In The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, Amir was able to make numerous companions in his journey throughout life. Due to Amir living in America and Afghanistan, he made connections with others through the tight-knit Afghanistan community in America and his neighbourhood in Kabul. Through Amir’s journey, it can be seen that common experiences shape the relationships between people more so than familial ties. Especially proven by the strong relations he had with Hassan, Rahim Khan and Farid, much like the bonds forged between soldiers of war they were united through the time they spent together. Therefore due to Amir’s special bonds, his actions were largely influenced mainly by his friends, proving that the blood of the covenant is thicker than …show more content…
Hassan was willing to do almost anything Amir asked of him and through his letter to Amir, Hassan expressed that if he was to return to Afghanistan, Hassan would still be waiting for him. Later on, to reciprocate Hassan’s friendship, Amir returned to Kabul and saved Hassan’s son, Sohrab. Throughout the story, neither Amir nor Hassan knew of their relationship as half-brothers. However, Hassan lived his life next to and for the sake of Amir. In chapter two of The Kite Runner Amir brought up the limitless extent of Hassan’s loyalty, “Hassan never wanted to, but if I asked, really asked, he wouldn’t deny me. Hassan never denied me anything” (Hosseini, 4). Hassan and Amir’s relationship never stemmed from blood ties, but Hassan still fulfilled Amir’s every wish. Whether it be to prepare his breakfast or to retrieve a kite for him, Hassan was more than willing to do all of that for Amir, thus Hassan showed the ultimate act of loyalty and camaraderie. Furthermore, even after experiencing sexual assault from Assef and sacrificing himself for Amir’s, much like a soldier on a battlefield. Hassan still forgave Amir for being a bystander, on the contrary, Hassan thought he had done something to wrong Amir. Within Hassan’s letter addressed to Amir years after the incident, Hassan was …show more content…
The relationships Amir had forged early on in life largely consisted of Hassan and Rahim Khan when he was young because of Baba’s ignorance of Amir’s interest and silent pleas for attention. However, Rahim Khan and Amir were able to display a relationship like that of a father and son. Throughout the book it was seen that Baba would often turn Amir away when he talked about literature or showed any signs of weakness, whereas Rahim khan always encouraged and listened to Amir. Additionally, Amir would occasionally make comments that alluded to him seeing Rahim Khan as more of a father figure than Baba and later within the story Amir specially flies to Pakistan when he heard of Rahim’s failing health. Both Amir and Rahim were not blood related, however this special bond between Amir and Rahim Khan came about through the 17 years that they spent together in Kabul through the good and the bad. Similar to Poncho Bebe, Rahim grew fond of Amir and they created a special bond similar to that of family. This bond was especially driven by Amir having been acquaintanced with Rahim ever since he was little, and Rahim would treat Amir as if he was his own son. In chapter four of The Kite Runner when Amir just finished his first short story, he eagerly ran to Baba’s study and showed his story to him looking for approval, however Baba was unresponsive.
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 “worships” 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. When individuals highly idolize and worship the successes that their loved ones have achieved, their in-suppressible desire to emulate the achievements of others causes them to inevitably experience difficult circumstances that challenge their morality and principles. In The Kite Runner, Amir has always displayed overflowing affections for Baba due to his prideful feelings of being the son of a wealthy, prominent father.
Baba, is what Amir called his father. Amir always looked up to Baba. He never wanted to disappoint him. Amir always wanted to be the only boy in the eyes of his father. He was jealous and would do anything for Baba to look up to him or respect him, as his son. Hence, the kite and alley incident. Through all the lies and deception, Baba still viewed Amir as innocent in many ways. Though Baba always wanted Amir to be athletic, play soccer, and display a talent of kite running and flying like Hassan and himself, he still loved Amir and saw his talents as a
The Kite Runner, written by Khaled Hosseini, talks about Amir’s life in first person point of view. The book talks about Amir’s childhood, the war in Afghanistan, and his self-salvation. Hassan is the servant’s son in Amir’s family. Hassan and his father, Ali, are Hazaras, who were despised by the Pashtuns. Hassan and Amir are fed from the same breast and they are best friends. Hassan is loyal to Amir all the time and he is always ready to be the scapegoat for Amir.
