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Different religions in Afghanistan
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The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
1. Amir is a Pashtun and Hassan is a Hazara. Pashtun's are some of the richest people in Afghanistan. The Pastuns have always been the upper class and the Hazaras belonged to the much lower class. They often worked for richer Afghanis, trying to get by on a meager living. The two remain on different levels primarily due to religion. The Pashtun's are Sunni Muslims, while the Hazara's are Shi'a Muslims. The Sunni Muslims are far more traditional beliefs and therefore are often more extreme.
Amir and Hassan are best friends, although in society this is regularly unacceptable. However, because Hassan is Amir's Hazara, or his servant, they easily get away with spending time together. The two are very close in age. Amir's father Baba seemed to treat Hassan very much like a family member. This makes Amir very jealous, which is one of the reasons Amir never played with Hassan when friends or visitors are over. At the same time Amir did not want to admit that Hassan was his friend, even to himself.
Hassan would do anything for Amir. He would protect him against bullies like Assef, another Pashtun. He would run kites for him and clean his room. Amir was a quiet boy who did not live up to the reputation of Baba, but tried for his love. Baba was very fond of Hassan and invited him everywhere, but Amir would lie and say Hassan was unavailable because he wanted his father for himself. He did not want a Hazara to be seen with him and his father.
Amir at home would do everything with Hassan and one time he was being hassled by Assef in public with Hassan by his side. Amir trying to sound like a real Pashtun denied Hassan, even though Hassan eventually saved him. Hassan would later risk his life, his dignity, for Amir as he said, "For you, a thousand times over."
2. Baba is one of the most respected men in Kabul. He has many friends and has been all over the world. He is very wealthy and loves to show off his wealth in a multitude of ways. He built the biggest house in Kabul.
Baba loves children. He feels they are the future of Afghanistan and need to have a place to live when there are no parents.
Because of Amir’s extreme desire to receive the attention and affection from Baba, he begins to subconsciously sacrifice his relationship with Hassan in order to fulfill his interests. However, as Amir continuously matures and begins to recognize his initial ignorant, detrimental actions towards Hassan, he no longer “worship” his father like he did in the past. This causes him to ensure a sense of independence because of his ability to quickly adapt to a completely new, unfamiliar environment and remain adamant on pursuing their own aspirations.
Nothing”(Hosseini 25). Hassan and his father, Ali, are discriminated against because of their religious beliefs and physical features. He is bullied because some believe “Afghanistan is the land of Pashtuns.the pure Afghans, not this Flat-Nose here”. His people pollute our homeland, our water. They dirty our blood”(Hosseini 40).
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.
No one in the city of Kabul thought anything less than greatness and admiration for him. Hassan’s with Amir, ready to defend and protect him no matter what the cost. And Amir’s with Baba, wanting to please him and make him proud to have a son like Amir. By making a decision of who Amir was more loyal to as well as who he wanted to please more, inadvertently led to his betrayal of Hassan. “I had one last chance to make a decision.
Baba is a very high standing man in Kabul, but seems to be extremely harsh to Amir when he was a child. He is a very large, tough man who was very well known in the town and as Amir stated in the novel, “Lore has it my father once wrestled a black bear in Baluchistan with his bare hands” (Hosseini 12). This small detail of Baba makes it known to the reader that Baba is a man of great courage and strength. Some may think that an honorable man is one with no flaws, but many disagree. Every human being makes mistakes, including Baba. When Amir grows up and goes back to visit Rahim Khan in Afghanistan, he finds out that his father lied to him his entire life about Hassan being his half-brother. He also finds out from Rahim Khan that all Baba had back then “was his honor, his name” (Hosseini 223). He did not tell Amir and Hassan that they were brothers because they had a different mother and that would have made their entire family be looked down upon in the town. He did it for their own good, and wanted for them both to grow up as honorable men, like himself. There is a difference in making mistakes and trying to do what’s best to fix them, rather than making the same mistakes over and over again, which is what Amir seemed to do in the novel. Amir was the exact opposite of his father, which made it very hard for them to have a
At the end of chapter seventeen, Rahim Khan told Amir the truth about how Hassan and Amir are half-brothers. As you can see, this quote is where we see how selfish Amir is and his lacking sense of loyalty. When Amir is confronted by Assef, he denies any relationship with Hassan because of his feelings. I predict Amir will go to Kabul and bring back Hassan's son. Amir will find it in himself, cast aside his cowardice, and do the right
Hassan is a Hazara boy, this being an ethnic group that is looked down upon by Pashtun citizens of Kabul. “In the end, I was a Pashtun and he was a Hazara, I was Sunni and he was Shi’a, and nothing was ever going to change that.” (Hosseini 25). Throughout his childhood, Amir is put down regularly by neighborhood kids for befriending Hassan because of his ethnic background. Amir realizes that no matter what he may do, or no matter how Hassan may try to alter the situation, Hassan would always be too different for people to accept.
