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Lauren Aiello
Mrs. Smit
AP Literature and Composition
November 3, 2014
Marxist Perspective on The Kite Runner
Power Forces Redemption

A boy who wont stand up for himself becomes a man who cant stand up to anything
(Hosseini 22). The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, is a story of power and its consequences.
Amir, is a young boy who faces a complex socioeconomic culture in which he grows up in
Afghanistan as a member of the privileged class, yet not feeling like a privileged member of his
own family. During his childhood, when confronted with bullies and aggressors, Amir chooses to
run rather than stand up for those he cares about. The past is unable to stay buried throughout this
novel causing Amir to return to Afghanistan to face his decisions of when he was a child that led to
guilt and regret, and he soon starts his search for redemption. The power Amir holds over Hassan
that goes to his head during their childhood spent together in order to please Baba and deem himself
worthy, leads Amir to feel regret and guilt which takes over his emotions and decision making
leading him to save and take in Sohrab, Hassans son, as his own.
Throughout childhood, Amir was very privileged and had a wealthy upbringing while
Hassan was his servants son that Baba had hired. The difference in social class between these two
adolescent boys caused Amir to take control of Hassan and create a hegemony. A loyal Hazara.
Loyal as a dog (72). Amir often questioned whether Hassan was a friend of his or just simply a
Hazara. Hassan constantly makes sacrifices for Amir just for his friendship, but Amir gives back
nothing but selfish and cowardly acts. Due to their opposing social classes, he places Hassan
beneath him and unworthy of his friendship. Amir saw Hassan as a threat, stealing all the attention
from Baba at times, making him jealous of the relationship between Hassan and Baba. Amirs
mother died giving birth from him, and Amir feels responsible which causes Amir to always feel the

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need to make his father proud and deem himself worthy. Show him once and for all that his son
was worthy. Then maybe my life as a ghost in his house would finally be over (56). Amir believes
that bringing home the blue kite, the second place kite, from the tournament will gain Babas
affection, skewing his perceptions on what is right and wrong. Hassan gets raped by Assef, because
he refused to give up the blue kite that he went running after for Amir. Amir watches this go down,
and doesnt do anything. It was a look I had seen before. It was the look of the lamb (76). Amir
describes Hassan as looking like a lamb, and later he describes Sohbar, Hassans son, the same. In
Islam, the lamb signifies the sacrifice of an innocent. Hassan sacrificed himself for the blue kite,
which he knew was extremely important to Amir. Hassan never fought back against Amir due to the
power he held over him and the friendship he most desperately wanted. After Amir beat him with a
pomegranate yelling at him to fight back, Hassan intentionally crushed a pomegranate against his
own forehead then asking if it make Amir feel better and if he had received satisfaction. Amir grew
angry at Hassan quickly, and put money and his new watch under Hassans bed, framing him in
order to make him leave. Albeit Baba forgave Hassan once he discovered the stolen items, Ali
and Hassan still packed and left while Amir identified this event as Hassans final sacrifice for him.
Amirs power over Hassan soon caused great guilt and regret. He realized that he was
nothing close to as good as a friend as Hassan proved to be. After Hassan and Ali left, Amir had all
the attention from his father that he could imagine. I finally had what Id wanted all those years.
Except now that I had it, I felt as empty as this unkempt pool I was dangling my legs into (85).
Amir takes blame for Hassan leaving. He thought that if Hassan left, the relationship between his
father would improve, creating more happiness. What he thought would increase his happiness, did
nothing more than destroy it. I feel on my bed, buried my head under the pillow, and cried (88).
The guilt suffocated him from the inside. He cried after almost every event that he used his power
over Hassan to his advantage. Even though, guilt was floating through his mind, during childhood,

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he never understood the effects of his decisions until he became an adult. Amirs regret and guilt led
him to wonder how he could be capable of causing so much pain. I follow the barrel on its upward
arc. I see the face behind the plume of smoke swirling from the muzzle. I am the man in the
herringbone vest (240). In a nightmare, rather than a dream, Amir imagines himself not only
present at Hassans assassination, but being the assassinator himself. He blames himself for Hassan
being shot by the Taliban because he was the one who forced Ali and him out of his house. Amir
believes that if he didnt let the power go to his head, Hassan and his wife would still be alive, able
to care for their child, Sohbar. Finding out that Hassan was his half-brother is the frosting on the
cake that makes him even guiltier than ever. The guilt and regret took over his emotions and led him
in the start for redemption and a way to be good, as phrased in Rahims letter.
The power that went to his head, came with consequences of feeling guilt and regret and he
choose to spend his time in Afghanistan in search for redemption for his mistakes as a child. In
order to save Sohbar, Hassans son, he takes a visit to Assef, the rapist of Hassan, and now the
sexual abuser of Sohbar. Let him watch. Lessons are good things for boys (287). Amir and
Assef begin to brawl, on the account that they have unfinished business. Amir had a chance to
redeem himself at this moment. He never stood up for Hassan after the kite tournament, but now he
was able to stand up for his son to the same guy. This moment is also a moment of irony. Sohbar is
not the one receiving the lesson, but rather Amir is. Sohbar saves Amirs life nearly identical to the
ways that Hassan stood up for Amir. The worst laceration was on your upper lipthe plastics
guys sewed it back together and they think you will have an excellent result, though there will be a
scar (297). Amir receives a split lip from the fight between him and Assef. An iconic characteristic
of Hassan was his cleft lip which represented his poverty. Baba pays for the surgery to fix Hassans
cleft lip, showing their wealth, also leaving a scar much like Amirs. In this instance, Amirs
identity becomes merged with Hassans. Amir proved his father wrong, and was able to stand up for

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those he cares about, as Hassan once did for him. His split lip and scar serves as a sign of Amirs
redemption as he becomes a fatherly figure to Sohbar. Sohbar soon teaches Amir a lesson that will
stay with him forever. I climbed a tree and ate these green, sour apples. My stomach swelled and
became hard like a drum, it hurt a lot. Mother said that if Id just waited for the apples to ripen, I
wouldnt have become sick. So now, whenever I really want something, I try to remember what she
said about the apples (340). Amir waits nearly a year in America in silence put on him by Sohbar.
Instead of running away from his problems like he did with Hassan and his rape, he waited
patiently, which was thought by Sohbar and eventually he bonds with him over kite running. Before
kite running with Sohbar, the kite was seen as a symbol of guilt due to the events that the blue kite
led to, but now the kite represents a reminder of Amirs childhood. The kite brought together Amir
and his father, as it brings together Sohrab and Amir at the end of the novel.
A search for redemption occurs when Amir faces the consequences of guilt and regret when
his power over Hassan goes to his head during his childhood, leading him to Sohrab and the
decision to take him in as his own son. In order to please his father and deem himself worthy, Amir
treats Hassan harshly because he views Hassan as a threat to him and his fathers relationship.
Shortly after Hassan and his father Ali leaves his house, Amir realizes that instead of increasing his
happiness he just destroyed it and he also blames himself for Hassan and his wifes death. In order
to fix his mistakes and make amends, he learns to stand up for someone he cares about, Sohbar, and
saves him from his sexual abuser, Assef, clearing his reputation of being selfish and a coward.
Through Sohbar, Amir understands that the brotherhood between himself and Hassan is more
important than power. Hassan and I fed from the same breast. We took our first steps on the same
lawn in the same yard. And, under the same roof, we spoke our first words. Mine was Baba. His
was Amir. My name. (11).

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