Retributive justice is a type of justice, which believes that a punishment should be fair and proportionate to the immoral act. This type of punishment is similar to that of the "what goes around, comes around" concept and is prominent in various unethical acts such as an individual committing murder and then going to prison. Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner and William Shakespeare's King Lear are perfect examples of literature that integrates retributive justice into the plot. Both literary works have characters who make similar decisions and therefore go through similar experiences: they make bad decisions, ignore their conscience, and seek personal justice. The role of retributive justice is evident in both The Kite Runner and King Lear and becomes clear through the results of Baba and Lear's poor decision making. At the beginning of the novel, Amir characterizes his father as an honest, wealthy man with strong moral values; in fact, Baba spends a lot of time trying to impose his goodness on Amir. A major turning point in the story for Amir is when Rahim Khan shares a horrible truth; Baba is a sinner and goes against his beliefs by lying about Hassan's birth. At first, the reader assumes that Baba keeps Hassan's birth a secret, so he is frowned upon for having an affair with Ali's wife. Although Baba tries to make up for his wrong decision, he still experiences retributive justice by losing Hassan and Ali: “Then I saw Baba do something I had never seen him do before: he cried… I will never forget the way Baba treated him he said." , the pain in his supplication, the fear.” (Hosseini 107). Baba never lets go of losing his son: “I wish Hassan had been with us today” (Hosseini 133). Baba says nothing...halfway through the paper...he finally decides to try to become the favorite son by plotting his brother and father against each other. As the play progresses, Edmund ultimately desires kingship and is willing to do anything to gain power, including using both sisters: "To both these sisters have I sworn my love; / each jealous of the other, like the wounds / are of the adder. Which of them do I take? / Both one? / Neither can be enjoyed / If both remain alive audience can sense that Edmund is slowly being consumed by his ambition and that the chain of events he causes through the play is the cause of his death Again, it is unusual for death to be a form of retributive justice however, Edmund brings death upon himself. His treacherous acts towards many of the characters, particularly Edgar, backfire and he dies as a result.