‘Analyse how the experiences of one character was used for a particular purpose’

INTRODUCTION

I intend to write a literacy essay discussing how the experiences of Amir was used for a particular purpose in the novel The Kite Runner, written by Khaled Hosseini with the focus being redemption to analyze the development of the main character Amir. The three main experiences of redemption were: throughout his childhood, Amir’s greatest struggle was to redeem himself to Baba for “killing” his mother during childbirth, and for growing up a disappointed son who was unlike Baba himself. After the rape that Hassan went through, Amir spends the rest of his life trying to redeem himself for his betrayal of his loyal friend. And lastly, this ultimately culminated in Amir’s return to Afghanistan and his attempts to save an adopt Hassan’s son Sohrab.

PARAGRAPH 1

Throughout his childhood, Amir’s greatest struggle was to redeem himself to Baba for “killing” his mother during childbirth, and for growing up a disappointed son who was unlike Baba himself. Amir’s mother Sofia Akrami died during childbirth, Baba blames Amir for her sudden death. “Because the truth of it was, I always felt like Baba hated me a little. And why not? After all, I had killed his beloved wife, his beautiful princess, hadn’t I?” Because of this event, it has blocked Amir and his father from having that loving connection. Baba wants Amir to be more manly, by kite flying and playing soccer but Amir continues to read his mother’s poetry books and write his own stories. Rahim Khan told Baba that “children aren’t colouring books. You don’t get to fill them with your favourite colours”. This quote stated how Baba just wanted Amir to be exactly like him, but that wasn’t the case and Baba should never expect that his child should follow him; you can’t make or pick a perfect child. Rahim Khan is more of a father to Amir as he supports everything that Amir does. If I was in Amir’s position I would feel useless and adopted. I agree that in Afghanistan Baba wasn’t the best father figure but when they moved to America he started to redeem himself. Baba learns to truly respect and accept who Amir is. Being so high cast is Afghanistan may have led to Baba worrying more about his reputation and name rather than being there for Amir. To redeem himself Amir needs to let go of his fathers reputation and to put the past behind him. “The least I could have done was to have the decency to have turned out a little more like him. But I hadn’t turned out like him. Not at all”.

PARAGRAPH 2

After Hassan’s rape, Amir spends the rest of his life trying to redeem himself for his betrayal of his loyal friend. In the winter of 1975 the story started off with Amir and Hassan, they were young, happy and innocent. That year they had a kite flying tournament, Baba tells Amir that he could possibly win which gives Amir a boost or approval from his father. Amir feels like wining the kite tournament he will be able to make it up to his father, by having the losers kite it shows the Amir is looking for redemption. Amir wins the battle which leads to Hassan running down the kite for him. As the story line develops we learn that this incident had a major effect on Amir’s development “I became who I am today at the age of 12”. This quote brings out how Amir truly felt and how the rape scene has turned into a burden which he has carried on his back for countless years. Amir’s actions caused him to lose his only and closest friend just for the approval of his father. “I realise I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the past 26 years” Amir admits that this rape scene had impacted his life significantly. Amir sacrificed himself so that he wouldn’t get hurt by the Assef and the other two bullies but then was a bystander and failed to intervene while Hassan was getting harshly raped. “It may be unfair, but what happens in a few days, sometimes even a single day, can change the course of a whole life time”.  Amir redeemed himself by overcoming his dads perceptions and doing what he wants to do with out feeling like his father will be sitting on his shoulder.

PARAGRAPH 3

This ultimately culminated in Amir’s return to Afghanistan and his attempts to save an adopt Hassan’s son Sohrab. Rahim Khan calls Amir “My suspicions had been right all those years. He knew about Assef, the kite, the money, the watch with the lightning bold hands. He had always known there is a way to be good again”. Amir returns to Afghanistan and gets a sense of detachment from his hometown. Amir arrives at the orphanage Sohrab is nowhere to be seen while the director of the orphanage tells them that a Taliban official comes and takes a child in the return for money. in the instance Amir knew that this Taliban official had taken Sohrab and was willing to fight for him. Sohrab had been made to dress up in woman clothes, dance and he might have been sexually abused as well. When Amir first sat Sohrab he reminded him so much of Hassan. All of the bad things that Amir had done to Hassan and others was an indictor that Amir was going to redeem himself by protecting Sohrab from people like Assef and the younger version of himself. By taking Sohrab back to America with him Amir has made the ultimate sacrifice by giving Sohrab a happy, healthy and normal lifestyle. Even though Hassan never knew that him and Amir were bother’s 

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, Khaled Hosseini incorporated many situations where Amir tired to redeem himself from his actions. all of these actions combined helped show the progress that Amir had made with Hassan and now Sohrab.

Join the conversation! 2 Comments

  1. This is a nice clear plan here, Jordan.

    Look to really type out some writing now. I want to see a lot more when I check in during period 4 and give feedback

    Reply
    • ensure every sentence is complete and effective. There are places where you’re missing words, etc. Read aloud in the final polishing stage to HEAR the errors.
    • Polish capitalisation and spelling
    • ensure you are analysing the key components of the question. EXPERIENCES OF ONE/MORE CHARACTER and PURPOSE. It feels like you’ve given some info, but not been exact or specific enough. Use the key words from the question, integrate multiple quotes, discuss what the author’s purpose was. Don’t just tell plot info – ANALYSE it’s purpose and effect.
    Reply

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