Similarities Between Things Fall Apart And The Shadow Of The Wind

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The Intolerability of Intolerance
Relationships between family members have long been interests in literature. The relationships between authoritarian fathers and their children are especially intriguing as they offer insights to the actions and consequences of these parents. Set in three different continents and time periods, Amir’s family in Khaled Hosseini's Kite Runner, Nwoye’s family in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, and Penelope Aldaya’s family in Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s The Shadow of the Wind share surprisingly similar situations: an authoritarian father who has good intentions but drives his children mad for his so-called principles of life. The shared characteristics among the three novels reveal a simple truth: a family, if it wishes …show more content…

From the outset, Baba realizes that Amir is different: rather than an active little fighter, Amir is a passive quiet poet. Seeing Amir never fights back facing bullies, Baba is afraid that Amir will never stand up for himself and will never be self sufficient. However, instead of communicating the reason behind his understandable concern, Baba constantly expresses disapproval of Amir’s passive personality and behaviors, leaving Amir the baleful and stressful impressions such as he cannot handle a “man to man” (Hosseini 13) conversation. In asserting he “never believe[s] that Amir is his son” (Hosseini 23) for Amir’s passive and different personality, Baba transforms his reasonable concern over Amir’s future self sufficiency into cold intolerance of Amir’s personality and identity. Baba’s intolerance of Amir’s nature affects Amir significantly. Not only can Amir “never forget” (Hosseini 16) his father’s disapproval , but he also becomes afraid of mistakes as any mistake would contribute further to his “array of weakness” (Hosseini 93). When Amir suffers enough from his father’s intolerance, his fear of disapproval becomes his mad desire to please his father. Prompted by pressure from his father's intolerance, Amir mistakes his father's goal for him to be self sufficient to an imperative for constant victory. In doing so, Amir learns to view failure as disgraceful and victory as worthy of sacrificing a human life, mercilessly offering his best friend Hassan as “the price [he has] to pay… to win Baba” (Hosseini 77). Initiated with a good purpose to help his son to be independent, Baba commits to a wrong approach when he chooses intolerance instead of understanding and communication. In intending to eradicate weakness and passiveness through intolerance, Baba facilitates additional weakness and dependence in Amir. Furthemore,

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