Utilizing the themes of manipulation presented by the book, The Kite Runner, the United States’ is manipulating Japan through their presence on Okinawa, resulting in a moral violation of its citizens through the United States Military degrading Okinawans their basic human rights. Amir’s journey in the Kite Runner can prevent future human rights violations that the United States may attempt. In order to understand how manipulation is being portrayed in the Kite Runner can be prevented in Okinawa and can prevent future incidents, one must know the facts of about why the United States have military bases on Okinawa in general and the details behind a morality journey presented in this novel. The way United States manipulates Japan to maintain …show more content…
Amir trying to win the affection of his father, Baba, but it is a struggle because Baba seen how Amir is not like him at all when he was a kid, therefore he cannot really relate to Amir, so it seems like he is distancing himself from Amir. Alternatively, he tends to show more care for Hassan because Hassan possesses the traits that Baba carried when he was a young boy. Hassan repeatedly stood up for Amir and only did things that would make Amir happy and Amir eventually took advantage of that. Hosseini shows this by stating, “Sometimes, up into those trees, I talked Hassan into firing walnuts with his slingshot at the neighbor’s one-eyed German shepherd. Hassan never wanted to, but if I asked, really asked, he wouldn’t deny me. Hassan never denied me anything” (Hosseini 3-4). This is an example how Amir manipulates Hassan into doing things for him, while he knows that Hassan will not deny him because he just wants Amir to be happy. Someone would say that given their social statuses, Amir being a Pashtun and Hassan being Hazara; Hazaras being the slaves, the Pashtun the slave owner, that Hassan has to do whatever Amir tells him because of their rankings. Although, this is not the case because they do not go by these rankings, Amir is just being very manipulative because of the emotions that Hassan has towards him and his ultimate goal, being someone that Baba would accept and be proud
It is not often that Amir’s love for Baba is returned. Baba feels guilty treating Amir well when he can’t acknowledge Hassan as his son. Baba discriminates against his son Amir by constantly making him feel weak and unworthy of his father. Baba once said to Rahim Kahn, “If I hadn’t seen the doctor pull him out of my wife with my own eyes, I’d never believe he’s my son” (Hosseini 23). Amir doesn’t feel like a son towards Baba since he seems like such a weakling. This neglect towards Amir causes him to feel a need to be accepted by Baba to end the constant discrimination from his father and he will do anything for it. “I actually aspired to cowardice, because the alternative, the real reason I was running, was that Assef was right: Nothing was free in this world. Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba” (Hosseini 77). Amir did not stop the rape of his good friend for one sole purpose. Amir felt that he had to betray his own half-brother to gain th...
The Kite Runner, is the first novel written by Khaled Hosseini. The Kite Runner is set in Afghanistan before the war in the city of Kabul, and then eventually in America. The novel relays the struggles of Amir (A young Shi’ boy), Hassan (a young Hazera servant boy) and Baba (Amir’s father) as they are growing up in an ever-changing Afghanistan. The young boys face difficult challenges most adults will never have to experience. Amir, Hassan, and even Baba must overcome cruelty in every aspect of their lives.
Although Hassan is his best friend, there are many instances where Amir reveals his jealousy, most notable when Baba sees Hassan as the stronger boy, "self-defense has nothing to do with meanness. You know what always happens when the neighbourhood boys tease him? Hassan steps in and fends them off. I 've seen it with my own eyes…” (Hosseini 24). Clearly, Amir hears how his father compares the two, and unlike Hassan who manages to meet Baba’s expectations, Amir grows bitter towards Hassan. He is unable to fight off his envy which later causes him to sacrifice his best friend’s innocence: “Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba” (82), and this is all because he realizes “his shame is complicated by his own realization that in part he doesn’t help his friend precisely because he is jealous of him” (Corbett, 2006). From here, Amir develops strong feelings of guilt that induces him to perform even more destructive acts, such as having Hassan and his father evicted from the house. Amir not only loses a close friend, but now he has to continue to live with remorse as he dwells on these memories. The only way for Amir to redeem himself of his repercussions is through a challenging process of sacrifice and self-discovery. Although one is unsure at this point whether Amir succeeds at his endeavors, it is clear that this story
While Amir is a Sunni, his childhood friend Hassan is Shi’a, an inferior division of Islam. Simultaneously, Amir and Hassan belong to different ethnic groups-Amir is Pashtun while Hassan is Hazara. During his childhood, Amir would constantly mock Hassan’s illiteracy and poke fun at him. But, the pivotal demonstration of pressure from his surroundings that makes Amir commit his own act of cruelty is when he watches Assef rape Hassan for refusing to give him the kite that Hassan caught for Amir. To this, Amir describes the look of Hassan’s face to “a look I had seen before. It was the look of the lamb” (76). Throughout his upbringing, Amir constantly believed that his father blamed him for killing his mother in childbirth. To Amir, Hassan’s rape is a sacrifice that Hassan has to pay the price, the lamb to kill, in order to win his father over. To justify his refusal to intervene, Amir reminds himself that “[Hassan] was just a Hazara, wasn’t he?” (77). Amir’s surroundings cause him to have a negative outlook on people that his society deem lower. Amir knows he is morally wrong for not helping Hassan, but his need for his father’s love overpowers his friendship. Adding to his pressures, Amir believes that Baba prefers Hassan over him, a belief that further drives him to be cruel to Hassan. As a result, Amir’s motivation for validation and love from his father
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.
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.
