Influential people in one’s life frequently impact the way that a person develops, and can shape a person into who they become. The words conveyed and actions delivered between two people can affect the way a person’s life develops and can alter who they are in both positive and negative ways. In the novel, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, the author depicts that Amir, the main character, is greatly impacted, influenced, and shaped by other characters. The phase of Amir that the reader is announced to in the early stages of the novel is very different from Amir at the end of the novel. Amir’s character is shaped and influenced by other characters in his life to become a better person, throughout the novel.
From a young age, Amir was around
Amir started the novel as a child who was unloyal, untruthful, and unreliable. Amir would lie, not stand up for people, and look down on others. Amir started the novel as somebody who would let someone that he knew his entire life be violated by a bully and not try to help him. After a kite contest that Amir won, Hassan was running to get the kite for Amir and was cornered by the town bully, Assef. Amir, who was lurking and hiding in the shadows, watched Hassan get victimized by Assef and then get raped. He recalls the scene that occurred; “I had one last chance to make a decision. One final opportunity to decide who I was going to be. I could step into the alley, stand up for Hassan – the way he stood up for me all those times in the past – and accept whatever would happen to me. Or I could run. In the end I ran” (Hossieni 77). Amir’s negative character is displayed through the way that he shows no support for his friend. He abandons Hassan in his time of need despite Hassan helping Amir continuously in the past. Amir proves his inability to stand up for someone and be a person that is reliable in times of need. In corroboration to Amir’s unreliability in standing up for others, Amir also started the novel as a deceitful child who would lie in order to benefit himself. After Amir fails to help Hassan, Amir frames Hassan for stealing
Rahim Kahn and Hassan are main factors that contribute to the person that Amir becomes as a result to the experiences he goes through with these characters. Amir’s character is changed and shaped drastically by these characters, which helps to contribute to all that Amir
Betrayal, redemption, and forgiveness are all major themes in The Kite Runner written by Khaled Hosseini. The novel also focuses around the theme of a broken relationship between father and son as well as facing difficult situations from ones past. Amir and Hassan are best friends with two completely different personalities. Each character in the novel faces their own hardships and eventually learns to overcome those difficulties. Beginning with betrayal then the characters have to make their way to gaining redemption and forgiveness from others, as well as their self, is carried on throughout the novel. It is a continuous story of the relationships between Amir and his father Baba and facing their challenges from the past every day of their present.
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
Khaled Hosseini’s direct and indirect characterization of Amir in chapters twenty through twenty-three of The Kite Runner are used in order to advance the plot and Amir’s personality.
Actions made in a moment of pain, anger or simple immaturity can take anyone to make mistakes that can change their lives completely. Everyone has something in the past that is shameful, embarrassing and regrettable that is kept present daily. Whether this event happened during childhood, adolescence or early adulthood, this event could haunt and have shaped that person’s life into what he or she is today. In a similar way, in the book The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is shaped by a tragic and eventful past that has shaped Amir’s, Baba’s, and Hassan’s life. The four literary elements that will be used in this essay that Hosseini strategically uses in this book are: irony, simile, Metaphor, and personification.
Amir goes through many events that take place in the book that change him, and the way he is perceived within the book. Amir is a young boy, who is tortured by his father’s scrutinizing character. Amir is also jealous of Hassan, because of the fact that his father likes Hassan instead of Amir. Amir fights for his father’s approval, interest, and love. This is when Amir changes for the good as he deals with the guilt of the rape of Hassan. Amir witnessed Hassan getting raped, but decides to nothing in order to win over his father’s interest. The guilt that Amir builds up is carries from his premature times as a child to his mature times. From Afghanistan to
Amir’s development from being “a boy who won’t stand up for himself,” to a man that stands up for the morally responsible thing to do (22, Hosseini). When Amir was a child, he tried to escape from his sins in the past by hiding them with lies. However, this only made it worse for Amir, causing him to be an insomniac for much of his life and putting himself through constant torment. Only when Amir became a man, like Baba wanted him to be, was Amir able to face the truth of what he done and put himself on the path of redemption. Even when Amir was suffering a violent beating from Assef, Amir was able to laugh because he knew he was doing what he should have for Hassan years ago. Amir’s development from a child, who lies in order to cower from their own mistakes, into a man, someone who is not only able to admit his sins, but atone for them, is essential to communicating the theme of redemption being the only way to settle with your
...he last words of the novel, suggesting that Amir has finally atoned for his sins and found his redemption. He is no longer running away from his past, but rather running towards the future and his new life with Sohrab. He will be as loyal to Sohrab as Hassan was to him.
