Amir’s Quest for Salvation in The Kite Runner Anonymous

“There is a way to be good again” (Hosseini 2). Rahim Khan’s first words to Amir in Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner set in motion Amir’s attempt to mend his scarred past. A mentally tormented man until Khan’s call, he has repressed memories from his childhood for decades. His journey to Afghanistan to seek redemption forms a way for him to realize what is truly important in life. Although Amir’s unintentional barbarity to Hassan is terrible, he is able to overcome his past sins and achieve personal salvation by confronting his actions and doing good.

Amir is an ordinary boy and though his behavior harms Hassan, he is not cruel or sadistic. Rather, his evil deeds take a more benign form, disguised as a need to please his father. For example, when he prepares to take part in the annual Kabul kite flying contest, he declares to himself that he will “run that last kite… and show it to Baba. Show him once and for all that his son was worthy” (Hosseini 56). Amir’s motivation for entering the contest is not to gain recognition or fame among his peers. Instead, his goal is to win over his father, who has constantly reminded Amir that he is not worthy of affection. Only a demonstration of physical skill, he reasons, will ever make Baba...