...h him; another part to this is because he believes Hassan is just a dirty Hazara boy. “I'd chase the car, screaming for it to stop. I'd pull Hassan out of the backseat and tell him I was sorry, so sorry, my tears mixing with rainwater. We'd hug in the downpour (Hosseini 109).” After Amir causes Hassan to leave, he laments about letting, more like making, his best friend leave him. He sees the dirty Hazara boy as his best friend at that moment. In both of these stories, the main character realizes how similar they are to the other social or religious group.
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.
One of the many parts of Amir’s relationship with Baba, one that makes it difficult for both Baba and Amir in America, is Baba’s wealth and then lack thereof. “Baba paid for the construction of the two-story orphanage, just off Jadeh Maywand south of the Kabul River, with his own money.”; this quotes shows how wealthy Baba is. Despite the amount of money Baba spends, he and Amir do not seem to suffer the loss of money. Baba was incredibly wealthy. His house was a mansion and he owned his own business. He had very little time for Amir because of this business. Amir grew up having everything he ever needed and wanted, except Baba’s approval. Before Baba and Amir immigrated to America, Baba never had to work very hard. He was always well put together and clean. “I glanced at him across the table, his nails chipped and black with engine oil, his knuckles scraped, the smells of the gas station –dust, sweat, and gasoline- on his clothes.” Amir realizes that his father is working hard for him. The differences between past and present Baba are astonishing. The wealth Baba had in Afghanistan made Amir selfish, and the shortage of money in America made Amir selfless.
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."
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
Baba is first depicted as an unreachable man who was well respected in the community. Amir recalls his birthday party where he was “scanning over the invitation list a week before my birthday party and not recognizing at least three-quarters of the four hundred [. . .] Then I realized they weren’t really coming for me. It was my birthday, but I knew who the real star of the show was” (94). Amir did not know it at the time, but Baba had sins he was trying to absolve. Through his actions toward redemption, Baba touched the lives of many. Regardless of their social status, Baba would lend a he Amir recalls how Baba “always carried an extra handful of Afghani bills in his pocket just for them; I’d never seen him deny a peddler” (245). Baba would offer his wealth to every beggar he came across. Along with this, he also built an orphanage with his own money, planning, and time. Baba did everything in his power to redeem himself and eradicate himself of the guilt in his heart. Some say he was redeemed; others disagree. Rahim Khan tells Amir of Baba’s dilemma:
blueprints, while giving extra money to people in need. Baba also focused on being an exceptional father to Hassan without others detecting the truth. For instance, Baba paid for Hassan’s harelip to be removed as a birthday present. Hassan was well provided for and even though he was Hazara, he was invited to attend events and gatherings with Baba and Amir. Overall, Baba redeemed himself by proving to others he was a decent man in
He would do anything, even as a small child, to please Amir. Even after he grew up and had a son, he told his son about his love for Amir. “And, under the same roof, we spoke our first words. Mine was Baba. His was Amir. My name.” (Hosseini, 12). If this was a teenage romance novel this would be a love triangle. Between Amir, Hassan and Baba. Amir spent his entire life trying to make Baba like him, to forgive him for killing his wife, to understand him, and get that special father to son bonding. Baba instead gave his attention to the servant’s son, Hassan. Later the story we find out that Hassan is Baba’s son too, but this is after both have died and Amir is a grown man. During his childhood Amir would have done anything to gain his father attention like Hassan had. Baba, feeling guilty, gave his attention to Hassan, and treated him kindly, out of guilt for not being able to recognise Hassan as his son. Yet Baba never treated Amir diskindly, other than the fact they never got along. Hassan did not go to school, and spent his time helping Ali with household chores, but got respected by Baba, and given gifts during holidays and a kite for flying season. Amir and Baba did not click in the way both of them wanted too. Amir tried to fake interests in sports for Baba, but after watching a rider get trampled by his horse, and started crying during the one and only sport event Baba took him too. “I cried all the way back home. I remember how Baba’s hands clenched around the steering wheel. Clenched and unclenched. Mostly, I will never forget Baba’s valiant efforts to conceal the disgusted look on his face as he drove in silence.” (Hosseini, 23) This was Amir memory of the sporting event. Amir need for love from Baba, led him standing in the alley watching Hassan get raped, knowing that when he brought that blue kite to Baba he will earn his love. Hassan on the other hand could not love Amir any less. To