The novel, The Kite Runner, written by Khaled Hosseini shows us how a teenage boy craves the approval of his father. He teaches us the different social classes there are in afghanistan in the early 80’s. Hosseini does a great job showing how their relationship evolves from disapproval to approval. We see that a Father figure is necessary a child when growing up. The book shows us Ami has a father like figure who is his father 's business partner. Baba in the beginning gives Amir a hard shoulder because he wants his son to be tough. Once they migrate to America Baba is proud of his son for graduating high school. It is obvious in the beginning of the book the Baba does not see how Amir is his son. He has a hard time wrapping his head around that idea because they do not have much in common. When talking to Rahim Khan he He tells Amir “Now, no matter what the mullah teaches, there is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft. Do you understand that?”(17) This is a teaching moment for Amir. This is the first and only time Baba sits down and tells him what he believes and teaches him some of his own knowledge. Baba says this because he himself has been a witnesses of theft with his grandfather. He also says “When you kill a man, you steal a life, You steal his wife’s right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone 's right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness. Do you see?” (18) As a reader, we see that Baba has robbed the ability of Amir to have a father he can look up to. Amir found this idea both exhilarating and terribly frightened. He loved that he had a decent conversation with his father but he feels guilty because he had killed his beloved wife. Amir feels as the least he could do for his father is be similar to him but he is not. This weighs on Amir 's
This quote, an excerpt from the letter Rahim Khan wrote to Amir, reveals the inner torment Baba faced regarding his two sons, whom he didn’t know how to love fairly, and the guilt he carried for fathering an illegitimate son, guilt that is reminiscent of Amir’s guilt for betraying Hassan. All his life, Baba had been hard on Amir, withholding the fatherly affection Amir longed for, but, as Rahim reveals, this was also hard on Baba. Baba wanted to be able to show affection to both of his sons, but didn’t know how when one of his sons was illegitimate and the other represented everything that made him feel guilty. In this quote, it is also apparent that Baba is much more like Amir than either of them thought. Baba harbored guilt for betraying Ali, just as Amir suffered guilt for betraying Hassan.
instance of The Kite Runner, one of the most notable aspects of the story is the relationship between Baba and Amir. The feelings between father and son are deeply
Later on, Amir comments, “Listening to them, I realized how much of who I was, what I was, had been defined by Baba and the marks he had left on people’s lives. Now he was gone. Baba couldn’t show me the way anymore; I’d have to find it on my own” (Hosseini ___ ). This excerpt illustrates the turning point of the story of Amir’s redemption. The word “I” is extensively used in this specific quote showing that he begins to ruminate on how he should be changing himself for himself rather than himself for others. Another notable aspect of this quote is that Amir realizes that he is on his own now. This proves that he is now prepared to figure things out on his own which almost propels him past the conventional stage towards post-conventional. Further on in the book, Amir converses with Rahim Khan and states, “”You know,” Rahim Khan said, “one time, when you weren’t around, your father and I were talking…I remember he said to me, ‘a boy who won’t stand up for himself becomes a man who can’t stand up to anything.’ I wonder, is that what you’ve become”” (Hosseini ___ ). This extremely important quote shows that if Amir is unable to worry about himself as a child, he will be unable to help people out for nothing in return in the future. If Amir is a boy who can focus on redeeming his own actions in a post-conventional way, he will turn out this way in the future or
Throughout Amir’s journey to absolve himself from the internal and distressing pain he has felt ever since witnessing the devastating altercation in the alley, trying to reach a standard his father, Baba, would approve of also took a toll on his childhood. Baba often speaks of how he cannot fathom the fact that Amir is a part of his bloodline. (quotes quotes quotes) Trying to achieve the perfect son status that Baba wanted Amir to be clouded his mind so greatly that, during the moment, Amir did not show compassion towards Hassan’s troubling moment of need. What matter most was retrieving the last fallen kite to his father to prove he was not a mistake that Baba made Amir believe he was. Even after Baba’s death, his actions brought more despair and uncertainty to Amir’s complicated life. The secrets and lies that were kept from Amir and even Hassan could have altered the fate of both men. (quote quote quote) Throughout the novel, Amir could arguably be considered as selfish, rude and mean toward his half-brother Hassan. However, since Baba never told the two about their true relationship Amir grew up disliking Hassan because he did not know that they shared blood. Knowing their true identities possibly could
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.