Hassan and Amir grew up in a strange situation, unlike many children growing up in Afgahistan. “Amir, a Pashtun, and his Hazara servant, Hassan, have grown up not only as master and servant but also as inseparable friends” (Stuhr 122). They do many activities best friends would do like carving into a tree that they are the "sultans of Kabul" (Hosseini 27); however, their friendship one sided and weak. Amir takes advantage of the fact Hassan is endlessly loyal to him and Hassan’s illiteracy. He uses Hassan’s inability to go to school and get an education to humiliate Hassan by saying things like “Well, everyone in my school knows what it means,' I said. "Let's see. Imbecile.' it means smart, intelligent. I will use it in a sentence for you. When it comes to words, Hassan is an imbecile” (Hosseini 29). Making fun of Hassan is purely for his entertainment and to prove he is smarter. All of this need for superiority stems from Amir’s want to be seen as the favorite in Baba’s eyes, and he will go ...
As a lover of poetry, a boy who avoids sports because of physical weakness, and a young man who demonstrates the inability to stand up for himself, Amir does not fit his father’s mold of a perfect son. In contrast, Hassan is athletic, brave, resourceful; Baba feels a strong connection to this servant-boy who must rely on respect earned from his actions, which is difficult to attain due to his social status. Amir, on the other hand, has friends and people who want to be close to him due to his family's wealth. His sense of powerlessness results from his own personal characteristics not being up to the standards his well renowned father wants them to be. When Amir’s father Baba was talking to Rahim Khan
Baba struggles to adapt to America, while Amir flourishes. Amir stands up for Baba is when Baba is accused of stealing at the store. Baba was quite childish in the way that when he was blamed for stealing,-the only true sin in his mind- he threw a tantrum. This provides an opportunity for Amir to strengthen his fortitude. In this reversed role Amir takes care of the damage, asking the store owners for forgiveness and promising that he will pay the bill for any expenses, just as any responsible adult would do. The tables continue to turn as Amir brings Sohrab into his life. When he first stands up to Assef he fights back and doesn’t let Assef take care of his unfinished business. “ In the end he’d get us both. He’s kept that promise with Hassan. Now it was my turn (pg. 286). Instead of letting him take him down, Amir fights back, to the point of almost killing himself. By standing up for Sohrab, he makes up for not standing up for Hassan in the alleyway. He continues to stand up for Sohrab when he travels back to America. “You will never refer again to him as ‘Hazara boy’ in my presence.” (pg. 361), he tells the general. He ends up becoming not only a man, but a father in the way that he takes care of
Amir's mother passes away during his birth, and his left with the suspicion that his father blames him for her death. Amir longes for his father's attention and approval, but does not receive any affection as a son. He grows up with his Hazara best friend, Hassan. In Afghanistan culture, Hazaras are considered lower class and inferiors in society. Amir describes his friendship with Hassan saying, “then he would remind us that there was a brotherhood between people who had fed from the same breast, a kinship that not even time could break."
...he Kite Runner, he struggles to earn the approbation of his father. In his conquest, the goal often obscures his ability to form proper choices and take the right course of action in response to external factors. Amir’s envy for Hassan and admiration for Baba detriment his idea of self-acceptance and accordingly effectuate his motivation to remove the loyal servant from his life; in doing so, he neglects to see the negative effects on the people closest to him. The need for sons to feel approval from their fathers plays a crucial role in determining the true nature of men. Amir’s wish to be the supreme son in his father’s eyes steers him to win over Baba at all costs, even if it means he must betray the person who would do anything “for [him], a thousand times over” (67).
Amir’s childhood is quite unusual compared to most children in Afghan. Amir’s father, Baba, is a very rich and successful individual in his lifetime. This success allows Amir to live a wealthy lifestyle with access to western commodity as well as servants. In novel, Amir is risen mostly by his servants Hassan and Ali, as well
Amir finds it difficult to comprehend Hassan’s adherence to him because he is unsure how to love properly himself, and Baba is rather hard on him, so he constantly tests Hassan. In addition, Amir exposes his jealousy of Hassan on more than one occasion because Baba often pays more attention to Hassan who possesses the same interests and athleticism as him. Furthermore, Amir’s resentment was at its fullest potential when he watches the town bully rape his closest “friend;” he refrained from helping Hassan out of not only fear but selfishness as well because he wanted his grand prize as a souvenir to win over Baba. It’s Amir guilt that eats at him, forcing him push Hassan away at the thought that seeing less of Hassan will ease his
As we get to know Amir’s characteristics at the beginning of the novel, we see his drive to become like his father: a respectable and wealthy man. But as he grows more knowledgeable about his frailty and vulnerability, he becomes obsessed with the idea of being perfect—just like his “Baba”. For instance, as Amir witnesses Hassan’s assault, he does nothing in his power to aid him, but instead ignores him in order to erase the default, blemish, flaw in him. Thus leading to his Father’s acceptance along the way as he becomes a respectable man in is father’s eyes. Until Amir comes to realize that his father failed to tell him Hassan was his half-brother. His idea of his perfect father becaume neutralized and his mere troubles became an aching reminder of his wrongdoings— resulting in the acknowledgement of his father’s
Two boys, Amir and Hassan, grow up together as good friends in Kabul, Afghanistan. After an eventful day at a kite competition, an incident occurs in their lives which has a lifetime effect, especially in Amir's life. A couple of years later, when communist invade Afghanistan, Amir and his father, Baba, flee to California. As Amir matures in California, he meets the love of his life. Soon after Amir's married, his father passes away.