I don't know what I did wrong. I asked Amir agha, but he said I hadn't done anything. I would have stopped doing it, then maybe Father and I wouldn't have left. Before the kite tournament, Amir was my best friend, and we would always play together, but then he didn't want me around any more. I don't know why. I desperately wanted our friendship back, but Amir agha wouldn't let me. One day, Amir agha asked me if I would walk up the hill with him so that he could read me a story. I loved when he read me stories. Sometimes, I didn't know some of the words, but Amir agha always told me what they meant. He would laugh when I asked him what a word meant. I figured it was because I asked him that a lot. He was so smart and talented. …show more content…
I wouldn't hit him back. I know he wanted me to, but I couldn't. He called me a coward, but I knew he didn't mean it. I hoped he didn't. He was my best friend after all. I don't know what was going on with him, but I wanted it to stop. He wasn't always this way. Not when we used to play together everyday. When he read me his stories. When we finally built a friendship. I looked at myself. I was completely covered in red. I finally decided to pick up a pomegranate. I walked up to him slowly. I wasn't going to hit him as much as he wanted me to. I crushed the pomegranate against my forehead and asked Amir agha if he was satisfied. I left. I cried on my way home. That summer of 1976, Amir agha turned thirteen. Baba had arranged a huge party for Amir agha. I was happy for him. I always have. Father and I got Amir agha a new version of Shahnamah, the book of stories Amir agha would read to me. Father gave him the book the day after his birthday. I hope he liked it. The next morning, Father and I went to the grocery store to buy meat, naan, fruit, and vegetables. It was a regular day for me. Even though I was born to serve, I enjoyed it. Our master Baba, Amir agha’s father, was kind and wise. I never woke up thinking I had to to work. I woke up thinking I was helping two of the most caring people I have ever met, Baba and Amir …show more content…
Amir’s new watch, and a handful of Afghani bills. Father and I didn't know what to do, so Father talked to Baba. We cried for the longest time, and then we went to Baba’s study room. He said we were going to sit down and settle this. Baba asked if I stole Amir agha’s money and watch. I was going through so many emotions. I felt pain. I felt sadness. I felt emptiness. Why would he do this? Did I do something wrong? I didn't want Amir agha to get in trouble for this. No matter what the reason he hated me was, I wasn't going to betray him. Not now. Now ever. As the the word “yes” slipped off my lips, I knew my world would change
So what can go wrong with a long so strong, a hold you so tight, a night so calm
Not only did Amir ran away, but he never told anyone what he saw, this including Hassan. However, this is not his last sin, for in a few months later Amir frames Hassan for thief. Hassan, when faced with Baba, say that he stole the items in question to protect Amir. And shorty leaves Baba’s service with his father against Baba insistent to stay with them and solve the issue in a differ manner… In the end, Amir got the bonding time he what with his father, however, at a cost of not helping Hassan in his greatest time of
Due to Amir’s cowardice during Hassan’s rape, he feels guilty for committing the vilest sin in Afghan culture. “I had one last chance to make a decision. One final opportunity to decide who I was going to be. I could step into that alley, stand up for Hassan – the way he’d stood up for me all those times in the past – and accept whatever would happen to me. Or I could run.
