The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Of the Upper and Lower Class
Some may find it hard to believe, but life as an upper-classman, and as a lower-
classman, have a lot in common. Whether it be education, living conditions, or even
physical or psychological abuse, both classes have to deal with most of the same
problems. Granted lower-class people may not have a problem such as which car they
would like to take out for the day, or an upper-class citizen wondering how they are
going to survive the next month with what little money they’re making, but nonetheless
they share an equal amount of problems as human beings. In the novel The Kite Runner
by Khaled Hosseini, there are plenty of examples that prove this to be correct,
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As upper class citizens, it is much easier to receive a proper education due to the
fact that it isn’t necessary for one to get an occupation to help support their family
because no additional support is needed. Since upper class citizens can have the luxury of
being able to read and write, they are more likely to become successful, for example,
Amir, a young boy who is born into the wealth of his father, Baba, talks about how he is
using his education to excel in language arts, “In school, we used to play a game called
Sherjangi, or “Battle of the Poems.” The Farsi teacher moderated it and it went something
like this: You recited a verse from a poem and your opponent had sixty seconds to reply
with a verse that began with the same letter that ended with yours. Everyone in my class
wanted me on their team, because by the time I was eleven, I could recite dozens of
verses…One time, I took on the whole class and won” (17). This example shows how
Amir has the advantage over most kids, who aren’t as fortunate to receive an education
and is able to excel by becoming one of the most prominent students in poetry of
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By the time I dragged myself out of bed and lumbered to the bathroom,
Hassan had already washed up, prayed the morning namaz with Ali, and prepared my
breakfast. While I ate and complained about homework, Hassan made my bed, polished
my shoes, ironed my outfit for the day, packed my books and pencils. I’d hear him
singing to himself in the foyer as he ironed, singing old Hazara songs in his nasal voice.
Then, Baba and I drove off in his black Ford Mustang” (23). This excerpt shows very
wonderfully, how Hassan is a hard working young boy, in the lower class, who
appreciates things and makes the best of his situation, he is awake bright and early, full of
energy, singing and enjoying the day he has before him, happy to be alive. It also shows
the fact that people in the lower class are able to enjoy the little things in life much more
than that of the upper class, because they have to work hard and appreciate the things
they work hard for. However people in the upper class may become snobby and take
A big disadvantage that the lower class has compared to the wealthy is a lack of quality education. While serving as a waitress, Ehrenriech learned about many different people. Some of these co-workers were immigrants who had recently come to this country. “I learn that he [George] is not paid by Jerry’s but the ‘agent’ who shipped him over--$5 an hour, with the agent getting the dollar or so difference between that and what Jerry’s pays dishwashers”(38). Their contracts lacked any benefits, and they were paid below minimum wage. People, like George, cannot read their contracts before they sign because they don’t understand the language. The critic would argue, “…They are baffled at the idea of fighting the class struggle of which…Ehrenriech appears to be the only person complaining about the situation…” In Georg...
2)"Some day, Inshallah, you will be a great writer... and people all over the world will read your stories."
Baba teaches Amir the ways to become a virtuous man, however Amir is not as courageous as his father and it is difficult for Amir to demonstrate his teachings. Baba teaches Amir how to be a strong good man, but Amir does not seem to grasp these values as much as he may want to. Thusly, Amir constantly seeks his father’s approval, yet he does not follow the one thing his father has taught him, being a decent man. This does not just include knowing the difference between right and wrong, it is being strong enough to stand up for what is just. Courage and bravery are two characteristics Amir needs to gain acceptance not only from his father but also from himself. Amir overhears his father talking to Rahim Khan about him and Hassan. He hears his father say, “A boy who won’t stand up for himself becomes a man who can’t stand up for anything,” (Hosseini 22). This saddens Amir, because he re...
Baba’s wealth, lack of emotional connection, and inner conflict between his two vastly different sons shaped Amir in the novel “Kite Runner”. Baba, of all the characters in the book, shaped Amir the most, despite other influential relationships. “Man’s main task in life is to give birth to himself, to become what he potentially is. The most important product of his effort is his own personality.”
Amir’s core conflict in the novel is an internal conflict between himself and guilt. From the day he is born Amir is tainted with guilt, he admits to this guilt when he says “I always felt like Baba hated me a little. And why not? After all, I had killed his beloved wife, his beautiful princess, hadn’t I?” However his greater guilt comes from his two betrayals of Hassan: watching him get raped and framing him for stealing his birthday money to get him fired. For the next 25 years Amir carries with him the shame and guilt from the winter of
Recently, I’ve read an interesting book and I’m here to share with you ;) The book that I read is, “To Kill A Mocking Bird” written by Harper Lee in 1960. For people who haven’t read this book yet, I’ll briefly summarize it. The main character is a little girl named Scout and she is used to explore live of others in the small town of Maycomb in the 1930s. Throughout the novel, she learns valuable lessons from her father by experiencing variety of events. She learns how to understand others; the existence of prejudice and injustice; why it's wrong to harm innocent people; what "real" courage is, and the importance of being true to oneself.
