Exclusive to readers of Kite runner by Khaled Hosseini

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SPOILER WARNING: IF YOU INTEND TO READ KITE RUNNER BY KHALED HOSSEINI, PLEASE DO NOT EVEN LOOK THROUGH THIS POST. IT GIVES AWAY THE STORY.



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SPOILER WARNING: IF YOU INTEND TO READ KITE RUNNER BY KHALED HOSSEINI, PLEASE DO NOT EVEN LOOK THROUGH THIS POST. IT GIVES AWAY THE STORY.



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The Kite Runner’s opening sentence, “I became what I am today at the age of twelve, on a frigid overcast day in the winter of 1975,” refers to Amir’s failure to intervene when Assef assaults Hassan. Analyze Amir’s movement towards actively accepting personal and social responsibility for his earlier failure. Discuss in what ways this novel about an Afghanistan immigrant can contribute to the development of a reader’s own sense of ethical obligations to self, to others, and to community (however it is defined).


In ways more than one, ethics define a human being. Ethical obligations to self or to the society are many times not bound by rationale or reasoning. The story of the Afghan immigrant ‘Amir’ forces us to reflect upon our own moral or ethical duties we sometimes fail to oblige to, just because we do not always feel the need to answer our conscience in the purest form. The scale to measure ethical obligations is then lost.

Starting from supporting someone in whatever little ways we can, to trying to motivate people to do something constructive for themselves and the society we live in, is essential as a social being. Amir comes from a background we may not even be able to imagine. We live in a civilized and a free society where we can follow what we truly believe in and help the less privileged. Amir’s moment of salvation comes when he decides to go to Afghanistan for the sake of Hassan’s son Sohrab, knowing the dangers are extreme. Yet, his resolve to make that journey is his way of repentance for failing to stand up to a situation in his childhood against a grave crime and for a person who was deeply loyal to Amir, who grew up with Amir for most of his childhood, and to a person who’s first ever words spoken were ‘Amir’. In a way Amir was lucky enough to get the opportunity to clear his conscience.

The saga of Amir brings in his view of the Afghan culture, the American culture, and a new culture that he formed of his own, taking the best out of the two that he had experienced. Knowingly or unknowingly Amir developed his own personality of forgiveness and acceptance for others. How else could he have married Soraya, who didn’t have a ‘clean’ past by Afghan standards? Tolerance is an important virtue born out of the sense of obligation. In today’s society where different communities co-exist together, differences do exist, and it’s everyone’s obligation to try to minimize the effect of these differences for survival and co-existence.

Courage is another important virtue that Amir’s story reminds us of; his courage to finally go back and do justice to his half-brother’s son in spite of growing in a society where differences between people are sculpted in everyone’s mind, is motivating. The situation when Amir placed a fistful of crumpled notes in Afghanistan in Farid’s home secretly so that his children wouldn’t go hungry is an ironical example of how he once made a family suffer by a very similar action by branding them as thieves and is a heart rendering example of Amir’s feeling of ethical obligation. Amir could have acted indifferent to Farid’s suffering, but he chose not to. The guilt that had hounded him for twenty six years had changed Amir. The reader can find some solace in actions that may not actually change something in the past in reality, but in essence does some good for others in the society.

Amir distanced himself and his father from Hassan, who constantly reminded him of his cowardice and incapability to stand up like his Father “Toophan Aagha” would have wanted, but by the end of the story Sohrab, who goes through the same crimes that Hassan had been through, and Amir well knowing the fact, chooses to take Sohrab with him. It show’s the reader that acceptance is important for moral obligations, until we accept the fact that we are allowing injustice, we cannot take corrective action.

Amir was similar to his father in ways that he realized later. His father could never come to terms with cheating with Ali’s wife, the relation between Ali and Amir’s father was very similar to Hassan and Amir himself. Amir’s father knew Hassan was his son too, but could never get the same treatment as Amir ever. In his repentance, Amir’s father built orphanages and donated money for charities. He did everything to cover the sin that he committed. He was a practical man who believed God had better things to focus on rather than to see who was eating pork or drinking alcohol, something not very common in Afghan society. Amir’s father is an example of how men with virtues do make mistakes too, pay the price for them and try to live a normal life.

The world would have been a much worse place if not for the love and respect between fellow human beings, and it holds true at this age more than ever. Ethical obligations, in many ways, provide a reasonable alternative to conflicts and suffering though, depending on how a society nurtures an individual, ethical obligations for wrong causes do promote hatred and destruction. Though resistance need not essentially be always violent, the purest form of non-violent resistance against tyranny in the society comes from ethical obligations. As Mahatma Gandhi once said, “Through our pain, we’ll make them see their injustice”. Essentially, fulfilling one’s moral obligations does not mean hatred towards others. With this as the beginning, an individual can fulfill his own duties towards the society and maintain harmony with people from different societies. At the same time, ethical obligation does not mean self abuse, Amir’s story taught me that for what I believe in, I can contribute and take the risks to correct my mistakes and experience the joy of living in it. Finally, unless we begin to put our thoughts into action, the obligations cannot be fulfilled. As the Afghan saying goes,

“Ba solha goftan dunya aram namaisha”.

“The world will not find rest by just saying ‘Peace’.”


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SPOILER WARNING: IF YOU INTEND TO READ KITE RUNNER BY KHALED HOSSEINI, PLEASE DO NOT EVEN LOOK THROUGH THIS POST ABOVE. IT GIVES AWAY THE STORY.



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