The guilt of what happens to Hassan haunts Amir for the next twenty-six years. Like the sacrifice of the sheep haunts Amir for weeks after, the sacrifice of Hassan the lamb haunts him for years, decades, after. When Amir reflects on a dream that Hassan likely invented to lessen his anxiety about the kite fighting contest, he realizes that, “there was a monster in that lake. It had grabbed Hassan by the ankles, dragged him to the murky bottom. I was that monster” (86). Even at Hassan's assurance that “no monster” lurks at the tournament, Amir acknowledges in time that Hassan had been wrong - Amir was that monster.
For twenty-six years Amir avoids thinking of Hassan, experiencing a newfound wave of guilt when his name emerges. The narrator opens his story with a phone call from Rahim Khan and describes the call as from not just his father's old friend but also “my past of unatoned sins” (1). Rahim ends the short conversation with “there is a way to be good again,” revealing to Amir that Rahim had known all those years about what Amir had done, or, rather, let happen.
Baba throws Amir a birthday party the same year he wins the contest. Amir, though he would have, under other circumstances, rejoiced, he knows that “It was all blood money. Baba would have never thrown me a party like that if I hadn't won the tournament” (101). After the party, he pitches all his gifts in the corner of his room, except for Rahim's gift, the leather-bound notebook, “the only one that didn't feel like blood money” (102). Like Hassan, Rahim loves Amir unconditionally. Amir does not have to win a contest for Rahim to love him, or give him gifts. The gift was genuine, which Amir acknowledges. When Amir and his father flee Afghanistan, Amir takes only the notebook and a few simple necessities. He keeps it even through the next twenty-six years when, just like as a boy, Rahim still understands the depth of Amir's heart and mind.
“There is a way to be good again,” Rahim says. The road to redemption opens wide for Amir as he travels back to Pakistan and then to Afghanistan to rescue Hassan's son. When at last Amir finds Sohrab, he discovers that Assef stands between them. Assef proceeds to beat Amir nearly to death, though he causes more joy than pain by his attempt to murder Amir. Like when Assef laughs because the attack cures him of his kidney stones, Amir laughs because the attack cures him of his burdensome sin. In the midst of being hit repeatedly with brass knuckles and feeling bones break and blood soak his face, Amir “felt at peace” (289). The fight, Amir's willingness to be killed to save Sohrab, redeems him of his sins. He “becomes good again.” At the hospital, the doctor informs Amir of his worst injury, an impact that sliced his lip in two. The doctor adds that “there will be a scar” (297). Amir's sacrifice made him pure, more like Hassan, with a matching scar from a harelip. He becomes the prince that his name implies, the prince that he calls Hassan.
Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. New York: The Berkley Publishing Group: 2003.
