Most people know that friendship takes effort and developes over time. The book, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini proves this. This is shown through the main characters of Hassan and Amir. In the story, Hassan shows his respect for Amir by being selfless rather than Amir who shows his respect to Hassan by being selfish which isn’t a healthy friendship and causes problems throughout the story. Khaled Hosseini uses the motif about friendships throughout the story to say that friendship is the way one shows his/hers affection towards someone. He repeatedly uses the line, “for you, a thousand times over” as a motif to show the depth of Hassan and Amir’s friendship, self sacrifice, loyalty, and respect. “For you, a thousand times over” symbolizes
“I read it to him in the living room... Hassan was the perfect audience in many ways, totally immersed in the tale, his face shifting with the changing tones in the story. When I read the last sentence, he made a muted clapping sound with his hands. "Mashallah, Amir agha. Bravo!" He was beaming… "Some day, Inshallah, you will be a great writer," Hassan said. "And people all over the world will read your stories."..."You exaggerate, Hassan," I said, loving him for it. "No. You will be great and famous," he insisted” (Hosseini 57). This line shows Hassan’s compassionate and admiration towards Amir by respectfully listening to Amir’s story and by praising it. Another example is when Amir shows his respect for his father, Baba but gets jealous for Baba loving his half-brother or best friend, Hassan more than him. One thing Amir does to show his respect for Baba is by disrespecting Hassan. Amir hides cash and money under Hassan’s mattress so Baba would think that Hassan is a theft. Amir thought that this would have Baba love him more than Hassan. This drives away Hassan and makes him eventually move out of the house. Over time throughout the book Amir finds out the real meaning of respect and shows it to Hassan through Sohrab.
“For you, a thousand times over” shows the motif of Hassan and Amir’s friendship by self sacrifice, loyalty, and respect. Friendship takes time, effort and won’t always be perfect and The Kite Runner shows a perfect example of this through the characters of Hassan and Amir. Friendships are great because not only is someone there for you, they will always show self sacrifice, loyalty, and respect if both people put in time and
It is not often that Amir’s love for Baba is returned. Baba feels guilty treating Amir well when he can’t acknowledge Hassan as his son. Baba discriminates against his son Amir by constantly making him feel weak and unworthy of his father. Baba once said to Rahim Kahn, “If I hadn’t seen the doctor pull him out of my wife with my own eyes, I’d never believe he’s my son” (Hosseini 23). Amir doesn’t feel like a son towards Baba since he seems like such a weakling. This neglect towards Amir causes him to feel a need to be accepted by Baba to end the constant discrimination from his father and he will do anything for it. “I actually aspired to cowardice, because the alternative, the real reason I was running, was that Assef was right: Nothing was free in this world. Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba” (Hosseini 77). Amir did not stop the rape of his good friend for one sole purpose. Amir felt that he had to betray his own half-brother to gain th...
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
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
In order to grow and prosper, one must make mistakes and learn from them. People are not born perfect; everyone must live and everyone must learn throughout his/her lifetime in order to mature. In the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseni, Amir does exactly this. He makes several mistakes, these mistakes are not wasted, because, in time he learns from his wrong-doings and redeems his himself. Several if not all of the mistakes Amir makes are directed toward his childhood friend, and brother, Hassan. The first mistake Amir makes is not a tangible one. This mistake being he does not see Hassan as a friend while they are children because they’re part of two different ethnic groups and cultures. Because of this difference, Amir does not stop
Going through all these different motifs, it taught Amir many different lessons, good and bad. But in the end, Amir finally is able to let go of his guilt and make his awful choice to not help Hassan in his time of need, have somewhat of a better outcome. In the novel The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini’s repeated the use of rape, sickness, and sacrifice to represent many different things throughout the novel.
Growing up with the ability to receive an education, Amir felt disconnected in some ways from Hassan. Hassan is a Hazara, so by tradition, he followed in the footsteps of his dad and stayed home all day doing chores and remaining servant like. The literacy rate, in Afghanistan, is only 17%, according to the UNESCO Office in Kabul, and while Amir is a part of that, it makes him feel guilty in a lot of ways, “Words were secret doorways and I held all the keys”(30). In the beginning Amir uses his literacy to assert dominance over Hassan, but as time progresses, and disturbing events take place, Amir’s guilt sets in and he becomes less and less dominant. The quotation above suggests that Amir has all the resources and can choose when and when not to share them with Hassan. While the literacy component is one factor that divides the two half-brothers, it also brings them
When Amir decides to plant his own watch and money under Hassan’s mattress he planned on getting Hassan in trouble from Baba. When Hassan is asked if he stole the watch and money he said yes. “I flinched, like I’d been slapped” (105). In this quote Amir shows that he was not expecting Hassan to respond in the way that he did. Right here is where Amir should have seen that Hassan cares about him and acted loyal like a real friend should have. Instead Amir Betrays Hassan again by not saying a word and letting Hassan take the blame for something he did not do. Amir continuously shows that he is Hassan’s betrayer by more actions that he
Amir went to extreme measures to make sure his guilt would go away and Hassan, the loyal friend he is, took the blame to help Amir. The road to redemption could be one phone call or a country away. As Amir got older, he started to forget about Hassan getting assaulted. While living in America, Amir had changed and he and Baba’s relationship was mended before he passed away. Amir, a published author who had everything going well for him, received a phone call from an old friend of Baba.
