In Debt

For you, a thousand times over.

I would undoubtedly die for my sister, not just because I love her, but because of what she has done for me. Even though I wish I could, I honestly can’t 100% commit and say I would do the same for my best friend. In contrast, Hassan in Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner sacrifices himself countless times for his best friend Amir even though Amir does not think he would do the same for him. The pair’s relationship along with others show that only the gift of unconditional love is strong enough to pay off an indebted conscience.

Soraya is a rebel in her community, as in her past she lived with a man before marriage. This affects her ability to find a husband and causes her community looks down upon her. She loses hope and lets her past actions and guilty conscience lead her life. When she tells Amir her story, she thinks for sure that he will no longer want to marry her. To her surprise though, Amir accepts her for who she is and unconditionally loves her. Her guilt is finally relieved.

Baba lives his daily life with the reminder of his sin, as his “servant boy” Hassan is actually the result of an illegitimate relationship. In order to atone for his sins, he treats Hassan just like Amir his known son. He sometimes even treats Hassan better than Amir. He even offers forgiveness to him for lying, which he considers to be the worst sin. His unconditional love for Hassan helps him cope with the guilt from his past.

Hassan repeatedly shows his love for Amir: he runs kites for him, saves him from other boys in their neighborhood, lies for him, listens to all his stories, and later even tells his son all about him. Amir may seem to love Hassan just as much at first, but we quickly see that his love is not unconditional. Amir supports Hassan and kindles his love for books, but only does this in private. He also always spends his free time with him, but always alone, never with the other boys in the community. Because of social standards, Amir feels that he must somewhat hide their relationship and never finds the courage to stand up for his friend. He even is jealous of Hassan’s relationship with Baba. Amir lives with this guilt for a large part of his life until he finds atonement in Hassan’s son Sohrab.

Guilt causes people to show love they would not have otherwise shown. Amir’s past allows him to understand Soraya’s story and love her despite her previous choices. Baba’s sin causes him to love his illegitimate son and Amir’s indebtment to Hassan leads to Sohrab’s rescue. Everything my own sister has done for me leaves me forever indebted to her. Only a few special people exist in this world who truly show unconditional love not as the result of guilt or past debt, but rather just because they possess a compassionate heart. Hassan is one of these people, giving his all to the undeserving Amir. I want to be just like him.