REDEMPTION

STUDY GUIDE

Rio de Janeiro, the statue of Christ ……………………….

Question: How does this image of the statue that stands on a mountain peak
above Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, represent the notion of ‘redemption’? Annotate the
visual first. Then write 8 – 10 lines.
To answer, identify particular visual features and explain what they represent or
suggest.
Visual features:
camera position: - camera shot and angle
composition – position of the statue in the frame, position of the statue in
relation to the city
stance of the statue. Symbolic meaning / reference

Redemption is a theme. Redemption is also a ‘meta-narrative’.

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 Area of Study -Redemption
The Meta-narrative of Loss and Redemption

Meta-narrative: meta = greater , overarching

narrative = story
A meta-narrative is an overarching narrative form.
There is a pattern to the plot structure and types of characters in stories that
follow a particular meta-narrative.

Why are there meta-narratives in literature?

* Metanarratives such as ‘The Hero’s Quest’ or ‘Journey and Return’ or ‘Loss
and Redemption’ reflect our shared human experience. They offer insights
about ourselves and our world.
The messages in meta-narratives are often important for our understanding of
our human nature. They reflect our human needs and as well as what is good for
society.

The Quest Metanarrative

This reflects the human experience of personal growth through facing
difficulties, meeting challenges and overcoming them.
Gilgamesh, The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, The Hunger Games

The Journey and Return Metanarrative

This reflects the human experience of change and growth by moving beyond
boundaries.
The protagonist sets out beyond the borders of the familiar world. He has
adventures that broaden his experience. He returns home to re-establish his
place in a world that is both familiar and changed.
Jason and the Argonauts, The Odyssey

The Loss and Redemption Metanarrative

This reflects the human experience of moral failure but expressing regret and
making amends to right the wrong.
The process of recognition, atonement and forgiveness is transformative. The
path to redemption is also healing for society. It acknowledges the need for a
sense of belonging, acceptance and social reconnection.

* The same metanarratives shape stories across cultures and times because they
reflect universal human experiences, that is experiences we all share. They are
meaningful and relatable.
* Stories that conform to a metanarrative such as ‘the quest’ or ‘the journey and
return’ or ‘loss and redemption’ follow distinctive plot and character
conventions.
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 In Religion
The Christian Grand Narrative

What is the redemption story that shapes the Christian Grand Narrative?
The Christian grand narrative is of humankind’s ‘fall from grace’ and its …………….
from sin by …………….......................................................
In the Christian grand narrative, God calls us to ........................... our human failings,
.......................................... our sins and be redeemed by .................

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 The Christian Grand Narrative

* Moral Offence. Humanity’s Moral Failing. When Adam and Eve disobey God by
eating from the Tree of Knowledge (or the Tree of Life) they commit the original sin.
* Loss of Innocence They lose their innocence and know evil, sin, life and death. Pain
and suffering. Humanity gains knowledge and knows mortality.
Adam and Eve are punished by God by being cast out of Eden, their garden paradise.
* Atonement Humanity is redeemed from sin by Christ. God sacrifices His son, Jesus
Christ. Christ means ‘messiah’, ‘saviour’. Christ, through his suffering and death on the
cross, atones for mortal sin.
The sacrificial lamb of God takes away the ‘sins of the world.’ Jesus Christ is the
redeemer.
* Forgiveness and Transformation Christ defeats sin. Evil and death are overcome.
Through Christ’s love, humankind can again receive God’s grace.
Christ’s suffering and sacrifice is transformative. Humanity is reunited with God and
gains eternal life.

A Personal Story of the path to Redemption

A TED TALK
Shaka Senghor : ‘Your worst deeds don’t define you’ 12 minutes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtXyGFMBWBs

Listening Task
Listen to the TedTalk.

1. Outline the personal experience that Shaka Senghor describes.

2. Write down the most interesting ideas in point form.
3. Share these with the class.

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 Redemption Stories reflect our Humanity
Questions
1. What aspects of our human nature and our personal and social needs are expressed in
redemption stories? Present 3 points in your answer.

2. How does the Jewish ‘Day of Atonement’, an annual day on the Jewish calendar for
acknowledging offences towards others and doing something to heal the division, and
reaching out with charity in the community, similarly address our personal and social
needs?

3. Look up the ‘Sorry Declaration’ delivered by past PM Kevin Rudd to Australia’s

indigenous people in 2007.
What experience of Indigenous Australians does the declaration acknowledge?
Why was this important to Aboriginal Australians collectively?
Why was the acknowledgment of the past and the national apology important for
Australian society?

Redemption Vocabulary

These words are very similar in meaning

What is the nuanced difference between them?

Repentance Forgiveness Salvation

and and and
Atonement Reconciliation Redemption

How would you map the essential features (the conventions) of

a story of redemption? What would we see in:

* The character of the protagonist

* The situation

* The plot: the character’s experience

and
his/her development on a ‘path to redemption’.

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 Stages in the Process of Redemption

● The individual faces a moral challenge. He / she then commits

a Wrongdoing / Offence / Moral Failing

Guilt, Emotional Pain, Avoidance

Having a conscience, the individual suffers. They feel an inner conflict
between what they know is right and what they have done. They may feel
a sorrow for what has been lost.
He/She is burdened by feelings of guilt, regret and perhaps even
unworthiness.
There may be an attempt to avoid accountability and the pain of guilt by
hiding or denying the truth. He/She may attempt to ‘bury the past’,
silence the past, avoid the truth of the past.

● Recognition of one’s wrong-doing.

Recognition of one’s own failing comes from honest reflection.
The pain of a guilty conscience is followed by a critical shift to
acceptance of the truth
Acknowledging one’s personal failing is challenging and
confronting. It requires courage.
However, recognition enables new possibilities for the future.

● Atonement: making amends for a wrongdoing or injury.

Action is taken to redress the wrong: - to right the wrong.
As moral offences are often self-serving acts, atonement is often
a selfless act.
Suffering in atonement may be cathartic.
Through atonement, good can come from the bad.

● Redemption
Forgiveness. Transformation of the Self. Renewal of self-worth.
Peace. Release from the pain of the past. At peace with the past.
Reconnection. New beginnings. New possibilities. Renewed Hope for
the future.

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 REDEMPTION
Questions to Begin our Study

● What do you know now about the concept of ‘redemption’?

● What more would you like to know to understand the concept better?
● What is significant about the concept of ‘redemption’ that makes it
worthy of studying in literature?
● What aptitudes would you like to acquire and what skills would you like
to develop through your study in Term 1?
● How do you intend to achieve these goals in your learning for your
personal growth as a scholar and a young man of character?

You might like to listen to a Book Club discussion on

The Kite Runner

https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/bookclub/id515895451?mt=2

Podcast
Historical, Geographical & Cultural Setting

o Afghanistan in the between 1970s -1990s-Early 80s ruled under a pro-

Soviet government.
o Conflict between the Soviets and the Islamic Mujahedin (backed up by
the US)
o 1981 Ch 10. Baba and Amir flee Afghanistan to migrate to America.
o 1996 The Taliban control Afghanistan. In Afghanistan there is Islamic law
– Shariah law.

Muslims In Afghanistan
o 99% of the populace in Afghanistan are Muslim
o Sunnis and Shi’a are two Muslim sects. There is a history of hostility
between Sunnis and Shi’a Muslims.
o The different Muslim sects correlate with the two different ethnicities.
o Afghanistan was 80% Sunni Muslim in the 1970’s – 1980’s .

Most Sunni Muslims were Pashtuns, the ruling class. Baba and Amir.
o Most of the minority, Shi’a Muslim were Hazara.
They were poorer, disadvantaged and discriminated against. Hassan and
Ali.

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 Redemption in The Kite Runner

Chapter 1 – 6
1. Close study of the novel’s opening.

2. Describe Amir’s childhood relationship with Hassan.

Write 15 Lines: 200 Words
(Note the religious history and ethnic division and family history)
o Their childhood games and pastimes (reading – the pomegranate tree as
a symbolic image)
o Their characterization in their relationship through these accounts
o Amir’s narrative comments about how he relates to Hassan and how
Hassan relates to him.
o Does Amir also need to be redeemed from the guilt he feels, believing
he’s accountable for his mother’s death at his birth
o Does Amir feel unworthy on a deep level yearning for love from his
father that is not forthcoming?

REDEMPTION
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

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Study Guide Questions

Chapter1
The opening chapter is of an incident that actually occurs in the middle of the
story (Ch 14 – 15, pg 175). The narrator and protagonist Amir has received a
phone call from Rahim Kahn, a friend and business partner of Amir’s late
father, Baba. The call takes Amir back to his past.
How does the opening reflection by the now 38 year old Amir introduce his
personal story as a story of redemption? (write 8 lines. Include quotations)

Criteria for Success: address these questions to structure your response

● How does Amir suggest that he committed a wrongdoing in the past?
● How does he suggest that he has tried to avoid acknowledging it since?
● What is the significance of Rahim Khan’s phone call?
● After the call, what does Amir remember and reflect upon?

Also consider ideas about time suggested in the opening:

*the importance of personal history and memory in shaping personal identity
*the nature of the past
*the significance of the past : the relationship between past and present and the
way the past leaves its footprint in our lives. Ideas about the influence of:
- personal history
- family history
- cultural history

The Novel’s Settings

You might like to plot the shifts in setting in The Kite Runner on a world map.
Ch 1, the prologue to Amir’s personal story, is set in San Francisco,
America.
Chapters 2 – 10 present the backstory to that moment when Amir receives
the phone call from Rahim Khan.
Chapters 2 – 9 are about Amir’s childhood in Afghanistan before Baba flees
the country with him as refugees. They settle in America.
Chapters 10 – 14 are about Amir and Baba’s new life in America up to the
phone call.
Chapter 14 – to the end : This section is about Amir’s recognition of his past
failing and his atonement on his path to redemption. Amir returns to
Afghanistan, to his past. Finally, he returns to San Francisco with the
opportunity to for transformation and a new beginning.

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Cultural History, Family History, Personal History

Chapters 2 and 3 Amir’s Childhood Story

Amir begins his story. He describes his childhood in Kabul.

