Kite Runner Themes

The Kite Runner is an Afghan American fiction novel written by Khaled Hosseini. In the text the story of a man, named Amir’s, past is told. In continuation, a reader of the novel may get the impression, at the beginning of the book, that Amir is just an ungrateful child that receives everything he wants, but in reality that is not the case. Throughout his journey he dealt with various hardships that inflicted drastic alterations on it. As readers explore a journey down memory lane with Amir, a magnitude of themes is presented through the challenges that Amir faces. Ultimately, the trials and tribulation that people face help mold them into who they are.
“Assef knelt behind Hassan, put his hands on Hassan's hips and lifted his bare buttocks.
Saw the resignation in it. It was a look I had seen before. It was the look of the lamb. (Hosseini, 133)” Betrayal is the one of the more obvious themes in the novel because it occurs multiple times. Hassan’s persistent resistance to give the kite to Assef results in rape. Amir purposely let his best friend get raped, he believed that kite would redeem his relationship with Baba. It displayed how self centered he was; it displayed how much of a coward he was; and it displayed how much of a mediocre “friend” he was. A major problem was that Amir had a lack of independence. He was afraid to stand up for himself. Assef and his gang of friends would pick on him all the time, in retrospect Hassan would stand up and fight for him. He never turned his back on Amir one time not even when Amir framed him for being a thief. That is not what a real friend would do. In today’s society the word friend is misused a great deal. While growing up I recognized everybody as my friend, whether I talked to them or not. If they were in my class I called them a friend. What defines a true friend? A person whom one knows and with whom one has a bond of mutual affection, typically exclusive of sexual or family relations, is the formal definition. In
As a child, he makes a number of major mistakes and terrible choices. But that’s a part of growing up. Amir learned from his rough past not to make the same mistakes twice. He learned that inner conflict must be confronted. He learned that in this world, everything does not come easy. He learned that intermittently a person has to stand firm what is right, even if everyone is against them. He learned not to take things for granted. All in all, he learned how to fight back. Amir’s bumpy past truly compelled him to appreciate his present day existence. Without problems people would not appreciate the enjoyable times they have as much or they would not be as memorable. This book has opened my eyes. I have not had a terrible life, although I have definitely had my ups and downs. When I was four I lost my father, it was a difficult time for considering I was young and it seemed as though just as I was learning more about him he was taken from me. “Good night Khalil, I love you and I’ll see you in the morning, now go to bed.” Those are the last words my dad said to me. I still become extremely emotional every time I remember them because I went to sleep expecting to wake up with two parents and that was not the case when I woke up. After that night I never took another thing for granted because nothing is guaranteed. I live and savor every second