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Maximus Marek Tortorella

ENG4U0-12

Mrs. S.Schaffer

17 October 2020

An Evolution of Personal Growth:

The Kite Runner Through Psychoanalytic Theory

Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner develops the idea that choices emerging from the

instinctual part of the mind are explained through Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory

(McLeod). Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory divides the human mind into three

components: id, ego, and superego. These three components build a mind working together,

determining one's personality and unique behaviors. The Kite Runner is based on Amir's

evolution of personal growth living in Afghanistan without a mother and receiving little affection

from his father. It consists of how his id, ego, and superego were affected from a young age. By

applying Freud's psychoanalytic literary criticism to Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner, Amir's

life circumstances evolved his ego, ultimately molding his personality. The development of

Amir's superego projects the guilt that he receives about his life choices. Through a Freudian

psychoanalytic perspective, readers can recognize how Hosseini integrates this theory into his

novel by demonstrating how Amir suffers from impulses emanating from his id. This influences

his choices and actions throughout his childhood, protecting his ego by removing those that

cause him guilt. Thus, the extent to which Amir’s superego operates in order to display an

evolution in selflessness.

Engaging in a psychoanalytic reading of the novel, readers recognize the extent to which

Amir’s id, unconsciously influenced his choices and actions. “The id is the part of the mind in
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which innate, instinctive impulses and primary processes are manifest.” (oxford dictionary). The

id develops at birth, and ordinarily mothers are the primary caregiver of a child with a massive

influence on her child's life. Without a mother, Amir’s id turns his ego to the desire for his

father's affection, and he wonders if Hassan aches for his mother “the way I ached for the mother

I had never met” (Hosseini 5), unable to experience the love and care of a mother. Otto Rank’s

literary works describe the exact effect by manifesting the idea that without a mother figure,

Amir's character portrayed many signs of difficulties through jealousy, betrayal, and guilt.

Amir’s father subconsciously placed blame on him for his wife's death, thus situated a substantial

burden for Amir to carry within his unconscious mind. The trauma from these events results in

an ego overinfluenced by the id. Amir's “id operates on the pleasure principle, which is the idea

that every wishful impulse should be satisfied immediately”(Freud); this projects his image of

selfishness, anger, and jealousy. Whenever Amir asked for something, “Baba would buy it for

me - but then he'd buy it for Hassan too. Sometimes I wish he wouldn't do that. I wish he'd let me

be the favorite.” (Hosseini 54), Amir's burden subconsciously motivates him to desire the love

and acceptance from his father. His id continuously is striving for the acknowledgment of his

father regardless of the consequences feeding his id's influence on his ego. This corresponds to

the difference between Amir and Hassan, and why his father shows more love for Hassan who

displayed strong, similar characteristics to Baba. Baba’s concern is conveyed in his conversation

to Rahim; “And where is he headed?” (Hosseini 18) Baba said. ‘A boy who won’t stand up for

himself becomes a man who can’t stand up to anything” (Hosseini 18), Amir had a plan to get rid

of his guilt and gain fatherly love. He believed winning the kite running competition would be

his “key to Baba’s heart” (Hosseini 71). Since his father showed more favoritism towards

Hassan, Amir is continuously striving for the acknowledgement of his father, regardless of the
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consequences. This leads to Amir’s jealousy feeding his id, which in result, influenced his

decision to leave Hassan in the alley with Assef. He believes that “Hassan was the price to pay,

the lamb I had to slay ''(Hosseini 65), as he attempts to “satisfy an impulse with a substitute”

(Madan), in this case Hassan. In reality, he was simply “too afraid to face Assef'' (Hosseini 77).

Amir’s id gave him an unrealistic idea of an attempt to get rid of the shame of the kite running

win by not owning up to his mistake in refusing to report the rape. This new source of guilt

swayed Amir to frame Hassan for stealing “I lifted Hasan’s mattress and planted my new watch.”

(Hosseini 110). Amir begins to feel more guilt using projection to frame Hassan for stealing in

hopes that, “Baba would dismiss them” so that “life would go on” (Hosseini 89) and he could try

to forget the transgressions. Baba decided to forgive Hassan begging them to stay, however Ali,

Hassan’s father, chose to take Hassan and move away. Through a psychoanalytic lens, when

Amir takes full responsibility for his mother's death it led to him blaming himself for Hassan’s

rape, as his id controlled his mind, actions, and emotions.

