hassan due to the attention and affection lavished on him by Baba, Amir's father. In reality, however, Amir was a young boy who was too frightened to come to his friends aid. Amir twice betrays his loyal servant, Hassan, while they are still boys in Kabul: First, Amir fails to come to Hassan's aid when he is sodomized by Assef shortly after the kite-flying contest. All rights reserved. I envied her. violation of trust or confidence. Furthermore, there are different ways to be betrayed or to betray someone. And that led to another understanding: Hassan knew. Neither is religion. Seriously, Ali is even more innocent than Hassan Ali had no part in the alleyway incident and has served Baba faithfully his whole life. Amir's betrayal of Hassan brings him closer to Baba in ways he couldn't have predicted. (Chapter 18). (including. I realized . Your father, like you, was a tortured soul, Rahim Khan had written. 500 Words; 2 Pages; Kite Runner Betrayal Quotes. Unable to continue facing Hassan each day, Amir makes the decision to further betray him by setting him up. Create your account, Kites, especially the last kite from the kite fighting contest, symbolize various things in the story, including Hassan's loyalty and Amir's betrayal. He withholds any opportunity they might have had to connect as true brothers. The novel spans the time periods before, during, and after the reign of the Russians (1979-1989) and the Taliban's takeover (1996) of Afghanistan. Hosseini has Amir betray Hassan or at least be cruel to Hassan in all sorts of small ways. To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member. Subscribe now. He stopped, turned. "Would I ever lie to you, Amir agha?" But his favorite story, and mine, was "Rostam and Sohrab," the tale of the great warrior Rostam and his fleet-footed horse, Rakhsh. I thought about a comment Rahim Khan had made just before we hung up. Amir, to some extent, takes the blame for Hassan's death. Through his acts of betrayal and redemption, he is often found hurting those who are most loyal to him. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is a historical fiction novel set mostly in Kabul, Afghanistan and Fremont, California. (Chapter 7). Stricken with grief, Rostam hears his son's dying words: If thou art indeed my father, then hast thou stained thy sword in the life-blood of thy son. I paused before Baba's study and listened in. Members will be prompted to log in or create an account to redeem their group membership. Why does Amir accept Soraya even after she tells him of her past? As it turned out, Baba and I were more alike than Id ever known. Youve successfully purchased a group discount. on 2-49 accounts, Save 30% I believe that the way Hosseini wrote these sentences shows how Amir is having to pay an emotional price for his actions in the past. PLAY. I highly recommend you use this site! I would definitely recommend Study.com to my colleagues. He pointed to the little house behind him. Even after Amir and Baba arrive in America, Amir doesn't confess his misdeeds. 2023 eNotes.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved, https://www.enotes.com/topics/kite-runner. The foremost goal of Hosseini describing Hassans transformation from an ingenuous child to an individual warped by humanitys imposed malevolence is to accentuate the characters loss of innocence. for a customized plan. One Final opportunity to decide who I was going to be. Previous Next Cite This Page From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. As Amir is found as a conflicted character through this becoming of age novel, he finds the weakness and strengths within. Then I turned and ran. Create your account. "Hassan!". I stopped watching, turned away from the alley. In Amir's attempt to prove himself to his father and to himself, he throws Hassan under the bus. Just when you thought Amir did something nice for a changehe goes back on his promise to Sohrab. This website helped me pass! Except now I knew he knew. Kite Runner Betrayal Analysis 1254 Words | 6 Pages