Friends. Everyone wants one, everybody needs them. Most people are fortunate enough to find true friends who are loyal and brighten up each and every one of their days. For others, friendships are complicated and people are brutally betrayed. Some take others’ loyalty for granted and completely disregard their feelings. In the book, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, Amir takes advantage of Hassan’s unwavering faithfulness and friendship. Even though Hassan was always there for Amir, Amir wasn’t there for Hassan in the one, single moment that would negatively alter his life forever. Like Hassan, I have experienced a time where I was betrayed by the same friends I thought I could trust the most. The themes of both friendship and betrayal are …show more content…
He was willing to throw pebbles at dogs for him, be pelted by pomegranates, and stand up against every bully for Amir. Hassan involved himself in so many fights for Amir and wouldn’t back down because his devotion to Amir was more important than his own well-being. Unfortunately, while Hassan was being raped, Amir decided to care more about himself than what was happening to Hassan. During his rape scene, Assef questions Hassan about Amir’s loyalty. Assef asks him, “But before you sacrifice yourself for him, think about this: Would he do the same for you? Have you ever wondered...why he only plays with you when no one else is around” (72)? Whether or not Hassan realized what Assef was true, he still stood up for Amir and kept his promise to bring back the blue kite no matter what the consequence was for himself.
Overall, Hassan’s life was dedicated to Amir. Hassan was loyal to him and was the absolute support system for him. Every time Hassan was told to run a kite, his commitment to Amir rang out with one single phrase: “For you a thousand times over” (67)! And each time, Amir knew that Hassan meant what he said because he had such deep dedication to Amir. In return, Hassan was betrayed Amir and was only important to him when no one else was around. Amir would gladly trade anyone else’s company for Hassan’s. Hassan was the one person that never betrayed Amir, but Amir was the one person who always betrayed
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.
In the book “THe Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini, betrayal is is one of the big themes that occurs in this book. Amir shows the most betrayal of all, like him witnessing Hassan's rape and not helping him at all. That was his cowardly thing that he did and experiences guilt from it. Many years pass since that event he starts to feel what other people felt when he would betray them, like when he was betrayed by his father and Rahim Khan, because he found out that Hassan was his brother and he felt betrayal of trust just as he made the people he betrayed feel.
So when Assef comes, Hassan becomes the scapegoat to protect Amir. According to Hosseini, “Hassan had pulled the wide elastic band all the way back. In the cup was a rock the size of a walnut. Hassan held the slingshot pointed directly at Assef’s face. ‘Please leave us alone.’” (Hosseini 42). From Assef’s talking, Hassan knows Amir gets trouble because of him. So he thinks he has the responsibility to deal with it. So he pulls Assef’s attention to himself and let himself become the target. According to Hosseini, “Hassan didn’t struggle. Didn’t even whimper. He moved his head slightly and I caught a glimpse of his face. Saw the resignation in it. It was a look I had seen before. It was the look of the lamb.” (Hosseini 42). Hassan knows he promised that he would catch the kite and give it to Amir. So he is willing to do anything to save the kite. At that time, Hassan imagines the kite as Amir, so he can be the scapegoat for the kite. Also he knows if Assef does not catch him, Assef will start to look for Amir and beat Amir up. Since one of them will be hurt, Hassan chooses to sacrifice himself to make sure Amir is
Betrayal is one of the most prominent themes in the novel The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini. Hosseini chose to represent this theme through the decisions and actions of the main protagonists. Both Baba and Amir chose to betray the people close to them, which resulted in major ramifications for themselves and the people around them. With their betrayals came feelings of guilt. However Amir 's guilt was exponentially more conspicuous than Baba 's. It followed him into his adult life, and the impacts were quite negative and detrimental to both his personal health and his personal relationships. Hassan, on the other hand, chose to remain loyal to those close to him, regardless of the situation or the threats placed upon him. While this resulted in major consequences, it also demonstrated his capacity for kindness, caring, and loyalty. Even though he was confronted with traumatic experiences due to his loyalty, he was able to accept it, move past it and eventually heal. In turn, although his life was short, it was filled with meaningful realizations
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
Many books today portray a different world. Few books will make readers think they’ve lived in that world all their lives. The Kite Runner is a tale about betrayal, fear, and redemption. In the book, a young boy, Amir, lives in Kabul, Afghanistan happily, until one fateful day. After that, he’s plunged into fear and regret as his life gets worse and worse. Decades later, a man reminisces on his past mistakes and desperately tries to bury his old life. Khaled Hosseini has captured the minds of many with his book, The Kite Runner. The Kite Runner was published by Riverhead Books in 2003, after Khaled Hosseini had worked on it for two years. The book immediately became an international bestseller, becoming the number one New York Times Best Seller for two years, and its fame sparked the creation of a movie based on the book. The book was inspired by Hosseini’s childhood, and it features significant moral lessons that are embedded into the very text of each chapter.
