In The Kite Runner, why does Amir feel guilty and how does he try to atone?

In Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, grown-up Amir’s overwhelming sense of guilt can be traced back to his treatment of his childhood friend, Hassan. Amir was a silent bystander to Hassan’s rape in an alley in Kabul when they were children.

However, what makes Amir’s guilt even greater is that it was not only his cowardice but also his resentment of Hassan, which stopped him from intervening as bullies assaulted his friend. A child himself, Amir is unable to process that his intense jealousy of Hassan is a direct consequence of his father’s praising Hassan for what bookish Amir is not: brave, resourceful, and athletic. When Hasan’s bravery fails to protect him from violence, Amir feels vindicated at Hassan’s emasculation. These feelings are not explicitly expressed in the novel, but the subtext to Amir’s behavior is clear.

Worse, in the wake of the rape, Amir continues to treat Hassan horribly. Hassan now begins to remind Amir of his own cowardice, and Amir wants nothing more than for Hassan to disappear, along with his guilt. He tries to frame Hassan for theft so Baba, his father, can send him away. Though Baba forgives Hassan, Hassan's proud father, Ali, well aware of Amir’s role in the sequence of events, leaves the home with his son anyway. Soon after, Baba and Amir flee Kabul for the United States.

As Amir grows up, he realizes the full import of his actions. His guilt at betraying selfless, loyal Hassan becomes entwined with his guilt about his racist and class-driven attitudes towards Hassan. Hassan was a Hazra, an ethnic minority community in Afghanistan, and the son of a household servant, both of which realities made Amir ashamed to have him for a best friend. As Amir himself is now a part of a small minority, his renewed experience of class and race informs his guilt about his past.

Guilt of such enormity can only be atoned for through a trial by fire. Thus, Amir must return to the same war-torn Afghanistan he fled along with his father; except the Afghanistan of his adulthood is far worse than his childhood self could have imagined. Amir has to make the hazardous trip to rescue Sohrab, Hassan’s orphaned young son, who is in the clutches of the Taliban.

After his father’s death, Amir learns that Hassan was actually Baba’s son, a fact which adds even more pathos to their shared past. In a way, atoning for his actions is also Amir’s way of reclaiming his own lost, child-like self, since in betraying Hassan, he also betrayed his own innocence. Therefore, Amir risks his life and rescues traumatized Sohrab from an intensely dangerous situation, bringing him to America and adopting him. Amir redeems himself, and through Sohrab, reclaims Hassan, as well as his own lost authentic self.

What are examples of Amir's self-conflict in The Kite Runner?

Amir has several inner conflicts which affect him well into adulthood. One comes from his own guilt concerning the death of his mother during childbirth: Amir believes that Baba blames him for his mother's death--a burden Amir accepts and one which he believes can never be altered. Amir's greater guilt comes from the jealousy he bears for the attentions Baba gives Hassan and the two betrayals he commits against his companion: First, Amir watches but fails to assist Hassan as he is raped by Assef. This cowardly act is followed by a more devious one that results with Amir planting his birthday money and gifts under Hassan's mattress; Hassan takes the fall for the theft and Baba forgives him, much to Amir's surprise, but this personal disgrace culminates in Ali and Hassan's exit from Baba's household. Amir's departure to California is a blessing for him, putting thousands of miles between him and his old home in Kabul where all of his youthful mistakes occurred. Amir only learns as an adult that not only has his late father been keeping terrible secrets from him, but that perhaps he has been a bit too hard on himself--and that "there is a way to be good again."

How does Amir's guilt affect his life, character, and relationships with Hassan and Baba in The Kite Runner?

Amir's guilt over failing to come to Hassan's rescue when he is raped by Assef is so overwhelming that he can no longer stand to see Hassan in Baba's household. Amir concocts a plan to disgrace Hassan by placing his birthday presents under his bed--yet another sin for which he will be forever guilty. Amir's sins haunt him during his early years in California, and he is only able to cleanse himself when he returns to Afghanistan to find his nephew, Sohrab. Amir believes he will never be able to achieve the personal integrity which Baba has displayed throughout his life. He wonders whether he is a worthy husband for Soraya, and despite the successes he gains as a writer, he knows that there is something missing in his life. He suffers from insomnia and nightmares stemming from his acts of unkindness toward Hassan, and it is only when he receives the phone call from Rahim Khan, with the promise that

There is a way to be good again

that Amir recognizes what he must do. Amir's guilt forces him to return to Afghanistan, where the beating he takes from Assef is a giant leap in cleansing the shame he feels.

