The Message and Meaning of The Kite Runner

Although I don't believe The Kite Runner to be AP worthy, the book does have multiple, powerful themes. A particularly evident theme in the novel is the importance of coming to terms with one's past.   Linked to this theme is the necessity of love in one's life and the how it is damaging to define people based upon a few actions or qualities. All of the themes in the novel come together to show that forgiveness and love can triumph over prejudice, guilt, and hatred.

     From the time Amir is twelve, when he watches Hassan get raped by Assef, to the time he is a full grown adult, living with Soraya in California, he never escapes the guilt of his past.  Amir's guilt haunts him, driving him to do things that are out of character.  At the mere mentioning of Hassan's name after Amir's graduation, the narrator writes "a pair of steel hands closed around my windpipe at the sound of Hassan's name"(134).  Amir guilt prevents him from telling Soraya, his wife, the full story of his life, and leads to him pushing Hassan, his best friend and brother, away.  It is not until Amir travels to Afghanistan and redeems himself, atones for his sins, that he can live with a clear consciousness. As Rahim Khan describes Baba's guilt driven motivation he writes "what true redemption is[…] when guilt leads to good" and there is a clear connection to Amir's struggle(302).

     Before Amir's struggle with guilt, is his struggle for his father's love, which ties into a thematic idea regarding the importance of love in one's life.  While in the narrator's case it primarily applies to Baba, it has greater span than that of a father's love.  Throughout all of Amir's childhood he works to gain his father's affection, works to "show him […] that his son was worthy, evening putting down his best friend, Hassan, in order to do so(56). It pains Amir to put down Hassan and he regrets it. However, he is desperate for his father's approval.  Only when the two arrive in America does the bond between them become apparent.  Amidst the chaos of moving and adjusting, Amir finds happiness when father starts treating him as an equal.  Contrasting Amir's and Baba's relationship is the relationship between Hassan and Ali. Although the two have less than Amir and Baba, they have a strong relationship based upon love and live more happily.

     Multiple characters in The Kite Runner are defined by a singular or limited viewpoint.  Hassan and Ali are persecuted because they are simply Shia and Hazara.  Similarly, Soraya is treated like a disgrace because she had a failed marriage. In both cases, the characters go through great pain.  The same process also goes in the opposite direction. Assef is a wealthy Pashtun, and most treat him with respect because of that. Yet in reality, he is a pretty terrible individual.  Baba after having a child, Hassan, with a Hazara women, in order to protect his honor cannot accept Hassan as his son, and is only able to love him from a distance.  While it is not the primarily theme of The Kite Runner, the destructive nature of discrimination is shown through multiple viewpoints in the book.

     When The Kite Runner concludes, Amir, Sohrab, and Soraya have found happiness.  Amir has forgiven himself and feels that he has redeemed himself in the eyes of Hassan.  The biggest message I took from the ending was of the power of forgiveness, and this is an increasingly relevant message. Polarity and division have lead to more and more conflict and hatred, and it's forgiveness that ends this cycle.  In showing this message, the book reminded me again of the Song of Solomon when Milkman understands and forgives Guitar beneath the gum tree. I think the more people that value the hidden strength of forgiveness, the more peaceful the world will become. At least that would be ideal, I'd enjoy it.