Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Selfishness essay on the kite runner
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Selfishness essay on the kite runner
Spoiled. Selfish. Sheltered. Those three words can be used to describe Amir in the beginning of The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini. This book is about a young boy who is too afraid to stand up for his friend. Amir changes and develops throughout the novel from being self-centered to self-sacrificing. The novel starts out in Afghanistan during 1963 when Amir is born. Amir and his father Baba, are living in a house with two servants, Ali and his son Hassan. Amir is used to getting anything he wants. He never had to worry about doing anything, and never saw the real side of Afghanistan. Hassan was his best friend as a kid. Hassan would take a bullet for Amir, but Amir never really respected how much Hassan stood up for him. They loved to fly kites together until one specific day when it all started going downhill. …show more content…
Baba was always congratulating Hassan and Amir was almost jealous of that. One day when there was a kite tournament and Amir and Hassan decided to enter in it. Amir wanted to win this very badly because all he wanted was for his dad to be proud out him. Luckily they end up winning and Amir sees his dad finally smiling and cheering for him. All of a sudden Hassan starts running away with the kite and when Amir finds him, he witnesses him being raped by Assef. Hassan was too scared to tell anyone, even though this was a serious matter. Because of that, Amir and Hassan’s relationship grows far apart, like they barely even ne each other. So all because of Amir’s cowardice, a friendship has been
The peaceful Afghanistan that Amir was born into is no longer in existence; rival groups now fight amongst each other. “There are a lot of children in Afghanistan, but little children”. Throughout The Kite Runner, there is tension on account of religious, ethnic, and economic factors. Amir, a privileged Sunni, struggles to understand his relationship with his Shi’a servant, Hassan. The boys grew up together, but “in the end, [Amir] was a Pashtun and [Hassan] was a Hazara, [Amir] was a Sunni and [Hassan] was Shi’a, and nothing was ever going to change that.
Amir’s redemption is a large part of the novel and is carried out almost entirely until the end of the story. He travels to rescue Hassan’s son, Sohrab, from the orphanage he was placed in after the death of his parents. He promises to find him a safe home with someone but after time passes he feels like this is not enough. He then speaks to his wife and decides to take Sohrab back to the United States with him and take care of his as if he was one of his own. Earlier in the novel when Baba is speaking Amir over hears his conversation as he is referring to him stating, “A boy who won 't stand up for himself becomes a man who can 't stand up to anything” (Hosseini, 22). Thus meaning that if he is able to stand up for himself as a young boy, when he is grown he will not be able to stand up for anything that is in his future. This is true throughout the story until he stands up for himself and Sorhab when he is arguing with his life long bully, Assef. Amir lacked the courage to defend himself in the novel until he finally took charge and went against
At times Amir had trouble realizing that they were best friends because Hassan was a Hazara, he was of Asian descent and of the Shiite tribe, he resembles his ancestors, the Mongols. Amir is a Pashtun, of the Sunni tribe, a majority group in Afghanistan. Hassan was loyal and showed endless amounts of respect and praise to Amir. Though Hassan knew what Amir had witnessed and done to him, he covered up for him. He did not ever let Amir get into trouble with Baba, his father. Hassan was also the half brother of Amir, neither knew until Rahim Khan, a friend of Baba’s informed Amir. He and Hassan had a connection, both as friends but also as brothers.
Life in America for Baba and Amir is much different than their life in Afghanistan. Specifically, Amir adapts well to America. He completes high school and college. Furthermore, he follows his dream of becoming a writer. In American Amir becomes a young man who marries Soraya. The reader witnesses a kinder, non-vindictive Amir.
In order to grow and prosper, one must make mistakes and learn from them. People are not born perfect; everyone must live and everyone must learn throughout his/her lifetime in order to mature. In the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseni, Amir does exactly this. He makes several mistakes, these mistakes are not wasted, because, in time, he learns from his wrong-doings and redeems himself. Several, if not all, of the mistakes Amir makes are directed toward his childhood friend, and brother, Hassan.
Hassan would do anything for his friends and treat everyone, even bullies, with respect because his respectful dad, Ali, taught him to always be loyal to all, and never hurt anyone. Ali was Baba’s servant and long-time friend, and stayed close to him throughout their childhood and adulthood. Amir's actions showed how much of a coward he was. Amir suffered his whole life living with the guilt of knowing that Hassan was raped, much like Baba lived his whole life in guilt knowing that he stole the truth from Ali by committing adultery.