His father Baba is a successful and highly respected businessman. His business
partner and friend is Rahim Khan, who sends Amir the phone call years later
(see Chapter 1).
Amir and Baba live in a grand house in an affluent area in Kabul.
Baba has a servant, Ali. Ali’s son is Hassan.
Hassan is a loyal friend to Amir. Hassan’s mother ran away when he was
young. Amir’s mother died when he was born. As infants, Amir and Hassan
shared the same nurse.

There are ethnic and religious differences that make Amir and Hassan’s
relationship very difficult.

Pashtuns – are the privileged ethnicity in Afghanistan. They are the dominant
ethnic group (80%) and Pashtuns are the ruling class.
Pashtuns are Sunni Muslims. Baba and Amir are Pashtun.

The Hazara – are the minority ethnicity in Afghanistan. (20%) They are
marginalised, disempowered and looked down upon.
The Hazara are Shi’a Muslims. Ali and Hassan are Hazara.

Historically, Hazara were persecuted by Pashtuns.

Ethnic conflict was compounded by religious hostility.

Amir and Hassan’s childhood relationship

1. Describe Amir and Hassan’s relationship. Explain what bond them and what
divides them. Select the most important quotations from Ch 2 to 4 to illustrate
your points. (10 lines)
● How Amir and Hassan’s relationship is born of a family history. Bonds of
friendship as close as brotherhood bond them. Historical ethnic and
religious hostilities divide them. Reference: notes here + page 24
● Narrative comments about their infancy: mothers, first words ...
● Narrative description of the experiences that they share as young boys
● Suggestions about their loyalties: Hassan’s compared to Amir’s
Amir’s relationship with his father, Baba

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1. Describe Amir’s relationship with his father, Baba.
Take information from pg 18 and pages 21 – 22.

Narrative Feature: MOTIF

A Motif: an image that recurs through the narrative, taking on symbolic
meaning by recurring through the narrative.
Baba is introduced with the motif of ‘wrestling with the bear’. As you read the
novel, look for when this image recurs. Then explain the symbolic meaning of
the motif.

Chapter 4 ‘Amir and Hassan, the Sultans of Kabul’

1. Outline what Amir and Hassan like to do when they climb the hill to the
pomegranate tree.
Criteria for Success Read pages 26 – 28 again
a) What do the boys carve in to the pomegranate tree?
b) What do they read?
c) How do their activities express their friendship?

The myth of Rostam and Sohrab from the Shahnamah

2. How is the myth of Rostam and Sohrab important for Amir? 6 + lines
How to answer the question for Success
2 a. What happens in the myth?
b. What type of story is it? Is it a redemption story or not?
c. How does the Persian myth have a resonance for Amir and his own
relationship with his father, Baba?

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For Discussion
Does Amir feel guilty, and the need to be redeemed believing he’s accountable
for his mother’s death at his birth?
Does Amir feel unworthy, on a deep level, yearning for love from his father that
is withheld?
Does a feeling of insufficiency account in some way for Amir’s sometimes
heartless treatment of Hassan? Illustrate some actions that suggest this.

The Kite Flying Competition

Winter 1975
Amir’s hope for redemption in his father’s eyes and his Moral Failure

Chapter 6 The kite flying tournament in winter 1975

1. Why does Amir want to win the kite flying competition?

Criteria for success
Consider Amir’s relationship with his father, Baba.
Reread and include information from pages 52 and 53 and pages 61 – 62.
Include a quotation.

2. How does Hassan show his commitment to his friend Amir in the
competition?
Read over page 63. Quote what Hassan says, that characterises him as devoted
and loyal.

3. Amir imagines a new ending to the myth of Rostam and Sohrab. Page 64
a) What is the new ending that Amir imagines?
b) How does his new, imagined ending reflect the ‘redemption’ and ‘new
beginning’ that Amir hopes to have with his father, Baba? Include a quotation.

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c) What two special talents does Hassan have?
Amir wins the competition and Hassan runs the blue kite for him!

A Terrible Wrong Doing in the Redemption Narrative

Symbolism ‘The blue kite. My key to Baba’s heart’ page 67

Chapter 7
Read over pages 67 to 69 and the middle of page 70 then pages 72 – 73.

Hassan runs the blue kite for Amir. The blue kite symbolises his father’s love
and approval that he desperately longs for. It is in Hassan’s hands.
Then, disaster. The bullies, Assef and his two hangers-on, corner Hassan in an
alley. They demand the kite and threaten to abuse Hassan if he refuses to hand it
over. Hassan could give them the kite and save himself. However, in the face of
danger, he makes the decision to hold on to the kite because Amir won it.
Hassan is that morally courageous and loyal.

Amir has a moral decision to make too.

1 a) What choice must Amir make? Why is it a difficult moral decision for him?
Quote two important lines from Amir’s narrative that describe his situation.

b) Closely study how this critical moment is narrated. Write down that the
narrative shifts from real time to memories and a dream.

Read the dream image where Amir sees himself disappearing in to an empty,
white, wintery landscape until a gashed, bleeding hand reaches for him and
rescues him.
c) Outline Amir’s dream vision. Interpret its symbolic meaning at this moment,
as Hassan accepts the brutal action against him to save the blue kite for Amir.

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 d) What decision does Amir make? To step in or sound the alarm and be a
loyal friend to Hassan, as Hassan is to him, or to stay silent and betray Hassan’s
loyalty, to secure the blue kite, the symbolic ‘…… to Baba’s ………’?

The Sacrificial Lamb

Symbolic Religious Allusion: The Sacrificial Lamb. (Symbol / Metaphor)

c) Page 73. Amir reflects, ‘Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I
had to slay, to win Baba.’ What does this Biblical allusion to the sacrificial
lamb symbolise? What does it tell us about the decision Amir made that day in
the winter of 1975, the moment that he describes in the opening line of his story
as one that ‘made (him into) what I am today’?

A Terrible Wrongdoing in the Redemption Narrative

d) Amir experiences the moment he’s long waited for. His father proudly
embraces him. For a moment, he is happy. However, it comes at a high cost.
How does Amir feel about himself now? Present a supporting quotation.

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Amir mistakenly believes that his wilful decision to permit Hassan’s self-
sacrifice will win him his father’s love and redeem him in his father’s eyes.

Paragraph Writing Task

Moral Failing is an aspect of our humanity and is integral to the experience
of redemption. An individual commits a moral offence.
How is wrongdoing represented in Amir’s personal story in The Kite Runner?
Write an analytical paragraph by following this structure.

POINT: outline the insight about the universal human experience of moral
failing that requires the process of redemption.

EVIDENCE - TECHNIQUES – EXPLANATION

present a clear statement on what Amir’s wrongdoing is
- outline why he commits it (the complexities of the situation)
- you could set it up by noting the Amir’s appropriation of the Rostam and
Sohrab myth in to his own life when he dreams of winning loving connection
with his father by winning the kite flying competition.
- explain how the critical incident when Amir makes the decision to let Hassan
suffer for him is narrated. You’ll need to read over the pages in Ch 7 and
incorporate narrative features.
* first person reflective narrative voice. * visual imagery *narrative focal point
*main narrative broken by a symbolic dream image *religious allusion to the
sacrificial lamb
* contrast between the rescuing image in the symbolic dream and the destroyer
image in ‘I was the monster in the lake’

LINK – a final comment on the point, ie: the significance of Amir’s

wrongdoing. (identity)

The Pain of Guilt

While Amir’s victory does win him praise from his father, his happiness is
short-lived. Part of the reason is that Amir is tortured by feelings of
unworthiness. He is deeply troubled. Amir made a decision to subject Hassan to
horrific physical abuse. He mistakenly believed that he could ‘sacrifice’ Hassan
to win his father’s love and be redeemed in his eyes.

However, Amir does not anticipate all the consequences. He emotionally is

scarred in a different way now. He has the same feelings of guilt and
unworthiness but now they are justified by a failure of courage and character.
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Now, Amir has brought his failings upon himself. It is as if Amir has realised
his father’s fears about him. Without intending to, Amir has played out that
story, that moral integrity is ‘missing’ in him. Amir is tortured by this secret
truth about himself, that he is a coward who betrayed his most devoted friend.

Read the bottom of page 80 to 82 and page 86

1.How does Amir’s guilt ruin his relationship with Hassan?
Symbolic Setting: The Pomegranate tree In your answer, explain what happens
at the pomegranate tree, that used to be Amir and Hassan’s favourite place, as
an example of Amir’s guilt and cruelty. What is he trying to do here?

Chapter 9
Amir can’t deal with his guilt. He selfishly devises a plan to get rid of Hassan.
a) What does he do?
Unexpectedly, Baba forgives Hassan. However, Ali steps in to protect his son
from Amir’s callous cruelty and insists that they leave. Amir realises the pain he
has caused the family. He says, ‘I was sorry, but I didn’t cry and I didn’t chase
the car.’
b) How does this show Amir’s attempt to distance himself from his
wrongdoing.

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 Chapters 10 and 11

Migration to America. California, 1980s

Baba flees the Taliban and leaves Afghanistan with Amir as political refugees.
They cross the Khyber Pass in to Pakistan and fly to America. They start a new
life as Afghan immigrants in San Francisco, California.

Guilt and the Perpetrator’s attempt to Distance himself from the Offence

In his narrative Amir refers a lot to how America helped him to distance himself
from his past and his wrongdoing. Finish these quotations on these pages.

Ch 11 Page 120
For me, America was a place to .................................................. .
It was a place for Baba to mourn his.

Ch 11 Page 126
America was a ......................................, unmindful of ................................
I could wad into this................, let my ....................... drown to the bottom, let
the ................. carry me someplace far. Someplace with no ghosts, no
...................... and no ......................... .

Motif: The River. What symbolic meaning is carried by the motif of the river?

The next chapters describe Baba and Amir’s new life. They work at the Afghan
flea markets on the weekend. Amir meets Soraya. She is from another refugee
family. She is the daughter of General Tahir.

Amir graduates from university and Baba is proud of him. However, Amir still
feels something stick in his throat when Baba wishes Hassan was there to share
the day with them.

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The past still haunts Amir.

Amir marries Soraya and soon after, Baba dies.