My body was broken-- ... but I felt healed. Healed at last.

Amir's final step toward absolution comes when he volunteers to run Sohrab's kite in the final chapter--an act which Sohrab's father had done so many times for Amir.

     "For you, a thousand times over," I heard myself say... It didn't make everything all right. It didn't make anything all right... A tiny thing.
     But I'll take it.

In The Kite Runner, how does Amir's guilt from betraying Hassan affect his other relationships?

The guilt that Amir feels haunts him for many years, and he feels an emptiness in his life long after he relocates to California. Although he takes pride in his accomplishments as a student and, later, a writer, he feels a general unworthiness of his inner character. He questions whether he is worthy of his wife, Soraya; and becoming a part of her illustrious family and General Taheri. His inability to father a child with his wife further symbolizes his past guilt. Though his relationship with Baba improves in San Jose, he stills feels inferior to his father and recognizes that Baba's past accomplishments still far outweigh his own. He is made to feel unworthy by his driver, Farid, upon his return to Afghanistan, and it is only after he takes the steps to retrieve Sohrab does Farid show him respect. The fact that Amir never made any attempts to locate or contact Hassan or Rahim Khan while in America shows that he was just trying to forget his past transgressions by distance and disassociation. It is only after Rahim summons Amir to Pakistan that Amir begins to see how his guilt can be alleviated. 

How is Amir's internal conflict with his guilt over Hassan described and resolved in The Kite Runner?

Amir suffers feelings of guilt from two specific acts that involved Hassan. First, Amir fails to come to Hassan's aid when he is raped by Assef following Amir's victory in the kite-flying tournament. Although it would have been a courageous act to intervene, Amir chooses the cowardly way out and simply hides, remaining silent as he watches the future Taliban tyrant sodomize his friend. Then, on Amir's birthday, he plants money under Hassan's mattress to make him appear guilty of theft because he is jealous of Baba's attention toward Hassan. Although Baba forgives Hassan, his father, Ali, decides they must leave Baba's home. These two events haunt Amir for many years, and he eventually discovers that there is only one way to atone for his sins: When he discovers that Hassan's son, Sohrab--who is actually Amir's nephew--is still alive in Afghanistan, Amir decides that he must find him and free him from the hands of the Taliban. It is a dangerous mission, verging on suicidal, but Amir knows this is the only way his conscience can be cleansed.

In which parts of the book " The Kite Runner" is shown that Amir feels guilty?Amir felt guilty when he betrayed Hassan who always stood up for him.

The book opens in the adulthood of Amir and he relates then and there that he made a bad decision in his childhood and he has spent the rest of life to that point trying to redeem himself.  Then the book slides into a flashback and we learn what bad decisions he makes, namely his poor treatment of his friend Hassan, and his not trying to stop Assef's attack of Hassan after the kite running contest.  He reveals his guilt immediately after the attack when he talks about why he didin't react; he reveals it in his subsequent horrible treatment of Hassan and his false accusations; he reveals it in a comment here or there throughout the novel as he tells about leaving Afganistan and his life in the United States.  He specically thinks about it when he learns about the mistake his wife made in running off the man.  She can reveal her sins, while Amir states that he just can't. 

His guilt hits him hardest when he hears from Kahn and learns that he needs to return to Afganistan.  Once there when he learns that Kahn knew the whole truth all this time and that Hassan is actually his half brother, the guilt is almost overwhelming and he is driven to atone for that past by doing everything in his power to save Sohrab from the Taliban men and Assef.  He devotes himself to bringing Sohrab home and healing Sohrab's spirit in a way he never did for Hassan. 

There are references to his guilt in almost every episode of the novel -- it is so clearly a novel about guilt and redemption, and it works well because we are never left too long without a reminder of what Amir did and his feelings about those childhood actions.

Why must Amir atone for his and his father's sins in The Kite Runner?

The protagonist in Khaled Hosseini's novel The Kite Runner, Amir, is motivated by guilt for most of his adult life for an act he committed in childhood. More specifically, it was an act he did not commit: he witnessed the rape of his best friend, Hassan, but did nothing to intervene. In fact, Amir violently rejected Hassan, desperately ashamed and discomfited by interacting with him. 

Later, Amir's guilt leads him to return to Afghanistan and rescue Hassan's son. However, it is not solely Amir's guilt that pushes him to this, some might say courageous, decision. As is revealed later in the text, Hassan is in fact Amir's half brother, fathered by Baba. In returning to Afghanistan for Sohrab, Amir recognizes Hassan's relationship with Baba as legitimate, complete with the responsibilities due to a family member in need.