As he grows into a man and pushes his regrets to the side - though not ever completely out of his mind - he learns to live through and accept the pain he caused both himself and his best friend, Hassan. Towards the end of the novel, Amir goes to great lengths to earn the redemption he feels he needs in order to finally be at peace. The Kite Runner asks the audience what it truly means to be a good person - do we need to be born with goodness in our hearts, do we live the way that is comfortable and right according to ourselves, or do we have to constantly fail and prove that we are good?
Throughout the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, the theme which is shown through the film is “loyalty is one of the only things that can hold bonds between family and friends”. In the beginning of the novel Amir describes Hassan’s loyalty by saying, “Hassan never wanted to, but if I asked, he wouldn’t deny me. Hassan never denied me anything” (4) This quote shows how Amir would make Hassan do things against his will, but because Hassan was so loyal to Amir, he would do the things Amir asked him to do. The theme is shown through this quote because this occurs at the very beginning of the story and Hassan is putting Amir’s needs before his own, this will reflect throughout the
However there are some characters that become better people and change becoming a better, stronger, more loyal individual in the end. The individual that demonstrates this development within this novel is Amir himself. All of the guilt Amir holds with him as a child allow him to realize his duty to be loyal to his brother Hassan ion the end. An example of this is when Amir goes back to Kabul, Afghanistan to retrieve his nephew Sohrab. Amir says, “I remembered Wahid’s boys and… I realized something. I would not leave Afghanistan without finding Sohrab.’ tell me where he is,’ I said” (Hosseini 255). Here, Amir is at the orphanage waiting to find out where Taliban has taken his nephew. Amir remembers the three young starving sons of Wahid, a man whose home he had been in earlier, and realized that Afghanistan is not a safe place for Sohrab. Amir is finally aware of one thing, Hassan has always been there to protect Amir like a loyal friend and brother would and now Amir knows that it is his turn to return that loyalty to Hassan by protecting Hassan’s flesh and blood. A second example of Amir’s loyalty to Hassan near the ending of the book is during Amir’s confrontation with General Sahib and the dinner table after Sohrab is safe in America with him. Amir proclaims to General Sahib, “…That boy sleeping on the couch
What is it that makes us human and what does it mean to be human? These questions should be frequently and relentlessly contemplated by all members of society. What makes us human is the notion that we have complex thoughts and emotions. No two individuals are exactly alike in every way who share the same opinions, tastes, thoughts, ideas, or feelings. Which is quite fortunate, because it would be a complete bore if everyone acted completely identical to one another. So, what is it that makes us abhor another based on their uniqueness as an individual or as a group? The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is about a friendship between two boys set in Afghanistan. The story spans over the last thirty years. Amir is the son of a wealthy business man, Baba. Ali is a longtime childhood friend of Baba’s and works as a servant for him. Hassan is the son of Ali and spends time with Amir. Hassan and Amir one day run into Assef—who has a superiority complex—and threatens to beat Amir for being friends with a Hazara. Later on in the story, Hassan is cornered by Assef and his two friends and Assef rapes Hassan. Amir witnessed the event concealed in the shadows, and is tormented for the rest of his life with his decision for not standing up for Hassan. The author,
In the book Amir can be seen as a troubled young boy who is struggling with a tremendous amount of guilty. It is easy to blame Amir’s actions on his guilty and his father’s lack of love for him. The movie does not allow this. The movie characterizes Amir as a young boy who is to blind by his owns needs to be a decent and noble friend. The movie does not do a good job of showing that Amir felt horribly guilty about what he did to Hassan. It portrays Amir as uncaring and selfish. The movie also changes the depiction of Amir as an adult. While the book shows Amir as a man who has not yet learned to stand for what is right until he comes face to face with his past all over again, the movie jumps the gun and shows the change earlier with the change of a scene. The scene that is changed is when Amir and Farid visit the orphanage where Sohrab is supposed to be. In the scene Amir is the one to try and kill the orphanage owner instead of Farid which takes away from Amir’s cowardice persona that is portrayed in the book. The movie makes Amir seem stronger before his time while the book keeps up his weakling persona until he is faced with a situation he cannot help but stand up to. Similarly the characterization of Hassan is just as lacking as Amir’s in the movie. In the book, Hassan is shown as being selfless beyond a doubt and loyal to a fault.
Amir overhears this and is very troubled that Baba doesn’t approve of him. To Amir, this is a realization that he is a coward and his father notices it. Later in the book, Amir sees Hassan being raped and he is contemplating jumping in and being courageous because he says, “I had one last chance to make a decision. One final opportunity to decide who I was going to be” (Hosseini, 77). Amir realizes that he has to decide “who I am”....