Amir does think of Hassan fondly though when his first book is published. Page
168
Amir and Soraya are unable to have children. Amir wonders whether this is a
punishment for his betrayal of Hassan. p 173. This thought expresses the guilt
Amir carries within.

RECOGNITION of THE WRONG and

ATONEMENT in the Redemption Narrative

Chapter 14 June 2001

Chapter 14 picks up where the novel begins, when Amir has just received the
phone call from Rahim Kahn – a call to return and atone for his sins.

1. Read the top of p177. What does Amir realise that Rahim Khan knew?

Amir learns from Rahim Khan that despite everything, Hassan always remained
loyal to Amir and loved him. Hassan always asked questions about him.

Rahim Khan tells Amir about Hassan since Ali and he left that day, and under
the oppressive rule of the Taliban.
Hassan married a lovely Hazara lady, Farzana. Tragically, they had a stillborn
child.
Hassan’s mother, Sanaubar, who had deserted Ali and Hassan when Hassan was
only an infant, returned ‘home’ to ‘her family’. Hassan warmly accepted his
mother when she returned. When Hassan and his wife had a baby boy, Sanaubar
loved him and looked after him. Sanaubar’s story is another redemption story in
The Kite Runner.

1 What did Hassan name his son? Why? (read page 195)
2 What did Hassan teach his son to do, as skilfully as he did when he was a
boy?
In 1998 the Taliban massacred the Hazaras. Hassan and Farzana were killed.
(page 202)

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Rahim Khan gives Amir some letters
that Hassan had written to him.
Hassan recounts his fond, childhood
memories in his letters. They express,
again, his faithfulness and love.

3 The Opportunity for Amir to

Atone for his sins of the past.
Read page 203.
a)What does Rahim Khan ask Amir to
do?
How does Rahim Khan challenge Amir to respond to ‘his past of unatoned
sins’?

b) Read page 204. Amir doesn’t want to go back to Kabul. Why not?

c) When Rahim Khan says, ‘We both know why it has to be you,’ what does he
mean?

d) Read pages 205 – 206 What secret from the past does Rahim Khan then
reveal to Amir? How does Amir feel when he learns Baba’s secret for the past?

e) Read page 209. Outline Amir’s thoughts about his situation. Quote important
lines from the bottom of the page.

f) Read page 210. What does Amir decide to do?

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Chapter 21 ‘I don’t want to forget anymore.’ p 242

Amir travels back in to Afghanistan. When he arrives at Kabul, he visits his

abandoned family home and climbs the hill to the pomegranate tree where he
and Hassan spent time together as children.
1. What does Amir look for and find carved in to the tree?

Read page 258 and page 261. Amir finds Sohrab in the custody of none other
than Assef who has changed his allegiance to the Mujahaddin. He has become
a brutal religious fanatic.

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Paragraph Writing Task
Write a paragraph on this insight about Avoidance and Recognition in the
experience of Redemption.
‘Recognising the truth of one’s wrongdoing is difficult because it is incredibly
confronting. The individual may initially attempt to avoid facing his personal
failings. However, honest acknowledgement the essential beginning of a path to
redemption.’

Reshape these statements in to your own topic sentences.

Then continue the paragraph by explaining how Khaled Hosseini represents this
idea about redemption in Amir’s personal story in The Kite Runner.

Follow the paragraph structure:

POINT = IDEA about THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE:

specifically here, ideas about avoidance and acknowledgement in the human
experience of failure and redemption.

EVIDENCE = EXAMPLES from THE NOVEL.

-Outline Amir’s initial attempts to ignore his betrayal of Hassan; his troubled
soul, the burden of the secret truth of his guilt and shame; his feeling of
unworthiness, now justified by his cowardice and presiding self-interest in the
face of Hassan’s abiding courage and loyalty.
His desire to be punished yet need to keep his sin secret.
Eg: the Pomegranate tree incident.
His cruel and dishonest scheme to remove Hassan by framing him as a thief.
(malicious)
-Outline Rahim Khan’s request that he travel back to Afghanistan to rescue
Hassan’s orphaned son, Sohrab. ‘I think we both know why it has to be
you.’.....Amir’s instinctive presiding self-interest. The revelation about his
kinship with Hassan.
- The significance of the novel’s opening, in media res, is revealed: - that you
can’t ‘bury the past’.
- Amir’s thoughts, memories and his final decision.

LINK = return to the big IDEA about avoidance and recognition of failings in
our lives. Move back from the fictional text to reality, and how the novel speaks
to us about our lives. The link statement is conceptual. It is about the key idea.
It is similar to the topic sentence.

Follow the: Point – Evidence / Techniques / Explanation – Link

structure.
ATONEMENT
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 in the Human Experience of Failure and Redemption
Amir’s Moment of Reckoning

It is 26 years after the winter of 1975 and that day when Amir made the decision
to sacrifice his loyal friend Hassan for a blue kite and, he thought, his father’s
love.

Back in Afghanistan, responding to the call by Rahim Khan to find ‘a way to be

good again’, Amir as a grown man now, faces Assef again. This time it is not
Hassan who he has the choice to abandon or save. It is Hassan’s son, Sohrab.

At this moment, Amir confronts his past:- his ‘past of unatoned sins.’

Amir makes a different decision from the one he made as a 12 year old boy.
This time, Amir faces his fear of being killed by Assef and not returning home
to Soraya in America. He risks his life and a future with the wife he loves to
rescue Sohrab.

Confronting the truth about his past sin and willingly accepting the suffering
that is his due, at the hands of Assef, is CATHARTIC for Amir.

Physical pain offers release from emotional pain.

Whereas when he was a child Amir wilfully let Hassan be his ‘sacrificial lamb’,
now Amir is prepared to pay the sacrifice himself to save Sohrab. When as a
boy, Amir acted in the interests of himself, now, his action is selfless. Amir
demonstrates love for Hassan. Atonement is healing.

Atonement
Fear, Courage, Sacrifice and Suffering

Afghanistan 2001 - Amir confronts Assef

Read pages 262 – 268.

1. In your own words, describe Amir’s confrontation with Assef.
Incorporate quotations that express how Amir suffers and how he feels.
2. What does Sohrab do to help? How is he like his father, Hassan?
3. Explain how Amir atones for his moral wrongdoing when he was a boy.
4. Explain how suffering in this act of atonement is CATHARTIC for Amir.

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ATONEMENT: Chapter23 Amir convalesces in hospital having suffered
serious injuries.

The ‘wrestling the bear’ motif

1. a) Interpret the symbolic meaning of the ‘wresting the bear’ vision that comes
to Amir.
b) Explain what it reveals about Amir’s atonement, confronting Assef and his
‘sins of the past’. What does the ‘wrestling with the bear’ motif suggests that
Amir’s atonement was about? How does the new imaginary vision, this new
story, reflect how Amir has changed?

2. Rahim Khan has left Amir a letter.

Two important messages in Rahim Khan gives Amir are:

‘A man who has no conscience, no goodness, does not suffer

and

‘True redemption is … when guilt leads to good.’

Write these lines in your book.

Beneath each one, explain how each quotation expresses a significant part of the
process of redemption and how this is experienced by Amir.

WRITING TASK ON ATONEMENT IN THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE

OF FAILING AND REDEMPTION

BEGIN YOUR PARAGRAPH WITH ONE OF THESE IDEAS / TOPIC

SENTENCES
Or you may choose to write your own topic sentences, along these lines.

TOPIC SENTENCE: ON THE IDEA / INSIGHT ABOUT THE HUMAN

EXPERIENCE
The willingness to take deliberate action to right a wrong committed in the past
enables healing.

SENTENCE 2 : EVIDENCE. NOW GO TO THE NOVEL

A significant moment for Amir is when he faces Assef again, 26 years later, to
atone for his sins. ……….
Amir is emotionally renewed through his suffering, willingly sacrificing himself
to rescue Hassan’s son, Sohrab.
22
 Or

SENTENCE 1: ON THE IDEA / INSIGHT ABOUT THE HUMAN

EXPERIENCE
Atonement is an action taken that denies ego-centric desires and rather reaches
out to create good in the world. ………..

Virtuous, selfless deeds relieve guilt and enable profound change.

SENTENCE 2 : EVIDENCE. NOW GO TO THE NOVEL

Amir atones for his sins when he confronts Assef. This is a significant moment
as Amir redirecting his course by making a courageous decision based on his
moral conscience rather than his selfish desires.

Follow this structure for an analytical paragraph.

1. POINT State your idea in response to the questions. Outline your reason.

2. EVIDENCE Select evidence from the novel to support your idea. Quote lines
that show what you are talking about.

3. TECHNIQUE + EXPLAIN Identify features of the writing in your quotations

and explain how your quotations support your point.

4. EVIDENCE + TECHNIQUE + EXPLAIN Present 2 – 3 more examples

(quotations) from the novel, integrate narrative / language features and explain
how they support your point.

5. LINK / CONCLUDE Reconnect with your big idea, the main point in your
topic sentence

Narrative Techniques / Narrative Features to incorporate :

* Amir’s first person narrative voice

* Visceral description of physical assault * Imagery of violence, pain, terror

* Repetition to amplify the pain inflicted by Assef.

* Juxtaposition of physical ..................... and emotional ...........................

23
* Contrast between the present and the past. How Amir’s acceptance of
brutality and suffering to rescue Sohrab from abuse at the hands of Assef
contrasts with the winter of 1975 when Amir was 12 and he chose to look down
the alley in silence and let Hassan pay the price and suffer the pain for him.

*The wrestling the bear motif – its symbolic meaning that signifies what Amir
addresses and how his atonement creates transformative change.

*Rahim Khan’s voice and letters – key messages that illuminate the
significance of atonement in the process of redemption.

Atonement and Forgiveness

Read the letter that Rahim Khan leaves Amir and fill in the table below to
address this questions.

Idea about Redemption Message in the Letter Supportive Quotation

Moral Failing,
Moral Conscience and
Suffering

Atonement
For Redemption

Forgiveness
For Redemption

24
2. Now, use the notes from your table to fill in the words in the passage below
about the messages that Rahim Khan delivers to Amir about these important
experiences in the process of redemption. Provide a quotation from Rahim
Khan’s letter to support each idea.