Three times Amir goes to great lengths to get Baba’s love. First, Amir doesn’t intervene when Hassan is getting raped because he doesn’t want to ruin the glory he will receive from Baba. He wants the approval and love of his father so bad that he validates what he did by saying “he was just a Hazara” (Hosseini 77). Amir is so infatuated with
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. Baba ran from the truth, and so did Amir to protect the family name, even if that meant betraying the people closest to him. Baba was a man more worried about his image than anything, and that is what he taught his son as well. Slowly that is all Amir knew how to do: protect his family and himself, leading him into a life of guilt, and running from people when situations were challenging, instead of making the admirable decision and help a
Amir never stands up for himself in his youth. He always uses others to execute his dirty deeds for him. Consequently, Baba doesn’t recognize Amir as a man. Baba identifies a man as someone who can stand up for himself. Baba had stood up for his beliefs and proved critics wrong. He was told “running a business wasn’t in his blood and he should
Just as Hassan is the primary juxtaposition for Amir, Rahim Khan is the primary juxtaposition for Baba. During Amir’s childhood, Rahim Khan is the fatherly, caring figure that Baba should have been. Rahim Khan encourages Amir’s writing and is the reason that Amir pursues writing in the end. However, this should have been Baba because it is a father’s job to always love his son unconditionally. Even more than this though, Rahim Khan also seems to be an all-knowing figure in the household. He knew about the rape and that Amir witnessed it and yet did nothing. However, this knowledge could be used for anything. Instead of using it to take advantage of Amir, he uses this knowledge to sympathize with Amir. Just as a father should do, he takes Amir’s side and supports him even though Amir does not deserve it. He writes Amir a letter and tells him not to feel guilty about what he has done. Even in person Rahim Khan says to Amir “[insert quote here].” Rahim Khan has no reason to care about Amir and be nice to Amir and yet unlike Baba, he does. He shows that love and care do not need a reason. This is something that both Amir and Baba seem to struggle with throughout the book. It is only after drastic life changes that they begin to realize that they should care about other people around
Over the course of the novel, Baba implies that he is not proud of Amir and the only reason he knows Amir is his son, is because he witnessed Amir 's birth. He states to Rahim Khan that he thinks Amir needs to stand up for himself more often. Countless times during the novel, Amir feels like he has to fight for his affection, that he has to earn Baba’s love. In order to prove himself worthy of affection and to redeem himself for not being a son Baba could be proud of, Amir yearns to win the kite runner competition. He reminisces on a memory, when all “I saw was the blue kite. All I smelled was victory. Salvation. Redemption” (65). In the aftermath of Hassan’s rape, Amir got rid of Hassan so he would not have to face the cause of his guilt on a daily basis. Amir buries the secret of the rape deep within him, where he hopes that it will not come back to haunt him, which is not the case. “We had both sinned and betrayed. But Baba had found a way to create good out of his remorse. What had I done, other than take my guilt out on the very same people I had betrayed, and then try to forget it all? What had I done, other than become an insomniac? What had I ever done to right things?” (303). As mentioned earlier, Amir is not one who stands up for himself. In order for Amir to redeem himself for betraying Hassan, and not standing up for him earlier,
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
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
...rough his actions to save Sohrab, Amir became the man his father had always wanted him to be. Although Baba never lived up to the persona he created for himself, Amir did, and that is why his attempts to achieve atonement were more successful than his father’s. While Baba was unable to seek more than personal redemption, Amir found atonement with himself, Hassan, and God. Amir also found the courage his father lacked to make the necessary sacrifices to achieve redemption. Amir’s ability to transform into a strong character was a result of what he learned from his father’s strengths and weaknesses. While Baba was unable to achieve true redemption, he was a true role model that provided his son, Amir, with the necessary skills to achieve atonement for both of them.
Amir never stands up for himself in his youth. He always uses others to execute his dirty deeds for him. Consequently, Baba doesn’t recognize Amir as a
“Like father like son” is a well known expression that holds true for many father and son relationships; yet this is not the case for Baba and Amir. The term father and son relationships, the father is a very important role model for his son, and everybody needs a fatherly figure. For one Babe isn’t there for Amir as a result that he is nothing like his father. In The Kite Runner Baba speaks to his business friend Rahim khan about his son and why aren’t they similar. “He’s always buried in those books or shuffling around the house like he’s lost in some dream I wasn’t like that”. Baba seems angry but actually isn’t, his son turned about to be a distinctive individual he just wants his son to carry his name,his business and hopefully his macismo. Babe feels very distant from his son and can’t see any connection between the two. The only hope he has that they are related is Amir coming “out of” Baba’s wife: “If I hadn’t seen the doctor pull him out