The Quest for Atonement in The Kite Runner, a Novel by Khaled Hosseini

In The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini emphasizes throughout the novel that in order to achieve atonement one must purposefully go out and seek iti It is impossible to truly forget and forgiveness comes from within, nevertheless each individual has their own threshold they must pass before they feel as if they have been absolved of their past worng doingsi For Amir, I think he truly does acknowledge this when he recognizes that ”There is a way to be good again”. Hearing this line being repeated once more later on in the book made me realize how much this statement had resonated and had an impact on him.

I think the words are comforting and loaded as well in a sense They provoke him and I think it is a statement that allows him to go beyond cowardice lt surprises me though that he always needs to have other people push and persuade him into acting. With this I infer that he may not ever act courageously without others explicitly asking and prodding him to do so.

It is the opportunity for atonement that he is searching for even so, he still does not go for it. This makes me ask the question: If Amir did not have others pushing him towards acting courageously and becoming a better person would he succumb to his cowardice or would he eventually act in order to seek atonement?

I think that Amir has a serious personal flaw that is associated with him being unable to uncover the reality of his past and current situation It seems that Afghanistan has undergone a serious transformation, however what he fails to realize is that “[He’s] always been a tourist here, [he] just didn’t know it”.

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This line made me rack my brain, I realized that he had been living a completely sheltered life and he probably did not even ever have the opportunity to feel like a real Afghan because of his father’s status and money. Personally, I believe that Amir acknowledges this too when Rahim Khan says this to him. This line resonated with me because it made me realize that Amir lived in several different realities, none of which actually were real. His life in his large house, his life in his readings and writings, and his personal battles. This realization ultimately led me to pose the question: If Amir had lived life as a common Afghan boy would he have grown up to be more courageous?