Begin with a topic sentence sequence about Redemption and move to the novel,
like this:

Moral failing causes terrible ................ and ............................ A good person

with a ................., however, will try to make something .................... come from
their misdeed. This may enable forgiveness and .......................... In The Kite
Runner, Rahim Khan explains this to Amir in a letter he leaves for him, after
Amir has ...................................... to rescue .................. Rahim Khan reveals
that he knew that Amir ......................... Hassan, but says he knew also how Amir
...................... He writes, ‘................................... He acknowledges too
........................ sin, the ...................... he felt, but also the ................ that he did
to atone for it. He writes, ‘............................... You continue to finish the
paragraph.

Recognition of the Truth and Atonement

Chapter Twenty Four

Read page 292 where Amir explains to Sohrab what a good friend Hassan was
to him and why Amir wanted to help Sohrab now in a way he’d failed to help
his father, Hassan.

Read page 298 where Amir is, for the first time, totally honest about his failings
of the past and tells it all to his wife Soraya.

Read the discussion Amir has with Sohrab pp 292 – 293. It is another father-son
discussion, Amir in the role of father, speaks to Sohrab about Hassan, his real
father. What important things does Amir say honouring Hassan and the childhood
friendship they shared, openly and honestly?

Note that he feels there is a new ‘kinship’ he and Sohrab share. In the past,
Hassan’s suffering and self-sacrifice for Amir separated them. Now, Amir’s
suffering and self-sacrifice for Hassan, by saving Sohrab, bring Amir and Sohrab
together. Explain why.

25
Amir then acknowledges the truth about his past failing and all that’s happened
since, to his wife Soraya and they agree to bring Sohrab home.

Amir prays for Forgiveness

Chapter Twenty Five

Amir’s father Baba, was scornful of religion when he condemned the Muslim
Mullah as hypocrites. Amir however, becomes deeply religious in his desperation
to save Sohrab. He prays for Allah’s mercy, for God’s forgiveness. On a deep
emotional level Amir needs forgiveness so that he can be relieved from the
unrelenting guilt, his hands ‘stained with Hassan’s blood.’ Amir finds faith. Read
about this on pages 316 and 317.

1. Intertextual Allusion: The Myth of Rostam and Sohrab

Amir reads Sohrab the story of ‘Rostam and Sohrab’ to Sohrab while he is in
hospital following recovering from a suicide attempt, having lost trust in Amir
who promised to keep him safe and bring him home. Page 323. What does the
story mean to Amir now, these years later?

Look at the ideas about time expressed here. Amir can’t take time back for
Sohrab, but the past is ever ………... It remains with them both, in mem…. and
through the circumstances of their lives.

Amir’s challenge is to win Sohrab’s trust. He instructs General Sahib to address

Sohrab respectfully by his name, not as ‘Hazara boy’.
Amir also forgives Baba, his father (p335).

Forgiveness

Read Chapter 25 page 329

The narrative does not tell the reader that Amir forgives himself. It shows that
this has happened when pain at the memory of Hassan is suddenly but quietly
gone. Outline how the narrative suggests that Amir has reconciled with his past.

Read the bottom of page 335 to the end

The novel has a cyclical structure. The final episode takes the reader back to
the opening episode. The very form of the story represents how all Amir’s past
is encapsulated in the present. As Amir flies a kite with Sohrab he tells him of his
childhood, flying kites with Hassan. But now, rather than being haunted by the
26
past and the guilt of his betrayal, Amir wishes that this moment would last
forever. He wishes that ‘time would stand still’.

2. In the park in spring now, Amir flies a kite with Sohrab and runs it for him.
Explain how the novel’s final scene shows how Amir has changed. Consider it in
contrast with the opening scene in Chapter 1.
Note the symbolic season and the setting. Why is it spring at the lake?
Note the difference in Amir’s sense of self, his intentions and the ‘goodness’ he
has found within by making amends.
Explain how Amir ends the ‘cycle of secrets, lies and betrayal’ to find
redemption.

3. If the line in the opening of Amir’s narrative ‘you can’t escape the past’
encapsulates how past sins can’t be forgotten, what line would you write (about
the past) in the closing scene of Amir’s story of redemption?

Scaffolding a paragraph on the final stage of the Path to Redemption

Forgiveness and Transformation

The Idea about Forgiveness and Transformation in the Redemption

Experience in our Lives
Forgiveness of one’s self enables personal growth. It enables a shift in self-
perception from secret feelings of unworthiness, to new feelings of hope and
joy. It offers new beginnings.

Evidence you could draw on from the novel

- ‘Forgive yourself’ : - the message Rahim Kahn leaves Amir in his letter

- Amir asks Sohrab for forgiveness, and commits to earning his trust

- Amir remembers Hassan, praising his friendship, courage and loyalty, to

Sohrab and realises that the pain of his name has left. This indicates relief
from guilt that comes with forgiveness.

- The motif of the Rostram and Sohrab myth as a touchstone for Amir. He
relates to the tragic myth where a son seeks acknowledgement that a
father fails to recognize, and dies in his arms in his yearning for his
father’s love, his hope that he’ll ‘win’ it by bringing home the blue kite,
but his failure as he betrays Hassan, feeling deeply unworthy, to do it.
However, when Amir accepts responsibility as a father a for Hassan’s
orphaned son Sohrab he is able to create the new ending for the myth in
27
 his life, a generation later. This new ending transforms the tragedy. He
achieves the reconnection and the rebonding between father and adopted
son.

- Amir almost loses Sohrab. After breaking the promise Amir made that
wouldn’t have to return to an orphanage. This moment parallels with the
tragic ending of the Rostam and Sohrab myth.

- However, Amir’s request for forgiveness and his commitment as an

adoptive father offers a new ending to the myth and a new beginning for
him and Sohrab.

- Amir’s failure and redemption is reflected in the myth of Rostam and

Sohrab where Amir is not the child hopelessly seeking his father’s
acknowledgement, which was the meaning the myth had for him as a
child, but where, a generation later, Amir is the father figure, the Rostam,
in a new ending that he has created in his life, embracing Sohrab as his
son.

The novel’s final scene – at Lake Elizabeth Park in Fremont in spring,

where Amir flies a kite with Sohrab. Taking the fatherly role of teacher,
he sees Sohrab’s eyes come ‘awake’, ‘Alive’. Then, running the kite for
Sohrab, he shows the loyalty and love Hassan had for him, repeating
Hassan’s words, ‘For you a thousand times over’. The words are a motif
for reconnection and healing. The cycle of ‘lies, betrayals and secrets’ of
the past is broken by Amir’s commitment to truth, integrity and to
Sohrab, in honour of Hassan, his loyal childhood friend.

Techniques: a cyclical form to the narrative where the scene of the

opening chapter, the past of Winter 1975 is evoked.

However, the tone and imagery of new life and hope in the present
suggest transformative change.

So the cycle of the past that had stayed with Amir so long, is broken.
There is new hope for a new beginning and transformation.

Notes on the final Scene of the novel and of Amir’s story of Redemption

On a summer’s day when Amir takes Sohrab to fly kites at the park beside the
lake and Sohrab looks up at the kites flying in the sky, Amir sees for the first
time, his eyes ‘Awake. Alive.” The imagery suggests the potential for
28
transformation - a new beginning. Sohrab, like Amir, had been living in the
past, carrying its pain with him. Now, though, Sohrab smiles. Amir says to
Sohrab, “For you, a thousand times over” Amir repeats Hassan’s words,
remembering him not with pain anymore but with gratitude for having a second
change, and heart-felt joy. His commitment to Sohrab as a loving father to a son
and showing how he has grown into a man who wants to heal a broken child – a
man who as is loyal and loving as Hassan. Through his path to redemption,
Amir shows his honesty, courage and integrity.

Amir’s personal story of redemption in the novel ends with an image of Amir
running a kite for Sohrab. His narrative repeats, “I ran” . The present repeats the
past but it is different now. By adopting as his Sohrab as his own Amir returns
the love Hassan showed him, and breaks the ‘cycle of lies and betrayals’ that
had characterised his life. There is an echo of the myth of Rostam and Sohrab.
Amir didn’t ever attain the redemptive ending he longed for with Baba when he
dreamed of rewriting the story’s tragic ending in his own life, with a loving
reunion of father and son. He does, though, achieve his redemptive ending 26
years later, when, as a man, he becomes a loving father to Sohrab.

The Significance of the Rostam and Sohrab Myth

in The Kite Runner

Understanding our Humanity through Stories

The Kite Runner is interested in the idea that we understand ourselves and our
place in the world through stories: stories that we inherit about our people and
our culture and stories that we create about ourselves – what we are poor at, good
at and capable of: - who we are.

Indeed, the novel itself about Amir’s life story is adheres to the universal
redemption meta-narrative, reflecting human fallibility and the human need for
redemption.

Variations of the Myth of Rostam and Sohrab in Amir’s life story

The Persian myth of a father and son irrevocably divided is introduced as Amir
and Hassan’s favourite story. Through his narrative, Amir references the myth to
express meaning in his own life.

29
He rewrites the tragic ending as one of loving recognition of the son Sohrab by
the father Rostam when he imagines winning his father’s love by winning the kite
flying competition.
However, his aspirations come to nothing as it comes with a moral cost: - Amir’s
betrayal of Hassan, a sacrifice of friendship like brotherhood, a sacrifice in blood.

It is only in the next generation, through a courageous and willing act of

atonement, that Amir is able to transform the myth’s tragic ending in to one that
is good. 25 years later, Amir returns to Afghanistan to redress his ‘sins of the
past’. He confronts Assef and saves Hassan’s orphaned son Sohrab from violation
and abuse.

Thereby, Amir’s personal redemption story is a permutation of the myth of

Rostam and Sohrab. Ultimately, in his life Amir does not achieve the love he
yearned for as the son of his father, Baba, but as the father of Hassan’s son,
Sohrab.

Redemption Stories woven through The Kite Runner

There are several stories of wrongdoing and redemption woven through the
novel.
Amir’s is the main one. There are others that highlight aspects of Amir’s.

Baba’s wrestling with his past. Secrets and lies

● A personal struggle with wrongs of the past is expressed by the
metaphorical image of Baba wrestling the bear (Chp 3 + p272).
● Amir sees his own face in Baba’s wrestling the bear after he’s
fought Assef and rescued Sohrab.

