Remorse

                    When Khaled Hosseni wrote the book The Kite Runner, he most likely intended it to show what remorse and regret really mean. This can be shown when Amir says,

" In the end I ran. I ran because I was a coward." (pg 77)

                     There are many other small parts in the book where Amir states that he is ashamed that he left Hassen to be tortured by Assef. Usually when we think of regret, we may think of regretting a decision, like wishing you hadn't made a bet, or wishing that you should have started your homework earlier. When we think of remorse, we think of small things, like not fighting with a younger sibling or feeling guilty that you lied and they easily believed you. Amir's constant feelings of regret and remorse are much bigger reasons than any other person may feel. Amir feels he betrayed Hassan, the brother he never had. Hassan had always stuck up for Amir and helped him whenever he needed it most, and during Hassan's greatest moment of need, Amir ran and pretended that he never saw what happened. Even when Amir saves him from any more harm from Assef, he still is haunted by his decision to run instead of trying to protect Hassan. He knows that he could never do anything to be able to forgive himself for what he did, even if Hassen did.
                     It is possible that something like this happened to Hosseni. Not all of this word for word, but maybe he did something small that he would never forgive himself for. Then he could have exaggerated greatly the amount of regret he felt and made it into a much bigger problem. Also, he may have based Amir on himself, maybe on the decisions he would have made as a kid: trying anything to please his father, being scared of bullies like Assef, and even making some decisions that may have seemed good at first, but later he realized that was the wrong choice. Then these may have affected his life. He may have even gone a long time in his life haunted by something he did, and every day wishing he could take it back.