I don't know what I did wrong. I asked Amir agha, but he said I hadn't done anything. I would have stopped doing it, then maybe Father and I wouldn't have left. Before the kite tournament, Amir was my best friend, and we would always play together, but then he didn't want me around any more. I don't know why. I desperately wanted our friendship back, but Amir agha wouldn't let me. One day, Amir agha asked me if I would walk up the hill with him so that he could read me a story. I loved when he read me stories. Sometimes, I didn't know some of the words, but Amir agha always told me what they meant. He would laugh when I asked him what a word meant. I figured it was because I asked him that a lot. He was so smart and talented. …show more content…
I wouldn't hit him back. I know he wanted me to, but I couldn't. He called me a coward, but I knew he didn't mean it. I hoped he didn't. He was my best friend after all. I don't know what was going on with him, but I wanted it to stop. He wasn't always this way. Not when we used to play together everyday. When he read me his stories. When we finally built a friendship. I looked at myself. I was completely covered in red. I finally decided to pick up a pomegranate. I walked up to him slowly. I wasn't going to hit him as much as he wanted me to. I crushed the pomegranate against my forehead and asked Amir agha if he was satisfied. I left. I cried on my way home. That summer of 1976, Amir agha turned thirteen. Baba had arranged a huge party for Amir agha. I was happy for him. I always have. Father and I got Amir agha a new version of Shahnamah, the book of stories Amir agha would read to me. Father gave him the book the day after his birthday. I hope he liked it. The next morning, Father and I went to the grocery store to buy meat, naan, fruit, and vegetables. It was a regular day for me. Even though I was born to serve, I enjoyed it. Our master Baba, Amir agha’s father, was kind and wise. I never woke up thinking I had to to work. I woke up thinking I was helping two of the most caring people I have ever met, Baba and Amir …show more content…
Amir’s new watch, and a handful of Afghani bills. Father and I didn't know what to do, so Father talked to Baba. We cried for the longest time, and then we went to Baba’s study room. He said we were going to sit down and settle this. Baba asked if I stole Amir agha’s money and watch. I was going through so many emotions. I felt pain. I felt sadness. I felt emptiness. Why would he do this? Did I do something wrong? I didn't want Amir agha to get in trouble for this. No matter what the reason he hated me was, I wasn't going to betray him. Not now. Now ever. As the the word “yes” slipped off my lips, I knew my world would change
So what can go wrong with a long so strong, a hold you so tight, a night so calm
Whenever Amir would ask Hassan to do something he was reluctant to do, Hassan would still agree if he begged because “[he] never denied [Amir] anything” (Hosseini, 4). Hassan loves Amir an extraordinary amount, so much that he would commit an action that he otherwise would never have wanted to commit. Even when Hassan figures out that Amir has betrayed him, he still sacrifices himself for the safety of Amir. When Hassan lies and tells Baba he stole the watch Amir had framed him for stealing, Amir says Hassan’s lie stung “like [he’d] been slapped… [Hassan] knew [he] had betrayed [him] and yet he was rescuing [him] once again” (Hosseini, 111). Hassan knew what would happen to Amir if Baba caught him trying to get rid of his servants, so he lied to protect Amir, even when Amir had wronged him. Baba and Amir flee to America, yet Hassan remains loyal to them while still in Afghanistan. Rahim Khan asks Hassan and his family to move into Amir’s old house, as he can not maintain the house by himself, but instead they move into the mud hut Hassan used to live in. Hassan’s reasoning is “’what will [Amir agha] think when he comes back to Kabul after the war and finds that I have assumed his place in the house?’” (Hosseini, 219). Not even during the war, when he does not expect Amir to come back, does he temporarily take residence in Amir’s old house. Out of loyalty and respect, he lives where he always had, even when Rahim Khan is
Amir’s jealousy starts to take over him when, he overhears his father saying he wishes Amir was more like Hassan, his father shows Hassan more affection and when he sees that his father worries and shows more car towards Hassan. Amir is not the way his father would like him to be, he is a more gentle and empathetic character, while Baba is a stern man. One day after returning from the game where he witnessed someone’s death, he cried the whole car ride back home. Later that night, he overheard something that changed him forever. What he overhears is his father and Rahim Khan talking about him: “Self defense has nothing to do with meanness.
When Amir decides to plant his own watch and money under Hassan’s mattress he planned on getting Hassan in trouble from Baba. When Hassan is asked if he stole the watch and money he said yes. “I flinched, like I’d been slapped” (105). In this quote Amir shows that he was not expecting Hassan to respond in the way that he did. Right here is where Amir should have seen that Hassan cares about him and acted loyal like a real friend should have. Instead Amir Betrays Hassan again by not saying a word and letting Hassan take the blame for something he did not do. Amir continuously shows that he is Hassan’s betrayer by more actions that he
The event of Hassan being raped lingers in Amir’s mind and the guilt of not standing up for what was right continues to haunt him. Baba said “a boy who won’t stand up for himself becomes a man who can’t stand up to anything” (21). Amir only wanted Baba’s affection and in order to get it he sacrificed Hassan, not realizing that Baba only wanted his son to stand up for himself. Hassan’s sacrifice was further proof of how Amir is a coward. Amir knew this too when he said “I could step into the alley, standup for Hassan- the way he’d stood up for me all those times past- and accept whatever would happen to me” (77). Amir’s betrayal characterized him as a coward. After the incident,Amir never told anyone what happened.
