In The Kite Runner, Amir, the main character, lives in two different countries throughout his life. He grew up in a town called Kabul in Afghanistan but later moved to the United States when turmoil hit his home country. For Amir, Afghanistan represents the past and all the conflict in his life, while the United States represents new beginnings, independence and redemption.
Afghanistan held Amir’s childhood and past inner conflicts he had to battle for years of his life. One conflict was constantly trying to impress his father, Baba. Baba was an esteemed man, held in high respects from many people of the community. Amir had big shoes to fill and was therefore pressured to try and seem like a man and worthy in his father’s eyes. Another conflict was when he watched his close friend and servant, Hassan, get raped by a bully, Assef, and did nothing about it. Hassan would always stand up for Amir, but Amir was afraid to get hurt and so he just ran away. The guilt that Amir felt made him drive Hassan out of the house, leaving him lonely and tortured by shame of betraying Hassan.
Once war and turmoil hit Afghanistan, Baba and Amir moved to America. In America, Baba and Amir truly experienced a new beginning. In Afghanistan, Baba was wealthy, but in America, they were poor and Baba had to work a dirty job at a gas station just to make ends meet. But Baba got sick and died, leaving Amir for the first time. Amir was afraid because for the first time, he didn’t have Baba to tell him what to do. Although he had a wife, he was really on his own for the first time.
When Amir got a call from an old friend, Rahim Khan, in Afghanistan, Amir returned to his old country to find the towns in shambles and executions happened virtually everyday. Amir was asked by Rahim to retrieve Hassan’s son, Sohrab, because Hassan and his wife were executed. Being back in Afghanistan, Amir was forced to confront his past and his conflicts. He didn’t have Baba to pressure him to be a man, but he had to be independent and brave because Afghanistan was such a dangerous country at the time with the Russian invasion. Also, getting Sohrab’s son was Amir’s first connection to Hassan in twenty-five years. It was also Amir’s chance to redeem himself for betraying Hassan all those years ago. Amir was nearly killed for retrieving Sohrab. But he finally felt better because he felt like he got what he deserved for betraying Hassan. All these years he’s gotten away with his burdening secret and for him, he got his closure.
Amir took Sohrab back to America to start a new beginning. Although Sohrab was unresponsive at first because he was traumatized and emotionally drained of the life of an orphan and even tried to commit suicide, Amir still tried to get through to Sohrab so they could start a life together with his wife as a family. Amir and his wife couldn’t have a child for unknown reasons, so Sohrab would be like a son to them. America is where Amir finally started his phase of redemption to Hassan for taking care of his son.
