Absolution
We move up to 2002. Soraya’s father has been called to a position in Afghanistan. Her mother is living with them. Amir and Soraya have opened a clinic in Rawalpindi the week before. Amir has his prayers memorized. There are half a dozen kites flying in the sky to celebrate the Afghani New years. Sohrab has not yet spoken a word to them. His silence hurt but they never gave up.
“I remember the way our father checked the wind was to kick up dust with his sandal, see which way the wind blew it…did I ever tell you your father was the best kit runner in Wazir Akbar Khan? Maybe of all Kabul? …they said he chased the kites shadow…But they didn’t know him like I did. Your father wasn’t chasing any shadows. He just…knew.” (p387) Amir sets the kite off and the two,
Sohrab and Amir turn their heads up and watch. This is such an important symbolism.
Sohrab takes the string from Amir. There is a green kite that is going to compete. Amir says, “Watch, Sohrab, I’m going to try one of your father’s favorite tricks, the old lift-and-dive.” Sohrab watches, face flushed, eyes alert for the first time. (p389) The spool rolled in Sohrab’s palms…and suddenly Amir sees Hassan’s hands, hears a crow caw, and Amir slips into his childhood until the voice of Ali is heard in his head, calling them home. Sohrab cuts the green kite and the “last time I had felt a rush like this was that day in the winter of 1975, just after I cut the last kite, when I spotted Baba on our rooftop, clapping, beaming (p390) “…..I looked down a Sohrab. One corner of his mouth had curled up just so.” (p391)
“Do you want me to run that kite for you,” Amir asks, and Sohrab nods.
“For you, a thousand times over.” Amir says and chases the kite.
What an ending to a perfect book. Amir has rescued Sohrab. He has not only atoned for his sins, but he has saved all of them, even Soraya. As well, Sohrab has been their savior as well. Amir has faced his past and is now turned, face up, to his future. His future assures Sohrab of one.
Evils of history can repeat itself, over and over down oru liens, if we do not govern ourselves with compassion. When the past declares and acts our war in our present, the only prisoner is our future. Once Amir has stopped merely ‘not wanting to have blood on his hands,’ he can make use of those hands. He does just that when he teaches Sohrab about kite fighting.
When Amir and Sohrab fight the blue kite, the story finally comes full circle. The sport takes Amir back to the moment before everything changed, when Hassan had not been raped and they were just two boys having fun together. He says, “I was twelve again.” Now that Amir has forgiven himself, kite fighting reminds him of pleasure instead of pain. In the ultimate moment of circularity, Amir runs the kite for Sohrab just as Hassan ran his last kite for him half a century before. Finally Amir understands what it is like to be as loyal and loving as Hassan, and can truthfully repeat Hassan’s words, “For you, a thousand times over.”
The kite is now a symbol of Amir’s good, fatherly wishes for Sohrab. He wants to bring him joy, opportunity, a sense of security, and the will to live again, if only this were as easy as bringing him the kite. The last time Amir went to find a kite, he ended up turning his back on Hassan for good by running away from the scene of his rape. This is why the novel’s last words, “I ran,” are so meaningful. Even though Amir’s story has made a circle metaphorically speaking, it has not ended where it began. Amir is running in a positive way, away from Sohrab physically but toward him emotionally. He is finally running with freedom in his heart instead of fear.
The story is Amir’s absolution.
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