The theme of loyalty is widespread throughout "The Kite Runner". Hassan is a very loyal character in this story, he is loyal to his brother Amir this is demonstrated from the start he tells Amir “for you a thousand times over” often to mean he would do anything for Amir when the situation calls for it. Amir on the other hand is jealous and feels entitled to his father’s love and care, he does not understand Baba’s love for Ali and Hassan and as such he does everything to discredit Hassan and put himself on better grounds with his father. Hassan’s loyalty is juxtaposed with Amir’s betrayal, for in every act of kindness demonstrated by Hassan he receives and equal or greater amounts of betrayal from Amir. Nonetheless Hassan remains
One of the most tragic and tear-jerking moments in the entire novel surrounds the moment when Amir decides to not help Hassan while he is getting raped. Reading this part, it is very hard not to get furious with Amir because obviously what he did was wrong, but he did have reasoning behind not helping his brother. Amir stands there for a few reasons; one of the reasons being his desire for his father approval, which he knows he can receive by coming home with the kite. When Assef says this, “I've changed my mind; 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.
In The Kite Runner, Hassan is a servant in Amir’s family, but Amir initially sees him as a friend, and the two are inseparable. Hassan is extremely loyal to Amir, and proves time and time again to be a valuable companion, but over time their friendship deteriorates. The social differences between Hassan, who is a Hazara, and Amir, who is a privileged Pashtun, create a source of conflict within their friendship as the two can never be truly equal. Due to this inequality, Amir expects Hassan to sacrifice for him, and it is this expectation that leads Hassan to much misery. After Amir wins the kite tournament, he asks Hassan to run for him the blue kite, which Hassan does so, telling Amir “For you a thousand times over!” (Hosseini 67). Hassan, being a loyal friend of Amir’s, goes out to find
Amir and Hassan’s relationship is a recurring theme throughout the novel. In the ethnic caste system, Amir is a Pashtun and Hassan is a Hazara. Pashtuns are placed in a much higher caste than Hazaras, therefore Hazaras are treated as servants to the Pashtuns. Every morning, Hassan prepares Amir’s breakfast, makes his clothes and cleans his room for him. In the annual kite tournament, at least two people must work together in order to properly maneuver the kite, one to lead the kite, and another to feed the kite’s glass string. Hassan’s role is the latter. His role is to feed the kite’s string for Amir and run after any fallen kites. The glass string attached to the kite is dangerous as it is coated with shards of glass and leaves bloody marks and cuts on the hands. Although Hassan catches the fallen kites, he must always bring it back to Amir. One winter, when Hassan and Amir were waiting under a tree for the kite to come to them, Hassan asks Amir “Would I ever lie to you, Amir agha?” (Ho...
The Kite Runner is a book about a young boy, Amir, who faces many struggles as he grows up in Kabul and later moves to America to flee from the Taliban. His best friend and brother , Hassan, was a big part of his life, but also a big part of guilt he held onto for many years. The book describes Amir’s attempt to make up for the past and resolve his sins so he can clear his conscious. Amir is worthy of forgiveness because although he was selfish, he was very brave and faced his past.
Some people believe they can escape their past, but if one does not atone for their sins, the guilt will engulf them and stay with them forever. In The Kite Runner, Amir, the main protagonist, tries to forget about his past and move on. Hassan, his best friend and Amir’s foil, is loyal and brave while Amir is weak and a coward. Amir’s father, Baba, is also an honorable man, however, keeps the secret about Hassan being his son to everyone, including him. Amir betrays Hassan because he believes Hassan is a sacrifice he has to make to win his father’s affection. Khaled Hosseini uses the character foil of Amir with Baba and Hassan to emphasize Amir’s lack of honorable qualities and how he must search for redemption to find peace with himself.