At the beginning of The Kite Runner, young Amir wins a kite fighting tournament. He feels like he has finally redeemed himself for his father. However, Amir’s happy day turns dark, when an hour later, he witnesses Hassan, his best friend, raped in an alley. He had “one final opportunity to decide who [he] was going to be. (77) Instead of standing up for his friend and...
In the novel, The Kite Runner, author Khaled Hosseini creates a sincere narrative following the disturbing life of a young Afghan body, Amir, as he transitions from adolescence into adulthood. Amir must face various challenges as he journeys through life, including his difficult relationships with those closest to him and the implications of the Russian invasion of Afghanistan. It is on account of his difficult relationship with Baba, that Amir is constantly seeking ways to gain his attention and gratification, no matter the cost. Due to his rigid demeanor and unjust expectations of Amir, countless readers perceive Baba to be a flawed father; however, once information of Hassan’s relation to the two of them is revealed, the reader can understand that Baba was simply a man
Amir is, to be put bluntly, a coward. He is led by his unstable emotions towards what he thinks will plug his emotional holes and steps over his friends and family in the process. When he sought after Baba’s invisible love, Amir allowed Hassan to be raped in an alleyway just so that the blue kite, his trophy that would win his father’s heart, could be left untouched. In the end, he felt empty and unfulfilled with the weight of his conscience on his shoulders comparable to Atlas’ burden. Unable to get over his fruitless betrayal, he lashes out and throws pomegranates at Hassan before stuffing money and a watch under his loyal friend’s pathetic excuse for a bed, framing Hassan for theft and directly causing the departure of both servants from his household. Even after moving to America, finding a loving wife, and creating a career for himself in writing, he still feels hollow when thinking of his childhood in Afghanistan. Many years later, he is alerted of Hassan’s death and sets out on a frenzied chase to find his friend’s orphaned son. He feels that he can somehow ease his regrets from all of those years ago if he takes in Hassan’s son, Sohrab. He finds Sohrab as a child sex slave for Assef, who coincidentally was the one to rape Hassan all of those years ago. After nearly dying in his attempt to take back Sohrab, he learns that he can take the damaged child back to the states with him. Sadly, Hassan’s son is so
In the novel The Kite Runner, author Khaled Hosseini writes about Amir a young Afghan child who is a coward and who later as an adult seeks redemption from past mistakes. These characteristic effects Amir’s live throughout the novel from childhood to present. However, these are just words on a paper without some proof and the novel happily supports this either through the events or the behavior of other characters. Now let’s start with Amir’s past childhood.
In Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, the author follows the development of protagonist Amir through a life filled with sorrow, regret, and violence. Amir encounters numerous obstacles on his path to adulthood, facing a new test at every twist and turn. Amir embarks on the long journey known as life as a cowardly, weak young man with a twisted set of ideals, slowly but surely evolving into a man worthy of the name. Amir is one of the lucky few who can go through such a shattered life and come out the other side a better man, a man who stands up for himself and those who cannot, willing to put his life on the line for the people he loves.
A large part of the novel deals with Amir trying to redeem himself. First with his Baba by trying to win the kite fighting tournament because Amir feels as though his father blames him for his mothers death. The the larger act of redemption occurs when trying to rid himself of the guilt of letting Hassan be rape...
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is a very interesting novel that has a very bold and challenging theme. This theme is seen early on in the novel, but becomes increasingly more and more intricate throughout the reading. The Kite Runner is a novel based on a man named Amir, who grew up in Afghanistan and lives his whole life dealing with betrayal and redemption. Throughout this book, Amir has a gigantic flashback describing his whole intoxicatingly sad life. Hosseini creeps into a dark emotional depth as he talks about all the struggles of an Afghani child during the 1970’s who’s father treated him like less of a child than his servant. He talks about the struggles of a boy that betrays his best friend, only later finding
Amir is the narrator and protagonist of this novel. Amir, emotional and intelligent, is the son of a wealthy and prosperous businessman. He grows up with a feeling of entitlement because of this. His best friend is Hassan, and Amir is both a loyal and jealous friend. He becomes jealous whenever Hassan receives Amir’s father’s attention and affection. Amir is an amazing storyteller and grows into a published novelist. Amir’s behaviour in the beginning of this story is due to the fact that he will do anything to receive his father’s approval. Hence, Amir letting Hassan get raped by the boys in order for him to be able to keep the blue kite. From then on, Amir feels extremely guilty for what he let happen and tries to find a way to redeem himself. Ultimately he does so through self-sacrifice and bravery. Amir finally writes this novel a...