The Kite Runner: A Holy Week Reflection

The story of the “The Kite Runner” (see previous post) is set in a Muslim culture and written by Khaled Hosseini, an Afghan-American who, I presume, is also a Muslim and practices the Islamic religion. This is not a reason, for me, however, not to read in it the Christian themes of Holy Week such as Christ’s Suffering, Death and Resurrection, although this is most likely not intended by the author.

I see these themes basically in the lives of the two friends Amir and Hassan who actually have many things in common. They were both reared by single fathers and both nursed from the same nursing mother having lost their own biological mothers soon after their births. Both grew up together in the same compound and played the same games. And finally, both went through what we Christians call the Paschal Mystery of Christ that we commemorate during this holiest of weeks in Christendom.

Fr. Ronald Rolheiser, in his book “The Holy Longing” describes the paschal mystery as “a process of transformation within which we are given both new life and new spirit. It begins with suffering and death, moves on to the reception of new life, spends some time grieving the old and adjusting to the new, and finally, only after the old life has been truly let go of, is a new spirit given for the life we are already living”.

Let us now see how this applies to the contrasting stories of Hassan and Amir in “The Kite Runner”.

Hassan’s passion, death and resurrection

Hassan’s passion and suffering is easy to recognize. He is the servant’s son and belongs to the oppressed Hazara tribe among the Muslims. His mother who abandoned him a week after childbirth and run away with another man is known to be a harlot. Given his parental background and ethnic origins, Hassan becomes easy target of ridicule by bullies in the neighborhood where he and Amir live. He does not escape even his friend and master Amir’s subtle taunts. His passion and suffering comes to a head when in the process of running a kite for Amir and standing his ground for Amir’s sake, he endures a most vicious attack on his person – he gets sodomized. This is followed by his friend Amir’s devilish plot against him. Amir falsely charges him with theft before Baba (Amir’s father) and Hassan admits the crime in order to save Amir.

Hassan’s paschal death (as opposed to his natural death in the end) comes almost immediately after he admits to the crime attributed to him by Amir. Together with his father Ali, Hassan leaves the place and the life he had known since birth. His dreams, the future with Amir and all that is dear to him also die with it.

Nothing is said of Hassan after this. It is reasonable to presume, however, that he has learned to let go and to forgive Amir, because what we see later on is Hassan’s resurrection and new spirit through his letter to Amir and in the person of Sohrab his son. Sohrab continues Hassan’s role as Amir’s savior. He also vindicates his father Hassan against the same person who had caused the harrowing experience that Hassan endured from his youth; thereby freeing his new spirit from the shackles of the nightmare that he had carried with him all his earthly life.

Amir’s passion, death and resurrection

Amir’s passion and suffering are more mental than physical. He suffers mostly from inflictions he has brought upon himself. It is clear that he is suffering from anger and hatred. He is angry at his father for silently blaming him for the death of his mother and for giving undue attention to Hasan and Ali. He also secretly hates Hassan for being too upright and courageous, especially after he witnesses Hassan being raped while he watches in fear. This anger and hatred, in turn, leads him to execute his evil plot to finally get rid of Hassan. Amir carries the burden of guilt in his heart for so long until later as an adult, he decides to get rid of them and to die to his old self.

The events of Amir’s paschal death begins when he decides to finally follow Rahim’s advice to find a way to be good again. He goes on a healing journey back to Kabul, the place of his sins and takes Sohrab with him back to the United States and finally stands up for him against his bigoted father-in-law. It is only then that cleansing and letting go happens releasing Amir from his chains of many years. His resurrection where he receives a new life and a new spirit then ensues.

Finally, back in the United States with a new life and spirit as an accomplished author, a happily married man to a wonderful woman, and foster father to Sohrab, Amir’s resurrection is symbolized by his flying a kite once again, this time with Sohrab in place of his dear friend Hassan.

A personal paschal challenge to each one of us.

We all have our own little passion, death and resurrection. Fr. Rolheiser, however, poses what he calls “a personal paschal challenge” to all of us in this manner:

• Name your deaths;
• Claim your births;
• Grieve what you have lost and adjust to the new reality;
• Do not cling to the old, rather let it ascend and give you its blessing;
• Finally, accept the spirit of life that you are in fact now living.

“Christ spoke of many deaths, of daily deaths, and of many rising and various pentecosts. The Paschal mystery is the secret to life. Ultimately, our happiness depends upon properly undergoing it.”

A BLESSED EASTER TO ALL!