This embarrasses and frustrates Amir. This frustration is one reason for Amir to slowly but surely push Hassan out of his life. Although it is not the most obvious reason, it is an underlying one. This is a mistake on Amir’s part because Hassan does so much for Amir, being the loyal friend that he is, and for Amir to push someone of such good moral and character out of his life, is a tremendous mistake on his behalf. It is quite obvious that Hassan would give his life for Amir, but, because of where Hassan comes from, Amir struggles throughout his childhood, to find a way to accept the friendship Hassan gives him.
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.
Amir takes advantage of Hasan because he is a Hazara and his servant. “When it comes to words Hassan is an imbecile” (29). This is when Amir first starts to belittle Hassan knowing that he is a Hazara therefore illiterate. Instead of helping his friend, Amir chooses to instead downplay him and mock Hassan. “What would you do if I hit you with this?” (92). Amir pelting Hassan with the pomegranate after he asks this question continues his betrayal because Amir knew Hassan would not do anything about it. “A loyal Hazara. Loyal as a dog” (72). Assef of all people acknowledged that Hassan was loyal to Amir. This in some ways makes Amir as disgusting as Assef but it there are worse instances of betrayal by Amir.
It is difficult to face anything in the world when you cannot even face your own reality. In his book The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini uses kites to bring out the major themes of the novel in order to create a truly captivating story of a young boy’s quest to redeem his past mistakes. Amir is the narrator and protagonist of the story and throughout the entire novel, he faces enormous guilt following the horrible incident that happened to his closest friend, Hassan. This incident grows on Amir and fuels his quest for redemption, struggling to do whatever it takes to make up for his mistakes. In Hosseini’s novel, kites highlight aspects of Afghanistan’s ethnic caste system and emphasizes the story’s major themes of guilt, redemption and freedom.
Because of this, Hassan is almost constantly bullied when he steps outside. Amir usually refuses to help Hassan, fearing he will get bullied for helping a minority. This type of thing built guilt up inside of him because he was then viewed as weak by his father’s friend. He overheard them talking and he was called weak because he would not even stand up for his best friend that he essentially lives with. He continues not to back Hassan up and starts being mean to Hassan, just like the other boys because he does not want to be viewed as weak.. During the kite runner festival, Hassan went to get the winning kite that Amir had knocked out of the sky. When he does, he is cornered by one of his bullies, Assef, and some of his friends. They take the kite and then rape Hassan. Amir stands nearby, watching the event take place and does nothing about it. Eventually he runs away trying to get the thought out of his head. Gradually over time, guilt builds up inside of Amir and it starts to become hard to even be around Hassan. This then leads him to frame Hassan for stealing his watch. After Amir does that, Amir finds out he forced his father to kick his brother out of the only housing he had. His father starts crying a lot and Amir feels that it is all his fault. Guilt impacts him very much even when he moves to America, he still
Amir also committed a sin that affected him negatively throughout his life. This sin occurred when Hassan, Amir’s best friend during his childhood, was getting raped by Assef. This situation occurred when the children were chasing kites. Hassan got the kite first, but Assef insisted that he wanted the kite. Assef also had a racial and religious prejudice against Hassan.
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
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).
Other than flying kites and watching westerns, Amir would read to Hassan to help pass the time. Amir was not a particularly a good friend to Hassan and would attack him out of jealousy. Amir would tease Hassan’s illiteracy by giving him the wrong definitions of words. Amir was devastated by Hassan for quickly finding a plot hole in his first short story. He was not athletic or brave as Hassan and Amir prided himself for being intelligent. In Amir’s situation, he felt entitled to all of his father’s attention and the majority of it, from his point of view, was going to Hassan and the