The Hero's Journey of Amir in The Kite Runner, a Novel by Khaled Hosseini

“When we quit thinking about ourselves and our own self-preservation, we undergo a truly heroic transformation of consciousness”, said Joseph Campbell. The Kite Runner, written by Khaled Hosseini, is a story of an Afghan boy who has to go through many trials and suffering in order to make up for his sins. The main character Amir has to rescue his nephew, Sohrab, from the Talibs and bring Sohrab to America with him. Amir wants to repay Hassan, who is his half- brother and is Sohrab’s father, for the guilt that he did in the past. The Kite Runner is believed to be a story of a hero’s journey because it has three important components which are departure, initiations, and return.

First, Amir’s journey starts with a departure which includes a call to adventure and threshold guardian. Rahim Khan, the mentor character in the novel, tells Amir that “There is a way to be good again” (Hosseini 2). Rahim Khan knows Amir’s past of not saving Hassan, Amir’s half-brother, when Hassan was rapped. Now, that Amir knows the truth about his relationship with Hassan, Rahim Khan asks him to go to Kabul to bring Hassan’s son back because Hassan and his wife are killed. Amir’s adventure starts at this point. Returning to Kabul, Afghanistan has never been easy for Amir. In addition to the huge difference between past-Kabul and present-Kabul, Amir has to dress up in a traditionally proper way, or the Taliban would know that he comes from America. Amir has to be extremely careful not to show his identity, as he describes “…perhaps the most important item: an artificial beard, black and chest length, Shari’a-friendly – or at least the Taliban version of Shari’a” (Hosseini 230). Hence, Amir unexpectedly starts his journey with shocking news, which would take him to a place that is full of evil people – the Taliban.

In addition, there are two essential initiations to the story which are abduction and dragon battle. Amir initially thinks that all he has to do is go to the orphanage to find Sohrab and leave Kabul. However, when he finds the orphanage, the orphanage director tells him that Hassan has been taken by a Taliban “There is a Talib official,’ […] ‘Usually he’ll take a girl. But not always.”” (Hosseini 255-256). After Amir learned this news, he goes looking for that Talib official and realizes that the person he was looking for is Assef, his childhood enemy. When Amir was young, Hassan always stood up for Amir whenever Assef bullied them. Now Amir has to stand up for himself and his recently discovered nephew. Nonetheless, his coward and his selfishness have never gone far from him. Fear builds up in Amir; he has never had a fight, and he has the urge to hide or run instead of battling his enemy. Despite his weakness, Amir fights with Assef. Furthermore, Amir feels at peace, “My body was broken – just how badly I wouldn’t find out until later – but I felt healed. Healed at last. I laughed” (Hosseini 289). Amir feels that he is repaying his bad doing in the past; he is not a coward Afghan boy 20 years ago anymore. Overall, Sohrab’s abduction and Amir’s fighting his weakness show that The Kite Runner has the initiation parts of a hero’s journey.

The novel clearly shows Amir’s return, including magic flight/pursuit and freedom to live. Right after Sohrab slingshot Assef in the eye, Amir and Sohrab have to leave the place immediately, or the Talibs might shot them down. Then, in a hospital in Peshawar, Pakistan, Amir could not stay there for a long time either. His companion, Farid, tells Amir “I don’t think you’ll be safe here for long,’ Farid said. He lowered his voice. ‘The Taliban have friends here. They will start looking for you”” (Hosseini 304). Obviously, Assef would want revenge and order his men to look for Amir and Sohrab. Also, they have many obstacles about taking Sohrab to the United States, and there is a very hopeless moment that Sohrab tries to kill himself. However, in the end, Sohrab receives a humanitarian visa, so Amir can bring Sohrab to live with him and Soraya. It’s not the life that Sohrab used to have with his parents, but he is safe and sound. Thus, Amir’s flee from Kabul and Peshawar and his successful return with Sohrab indicates that The Kite Runner contains the returning parts of a hero’s journey.

In sum, the description in the above paragraphs reveals that The Kite Runner is actually a hero’s journey. First, Amir’s departure begins with Rahim Khan’s advice and the Taliban as threshold guardian. Then, Sohrab’s abduction and Amir’s battle with himself and Assef denote the initiations of the novel. Finally, the story ends with Amir and Sohrab’s escape from the Taliban and their new lives in America. Accordingly, there are many other important features that show The Kite Runner’s strong resemblance to a hero’s journey; nonetheless, these are the most obvious details.

Work Cited

Hossseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. New York: Riverhead, 2013. Print.

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