In The Kite Runner, Amir and his father, Baba, display lives of contradictions while Hassan and Rahim Khan live lives of purity. Baba is displayed as an immoral man while at home because he is not loving his son and he cheated with his friends’ wife and had a child. Even some of Baba’s good qualities, such as his care for Hassan and Ali, his father, seem to have a selfish motive behind them because he wants to keep his son close to him. While Baba is never the father figure in the first part of the book, once they leave their home, Baba seems to care a lot more about Amir.
Throughout the duration of The Kite Runner there were numerous themes which included loyalty, betrayal, and never being able to run away from your past. While reading, the theme that stuck out to me the most was how the characters in the book were so loyal to one another. While growing up Hassan was always there for Amir; during the beginning of the book they encountered Assef. Hassan referred to Amir as his servant, but when Assef put on his brass knuckles and had a look of evil in his eye, Amir bent down and pointed his slingshot at Assef. He held the slingshot directly at Assef’s face and placed a rock the size of a walnut in the cup. He didn’t put his slingshot down until Assef said, `“This isn’t the end for you either, Amir. Someday, I’ll make you face me one on one.” (Hosseini 41) Later on in Chapter 8, Amir and Hassan were sitting under the pomegranate tree.
The Kite Runner focuses on the relationship between two Afghan boys Amir and Hassan. Amir is a Pashtun and Sunni Muslim, while Hassan is a Hazara and a Shi’a. Despite their ethnic and religious differences, Amir and Hassan grow to be friends, although Amir is troubled by Hassan, and his relationship with his companion, one year his junior, is complex. Amir and Hassan seem to have a "best friend" type relationship. The two boys, Hassan and Amir, are main characters in the book titled, The Kite Runner. The two boys have a relationship that is significantly different compared to most. There are many different facets that distinguish the relationship the boys possess. The boys do write their names in a pomegranate tree as the "sultans of Kabul" (Kite Runner 27) but, their friendship is not strong and it is one sided. Hassan has love for Amir. He loves him like a brother. Hassan is exceedingly loyal to Amir. The relationship between the two boys is emotionally wearing and rather gloomy for the most part. The main reason for their complicated relationship is the fact that Amir is Pashtun, and Hassan is Hazara. The Afghan society places Hassan lower than Amir. Hassan is Amir's servant. The placement of Hassan in the Afghan society disenables Amir from becoming Hassan's true friend. Amir sees Hassan as lower than human. Amir ruins the chance for friendship between himself and Hassan because he is jealous of Hassan, he thinks of Hassan as a lower human, and because Amir possesses such extreme guilt for what he has done to Hassan. Amir is an unforgivable person overall.
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
Hassan agrees and gives chase for the kite with Amir follow some time later on. However, during that time Hassan is corner by Assif and several others children. Hassan is then punished by Assif for protecting Amir, as well as being a different type of Afghani. In one swift motion, Assif performs a horrifying sexual act on Hassan, all the way Amir watch it far down a street. And what does Amir do? Well he ran as he put it, “I ran because I was a coward. I was afraid of Assef and what he would do to me. I was afraid of getting hurt” (77).
Escaping his father’s aloofness in his mother’s books was the only thing keeping some connection with his father. His father was distant towards Amir. Amir thought that his father hated him because his mother died while giving birth to him. Amir feels responsible for his mother’s death. “Without me as the glaring exception, my father molded the world around him to his liking. The problem, of course, was that Baba saw the world in black and white. And he got to decide what was black and what was white. You can’t love a person who lives that way without fearing him too. Maybe even hating him a little” (Hosseini 15). This tells the reader that they did not have a close relationship, but there was a lot of respect. Baba was a powerful man and got whatever he wanted. Amir was intimidated by this. It shows that Amir and his father weren’t close in Amir’s early childhood.