Soraya’s story
● Soraya shows the courage to be honest before Amir does.

Sanaubar’s Story
● Hassan’s mother abandons him when he’s an infant.
● She returns home to Kabul years later to a warm welcome by
Hassan. Hassan offers forgiveness. Sanaubar is a loving
grandmother to Sohrab.

The myth of Rostam and Sohrab

● This has changing reflections in Amir’s life, initially as a son
yearning for his father’s love but failing to fully feel it, then in his
adult life, as a father who can offer that love to Hassan’s son whom
he adopts as his own, Sohrab.
30
A Paragraph on True Atonement and Redemption

Key IDEA: on how atonement is a selfless act of service to others, and how it
offers redemption. Redemption demonstrates true worthiness and connects us
with others. It builds relationships.

Main Narrative Feature: Amir’s failed attempt to connect with Baba as a child
where he sacrifices Hassan, set in contrast with his true act of atonement that
connects him with Sohrab, when he returns to Afghanistan to confront Assef,
willing to sacrifice himself.

State that as a child Amir yearns for closer connection with his father. His belief
that he can ‘win’ his father’s love by bringing home a kite though is mistaken.
Tragically, instead he betrays his loyal friend … quotes …he falsely rationalises
his betrayal as an act of atonement for his father whom he idolises as a god…
biblical symbolism / allusion quote…….. Amir brings home the kite but
celebration is short-lived. His moral failure, betrayal, ultimately tears the family
apart. Then go on to argue that
Housseni sets this failed attempt at redemption with its success for Amir as an
adult. This occurs when he atones for his betrayal by returning to Afghanistan
and confronting Assef once again, this time, willing to sacrifice himself. Quote
how the visceral imagery in the fight expresses the pain he accepts. Quote the
juxtaposition that expresses the emotional healing that comes from the pain.
Then develop the point: Amir’s commitment to bring Sohrab home and love
him as a father offers the father -son connection he sought as a child with Baba.
Quote his promise to Sohrab. Develop the point: So Amir, in his life, finally
realises the redemptive ending to the Rostam and Sohrab myth that he
imagined, but failed to experience as a child. Quote from Ch 7 - the ending he
imagines. LINK The narrative shows that atonement is an act of selfless service
and love and that redemption develops loving relationships.

31
 THE KITE RUNNER AS A STORY OF REDEMPTION

Ideas about the Process of Redemption

In The Kite Runner

* Moral Failing
* Conscience / Guilt / Suffering - distancing the self from the truth of the
past
* Recognition of the truth about one’s Moral Failing in the past
* Atonement - self- sacrifice, suffering to redress the wrong and make
amends
* Forgiveness - Repentance, a request to be forgiven. Forgiveness of self.
* Redemption – Transformation. Change. Making good from bad. Righting
the wrong.
Relief from suffering.
Humanity and understanding. Peace. Hope for happiness.
New beginning.

1. Learn these aspects of the process of redemption. They are ideas about
redemption. Together they chart the complexities of redemption.
Write the headings in your workbook.
Underneath each stage / aspect of the redemption process, make an elaborative
comment.
Say something about it in 2 sentences. Write what it is. Write what you would
say to explain it to someone who doesn't know what it means.

2. Draw up the table below in your workbook. Fill it in from your study of The
Kite Runner.

The Redemption Metanarrative

in The Kite Runner

A Moral Failing Suffering Acknowledgment Atonement Forgiveness Redemption

willingness to confront Transformation
the past

How this convention In The In The Kite Runner In The Kite In The Kite In The Kite Runner
is represented In The Kite Runner Runner
Kite Runner Runner
Include important
incidents, narrative
features, language
techniques and
supportive quotations
as evidence.

32
STEPS to take
1. Say something ABOUT the aspect of the redemption experience.

What you say about the aspect of redemption specified in the question will be
your thesis.
So make insightful points that inform the reader ABOUT that aspect of
redemption.

Example: On Atonement
- Atonement is a response to a moral failing committed in the past.
- It is the action taken to redress the offence.
- It requires the individual to go beyond self-interest for a greater cause, a greater
good.
-Atonement demands confronting the truth. The truth can not be evaded or
avoided.
- It requires moral courage – to acknowledge wrongdoing
- It is a response to moral conscience. It the willingness to respond to a call to
become a better person: for ‘good’ to come from ‘guilt’
- Atonement may involve physical suffering, but it offers emotional relief.
Cathartic.
- Atonement paves the way for forgiveness, peace and personal transformation:
Redemption.

33
 PLANNING YOUR ESSAY

1. IDEAS FOR YOUR ARGUMENT

These comments are IDEAS that you can present about the particular experience
in the process of REDEMPTION. IDEAS should address the question.
They are POINTS for your argument - your THESIS.
Outline 3 or 4 clear points/ ideas of your THESIS in your INTRODUCTION.
These IDEAS will drive your argument through your essay. They will be the
TOPIC SENTENCES of your paragraphs.

2. IDEAS SUPPORTED BY EVIDENCE FROM THE KITE RUNNER

BUILD YOUR ARGUMENT THROUGH THE BODY PARAGRAPHS
You then BUILD on each idea by presenting SUPPORTIVE EVIDENCE &
ANALYSIS
Next, select the evidence from Amir’s personal story in The Kite Runner. Your
examples will illustrate how an aspect of the universal redemption experience
features in Amir’s story, and how it is represented through his narrative.
(CRAFTED – NARRATIVE FEATURES)
Incorporate specific quotations and an analysis of specific narrative features and
techniques into your notes here.

EVIDENCE = episodes, incidents, characters, quotations

NARRATIVE FEATURES = select from elements of narrative crafting from the

red box below.

NARRATIVE FEATURES AND LANGUAGE TECHNIQUES

NARRATIVE VOICE AND PERSPECTIVE

first person narrative voice
Amir’s story, his reflective perspective

NARRATIVE FOCALISATION
A narrative description, a narrative comment, a narrative reflection or
contemplation

TONE
The writer’s attitude to the subject.
34
Eg: confessional, hopeful, reflective, contemplative, candid (open and honest)

NARRATIVE FORM - the opening chapter is a reflective prologue to the main

narrative
The narrative begins ‘in media res’ (from a mid-point in the story)

PLOT - What happens in the story. An incident An episode

Plot Structural Features

FLASHBACK
A time shift. A break in the narrative in real time to shift back to the past.

The past event is narrated as if it is being relived in real time.

BACKSTORY – information about the past that is told within the main
narrative.

LETTERS
A shift in Narrative Voice in these letters.
to Amir from Hassan and from Rahim Khan.

BREAKS IN THE MAIN NARRATIVE

by descriptions of religious rituals, symbolic dreams and memories.

SUBPLOTS
Minor narratives within the main narrative
Eg: Baba’s life story ‘wrestling the bear’ as a variation of the archetypal
redemption story: His is a struggle towards redemption that is not as fully
realised as Amir’s. Why not?

Eg: Sanaubar’s story within the main narrative as another personal redemption
story.

Characterisation Features

CHARACTERISATION - through:
Character description,
Characters’ thoughts
Characters’ actions
Characters’ words (dialogue)
35
A FOIL
A minor character who functions to reflect a quality or deficiency in the
protagonist’s character.
eg Assef – referred to in the narrative as ‘Amir’s twin’. However, the narrative
highlights a key difference between Amir and Assef. Assef does not have a
conscience, unlike Amir. While both act cruelly, only Amir suffers for it and
only Amir can choose the path to redemption.

DIALOGUE
important conversations between characters.
Dialogue develops characterisation and relationships in the story.

INTERTEXTUALITY
Bringing reference to other texts in to the narrative. The associations between
the action in the narrative and the action in the well-known referenced text
develop important ideas.
Biblical Allusion
Classical Allusion
Historical Allusion
Literary Allusion

Egs: Biblical Allusion in The Kite Runner ................

Eg: Literary Allusion: The Myth of Rostam and Sohrab – that traces the change
in Amir’s attitude and his relationships.

Eg: Mythical Allusion: In Homer’s ‘The Odyssey’ 750BCE - Odysseus and the
Cyclops

SUBVERSION
Taking an incident or character or theme from another text, or a cultural belief
or value, and altering how it is represented. This reshapes meaning.

Eg. Variations, Permutations and Subversion of the Rostam and Sohrab myth -
the narrative’s reshaping of the tragic myth of Rostam and Sohrab in the
narrative of Amir’s life story.
In Amir’s redemption story, there are echoes of the mythical tragedy reshaped
in to a different ‘father – son ‘ story, a story of hope and new beginnings.
SYMBOLISM
An image that takes on deeper, symbolic meaning.
– eg the ........................... tree, the ...................... kite,
Symbolic dreams eg ...............................
36
MOTIF
An image or idea that recurs through the narrative so that it comes to represent
or symbolise something important
Eg; ‘For you a thousand times over’ that Hassan calls to Amir as he runs
his kite, then a generation later, Amir calls to Sohrab, is a motif for
..........................................

The motif of wrestling the bear........

Two Motifs for time .........

LANGUAGE FEATURES
IMAGERY / Sensory Imagery
Descriptive language that appeals to the senses
eg: visual imagery
auditory imagery
tactile imagery
gustatory imagery
olfactory imagery
Visceral imagery – elicits a strong emotional response Graphic
visual imagery
Imagery can also be more precisely identified by stating what it is ‘of’..
Indicate what the imagery actually describes
Eg: Imagery of sorrow.....
Imagery of pain............
Colour imagery ........
Death imagery ........

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE is another type of ‘IMAGERY’

Simile
Metaphor
Personification
COMPARISONS AND CONTRASTS with other Redemption Stories woven
through the main narrative of Amir’s process of redemption:
Baba’s story
Soraya’s story
Sanaubar’s story
The myth of Rostam and Sohrab

37
3. CONCLUSION

Restate your line of argument in response to the question to conclude your essay.
It should be about 3 – 4 sentences. It is shorter than the introduction and should
not repeat the introduction.

3. Write a Practice Essay on Redemption in The Kite Runner

To complete your study, read over all your notes and your page of quotes. Then
read the Practice Exam Paper posted on Schoolbox for you. Choose one of the
essay questions and write the essay. You should aim to write about 900 words.
You will have 45 minutes to write in the exam.

