Hassan’s Symbolism as a Sacrificial Lamb in The Kite Runner

The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, centers about the interplay amongst guilt, redemption, and sacrifice. Hosseini refers to the notion of religious sacrifice via which folks cleanse themselves of sin and cost-free their consciences. Betrayal leads to guilt, which calls for healing. The healing, in The Kite Runner’s case of generations of guilt and betrayal, is carried out via emblematic sacrifice. The character Hassan often serves as a bridge amongst two characters, permitting for reconciliation with a single an additional. In the novel, Hosseini employs Hassan as a symbolic, sacrificial lamb, who acts as a indicates of redemption for those who have sinned. From the start of the novel, Hassan was employed by other people as a implies of redemption and reconciliation with other characters. Starting at his birth, Hassan lived with and was taken care of by Baba so that Baba could redeem himself for sleeping with Ali’s (Hassan’s father’s) wife. Despite the fact that he was not necessarily sacrificed, considering his living circumstances were far greater than these of the other Hazzaras in Kabul, this situation foreshadowed Hassan’s future as a vector for redemption. Hassan’s 1st key manipulation as a sacrifice occurred when he was twelve years old, where he mediated the reconciliation among Amir and Baba. All through Amir’s complete life, he felt unworthy and unloved by his father. He believed that he killed his mother in childbirth and that his father resented him for it. He was nothing at all like Baba and believed himself to be a constant disappointment to him. At age twelve, Amir found that he could achieve his father’s approval by winning a kite flying tournament. He believed that if he won the tournament, it would “[S]how him [Baba] once and for all that his son was worthy. Then possibly my life as a ghost in this residence would finally be over… And maybe, just perhaps, I would lastly be pardoned for killing my mother” (Hosseini 56). As Amir’s “kite runner,” Hassan ran to catch the second-place kite so that Amir could present it to Baba as a prize and a final plank on the bridge amongst the two’s relationship. While retrieving the kite, Hassan was raped by the psychopath Assef since he refused to give up the kite and let Amir, his best buddy, down. It is in this scene, Hosseini produced a key reference to the sacrifice of a lamb. He said “… I had noticed it ahead of. It was the look of the lamb” (76). Here, Hassan’s rape forced Amir into a flashback to a moment when he watched a lamb’s sacrifice. He stated ” I watch due to the fact of that appear of acceptance in the animal’s eyes… I envision the animal sees that its imminent demise is for a greater goal. This is the look…” (76,77). When Amir spoke about “that/the look,” he was referring to the appear on Hassan’s face as Amir watched the selfless sacrifice in the identical way that he watched the lamb’s slaughter. Alternatively of stopping it, Amir stood watching the entire time. He consciously allowed the sacrifice of his best buddy to happen before his eyes due to the fact “… Hassan was the price tag I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba” (77). The sacrifice was profitable in mending the connection between Baba and Amir (even so only temporarily due to the fact the genuine difficulty was Baba’s deep-rooted guilt), but destroyed the relationship amongst Amir and Hassan. Hassan’s selfless sacrifice for Amir became the topic of Amir’s unfaltering guilt, major to Hassan’s second sacrifice for Amir. Amir’s guilt over his selfish acts is the focus of the rest of the novel. Amir not only felt guilt, but contempt for himself right after experiencing Hassan’s God-like and forgiving nature. This sent him into a downward spiral of cruel attacks on Hassan in an try to force the identical angry reaction out of Hassan. When these attempts failed and Amir nevertheless could not forgive himself, he was forced to manipulate his father into generating Hassan leave the residence so that he would not have to see Hassan once more and be reminded of his error. Amir framed Hassan for stealing one of his possessions and Hassan, understanding Baba would take his truthful word over Amir’s, sacrificed himself for Amir and wrongly confessed to the theft. Again, Hassan acts as a lamb, sacrificed for the benefit of Amir and the partnership amongst him and his father. This is clearly a second sacrifice, as Amir says “[T]his was Hassan’s final sacrifice for me… He knew I had betrayed him and yet he was rescuing me once again… I wasn’t worthy of his sacrifice” (105). Then, soon after being surprisingly forgiven by Baba, Hassan and Ali left the household only to enter into poverty, carrying out somewhat of a third sacrifice to Amir. This sacrifice could have been completed to save Amir from the guilt of facing Hassan, or merely simply because Hassan and his father had been so hurt by Amir’s act. As a outcome, Amir and Baba’s relationship was saved a second time by way of Hassan’s selfless sacrifice, reinforcing his role as a sacrificial lamb. From teenage years into adulthood, Amir was haunted with the guilt of allowing his excellent, pure, and God-like buddy to be raped, as effectively as pushing Hassan and Ali into poverty and blackening their names. Soon after far more than twenty years, Hassan’s final sacrifice was administered by means of his son, Sohrab, to save Amir from his sins and from himself. Hassan, who ultimately lived on Baba’s home soon after he was gone, refused to give up the house to the Taliban and was murdered on the street. This sacrifice unintentionally allowed for Amir’s redemption via a piece of Hassan: his orphaned son, Sohrab. Sohrab, like Hassan, was raped by Assef, a member of the Taliban. In an attempt to rescue Sohrab, Amir unknowingly redeemed himself from his error-laden previous. Once more, a reference was created to the biblical sacrificial lamb in the course of Sohrab’s rape when Amir mentioned “Sohrab’s eyes flicked to me. They have been slaughter eyes” (285). Although Sohrab was not straight getting sacrificed for Amir’s advantage, he was carrying on his father’s part as a path to reconciliation in between a Amir and Hassan and Amir and himself. Soon after adopting Sohrab into his family members, Amir was finally capable to get a pure and guilt-free conscience. By the end of the novel, Amir was cleansed of the sin of betrayal, which was shown when he was lastly able to fly a kite once again with a portion of Hassan (Sohrab) by his side. Throughout the novel, Hassan is representative of a symbolic, sacrificial lamb who acts as a implies of redemption for characters who have sinned against other characters. Simply because of Hassan’s God-like qualities and morals, his sacrifice could be compared to the biblical sacrifice of Jesus, sometimes known as “The Lamb.” In biblical context, God’s sacrifice via his son, Jesus, offers a way for sinners to attain heaven. Similarly, Hassan’s sacrifice is a passage to redemption, very good relationships, and adulthood. After Amir utilised Hassan as a sacrifice for the initial and second instances, he passed from childhood into adulthood. In the very same way, Hassan’s death and unintentional sacrifice of his son, Sohrab, permitted Amir to pass from his life dominated by a guilty conscience to a life free of shame, where he is in a position to ultimately forgive himself.