The two strongest motifs that I discovered in Khaled Hosseini's, Kite Runner, are friendship and salvation/redemption. Khaled communicates these two topics in many ways in the novel.
He communicates friendship:
~Explaining the friendship between Amir and Hassan
~Telling about Amir's thoughts of him and Hassan as friends
~Hassan being so loyal & constantly telling Amir, "For you, a thousand times over."
~True friendships can be hard to establish when two peoples' worlds are so different
~What makes a true friend?
He communicates salvation/redemption:
~Amir regrets not helping Hassan/not being a good friend to him
~This feeling of regret disappears when Amir visits Kabul, gets beaten up by Assef and realizes he deserved it for what he did to Hassan, and adopted Sohrab, a "way to be good again" and start over
~Sometimes, it takes years to feel clean again after something that is greatly regretted
In the letter that Amir had read from Hassan, the last final words said, "And I dream that someday you will return to Kabul to revisit the land of our childhood. If you do, you will find an old faithful friend waiting for you" (Hosseini 218).
Hassan was always faithful and loyal to Amir. He never was mean to him or argued with him. He was the greatest friend (and brother) that Amir could ever ask for.
As Amir is being beat up by Assef when he returns to Kabul to adopt Hassan's son, these thoughts were running through his head:
"What was so funny was that, for the first time since the winter of 1975, I felt at peace. I laughed because I saw that, in some hidden nook in a corner of my mind, I'd even been looking forward to this. I remembered the day on the hill I had pelted Hassan with pomegranates and tried to provoke him. He'd just stood there, doing nothing, red juice soaking through his shirt like blood. Then he'd taken the pomegranate from my hand, crushed it against his forehead. Are you satisfied now? he hissed.Do you feel better?
I hadn't been happy and I hadn't felt better, not at all. But I did now. My body was broken--just how badly I wouldn't find out until later--but I felt healed. Healed at last. I laughed" (Hosseini 289).
Once Amir had gone through this, he was given a wake-up call. Back when Hassan was beaten and raped, Amir just stood back and watched. Now, when Amir got beaten up badly by Assef, he knew he deserved it. However, one thing was different. Sohrab (Hassan's son) is much like Hassan in many ways. When he saw how Amir (a grown man) was getting beaten to death, he stood up with the slingshot he got from his father Hassan (that Amir gave Hassan) and threw a stone at Assef's eye. He stood up for Amir, just like Hassan would've stood up for Amir. This is when Amir got a big wake-up call about how true of a friend Hassan really was, and was very thankful for Sohrab coming out and expressing some of his father's characteristics. http://www.vh1.com/sitewide/flipbooks/img/movies/production_stills/k/kite_runner/210.jpg ~This picture is showing Amir, Sohrab and Amir's wife, Soraya, (in the movie) about ready to fly a kite, just like Amir did with Hassan.~
--Amir notices that Sohrab is his chance to be good again, to start over, and be kinder to Sohrab than he was to Hassan. He teaches Sohrab how to fly a kite like his father, and it brings both of them great joy.
He communicates friendship:
~Explaining the friendship between Amir and Hassan~Telling about Amir's thoughts of him and Hassan as friends
~Hassan being so loyal & constantly telling Amir, "For you, a thousand times over."
~True friendships can be hard to establish when two peoples' worlds are so different
~What makes a true friend?
He communicates salvation/redemption:
~Amir regrets not helping Hassan/not being a good friend to him~This feeling of regret disappears when Amir visits Kabul, gets beaten up by Assef and realizes he deserved it for what he did to Hassan, and adopted Sohrab, a "way to be good again" and start over
~Sometimes, it takes years to feel clean again after something that is greatly regretted
In the letter that Amir had read from Hassan, the last final words said, "And I dream that someday you will return to Kabul to revisit the land of our childhood. If you do, you will find an old faithful friend waiting for you" (Hosseini 218).
Hassan was always faithful and loyal to Amir. He never was mean to him or argued with him. He was the greatest friend (and brother) that Amir could ever ask for.
~This smile that Hassan is giving Amir (from the movie) is so innocent, pure, and happy. he never had anything against Amir or had done anything mean to him.~
As Amir is being beat up by Assef when he returns to Kabul to adopt Hassan's son, these thoughts were running through his head:
"What was so funny was that, for the first time since the winter of 1975, I felt at peace. I laughed because I saw that, in some hidden nook in a corner of my mind, I'd even been looking forward to this. I remembered the day on the hill I had pelted Hassan with pomegranates and tried to provoke him. He'd just stood there, doing nothing, red juice soaking through his shirt like blood. Then he'd taken the pomegranate from my hand, crushed it against his forehead. Are you satisfied now? he hissed.Do you feel better?
I hadn't been happy and I hadn't felt better, not at all. But I did now. My body was broken--just how badly I wouldn't find out until later--but I felt healed. Healed at last. I laughed" (Hosseini 289).
Once Amir had gone through this, he was given a wake-up call. Back when Hassan was beaten and raped, Amir just stood back and watched. Now, when Amir got beaten up badly by Assef, he knew he deserved it. However, one thing was different. Sohrab (Hassan's son) is much like Hassan in many ways. When he saw how Amir (a grown man) was getting beaten to death, he stood up with the slingshot he got from his father Hassan (that Amir gave Hassan) and threw a stone at Assef's eye. He stood up for Amir, just like Hassan would've stood up for Amir. This is when Amir got a big wake-up call about how true of a friend Hassan really was, and was very thankful for Sohrab coming out and expressing some of his father's characteristics.
~This picture is showing Amir, Sohrab and Amir's wife, Soraya, (in the movie) about ready to fly a kite, just like Amir did with Hassan.~
--Amir notices that Sohrab is his chance to be good again, to start over, and be kinder to Sohrab than he was to Hassan. He teaches Sohrab how to fly a kite like his father, and it brings both of them great joy.