The Kite Runner: Narrative Form & Features

How does the novel The Kite Runner convey the process of redemption through
narrative form and features?

Narrative techniques enable writers to approach and enhance the depth and
emotional response of the reader to events in the story.

In The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, narrative techniques are used to reveal
a man’s struggle for redemption after the betrayal of his childhood friend.
Hosseini’s purpose is to convey a message about man’s need for redemption.

1. Plot:

a. Opening begins in December 2001 with Amir’s thoughts: ‘'I

became what I am today at the age of twelve, on a frigid overcast
day in the winter of 1975.'

b. Through intersecting the chronological story eg the story begins in

media res (middle of the story) when Amir gets a phone call in San
Francisco in 2001 from Rahim Khan calling him back to
Afghanistan – ‘a way to be good again’

c. Amir mostly tells the story chronologically but also uses

flashbacks and flash-forwards to explain some of the backstory eg
about his father who ‘once wrestled a black bear in Baluchistan
with his bare hands.'

38
 d. The story is structured around the memories of the protagonist
Amir whose sense of remorse and guilt following his sin, provokes
acts of redemption. Every memory from his childhood is tinged
with guilt.

In the opening chapter of The Kite Runner we are told how Amir’s
‘unatoned sins’ have troubled his conscience and caused him to
feel guilt and shame since his cowardly act: “That was a long time
ago, but it’s wrong what they say about the past, I’ve learned,
about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out.
Looking back now, I realize I have been peeking into that deserted
alley for the last twenty six years.” Amir seeks atonement for this
as he hopes for redemption after such a long time ‘twenty six
years’. This reveals the significance of the event to the reader as it
reveals he’s been regretting his action for a long time.

e. The retrospective narrative reveals how the power of hindsight and

maturity offer Amir and the reader some insight into and judgment
of Amir’s earlier mistakes and experiences through his direct
comments.

f. Another plot device is use of recurring events eg Amir finds his

father had a secret just like Amir. The imagery of Amir ‘peeking
into that deserted alley’ conveys to the reader how Amir suffered
from the recurring image throughout his life, which contributes to
his ongoing feelings of guilt.

2. Point of View

a. The narrative perspective is the first person perspective of Amir;

Amir narrates events as he experienced them as a child and
provides reflective comments
b. Rahim Khan tells the story of Hassan’s adulthood through first
person stream of consciousness narration so that his thoughts and
feelings flow disjointedly.

3. Characterisation

a. Direct characterisation - where an author directly tells the reader a

personality of physical trait about a character
b. Indirect characterisation - – where an author implies a personality
or physical trait about a character by ‘showing’ the reader
39
 c. Amir: Narrator and the central character:
i. Privileged upbringing as a Pashtun – sense of entitlement
ii. Has no emotional connection with Baba – desire is to please
his father, which drives his actions and behaviour
iii. He is sometimes loyal to Hassan but then attacks him when
Hassan receives Baba’s attention – this is one of the reasons
why he allows Hassan to be raped
iv. Is driven by feelings of guilt
v. Grows from a selfish child to a selfless adult in order to seek
redemption

Compile a Glossary of Quotes about Amir’s Moral Failing and his Path to
Redemption
to incorporate in to your Essay

Quote Narrative Feature and the idea

expressed
“monster… had grabbed Hassan”
“dragged him” …..“I was that
monster”
“This was Hassan’s final sacrifice for
me”
“There is a way to be good again… A
way to end the cycle”
“My body was broken… but I felt Self-reflection in a moment of
healed. Healed at last.” catharsis
Juxtaposition of physical brokenness
and ….. healing
“slipping away unannounced” The motif of theft defining sin,
conveys the guilt of betrayal in the
past finally lifted from Amir’s
consciousness

Practice Question

IDEAS ABOUT REDEMPTION / STAGES IN THE PROCESS OF REDEMPTION

40
Ideas about redemption Point Evidence Technique + Analysis
Say something important State your example from Explain how your example supports
about this aspect of Amir’s story your point
‘redemption’ Make sure you name the narrative
feature or technique in your
explanation
Link back to the main point

Moral Failing

Emotional Pain
Guilt/Suffering
Effect of Conscience

Acknowledgement
Willingness to confront
the truth about the past
Recognition of sins of
past

Atonement
Action to make amends
Place others before self

Forgiveness
Relief from suffering
Something good comes
from Bad

Transformation
Redemption

Experiences of ‘Moral Failure and Redemption’ Individual Stories

https://www.vice.com/en_au/article/av9jeb/ben-quilty-opens-
up-about-his-friendship-with-myuran-sukumaran
A feature article that tells the story of the relationship between Myuran
Sukumaran (one of the Bali 9, convicted and sentenced to a long gaol term in
Indonesia) and Australian artist Ben Quilty.
The artistic process is explored as enabling a redemptive process

Workshopping Paragraph Writing

41
Sample 1

How is ‘wrongdoing’ represented in The Kite Runner?

As humans, we all make mistakes, sometimes grave ones. In The Kite Runner
Amir’s mistake occurs when he has to make a moral decision: whether to
protect his loyal friend Hassan from abuse at the hands of Assef, or do nothing
and gain what is most important to him Baba’s approval and love. His yearning
is encapsulated in the symbol of the blue kite, ‘The key to Baba’s heart. Amir’s
narrative comment looking down the alley depicts the critical significance of
this moment: ‘I had to choose.. to decide who I was going to be.’ The narrative
shift into Amir’s imagination presses the significance of this moment: ‘A hand
reaches out… blood dripping.. I take the hand and suddenly the snow is gone.’
The symbolic imagery of rescue represents two possibilities: Amir could save
Hassan, or let Hassan bleed to save the kite for Amir. Amir’s decision to let
Hassan suffer for his redemption in his father’s eyes is depicted in the religious
symbol of atonement, the ‘sacrificial lamb’. The way that we often attempt to
avoid the truth of our misdeeds is reflected in Amir’s attempt to rationalize his
decision: ‘Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay to
win Baba.’ The narrative presents the irony, though, that in betraying Hassan,
Amir betrays himself as we do when we surrender our values. Amir’s moral
failure is foreshadowed by Baba when he said, ‘…………………………..’
Amir’s action, ‘I ran’, directly contrasts with Hassan’s loyalty expressed in the
kite-runner motif, ‘……………….’ Amir’s terrible offence represents the moral
failings that we all make and the human need for redemption.

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Sample 2
The DESIRE for redemption is what enables transformation:
Discuss this statement.

Desire for positive change is important (because)....

It provides the motivation for honest recognition of past sins and the willingness
to atone for them. This, then, enables forgiveness and healing, a transformation
of self. However desire alone is not enough to assure redemption. It cannot be
attained at the coast of another. This is shown in Khaled Hosseini’s novel The
Kite Runner through Amir’s childhood desire to be redeemed in his father’s
eyes that fails as he betrays Hassan. Amir finds the way to be transformed,
however, when a generation later, after years of avoidance, he finally wants to
confront the truth about the past and he returns to Afghanistan to save Hassan’s
son, Sohrab. Amir’s story shows how the desire for recognition, atonement and
forgiveness enable healing that is transformative.

P1: on the wrongdoing - a failed attempt at redemption - Avoidance - no

honesty

P2: Recognition and Atonement - The WAY to redemption

P3: Transformation is redemption

Planning your Analytical Essay

Approaching the Question

Writing an introduction

- An essay is an argument
- A thesis is a line of argument
- Text detail and techniques analysis substantiates the argument.

1. Identify the specific experiences or stages of the path from failure to

redemption that are most relevant to the question.

2. Select the ‘best’ evidence from the novel that relates to the question.
Look up these moments in the novel.

43
 Note the aspects of narrative form, narrative features and language
techniques that contribute to conveying key ideas in your selected
evidence. .

3. Now, draft a developed Thesis Statement. This is your line of argument

in response to the question
- Outline ideas about the statement. Respond to aspect of the
process of redemption that the question directs you to. (3 - 4
sentences)
- These ideas will be key points that you will substantiate in the
body of your essay
- Outline ways that these ideas are represented in The Kite Runner
(2 sentence).

STRUCTURE OF THESIS STATEMENT:

- Identify and explain what the statement is about. Outline the idea. ½ Half
- Explain how the idea is illustrated/explored in the text. ½ Half

Practice Question 1
“Your worst deeds don’t define you” - Shaka Senghor. How is this idea
explored through Amir’s personal story in ‘The Kite Runner’

Student Task
Take 3 minutes.
Brainstorm a line of argument in response to this question.
Come up with 3 points.

Then share your points.

Compare your points with the points on the next page_

Practice Question 1
“Your worst deeds don’t define you” - Shaka Senghor. How is this idea
explored through Amir’s personal story in ‘The Kite Runner’

- Misdeed can define us when the individual who has committed a wrong,
lives with guilt.
- The individual’s sense of self may be bound to their failure.
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 - However, recognition of past wrongs and an effort to redress them
enables the individual to forgive themselves and identify with their
potential for good. Atonement can renew self-worth
- This is represented in TKR through Amir’s journey from wrongdoing to
redemption, from guilt to peace.

Now in groups of 3, take 15 minutes to plan a developed line of argument for

Practice Question 2 or Practice Question 3.
Write your response as an introduction.

Practice Question 2
‘Atonement is central to the process of redemption’
Do you agree?
Base your response on a close study of Khaled Hosseini’s novel The
Kite Runner.

Practice Question 3
‘It was my past of unatoned sins.’
How important is reckoning with wrongs of the past to enable
transformation?

When you have finished, share your introduction with the class for
feedback.
You could then evaluate the thesis written in response to the question
on the next page.

Practice Question 2
‘Atonement is central to the process of redemption’
Do you agree?
Base your response on a close study of Khaled Hosseini’s novel The
Kite Runner.