Amir was most affected by guilt and redemption, he felt guilty for majority of his life. The guilt changed Amir 's personality from a happy and energetic little boy to a sad and lonely one. The guilt made Amir lose his greatest friend and basically ruined his life because the thought was always in his mind. Amir 's personality changed mainly in Chapter 11 when Baba and Amir moved to California (Chapter 11). The personality change stemmed from the new environment as well as Amir 's maturing as an adult. The guilt and redemption taught many life lessons to Amir. The most important life lessons that Amir learned were about loyalty and second chances. Throughout the novel you see the use of loyalty to the most extremist levels especially when dealing with Hassan and Amir 's friendship. Hassan was loyal to Amir even to his dying day no matter what the circumstances. Amir also learned that there is always a second chance regardless to whatever transpires. The novel shows how second chances are important from Baba fathering Hassan to Amir going to save Sohrab from the Taliban , giving him a second chance at a childhood and a normal life. The use of these life lessons in the book motivate the characters but it allows for their personality and conscious to be
In the novel, The Kite Runner” Amir is often doubtful of his abilities and is a bystander to the trials that his servant, Hassan, endures to protect him. Amir drives Hassan away after Hassan is raped and lies in order to
Sohrab stood up to Assef and used all his will to injury Assef and helped Amir escape. A small child. like Amir was. had wounded a man twice his size and three times his strength. The excuse of Amir being only twelve has been thrown out the window because Sohrab, a child who that day was raped and beaten, had defeated a foe of Amirs.
By Amir fighting Assef so he can save Sohrab is also a way for Amir to fight Assef for Hassan which allows him to redeem himself. When Amir describes Sohrab he uses some of the phrases he uses to describe Hassan such as ‘Chinese doll face of my childhood,’ here the contextual language is harder which reflects the harder circumstances Sohrab is stumbling upon. Amir feels that he has deserved the beating which helps Amir banish the feeling of pain and guilt since Hassan’s rape. By Amir standing up to Assef, Amir has found a way to be the man his father has always wanted him to be the fact that Sohrab was in an orphanage refers to Baba’s orphanage. Therefore, saving Sohrab is something that Baba would have done which Amir can do.
In the novel The Kite Runner, author Khaled Hosseini writes about Amir a young Afghan child who is a coward and who later as an adult seeks redemption from past mistakes. These characteristic effects Amir’s live throughout the novel from childhood to present. However, these are just words on a paper without some proof and the novel happily supports this either through the events or the behavior of other characters. Now let’s start with Amir’s past childhood.
When Amir finds out about Sohrab. He tries to redeem his own self-worth by rescuing Hassan's son; from Assef and the taliban by going all the way to Afghanistan. He risked his own life because he thought it was a second chance to bury the 'Long open wound' between him and Hassan. The relationship after the lie, they both became more close. (Hassan was killed by the taliban before Amir was told the truth.)
Throughout the novel, The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, betrayal, cowardice, and courage are significant to Amir’s characterization. Each of these characteristics leads him towards redemption because of his change of view as he grows older. While in Afghanistan and when he first comes to America, Amir is defined as a coward who has no courage and is quick to betray. This characterization is most evident in his relationship with Hassan. Throughout their childhood, Amir and Hassan have a close relationship which is explained when Amir says, “Hassan and I fed from the same breasts.
A large part of the novel deals with Amir trying to redeem himself. First with his Baba by trying to win the kite fighting tournament because Amir feels as though his father blames him for his mothers death. The the larger act of redemption occurs when trying to rid himself of the guilt of letting Hassan be rape...
War establishes many controversial issues and problems within society and can often expose an individual to many economic and sociopolitical hardships; thus creating an altercation in the way they view life. Amir, from the novel The Kite Runner and the novel’s author Khaled Hosseini, both saw the harsh treatment toward the people of Afghanistan through a series of wars, invasions, and the active power of a Pashtun movement known as the Taliban. Amir, much like Hosseini, lived a luxurious and wealthy life in Kabul. He is well educated and immerses himself in reading and writing. After transitioning from a life in Afghanistan to a life in the United States, both Hosseini and Amir faced obstacles in order to assimilate to American society. In The Kite Runner, written by Khaled Hosseini, the protagonist Amir parallels the experiences and hardships that Hosseini endured in his own lifetime.