Image In The Kite Runner

The Image We All Desire

An essay exploring how important image is to society and how it leads to silence.

Society has created and maintained a perception of the higher class as the innocent ones and the lower class as the tainted ones. This has caused equality and the freedom of speech to recede and silence to surface. Instead of perceiving individuals for who they really are, the fake image that they have formed is shown. This will lead to society believing that lies are easier to tell than the truth, that most people, if not all, are pure and innocent, and that delusions are real. The image that people do not want to believe is them will soon disappear as denial hits and reality falls into silence. There is a saying that goes, “I’d rather

This idea is the opposite of what most of society believes. Individuals believe that lies are easier to tell than the truth. In the novel, The Kite Runner, written by Khaled Hosseini, a boy named Amir witnesses his friend, Hassan, being raped, but chooses to lie and say that he was searching for the latter the whole time. ““Where were you? I looked for you,” I said. Speaking those words was like chewing on a rock” (Hosseini 83). After that event, Amir did not tell anyone about what happened. Instead, he stayed silent most of the time and spouted lies when he needed to. The lies were spoken with no effort while the truth was said to an unconscious crowd. If Amir had even the slightest care for others, he would be willing to speak up and eradicate the image others have set up for him. Furthermore, not only was Amir the self-centred one, but so was his father, Baba. His father had decided to keep an enormous secret from others, including Amir, with the exception of his best friend, Rahim Khan. The secret was how Hassan was actually Amir’s brother and Baba’s

Amir had mistreated Hassan in some ways, for example, when he threw pomegranates at the latter, in hopes to receive the same treatment back. He had always thought that since Hassan was a Hazara, he should be looked down upon because he is of a lower class. After the kite running event and when Hassan was raped, Amir spoke to Ali about Hassan’s condition. He did not mention how Hassan was raped, but rather said that he was sick instead. From the way he spoke to Ali, it was noticeable that he was pushing the blame onto Hassan, freeing himself from all castigations he would receive. ““Like I said, how should I know what’s wrong with him?” I snapped. “Maybe he’s sick. People get sick all the time, Ali. Now, am I going to freeze to death or are you planning on lighting the stove today?”” (Hosseini 86) This line displays how Amir used excuses to maneuver his way from the topic of Hassan that day, in order to keep his image and mind clean. In addition to this idea of keeping the image clean towards society and believing in delusions, Baba had taught himself to think that he was a good man. When Amir and Baba were on the truck ride from Kabul, there was a part where a Russian soldier had threatened to kill Baba for protecting the woman. ““Tell him I’ll take a thousand of his bullets before I let this indecency take place,” Baba said” (Hosseini 122). It was apparent from this line, and