Introduction
Atonement is crucial in the process of redemption because it provides
the ability to escape the clutches of diminished self-worth and allows
forgiveness of oneself. Atonement addresses the wrongs of the past,
and the misdeeds which plague the mind. In The Kite Runner by Khaled
Hosseini, the narrator protagonist, Amir, carries out acts of atonement
that relieve the guilt and sorrow for what he has done in the past. Amir’s
atonement is presented by his courageous journey back to Afghanistan
45
to save Sohrab from danger and his commitment to Sohrab as a loving
father. The action Amir takes to redress his past wrongdoings expresses
the importance of committing a selfless act to create something good
from the bad.

Practice Question 3
‘It was my past of unatoned sins.’
How important is reckoning with wrongs of the past to enable transformation?

Brainstorming (General idea):

- Guilt pushes us to reckon with the past and ‘atone’ for past sins.
- Only through reckoning with past sins can you atone with your past and
begin transformation.
- Guilt is the enabler for the action of transformation as it drives the person
to reckon with the past.

From novel:
- Amir receives phone call from Rahim Khan, begins recognition stag
- ‘True redemption, is when guilt leads to good’
- Amir’s acknowledgement of past wrongs is prefigured by soraya's story
when she

Practice Question 3
‘It was my past of unatoned sins.’
How important is reckoning with wrongs of the past to enable
transformation?

Introduction/Thesis Statement
In life, it is often challenging to acknowledge our own personal failings. It takes
a lot of courage but is critically important in the process of redemption and it
offers the opportunity for positive change. Recognition is a conscious decision.
It requires reflection of the past and willingness to take accountability.
Reckoning with the past unatoned sins drives us to face the truth of our
wrongdoing and transform who we are. In The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini,
after decades of denial and being held hostage to the past, the narrator and
protagonist Amir finally realizes he can’t “bury the past”. Amir’s
acknowledgment and atonement illustrates how the individual can be set on the
path to redemption.

46
Explore how The Kite Runner represents the benefits of the process of
redemption. In your response make detailed reference to the novel.

Student Sample Essay Response

The path of redemption is one which is relatable to us all. It speaks to us about

the pain that comes from moral failings, yet how acknowledgement of our
fault and the willingness to atone can enable forgiveness and piece. The
process of redemption offers hope for positive, personal transformation.
Hosseini’s The Kite Runner is the story of the narrator and protagonist Amir’s
deeply personal struggle with guilt after his betrayal of his loyal childhood
friend Hassan. The crafted narrative conveys the benefits of honesty, truth
and courage that offer healing, and renewal through the process of
redemption.

The path to redemption begins from a terrible wrongdoing and the

overpowering guilt that comes from it. Amir’s offence is his betrayal of his loyal
friend Hassan. Amir’s cowardice, inability to act and overpowering self-interest
lead to unbearable guilt and conflict . Amir’s ironic metaphoric rendition of
Hassan’s dream describes how a “monster… had grabbed Hassan” and
“dragged him” away. Amir believes that he “was that monster.” This visual
imagery connotes Amir’s self-blame and hatred. Amir believes he has
symbolically killed a part of Hassan and destroyed the relationship between
them. Amir’s profound guilt leads him to desperately try to be rid of the
internal pain brought on by the moral failing. Amir soon frames Hassan for
stealing his birthday presents. Amir does this due to his unbearable guilt
overcoming him for lack of action to protect Hassan and his withholding of the
truth afterwards. Hassan confesses he has stolen the items, and Amir notices
that “This was Hassan’s final sacrifice for me.” Hassan is a recurring symbol of
sacrifice, and this shows that this action was Hassan’s last sacrifice for him, as
Hassan had protected him from further repercussions and had ruined his moral
standing in Baba’s eyes, which may dismiss him from Baba’s household. Hassan
again sacrificed himself for Amir’s good and Amir has yet betrayed him again.
Amir believes that removing Hassan will free him from the burden of guilt,
however, this shows that ignorance of the need to atone can lead to further
wrongdoing in a desperate attempt to bury the truth. Guilt identifies the
existence of conscience after a moral failing, and this is why it is imperative to
the beginning of the process for redemption.

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Recognition and understanding of one’s moral failings and a genuine desire to
atone mark a turning point in the individual’s path to redemption. To achieve
this, the person must resist the temptation to hide away memories of their
failings and overcome their denial. Amir’s conscience stops him from forgetting
about his sin, as forgiveness requires the healing process of redemption. Amir’s
chance to recognise his faults comes from Rahim Khan’s call to action for Amir.
The emotional tone in the message “there is a way to be good again… a way to
end the cycle,” tells Amir that there is a way to atone for his past sins and it
needs him to face the truth, not to hide from it. This personal message roused
Amir’s conscience and made him recognise his wrongdoings and need to
atone. Amir finally atones for his past sins, when he travels back to Afghanistan
to save his nephew, Sohrab. This is the only way to end the cycle of betrayal he
has begun. In a confrontation with Assef to save Sohrab, Amir says “My body
was broken… but I felt healed. Healed at last.” This ironic self-reflection with
sensory imagery shows that Amir suffers great physical harm at the hands of
Assef, but he feels relieved that he has finally atoned and has achieved moral
satisfaction, even on the verge of death. His suffering in an attempt to save
Sohrab is reflective of Hassan’s sacrifice many years ago. His acceptance of the
punishment which he has avoided finally fulfils his conscience and is cleansed
of his internalised guilt. The acknowledgement of your wrongdoings and then a
conviction to act to redeem yourself is a crucial part of redemption, as
demonstrated by Amir in his path to redemption.

Redemption leads to self-forgiveness and personal transformation after the

individuals have atoned for their wrongdoings. Self-forgiveness marks the
departure of the pain and shame brought on from the burden of remorse. The
personification of pain “slipping away unannounced”, without “the fanfare of
epiphany” suggests that redemption is subdued in character, but deeply
significant. This comment marks the sense that redemption takes the form of
losing a sense of guilt, rather than achieving a profound sense of achievement,
which would be an “epiphany”. A further representation of redemption is in
Rahim Khan’s message to Amir that it’s “when guilt leads to good.” Baba’s
moral failings inspire him to do good deeds such as “feeding the poor” and
“building the orphanage,” to expiate his guilt and achieve redemption. His
actions have powerful connotations of social justice which vividly represents
the positive actions of the father and shows how ways to atone may be varied
but offer the benefit of easing personal conscience.

Redemption brings about positive change within the individual. Redemption

shows the frailty yet strength in the human psyche. At the end of Amir’s

48
journey to redemption, Amir finds true joy and redemption when he gives
Sohrab what he should have given to Hassan, loyalty and love. After Sohrab
shuts himself off from the world, Amir sees him smile when they are flying the
kite together. “It was only a smile, nothing more,” however, Amir’s
perseverance lets him witness “the first flake melting.” This metaphoric image
of Sohrab’s shell “melting” away like a snowflake shows that Amir is now
transformed, as he will no longer give up on the people he cares for and will
continue to restore Sohrab. In a new version of the Rostam and Sohrab myth in
Amir’s adult life, he offers the love to his adopted son that he yearned for from
his father, Baba. The process of redemption enables Amir to be a man who is
responsible and worthy. The benefit of redemption is that it is transformative.

The demanding yet fulfilling process of redemption brings about several

benefits for the individual. As seen in The Kite Runner, the process is healing.
It renews the individual’s character and brings about positive personal change.
The power to redeem yourself from a moral failing is a definitive test of an
individual’s integrity and is immensely beneficial.

Practice Questions
1. How does The Kite Runner represent the complex nature of redemption? In
your response, make detailed reference to your prescribed text.

2. Write a personal essay about how the desire to atone can lead to personal
transformation. In your response, make detailed reference to your prescribed
text.

3. Through its portrayal of human experience, Hosseini’s The Kite Runner

reinforces the significance of redemption. To what extent does your
interpretation of the novel support this view? In your response, make detailed
reference to your prescribed text.

Introductions and Conclusions

Essay 1: How does The Kite Runner represent the complex nature of
redemption?

Redemption is complex because of its demanding personal requirements of an

individual. Hosseini’s The Kite Runner demonstrates this complex nature
through its powerful narrative and transforming journey of its protagonist,

49
Amir, on his journey to realise his redemption after his initial failing. The story
follows the classical redemption metanarrative structure which shows how
different individuals must find their own paths to right their wrongs and that
redemption is not achieved simply, it is the result of an arduous journey filled
with difficult and painful decisions.

The complex nature of redemption is represented by The Kite Runner as a

personal process which is underpinned by one’s identity and moral principles.
Redemption is a difficult process with many phases, which examines human
nature and the core of morality. Through The Kite Runner, we are shown that
due to its complexity, the path to redemption is different for everyone and
only through completing this complex process, one can satisfy their conscience
and find redemption.

Essay 2: Write a personal essay about how the desire to atone can lead to
personal transformation

The path of redemption is one which is rigorous and demanding, however, the
desire to atone and go through redemption, brings about positive
development of character and identity. Hosseini’s The Kite Runner displays this
desire through its powerful narrative and transforming journey of its
protagonist, Amir on his deeply personal struggle for redemption after his
initial failure and shows how his desire to atone is the catalyst for action to
achieve redemption. The story follows the classical redemption metanarrative
structure which shows that the desire to atone, leads an individual on a
journey to experience personal transformation.

The demanding yet fulfilling process of redemption brings about personal

transformation for the individual. As seen through The Kite Runner, this
extensive healing process renews the individual’s character and brings about
positive personal transformation. The power to redeem yourself from a moral
failing is a definitive test of an individual’s integrity, which shows why
redemption is so vital to a person’s sense of identity. An individual’s desire to
atone sends him on a journey to right their wrongs and achieve personal
transformation.

Essay 3: Through its portrayal of human experience, Hosseini’s The Kite

Runner reinforces the significance of redemption.

Redemption is a concept which is deeply ingrained within the intrinsic nature

of human morality and conscience, in order to correct the wrongdoing
50
associated with the human experience. Hosseini’s The Kite Runner displays this
through its powerful narrative and transforming journey of its protagonist,
Amir on his deeply personal struggle for redemption. The story follows the
classical redemption metanarrative structure which reinforces the importance
of redemption through its exploration of human experience and how
redemption is universally significant to rebuild one’s identity after it has been
shattered.

