Scars are reminders of one's life in pain and regret, a constant memory engraved on your actions forever. These scars will begin to fade and heal, the thick skin becoming stronger but it will never completely cease to exist. People will constantly have regrets and continue to make mistakes, and though it will be a continuous journey towards redemption, we can lessen these mistakes through time and learning from what we can do better in the present. Throughout the Kite Runner, many of the vital characters are patronized by their past memories and mistakes. Because we are human, we are able to learn, grow, and heal from said mistakes. Learning from the lessons of the past allows one to build personal self resurrection and an increase of faith. Learning from one's past mistakes allows reform and renewal, it molds us into an advanced version of ourselves.
From beginning to end readers are able to understand that many of their critical characters are preyed upon by the memories of their past. Amir is constantly filled with regret because of his inaction to ameliorate that actions of Assef, Wali, and Kamal towards Hassan. Amir’s cowardice resulted in Hassan’s rape. It is the haunting of this memory that ultimately leads Amir to on his journey of self resurrection and redemption. Baba is trapped within the memories of committing adultery with Ali’s wife to conceive Hassan. This selfish act leads to Baba to act stern towards Amir. It leads him to become often altruistic within his own work and money. Sohrab is also seen as one encapsulated by his distant memories. Because of the abuse he had endured from Asser, he flinches at the slightest touch of Amir, who is one trying to help. Because of these past acts of violence he has experienced, when all seems lost and he feels as though Amir is going to desert him, he attempts to take his own life.
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Although there appear to be many words of violence and terror within the past, there also is another form of remembrance within the book. This remembrance can be seen as remembering all of the good within their past lives, the things that made them happy and did not hurt or harm them. Amir is able to recollect the times he had with Hassan when the were in their youth. The reflection of the past tells of the old, beautiful and welcoming Kabul, before it turned to anger and violence. These good memories intertwined with the bad show signs of hope of what could come to be in the future,not just longing, desire, and sadness for these past events.
Right off the bat, Amir starts off with “I became what I am today at the age of twelve in the winter of 1975” (Hosseini). Here he recalls his own journey from the past, telling of events that ultimately lead to his own self discovery and restoration. Here he begins to find forgiveness within himself for the sins and wrongdoings he had committed towards Hassan. This first person point of view draws clear and concise parallels to Amir’s thoughts as a child compared to those as an adult. While reading the book, the reader can see that Amir is constantly going over his last events, giving himself a constant self assessment regarding his life and his choices. For example, when Amir ran away from the alleyway where Hassan was raped by Assef, Amir remembers, “I actually aspired to cowardice, because the alternative, the real reason I was running, was that Assef was right: Nothing is free in this world” (Hosseini).
Momentarily, the point of view in the book shifts from Amir to Rahim Khan. Rahim Khan tells Amir many details of Hassan’s child and adult life. Included with this description if Hassan and his past life, Khan also tells Amir from a first person perspective of the destruction of the once beautiful and peaceful Afghanistan by many political factions. Khan says, “Our ears became accustomed to the whistle of the falling shells, to the rumble of the gunfire, our eyes familiar with the sight of men digging bodies out of piles of rubble” (Hosseini). Because of this shift from Amir to Khan’s point of view, Hosseini allows the reader to introduce a more detailed glimpse of the effects and the aftermath of the war-torn Afghanistan, which is the place where Amir desperately escaped by moving and fleeing to America.
Our past mistakes or not the sole thing that defines us. How we learn and the things we love have a funny way of coming back to us, if we lose something we truly love, the have a way of returning back to us. Loss is what universally connects each and every one of us. Even through feelings of bitterness, reverence, and longing goodness can stem from evil our past mistakes. Happiness is able to exist and thrive in the world only because of sadness and regret as well. You can not know happiness without the feeling of regret. Through learning from our mistakes, we are able to move past what is hard, what holds us back, to flourish in a new life of forgiveness.
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