Soraya, the chosen character to be analyzed and illustrated, always supported Amir’s decisions as his wife throughout the narrative by acclaimed author Khaled Hosseini, “The Kite Runner”.This document will demonstrate how this woman played an essential role in the life of Amir. After Amir fled with his father from Afghanistan they found refuge in San Francisco, California, where Amir grew attracted to Soraya. Amir knew that she was the woman he wanted to marry and so after receiving his father’s blessing, Baba, Amir’s father, went and requested the blessing for the marriage from Soraya’s parents. With blessings being provided from all parties, not long later, both Soraya and Amir became happily married; marking the start of their life together. Without this, and other overwhelming support provided to Amir in his journey to make amends of his past poor decisions, a positive outcome may never have come to fruition, including finding true love. The bulk of this support was found in the acceptance given by Soraya towards Amir’s decision to go to Pakistan and meet with Rahim Khan.
The physical appearance of Soraya bears great importance alongside her character as this connects her to memories of Amir’s past. She is described as having a birthmark just above her jaw. With the description provided in the novel, it appears as if it’s meant to make a connection with Hassan’s harelip. Hassan is Amir’s beloved half-brother. “Lying awake in bed that night, I thought of Soraya Taheri's sickle-shaped birthmark, her gently hooked nose” (Hosseini 11.104). Two of Hassan’s most notable flaws to his appearance were both his harelip, which is much like her birthmark, and his nose, which Oeseff often ridiculed, is also something that Amir finds physically attractive in Soraya.
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Soraya is not only notable for her physical appearance, which greatly attracted Amir to her, but her personality which is also very similar to Hassan’s. She is described as being very kind and is always supportive without ever disagreeing over any decisions Amir makes. These traits share striking similarities to the role of a servant which was the same relationship that Amir had with Hassan. These personality traits of Soraya are demonstrated when Amir describes her treatment of his father during the final days of his life, “Soraya dedicated herself to taking care of my father” (Hosseini 13.181).
Soraya’s past mistakes are an important part of her relation to Amir with it drawing them closer due to their similar lives growing up. Both characters have a troubled past, in Soraya’s case she ran away without her parent’s blessing and her father had to come to rescue her. Meanwhile, Amir had forced Hassan out of his life and falsified evidence against him to make his father force Hassan to leave. A quote from the novel that supports this is when Amir says to himself, “But I think a big part of the reason I didn’t care about Soraya’s past was that I had one of my own. I knew all about regret.” (Hosseini 13.180). The past of Soraya is possibly something for Amir to be jealous of as she is so open about it and instead for Amir, he hid his past from others; letting it haunt him.
Without the love, affection, support, and characteristics of Soraya, Amir finally felt whole and complete, allowing him to find belonging in his new life in America so he could begin righting the wrongs of his past. Amir attracted to the similarities between Hassan and Soraya provided the ability for him to rejuvenate the love he felt for his dear friend and brother. Without Soraya in Amir’s life, he would have likely never found comfort and true happiness. In the end, Amir’s marriage to Soraya plays one of the most important roles in Amir’s new life. A life of love.
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