The Kite Runner reinforces the significance of redemption through its portrayal
of human experience through the exploration of themes and values in the
process of redemption such as guilt, atonement and personal transformation.
Redemption is underpinned by the concepts of human nature and experience
and examines the core of human morality. The novel demonstrates the
significance of redemption through the personal experiences of Amir, and this
experience of redemption is applicable to all people through the human
experience, therefore emphasising the ethical value of redemption.

Feedback for the 2020 Assessment Task Question

How does The Kite Runner illustrate the complexity of the process of
redemption?

Remember the essay question was about the 'complexity' of the process of
redemption.
Everyone needed to articulate a clear, insightful and sophisticated argument
about exactly WHAT is 'complex' about the journey from wrong-doing to
forgiveness and transformation in the introduction. The quality of the THESIS
goes towards determining the 'band' your essay will be placed in.

In the body of the essay, the first sentence of every paragraph, the TOPIC
SENTENCE, should state a specific 'complexity', perhaps related to a particular
'stage' of the experiential process. The textual discussion of Amir's personal
journey in TKR should then illustrate this and your analysis of narrative form,
features and language should demonstrate your understanding of how ideas
about the complexity are 'crafted' in the narrative.

This task and your feedback are meaningful for you essentially in terms of how
they TRACK YOUR LEARNING: that is, your acquisition of knowledge and
skills.
The feedback is what you want to take on board. Congratulate yourself on what
you have achieved. Set new, higher goals based on what

51
your performance indicates that, at this point in your learning path, you should
focus on next!

Creative Writing Project

Read this redemption story written by Scots student Matthew Lim in 2016

…………………………….

There was always an unnerving stillness after the first incision. The medical
interns instinctively held their breath. Even the hum of the instruments
seemed to quiet for a moment. But the surgeon continued, unphased. The
familiar tune of Beethoven’s Hammerklavier sonata played in the background.
It was the same sonata he played for every operation.

The surgeon continued to cut along the prepared marking with a honed
precision. The young intern watched him conduct each phase with painstaking
care, his eyes unblinking as he focused on the microscope. With impossibly
small movements, he severed the carpal ligament directly above the base of
the thumb. He inspected the other tissue and made adjustments so precise,
they seemed unnoticeable. His astounding attention to detail was something
to be admired. Many of his colleagues considered it to be almost obsessive.

To him, each hand had to be perfect. Hands enabled people to express what
they believed in . Hands could heal and hands could repair the broken. Hands
could create works of art and beauty. But hands could also destroy and hands
could also harm. What people did with their hands showed their truest
character. To lose a hand was to lose a piece of your humanity.

Three and a half hours in and the surgery and his hands remained unwavering.
His scalpel worked through an intricate tangle of tendons and tissue. The
slightest mistake could prove disastrous. After 4 hours of surgery, he was still
suspended in an intense focus. The surgeon made sure he was satisfied with
his work and then the skin of the palm was carefully, almost lovingly stitched
together.The surgeon stood up and removed his gloves. It was another hand
saved. Another hand that could’ve been that little boy’s.

The surgeon kept his calm composure as he washed his hands. The soft notes
of Beethoven's sonata could still be heard over the chatter of the onlooking
students. The music took the surgeon's mind somewhere else. Soon, he was
lost in a memory.
52
 Fingers raced up and down the keyboard in a tangled blur. With each
note the piano sang. Each chord summoned a rich chorus of voices. A boy
played Beethoven's ‘Hammerklavier’ sonata with an intensity that
imbued every note with emotion. The very hearts of the audience
seemed to pulse with every beat. When he’d finished, they let the music
reverberate through the air for one last moment, before the deafening
roar of applause filled the concert hall.

The sound of footsteps brought him back to reality. The air felt thicker than
before. It clogged his lungs and felt too sterile to breathe. He turned around to
see a young med student approaching. “That was amazing!” The intern said,
gushing with undisguised admiration. “You didn’t hesitate once in almost 4
hours of surgery. Every stitch was perfect. How do you stay focused for so
long?”

He avoided her gaze and shrugged “Everyone has something to work for.” A
pang of guilt struck the surgeon.

The young girl stared up at him with large hazel eyes, clearly dissatisfied.
“Come on, what’s your secret?” she asked.

The surgeon smiled wearily. He waited for the sonata to come to a close
before turning off the speakers. “Isn’t that the point of secrets? They’re meant
to stay that way. Secret.”

He left the young girl standing there and retreated back to his office. He sat in
stillness; Beethoven’s Hammerklavier playing over and over in his head.

The sweet champagne still tasted on his lips. City lights blurred together,
the cool night breeze caressed his skin. His head swung as he drove
absent mindedly past the concert hall. A dark figure stepped from the
curb in front of him. He slammed the brakes.

The screech of wheels. The Sickening thump of flesh against metal. A

terrible shrill shriek. Screams echoed through the street. People rushed
out in front of the car and pulled out the figure from underneath.

53
The surgeon sat at his desk, while the sounds of the city sang through the open
window. Far away, cars hummed and freshly fallen leaves rustled in the gentle
breeze. He stared down at his hands. Hands that could destroy, hands that
could heal.

Nothing else existed. His world dissolved with the scream of sirens. The
only thing he registered was the young concert pianist being wheeled
into an ambulance. He cried out into the city streets; his hands
unrecognizable in the bloody mess that lay against his chest.

The sound of Hammerklavier rang over and over through the surgeon’s office.
A constant reminder of the life he’d ruined. It was his secret. His perfection
was his reply to the guilt he felt. Every hand was the boy’s hand, every stitch
was trying to put the past right. Perhaps one day, he would look at his hands
and see them washed clean of blood. He longed for when the sound of the
piano would finally lose its painful sting.

Answer these questions on the Redemption Story in your English

Workbook.

1. What title would you give the story?

Explain why.

2. Explain how the story is a story about wrongdoing and the path to
redemption.

3. Identify 3 important narrative features in the story. Show where they are
used.

Now You Try

54
 Creative Writing Tasks

With your teacher’s guidance, choose to complete Task A, Task B or Task C.

Task A

Write an 800 - 1000 word redemption story.

To craft your story you might like to try using:

● Time Shifts : Flashback or Backstory
● Motif
● Sensory Imagery: visual imagery, auditory imagery, olfactory imagery

OR

Task B

Create a Symbolic Representation of an Experience and Feeling

Read TKR Chapter 7. Pages 56 – 59 again.

It is about the fear Amir feels the morning of the kite flying competition
because winning means so much to him, and the story Hassan tells to boost his
confidence.
Hassan tells Amir he had a dream, and he tells the story of the monster in the
lake.

The dream story is a symbolic representation of the courage Amir needs to

summons to fly his kite well, without collapsing under pressure, so he can win
the competition.
a) In your own words, describe how Amir feels on the morning of the
competition, and why.
b) Outline the monster in the lake story that Hassan tells him.

Writing Task
Imagine a new character in a different situation.
a) Describe the character and the situation as the opening of a story.
b) Create a symbolic representation of the character’s situation and/or action
and feeling in a metaphorical dream. Write this section in italics.
Task C

Write a Spin-off Story from The Kite Runner

55
Choose an interesting part of the novel. Use it as an inspiration for a new story.

Here are some ideas. You can, though, come up with your own. Check it with
your teacher.
Eg: Tell Baba’s story of the time he wrestled the bear
Narrate an incident in Sanaubar’s life
Write the story of Sanaubar’s return from her perspective.
Write a letter from Amir back to Hassan
Write a dialogue-driven narrative between Amir and Soraya where Amir
shares the truths
That he’s learned and the feelings he has had in his relationship with his
father, Baba.
Write the speech Sohrab delivers at his wedding

A Useful Structure for your ‘Failure – Atonement – Redemption’ Story

Write your story using the PRESENT – PAST – PRESENT narrative form.

PRESENT TIME Section 1 – the Opening of the Story

Describe the character in a scene or situation where they are doing something
positive.
They may be being recognised for their achievement or good works.

At the end of this section, present a trigger to the past.

In Matt Lim’s story, this trigger is the memory recalled by the music: - the
sonata that reminds the surgeon of his past failing – a traffic accident when he
was drunk - that took away a young musician’s ability to ‘create’ music.
The recklessness of his negligent action stays with him, in fact he deliberately
keeps it with him by playing the sonata in surgery. The music is associated with
the memory of his wrongdoing. This explains his meticulous surgery as an act
of atonement.

FLASHBACK TO THE PAST- Section 2 – the Development of the Story

This is the story of the past wrong-doing that motivates the ‘good’ action of the
character in present time.

Flash back to the past. Narrate the scene or situation where the character ‘sins’.
Describe the situation in which the character acts selfishly. He is motivated by
self-interest. He places what he wants most above what is morally right. He
places himself before others. He my lie, cheat, betray, deceive, betray,
56
underperform, exploit, be negligent towards, hurt, offend, fail to support, be
cruel or unkind or unfeeling.

You may present the flash back as one section in the middle of the story, or in
two sections with a return to the present in between as Matthew Lim does in
‘Hands’.

RETURN TO THE PRESENT TIME Section 3 – the Resolution

Pick up the opening scene where you left off. This scene is of the character
doing something that makes amends for their moral failing or offence in the
past.
Your ending should illustrate the link between the past and the present. It
should SHOW how the ‘good’ action is actually an act of atonement. It is a
response to the ‘bad’ action of the past. It reveals that the character’s motivation
is to right the wrong.
It illustrates the character’s journey from failure to recognition and atonement,
towards redemption.

Matthew Lim’s resolution, the final paragraph explains the meaning of the
meticulous surgery as an act of atonement quite explicitly in the final paragraph
of ‘Hands’. The narrative moves from the surgeon’s action the external world to
an account of what surgery meant for him.. every hand was the boy’s hand…
and how through healing he sought to liberate himself from the pain of guilt and
atone for his destruction of the young pianist’s hands by healing hands.

Group Task

In pairs, or groups of 3, select an important aspect of a Redemption Story.

Prepare a 5- 7 minute presentation to the class on what this aspect of

Redemption is, and how it is represented through the narrative in The Kite
Runner.

Base your discussion on clear ideas that you present about this aspect of
redemption. Support your ideas with well-selected textual evidence. Textual
evidence means relevant passages in the novel, and specific quotations in these
passages. You also need to identify the narrative techniques that convey the idea
about redemption, in the novel’s narrative design.

57