The Kite Runner: The power of Societies Teachings and Guilt

Through a reader response point of view we see that in the Kite Runner, Amir tends to act out and make decisions based on society standards as well as guilt.

If you have seen my previous post, then you might have an idea on why you are here reading this post today. The reason why you are here for those who have not but should check my previous post is because you will be seeing a piece of my English culminating assignment which is a portfolio of different forms of media texts and an essay. The goal for this blog is to prove the thesis that you first read at the top of this post.

Amir is the main character of the Kite Runner and is also the narrator, so this is why the thesis ties directly to him as we see a lot of what he does throughout his entire life. To start our journey with him we must first learn where he comes from and who taught him. Amir grew up in a home with his father, a boy named Hassan, and his father who was the servant to Amir and his father. Amir’s father never spoke too much directly to him but when he did he would tell Amir some things that were serious and things Amir would always have to keep in mind. An example of this is this quote here “there is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft. When you kill a man, you steal a life... you steal his wife's right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone's right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness... there is no act more wretched than stealing.” (Hosseini) As you can see Amir’s father has clearly been affected by someone who stole from him and really wants Amir to be a good person and I can assure you that he has told Amir other things as well of doing the right thing, like standing up for someone in need. So you would think Amir would have a good upbringing.

Although Amir had his father to teach him, that was not the only thing teaching or influencing his decisions in life. Something much bigger was teaching him and that was society. There are plenty of examples in the story showing how they treated Hazara’s which was Hassan’s race and is where the problem resides. So an example of society mistreating them is shown here when Amir reads a book about the Hazara’s “It also said some things I did know, like that people called Hazaras mice-eating, flat-nosed, load-carrying donkeys. I had heard some of the kids in the neighborhood yell those names to Hassan.” (Hosseini) Just because Amir was told somethings by his father what makes you think he wouldn’t be affected by society either, he is imperfect after all just like his father who kept one of the biggest secrets. That secret being that he was the father of Hassan and Amir was his brother. This secret here would also fuel the guilt for Amir into realizing he didn’t save his friend and brother from rape.

Due to this accumulation of guilt Amir then continued on with his journey at the end of the book to go and save his nephew from the brutal conditions in Afghanistan at the time of when the Taliban took over. Due to these reasons it is clear to see that the teachings of society and accumulation of guilt are reasons for people to act out and make decisions.