I think one of the reasons why Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner remains so widely read, beloved, and controversial is that the author holds back on the poetic justice. It makes the novel more emotional and more mature, especially since it covers such difficult concepts and cruel fates. It's particularly harsh on the issue of loyalty, which tends to be a pure and uncorrupt force in literature. Hosseini, however, chooses to explore the realistic aspects of it.
The novel's protagonist , Amir, is not popular among the readers for this reason. We feel a natural inclination against him, especially since he is contrasted by the unflinching, utterly loyal Hassan. Now, this isn't to say that Hassan is an unrealistic character, but it creates a harsh comparison between him and Amir. Everything that comes naturally to Hassan, Amir struggles with. He simply does not have the same materials in him,...
Unlock This Answer Now
Start your 48-hour free trial and get ahead in class. Boost your grades with access to expert answers and top-tier study guides. Thousands of students are already mastering their assignments—don't miss out. Cancel anytime.
Already a member? Log in here.
the same kind of inner drive that would make the question of loyalty clear-cut. For Amir, loyalty comes with terms.
It also comes with consequences, which the author portrays mercilessly. If you consider the pivotal moment in The Kite Runner, you should remember you're judging a child. Loyalty is a virtue, but it is a severe one. The moment you start bargaining with the burden, it shrinks somehow and becomes conditional. It is absolutely clear to anyone reading the novel that Amir's intervening wouldn't have ended well for him. He is criticized, because the reader wants to believe they would have been more heroic in his place.
Does it mean he wasn't loyal to Hassan at all? Or was Amir merely a scared boy, who made a mistake?
Hosseini explores the concept of loyalty by shedding light on how absolute we expect it to be. The second half of the novel follows Amir on his quest to atone for the sins of his childhood. He risks a lot, finally fighting for both Hassan and Sohrab, but it still comes off bittersweet, like Amir is trying to erase a stain that will always be there—which is of course true in a way. His journey is littered with doubts and questions, with events that do not follow a straight course to redemption. By that I mean that loyalty is not shown to be a magical cure for the wounds of the heart, but rather as a balm that can heal the soul when it wants to. No one could call the ending of The Kite Runner overly sweet, but it is very hopeful.
As for the universal message about loyalty, I would say something like this: "Loyalty is not a miracle in itself, but any degree of it is better than nothing."
Part of Amir's journey is to fully grasp the powerful notions of transcendent truths such as loyalty. His entire journey both from Afghanistan and back to it seems to rest in the reclamation of such ideas.
When the notion of "to be good again" is posited in the opening of the book, it helps to establish the idea that Amir's quest is to reclaim this aspect of his identity. Loyalty to his friendships and the bonds that define his being are parts of this.
Loyalty is shown in how Amir returns to Afghanistan and does not shy from the connective bonds he has towards Hassan, both in recognizing his true place within his being and in honoring the connection he has towards Sohrab.
For Amir, the recognition of the importance of loyalty is something transcendent. It haunts him in his abandonment of Hassan as a child, lingers over him in his time in America, and compels him to return. It is something that is not temporal.
In a world of mutability, loyalty is something that seems to haunt Amir, compelling him to act in a manner that upholds it. The fact that loyalty and the need to honor it even when it seems to be in the past is part of how the value of loyalty is presented as a universal value.