At the age of twelve Amir committed a sin that will haunt him and prove Baba’s opinion about his personality. Amir made a decision to let he’s cowardice control his action during and after the rape of Hassan. Amir said to justify his action “I ran because I was a coward… I was afraid of
And hide it under Hassan's bed to make it look like he stole it from Amir, and tried to hide it. Amir tells his father about how he believes that Hassan stole it. When Hassan and Ali returned from doing their work Baba confronted Hassan about stealing Amir’s watch and birthday money, Hassan lies and agrees to stealing it, even though he did not, Baba forgave Hassan for what he did. “Then I understood: This was Hassan's final sacrifice for me... He knew I had betrayed him and yet he was rescuing me once again.” (Hosseini, 111) Ali and Hassan had decided to leave, they already had their bags packed. Baba demanded them to stay but they made their decision. This was the Amie had ever seen Baba cry. “That was when I understood the depth of pain I had caused . the blackness of the grief i had brought onto everyone, that not even Ali’s paralyzed face could mask his sorrow.” Ali and Hassan had left, Amir never saw Ali or Hassan again, he regrets everything he did, and continues to regret it for life. Baba also betrayed Ali, but in a different way than Amir. After Baba had died, Amir found out that Ali was not actually Hassan's biological father, but was actually in fact Baba. Since Ali
.Amir was more interested in reading and poetry, his father was into sports even though Amir loves his father, his father loves him just as much as him. To Amir this wasn’t enough he wanted to make his father proud and gain acceptance, so Amir went into a annual kite-tournament and bring back the losing kite. Amir thought this was the only way he could be accepted by his father. Growing up Amir had everything he wanted but that emotional connection with his father. He was willing to do anything to have that. Hassan, Amir’s best friend started getting a lot of attention from Amir’s father Baba when Amir saw that he got really jealous. He passively attacked
Amir’s struggle with the morality of his decisions allows him to grow as a character. Amir had always feared Assef and was not able to bring himself to stand up to him. Baba always criticized this inability claiming that “‘a boy who won’t stand up for himself becomes a man who can’t stand up to anything’” (Hosseini, 24). In the alley,
There has been a great deal of guilt that follows. The start of Amir’s “downfall” is when Amir watches Hassan get raped by their childhood bully, “... ‘I’m letting you keep the kite, Hazara. I’ll let you keep it so it will always remind you of what I’m about to do” (Hosseini 78). Assef rushes at Hassan and then the most tragic event of both Amir and Hassan’s childhood occurs. The most important factor of this incident to Amir is the fact that he could do something to stop Assef. But, has decided not to, “I bit on my fist. Shut my eyes” (Hosseini 78). While Amir’s best friend is being raped by their “bully, “ Amir tensed up and tried to avoid looking, not even turning his head. Not being able to fight for Hassan becomes one of Amir’s greatest regrets. His immense guilt soon leads to the close bond being even further ripped apart by when he decides to remove Hassan from his life completely. After Amir’s birthday, he feels guilty with all of the gifts he has received. This guilt, plus the guilt from Hassan’s incident “forces” Amir to try to remove Hassan from their house by putting his new watch and money under Hassan’s bed. Baba then asks Hassan, “Did you steal that money? Did you steal Amir’s watch, Hassan?” (Hosseini 111). Hassan then “admits” to stealing the watch and surprisingly is forgiven by Baba. This is even more devastating because Baba has once said how theft is the worst crime and Amir has framed
Not only did Amir ran away, but he never told anyone what he saw, this including Hassan. However, this is not his last sin, for in a few months later Amir frames Hassan for thief. Hassan, when faced with Baba, say that he stole the items in question to protect Amir. And shorty leaves Baba’s service with his father against Baba insistent to stay with them and solve the issue in a differ manner… In the end, Amir got the bonding time he what with his father, however, at a cost of not helping Hassan in his greatest time of
During his childhood, Amir and his father Baba had a troubled relationship. Baba was always either disappointed in or cold to Amir. The only
This began all began in his childhood, after he witnessed Hassan being raped. Amir’s guilt ate him alive, he couldn’t even stand to see him, so he came up with a plan to get rid of Hassan. “Then I took a couple of the envelopes of cash from the pile of gifts and my watch, and tiptoed out . . . I went downstairs, crossed the yard, and entered Ali and Hassan’s living quarters by the loquat tree. I lifted Hassan’s mattress and planted my new watch and a handful of Afghani bills under it. I waited another thirty minutes. Then I knocked on Baba’s door and told what I hoped would be the last in a long line of shameful lies” (Hosseini 104). It is evident that Amir’s intense remorse drove him to make ungraceful decisions. In the end, this only made his guilt worse. As the guilt seems to subside with time and his life in America goes on, Amir one day receives a call from Rahim Khan: “Come. There is a way to be good again, Rahim Khan had said on the phone just before hanging up. Said it in passing, almost as an afterthought. A way to be good again” (Hossseini 192). Khan's phone call makes Amir realize that the guilty feelings have only been living deep inside of him all along. Now, he wants to go and visit Khan, to see how he can be good again. Eventually, after rescuing Hassan’s son and becoming more of himself once again, Amir comes to the conclusion
He purposely puts his watch that was skilled by his Baba under Hassan's sheet to make him appear to be responsible of burglary and forces Baba to reject Hassan and Ali from the family. Regardless instead of denying the false affirmation against him, Hassan admits to the burglary remembering his Amir agha's will and assurance.
Amir’s lack of loyalty to Hassan would be another strike in Baba’s eyes, for Baba already believes, “‘there is something missing in that boy’” (22). Once Amir realizes that selfishness only leads to temporary satisfaction, he discovers the key to redemption: selflessness. At first, he admits to Wahid, “He was my half-brother. . .