Through a psychoanalytic perspective, Amir protects his ego by creating fantasy

scenarios to free himself from guilt. He unconsciously used several ego-defense mechanisms to

“help ward off unpleasant feelings'' (Mcleod); this fueled the desire to win his father's love and

appreciation, sacrifice his innocence, friendship, morals, and inner peace. It took Amir many

years for his ego to mature. During these years Amir was a good son, a good student in school, a

successful novelist, cared for ailing Baba and followed afghan custom with marriage. None of

this buried his guilt. In America, Amir said “But I kept seeing Baba on the night of my

graduation, sitting in the Ford he’d just given me, smelling of beer and saying, I wish Hassan had

been with us today” (Hosseini 225). Amir is appreciative of the car that Baba bought him.

Amir’s growth as a person helps his ego feel the sacrifice that Baba made to bring him to
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America so that he could be safe, educated and well-taken care of. Amir is touched by how Baba

went through great lengths to buy him a Ford. Amir drives the Ford to new neighborhoods and

places to feel the sensation of the new positive experiences, diverting his impulses to this object

which is "psychologically more acceptable than the one that aroused the feelings" (Myers). In

turn this helps the growth of his ego, overtime realizing these new experiences do not make the

past go away. Once this happens, he is able to take control of himself and learn from his past

actions. Moving to the United States made Amir think that this was where he could forget about

everything he has done and “a place to bury my memories'' (Hosseini 108). Baba’s death changes

Amir. Amir now had no leader to follow, and is left lost without Baba, “the thought terrified

me.” (Hosseini 84) Amir admired his father and now was faced with being his own person, he is

filled with anxiety. An example is when Soraya shared her past story with Amir, he is jealous she

has unburdened herself, he wishes he too could relieve himself of the guilt of not reporting the

rape “I envied her. Her secret was out. Spoken. Dealt with.” (174). Amir’s unconscious ego-

defense mechanism of repression would result in feelings of guilt by “placing uncomfortable

thoughts in relatively inaccessible areas of the subconscious mind” (Changing Minds

Repression). Without being able to have his own child Amir felt lost, he could “almost feel the

emptiness in Soraya's womb” (Hosseini 199). Amir lets his guilt explain his life’s circumstances,

his ego expects that this is an atonement for his past, “someone, somewhere had decided to deny

me fatherhood for the things I had done. Maybe this was my punishment, and perhaps justly”

(Hosseini 198). Therefore, throughout Amir’s childhood, his actions were based on his id

because his ego was underdeveloped, and he didn't understand who he was. Amir’s time in

America allows for inner reflection and acceptance allowing his ego to function without the id
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Superego is the part of one’s mind that determines what is right by using morals and past

experiences. Amir's ego developed in America a lot later in his life as he began to be more

selfless, he understood that his guilt created situations that would harm others in Afghanistan.

Amir found it tough to live with himself after witnessing and not reporting Hassan's rape. In

America, Amir began to recognize why he felt guilty and wanted to correct his mistakes. An old

friend of Amir, Rahim Khan calls him to come back to Afghanistan with the chance to "undo"

the fact that he was not able to stand up for Hassan The superego helps him follow through “ to

cancel out or remove an unhealthy, destructive or otherwise threatening thought or action”

(Laplanche, J). Rahim reminds Amir that there is still “A way to be good again” (Hosseini 269)

by saving Hassan’s son Sohrab and giving him a better life. Sohrab was placed in an orphanage

in Afghanistan where children were abused by the Taliban. Saving Sohrab from what Amir let

happen to Hassan releases the guilt he possessed all these years. The amount of confusion and

guilt Amir grew up with in Afghanistan turned him into a vicious person who could not

understand his actions, consequences, nor how they affect others, his superego wants to right the

wrong. Amir seeks self-forgiveness, when he accepts Assef’s challenge to fight for Sohrab’s

freedom in Kabul. The relief Amir felt in battle is an unrealistic way to feel redeemed, his

thought is “we both got what we deserved'' (Hosseini 257) creating thirst fantasy “to stop

thinking about one's current distress” (White). Baba feared Amir would not stand up for anything

“a boy who won't stand up for himself becomes a man who can't stand up to anything” (Hosseini

