Amir was very different from his father, Baba. Amir was not athletic and did not enjoy sports while that was Baba's favourite hobby. Baba was a tall, thick built and well respected man in the area while Amir was much quieter, laid back, and his passion for writing did not make sense to Baba. Amir even overheard him once say,
"If I hadn't seen the doctor pull him out of my wife with my own eyes, I'd never believe he's my son." (Hosseini 25)
When Amir and Hassan won the kite-fighting tournament over hundreds of other flyers, Amir felt he had finally won Baba's acceptance, and Hassan demonstrated his loyalty again by going kite running to retrieve it for Amir as it would act as a trophy and reminder to Baba that they had won,
"Right now, I'm going to run that blue kite for you." "He was already turning the street corner, his rubber boots kicking up snow. He stopped, turned. He cupped his hand around his mouth. 'For you a thousand times over!' " (Hosseini 71)
This event is crucial to Amir's childhood and the reason he is searching for redemption because when Hassan went to go find the kite, Assef cornered him in an alley and raped him. Amir went looking for Hassan because he had not returned. Just as Assef started to beat him, Amir watched from afar and after the raping ran away thinking that Hassan had never seen him watching.
"If I hadn't seen the doctor pull him out of my wife with my own eyes, I'd never believe he's my son." (Hosseini 25)
When Amir and Hassan won the kite-fighting tournament over hundreds of other flyers, Amir felt he had finally won Baba's acceptance, and Hassan demonstrated his loyalty again by going kite running to retrieve it for Amir as it would act as a trophy and reminder to Baba that they had won,
"Right now, I'm going to run that blue kite for you." "He was already turning the street corner, his rubber boots kicking up snow. He stopped, turned. He cupped his hand around his mouth. 'For you a thousand times over!' " (Hosseini 71)
This event is crucial to Amir's childhood and the reason he is searching for redemption because when Hassan went to go find the kite, Assef cornered him in an alley and raped him. Amir went looking for Hassan because he had not returned. Just as Assef started to beat him, Amir watched from afar and after the raping ran away thinking that Hassan had never seen him watching.
Even though Amir had found Sohrab, he still had work to do to get full redemption. Due to adoption policies and the state of Afghanistan, it was considered almost impossible to adopt Sohrab and bring him back to America. Amir had asked Sohrab if he could stay in another orphanage for a little while longer, but Sohrab was terrified and refused to go back. In the middle of the night, Amir found Sohrab in a pool of blood in their hotel bathroom with Amir's razor on the ground and rushed him to the hospital barely clinging onto his life.
"He says the boy had cut himself deeply and had lost a great deal of blood and my mouth begins to mutter that prayer again: La illaha, il Allah, Muhammad u rasul ullah. They had to transfuse several units of red cells – How will I tell Soraya? Twice they had to revive him – I will do namaz, I will do zakat. They would have lost him if his heart hadn’t been young and strong – I will fast. He is alive.” (Hossieni 366, 367)
"He says the boy had cut himself deeply and had lost a great deal of blood and my mouth begins to mutter that prayer again: La illaha, il Allah, Muhammad u rasul ullah. They had to transfuse several units of red cells – How will I tell Soraya? Twice they had to revive him – I will do namaz, I will do zakat. They would have lost him if his heart hadn’t been young and strong – I will fast. He is alive.” (Hossieni 366, 367)
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- Amir demonstrates how badly he wants to make things right and is so desparte, returns to prayer even though he barely remembers the words as he has not prayed in over 15 years
- Amirs atonement continues as he chooses to help Sohrab after finding him covered in blood instead of running away like he did to Hassan - Amir is able to continue on his path to redemption
Several weeks later, Amir and Soraya have beaten the adoption issues and brought Sohrab home to America. For many months, Sohrab hid inside himself and became mute as a coping method to deal with all of the trauma he has endured. Amir tries everything he can to to help Sohrab heal and the ending of the novel shows Sohrab has begun his first steps into the healing process. Amir was able to slowly break down Sohrab's shield and invited him to kite fight another pair of kids who were kite flying in the park. This situation draws another parallel between Amir's childhood and the present. By showing Sohrab what he and his father did together, Sohrab changed and finally smiled as they beat their opponent their opponent in the park.
"It was only a smile, nothing more. It didn’t make everything all right. It didn’t make anything all right. Only a smile. A tiny thing. A leaf in the woods, shaking in the wake of a startled bird’s fight. But I’ll take it. With open arms. Because when spring comes, it melts the snow one flake at a time, and maybe I just witnessed the first flake melting.” (Hossieni 391)
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- Amir was able to successfully bring Sohrab back to America, however still has work to do to help heal Sohrab from trauma he has had to endure
- By switching roles with Hassan and retrieving the kite for Sohrab, Amir proves he will be just as loyal to Sohrab as Hassan was to him resulting in obtaining ultimate redemption