This means that his mother died and he lived. Baba shows little affection to Amir as a result of him killing his mother at birth. Amir attempts to attain redemption for taking away his fathers widow. He has to redeem himself to Baba everyday by praising him because he gets a small amount of love and care. “Because the truth of it was, I always felt like Baba hated me a little. And why not after all I had killed his beloved wife. The least I could have done was to have had the decency to have turned out a little more like him”-Amir P19. The quote explains how Amir feels the hatred that Baba might feel because he took his wife which is more important than him. He has to redeem himself by proving that his birth was not a waste of effort. Amir always wants to be with Baba because he desperately needs the affection that only a father can give. Because of his mother’s death he always has to prove his worthiness to baba. “I think I have saratan I said.Cancer.Baba lifted his head from the pages flapping in the breeze. Told me that I could get the soda myself, all I had to do was look in the trunk of the car.”-Amir-P14.This quote is an example of how much he feels he needs to redeem himself for killing his mother because he has to make up he has a life threating disease just to get his fathers affection and still does not receive the care and love that a father should give. Amir also attempts to
America has always seen as the symbolic ideal country of prosperity and equality. This is the reason why people come to America hoping to become successful, but in matter of fact we all have an equal plan field to be successful is not entirely true. For there are social boundaries that keep use limited based upon our own status. Whether we are born of a low class or of a high class the possibility of economic mobility in a sense are predetermined by two factors of social class and success together they both affecting one’s another opportunity of success. In order to achieve success, we must know that it is made up of two main concepts and they are fortune and position. But when a person is limited by their class prohibiting them to achieve success, the point of trying is meaningless. However, there is a way to break the construct that keep groups stuck in the lower-class and is through education. Education gives more opportunities for success to the individuals and since education is very important, culture and the government should focus more directly upon this to reach economic stability. Class standing directly affects economic success in America by limiting a person’s chance of success however; one can overcome by focusing more upon education and culture.
...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.
To start of, the awkward relationship betwixt the protagonist, Amir, and Baba,his father as well as the circumstances
First, Baba’s looming shame of his affair prohibits him from being a proper father to Amir and Hassan. Baba fails to inform Amir that his best friend, Hassan, is actually his half-brother because of this affair. Years after Baba’s death, Rahim Khan tells Amir of Baba’s act of adultery. With this betrayal, Amir begins to question everything he values in his father, stating that “Baba had been a thief. And a thief of the worst kind, because the things he’d stolen had been sacred: from me the right to know I had a brother, from Hassan his identity, and from Ali [Hassan’s “father”] his honor. His nang. His namoos” (Hosseini 225). Despite his guilt, Baba makes a vow with Rahim Khan and Ali to keep the affair a secret from his own sons, causing a distortion
In the book The Kite Runner, the author establishes the setting of afghanistan after Amir’s phone call with Rahim Khan in the first chapter.The setting of afghanistan begins by the narrator, in the second paragraph, explaining what his childhood looked like in Kabul. The first time when there is a vivid passage in the book is in the middle of chapter 2 where the narrator is describing where Amir and Hassan lived as children.“The poplar trees lined the redbrick driveway, which led to a pair of wrought-iron gates...One the south end of the garden, in the shadows of a loquat tree, was the servants home, a modest little mud hut where Hassan lived with his father” (5-6)This quote gives a detailed description of what the characters are seeing and
Baba is first depicted as an unreachable man who was well respected in the community. Amir recalls his birthday party where he was “scanning over the invitation list a week before my birthday party and not recognizing at least three-quarters of the four hundred [. . .] Then I realized they weren’t really coming for me. It was my birthday, but I knew who the real star of the show was” (94). Amir did not know it at the time, but Baba had sins he was trying to absolve. Through his actions toward redemption, Baba touched the lives of many. Regardless of their social status, Baba would lend a he Amir recalls how Baba “always carried an extra handful of Afghani bills in his pocket just for them; I’d never seen him deny a peddler” (245). Baba would offer his wealth to every beggar he came across. Along with this, he also built an orphanage with his own money, planning, and time. Baba did everything in his power to redeem himself and eradicate himself of the guilt in his heart. Some say he was redeemed; others disagree. Rahim Khan tells Amir of Baba’s dilemma:
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
S.C. Hinton wrote the novel, The Outsiders about two different groups with a different social class status. The Socs were considered the wealthy, sophisticated kids, while the Greasers weren’t liked so much by society. They were poverty-stricken and lived in poorly maintained neighborhoods. “Most greasers don’t have real tuff builds or anything. This is partly because they don’t eat much and partly because they’re slouchy”(Hinton 140). The two associations fought each other time and time again with an intimidating appearance. They may have on a hard face on the outside, but on the inside, they are people with emotions and are devoted to keeping their brotherhood safe.