233). Amir stood up for Sohrab like he should have for Hassan so many years ago. His superego

helped create a new strong sense of self, learning from this helped him on his journey to become

a selfless human. The superego influence on the ego strengthens Amir’s memory “Hassan was

true to his nature” could never lie and “He was incapable of hurting anyone.” (Hosseini 11)
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Hassan chooses to forgive, even after Amir hurts him on purpose. In this novel, kites symbolize

the purity of human nature, similar to how Amir describes Hassan. The purest of human nature

symbolizes Hassan’s ability to catch kites. Learning from this, Amir treats Sohrab, just as he was

treated by Hassan through defensive altruism. Amir feels self-motivated to guide Sohrab, he

feels empathy towards him going through rape by the Taliban, the experience his father Hassan

endured. Amir’s journey to balance his ego began when he realized he has a chance to take

control of who he wanted to be as a person and forgive himself. Amir shared the sport of kite

running in honor of Hassan sharing his tricks and stories with Sohrab. This kindness toward

Sohrab helped break his silence, “one corner of his mouth had curled up just so. A Smile”

(Hosseini 391). It is here Amir superego has completed its purpose, he repairs the wrong of the

past. Amir’s journey to Afghanistan, standing up for Sohrab, he demonstrates selflessness and

"autonomous ego" (Cherry) He realized how beneficial it was to be selfless and how amazing it

felt to be relieved from his guilt.

Hosseini’s novel The Kite Runner demonstrates how through a Freudian psychoanalytic

perspective, readers can recognize how Hosseini integrates this theory into his novel by

demonstrating how Amir suffers from impulses emanating from his id. This influences his

choices and actions throughout his childhood, protecting his ego by removing those that cause

him guilt. Thus, the extent to which Amir’s superego operates in order to display an evolution in

selflessness. By dividing the mind into three parts, id, ego, and superego, Amir's life

circumstances evolved his ego molding his personality becoming a selfless being. Suffering from

impulses, Amir manages to protect his ego by redeeming himself saving Sohrab. A lesson for

humanity is forgiveness and righting a wrong is a belief that is healing and transforming. The

reader is able to watch Amir’s development from a selfish child, to a more selfless adult resulting
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from his ability to learn from life experiences. Listening to your true self and developing your

talents to help others, he developed his superego by understanding how important it was to be

selfless. Amir’s ego listening to his superego rather his id, his guilt leads him to realize it is never

too late to right a wrong, making him feel better. Lastly, everyone is a storyteller, “Ah, a

storyteller, the general said. Well people need stories to divert them at difficult times”. This is

emphasized in the joy Amir feels when he shares stories, tricks and techniques for kite running to

Sohrab. In one's life, every individual’s id overpowers the ego, as seen in this novel where

selfishness overrules true friendship and loyalty, the superego leads experiences to repair

friendships and true relationships true destiny.

Works Cited

Cherry, Kendra. “The Importance of the Superego in Psychology.” Verywell Mind,

www.verywellmind.com/what-is-the-superego-2795876.

Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. Bloomsbury Publishing Ltd., 2018.

“Id: Definition of Id by Oxford Dictionary on Lexico.com Also Meaning of Id.” Lexico

Dictionaries | English, Lexico Dictionaries, www.lexico.com/definition/id.

The Kite runner, Isearch. “WHAT DEFENSE MECHANISMS ARE EMPLOYED BY

HASSAN AND AMIR IN THIS NOVEL?” Kite Runner Isearch,

kiterunnersearch.weebly.com/question-four.html.

Madan, Tintu. “Sigmund Freud.” Padlet, 1 Mar. 2017, padlet.com/tintumadan007/PSY5.

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Mcleod, Saul. “Defense Mechanisms.” Defense Mechanisms | Simply Psychology,

www.simplypsychology.org/defense-mechanisms.html.

Mcleod, Saul. “Defense Mechanisms.” Defense Mechanisms | Simply Psychology,

www.simplypsychology.org/defense-mechanisms.html?ref=theredish.com%2Fweb.

Repression, changingminds.org/explanations/behaviors/coping/repression.htm.

“Undoing (Psychology).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 7 November 2019,

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Undoing_(psychology).

White, Tony. “Fantasy as a Defence Mechanism.” Tony White TSTA Psychologist, 22

November 2015, www.tony-white.com/fantasy-as-a-defence-mechanism/.