The Kite Runner: Past Guilt

In The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, Amir cannot forget his past. The central theme of how the past claws its way out of your repressed memories still holds true. Amir recalls the night in the alley, Hassan, and his unatoned sins. He connects this with his wife's infertility. He believes that "Maybe this was my punishment" (Hosseini, 188). His wife's infertility was retribution for abandoning Hassan. The thought of adoption comes up and sirs some emotions in the family. Soraya wants to adopt. Her father advises against it. Amir decides, for the moment, to not adopt because he believes that he is being denied his fatherhood. It all comes back to his past and his abandonment of Hassan.