Loyalty and Devotion - The theme of loyalty and devotion runs deeply throughout the book. Amir is scared of the loyalty that Hassan shows him everyday and he is also scared of religious devotion. As a child he didn't understand how someone could love someone enough to trust in everything they did. Even when Amir treated Hassan terribly , Hassan still believed in his best friend; he considered him his best friend even 30 years later when he recounted his childhood stories to his son.
Redemption- Both Amir and Baba look for redemption in their lives, with varying levels of success. Baba's guilt has to do with Hassan being his son, and Amir's half brother. Hassan must face prejudice his whole life because he is not privileged enough to be Baba's son. To deal with not being able to claim Hassan as his own, Baba builds an orphanage to the great surprise of the community, and is always very kind to Hassan. A good example of this is on Hassan's birthday, when Baba pays for a very expensive surgery to fix his cleft lip he's had since birth. Even Amir notices that Baba seems to show more kindness and openness toward Hassan than him. Baba feels that if he acts the kind, good father toward Hassan he can be somewhat redeemed.
After Amir witnesses Hassan's rape and says nothing about it to anyone, not even comforting Hassan, the rest of the story becomes about his search for redemption. As a child, he doesn't know how to deal with his guilt. He hides in his room, and frames Hassan for stealing some of his things. Hassan leaves the house against Baba's will and Amir hopes that things will be better with him gone. This does not assuage the terrible feelings he still has about keeping his mouth shut, and years later this overwhelming guilt causes him to leave the safety of America with his wife and travel back to Afganistan to help Sohrab, Hassan's only child. He thinks that if he can help Hassan's son, then he can be redeemed.
Loss of Innocence- Amir, Hassan, and Sohrab all experience the loss of innocence early in their childhood. Amir loses his innocence after watching his best friend Hassan be raped by Assef and Hassan also loses his innocence that day. Both of them are shaped by this memory and have difficulty coping with it. Hassan retreats into his mind and Amir acts out. Sohrab loses his innocence the same way his father, Hassan, did. Many other children in Afghanistan lose their innocence because of the violence there. Amir describes that "There are a lot of children in Afghanistan, but little childhood" which shows how many children have lost what is most important to a child: their childhood innocence (Hosseini 277).
Turning to Religion- Raised the child of strictly nonreligious Baba, Amir grows up thinking that prayer is not a necessity of life. Only when he becomes an adult faced with struggles of his own does he consider religion to be useful. Amir turns to faith for reassurance when Baba is diagnosed with cancer. He is still hesitant of the process, thinking, "I recited half-forgotten verses from the Koran... and asked for kindness from a God I wasn't sure existed" (Hosseini 154). Even after his father's death, Amir holds onto prayer to find a reason for his troubles. Amir concludes, "There is a God, there has to be, and now I will pray" in response to Sohrab's suicide attempt, desperate to find a something to save himself and his adopted child (Hosseini 346). Once Amir is settled in with his wife and the silent Sohrab, he makes prayer a daily routine in thanks for saving his child and allowing his father to live as long as he could. By the end of the novel, Amir turns from being unfamiliar with religion to memorizing the fard as-salat, establishing religion as part of his daily routine.
Redemption- Both Amir and Baba look for redemption in their lives, with varying levels of success. Baba's guilt has to do with Hassan being his son, and Amir's half brother. Hassan must face prejudice his whole life because he is not privileged enough to be Baba's son. To deal with not being able to claim Hassan as his own, Baba builds an orphanage to the great surprise of the community, and is always very kind to Hassan. A good example of this is on Hassan's birthday, when Baba pays for a very expensive surgery to fix his cleft lip he's had since birth. Even Amir notices that Baba seems to show more kindness and openness toward Hassan than him. Baba feels that if he acts the kind, good father toward Hassan he can be somewhat redeemed.
After Amir witnesses Hassan's rape and says nothing about it to anyone, not even comforting Hassan, the rest of the story becomes about his search for redemption. As a child, he doesn't know how to deal with his guilt. He hides in his room, and frames Hassan for stealing some of his things. Hassan leaves the house against Baba's will and Amir hopes that things will be better with him gone. This does not assuage the terrible feelings he still has about keeping his mouth shut, and years later this overwhelming guilt causes him to leave the safety of America with his wife and travel back to Afganistan to help Sohrab, Hassan's only child. He thinks that if he can help Hassan's son, then he can be redeemed.
Loss of Innocence- Amir, Hassan, and Sohrab all experience the loss of innocence early in their childhood. Amir loses his innocence after watching his best friend Hassan be raped by Assef and Hassan also loses his innocence that day. Both of them are shaped by this memory and have difficulty coping with it. Hassan retreats into his mind and Amir acts out. Sohrab loses his innocence the same way his father, Hassan, did. Many other children in Afghanistan lose their innocence because of the violence there. Amir describes that "There are a lot of children in Afghanistan, but little childhood" which shows how many children have lost what is most important to a child: their childhood innocence (Hosseini 277).
Turning to Religion- Raised the child of strictly nonreligious Baba, Amir grows up thinking that prayer is not a necessity of life. Only when he becomes an adult faced with struggles of his own does he consider religion to be useful. Amir turns to faith for reassurance when Baba is diagnosed with cancer. He is still hesitant of the process, thinking, "I recited half-forgotten verses from the Koran... and asked for kindness from a God I wasn't sure existed" (Hosseini 154). Even after his father's death, Amir holds onto prayer to find a reason for his troubles. Amir concludes, "There is a God, there has to be, and now I will pray" in response to Sohrab's suicide attempt, desperate to find a something to save himself and his adopted child (Hosseini 346). Once Amir is settled in with his wife and the silent Sohrab, he makes prayer a daily routine in thanks for saving his child and allowing his father to live as long as he could. By the end of the novel, Amir turns from being unfamiliar with religion to memorizing the fard as-salat, establishing religion as part of his daily routine.