Name: Emily Jung
Date: February 1, 2013
Course: Humanities 3B/4A
Teacher: Mrs. Parker
The Kite Runner (2003): Choices Change Your Life
The Kite Runner (2003), written by Khaled Hosseini, narrates about the Amir’s
life and decisions. In the novel, Amir encounters various crossroads of life. While going
through these choices, he starts changing from a boy who wanted love from his father to
an adult who overcomes his dark pasts. The novel indicates that decisions people make
can change one’s life entirely. Hosseini demonstrates the theme by viewing Amir’s
decisions about Hassan and Sohrab, Hassan’s son.
When Amir was a child, he made the first decisions that changed his life. Amir
had a servant named Hassan. Hassan’s father, Ali, had provided services to Amir’s father,
Baba, since childhood. They always played together, just like Amir and Hassan. However,
the friendship between Hassan and Amir breaks after Amir witnessed Hassan getting
raped. A quote from the book “I [Amir] had one last chance to make a decision. One final
opportunity to decide who I was going to be. […] In the end, I ran,” (84) shows that Amir
chose to run because he was afraid of getting hurt. He reassured himself by thinking
Hassan was a Hazara, so it did not really matter. Amir feels guilty that he did not help
Hassan out, so he feels uncomfortable each time he sees Hassan in the house. Finally, he
decides to put his birthday gift and money in Hassan’s house to make Hassan and Ali
dismissed by thievery. The quote, “And I [Amir] would have told, except that a part of
me was glad. […] there would be some pain, but life will move on. I wanted that, to
move on, to forget, to start with a clean state,” (115) shows Amir has already made a
decision to forget about Hassan. As a result, Ali and Hassan decides to leave Amir and
Baba.
Amir made another important decision when he found out that Hassan was related
to him by blood and his son was in an orphanage waiting for him.. While Amir and Baba
was living without Hassan, the Russians invaded Afghanistan. As a result, Amir and
Baba fled from their homes to Pakistan, and to USA. While Amir was in the US, he went
to a college and majored English to write stories. He ends up being successful and finally
marries Soraya. However, when he was still living in America, a call came from Rahim
Khan. He was a business partner of Baba’s and had good relationship with Amir. Rahim
Khan wanted to see Amir before he died. Amir immediately left for Peshawar, where
Rahim Khan was waiting for him. Rahim Khan told Amir everything about his life after
Amir left Kabul, and how he lived with Hassan and his family. He also tells Amir about
Hassan, and how he is half related to Amir. Amir rages that he found this fact too late and
refuses to get Hassan’s child. However, in the quote “The I [Amir] told him [Rahim
Khan] I was going to Kabul.” (246) shows even though Amir wanted to forget about
Hassan, he still loved Hassan and wanted to save his son from danger. Another quote, “I
[Amir] don’t want to forget anymore,” shows that Amir has decided to not forget the
good memories with Hassan.
The Kite Runner (2006) demonstrates that decisions can change life forever. Amir
could have forgotten everything about his dark past and lived in America. However, he
chose not to forget memories about Hassan and save Sohrab. The author indicates the
significance of decisions related to life. By overcoming the dark memories, Amir is able
to move forward without forgetting Hassan.