Whenever Amir would ask Hassan to do something he was reluctant to do, Hassan would still agree if he begged because “[he] never denied [Amir] anything” (Hosseini, 4). Hassan loves Amir an extraordinary amount, so much that he would commit an action that he otherwise would never have wanted to commit. Even when Hassan figures out that Amir has betrayed him, he still sacrifices himself for the safety of Amir. When Hassan lies and tells Baba he stole the watch Amir had framed him for stealing, Amir says Hassan’s lie stung “like [he’d] been slapped… [Hassan] knew [he] had betrayed [him] and yet he was rescuing [him] once again” (Hosseini, 111). Hassan knew what would happen to Amir if Baba caught him trying to get rid of his servants, so he lied to protect Amir, even when Amir had wronged him. Baba and Amir flee to America, yet Hassan remains loyal to them while still in Afghanistan. Rahim Khan asks Hassan and his family to move into Amir’s old house, as he can not maintain the house by himself, but instead they move into the mud hut Hassan used to live in. Hassan’s reasoning is “’what will [Amir agha] think when he comes back to Kabul after the war and finds that I have assumed his place in the house?’” (Hosseini, 219). Not even during the war, when he does not expect Amir to come back, does he temporarily take residence in Amir’s old house. Out of loyalty and respect, he lives where he always had, even when Rahim Khan is
Amir’s jealousy starts to take over him when, he overhears his father saying he wishes Amir was more like Hassan, his father shows Hassan more affection and when he sees that his father worries and shows more car towards Hassan. Amir is not the way his father would like him to be, he is a more gentle and empathetic character, while Baba is a stern man. One day after returning from the game where he witnessed someone’s death, he cried the whole car ride back home. Later that night, he overheard something that changed him forever. What he overhears is his father and Rahim Khan talking about him: “Self defense has nothing to do with meanness.
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.
He purposely puts his watch that was skilled by his Baba under Hassan's sheet to make him appear to be responsible of burglary and forces Baba to reject Hassan and Ali from the family. Regardless instead of denying the false affirmation against him, Hassan admits to the burglary remembering his Amir agha's will and assurance.
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 had passed away. Amir a published author who had everything going well for him received a phone call from an old friend of Baba. Rahim Khan said “there is a way to be good again” in those eight words Amir’s guilt had returned (Hosseini 2). These eight words started Amir’s journey to redemption. Rahim khan told Amir about what had happen to the brother (Hassan) that he envied was killed and had as a son. The son was said to bring him peace and the ability to move on. Sohrab (Hassan’s son) was in the custody of Assef Hassan’s mortal enemy. Amir rescued Sohrab by accepting Assef challenge for the last one standing. When Amir was getting beat up by Assef he started to laugh because, “I saw that, in some hidden nook in a corner of mind, I’d been looking forward to this,” Amir happiest in a painful moment was the climax for his redemption (Hosseini 289). After this event, Amir had helped and defended Sohrab and never gave up on him when he was mute. Amir’s redemption was significant to his twelve year old self because, the younger version of him would not have defended Hassan as he did with Sohrab. When Assef called Hassan a hazara Amir called him a servant not a friend and when Sohrab was called a hazara by the General he defended him and said never refer to him as a hazara in my presents; Amir changed by defending Sohrab and be courageous. The faint- hearted boy Amir was changed into the brave man he is, the act of selfless deeds he had done for Sohrab lead him to the end of his journey for the recovery of his
The event of Hassan being raped lingers in Amir’s mind and the guilt of not standing up for what was right continues to haunt him. Baba said “a boy who won’t stand up for himself becomes a man who can’t stand up to anything” (21). Amir only wanted Baba’s affection and in order to get it he sacrificed Hassan, not realizing that Baba only wanted his son to stand up for himself. Hassan’s sacrifice was further proof of how Amir is a coward. Amir knew this too when he said “I could step into the alley, standup for Hassan- the way he’d stood up for me all those times past- and accept whatever would happen to me” (77). Amir’s betrayal characterized him as a coward. After the incident,Amir never told anyone what happened.
After Amir wins, he turns back to look at Baba and he sees Baba “pumping both of his fists. Hollering and clapping. And that right there was the single greatest moment of my twelve years of life, seeing Baba on that roof, proud of me at last”(66). Baba now had something to be proud of in Amir. Baba had now accepted his son but Baba’s true transformation would come later when he and Amir leave Kabul and go to America. Baba leaves all his wealth, his power and all the respect he gained in Kabul to escape to America where he would end up working at a gas station and making close to minimum wage. Even though Baba moves to America, he never changed his principles; he just changed the way he acted around Amir. When Baba goes to the social services office, he “dropped the stack of food stamps on her desk. "Thank you but I don 't want," Baba said. "I work always. In Afghanistan I work, in America I work. Thank you very much, Mrs. Dobbins, but I don 't like it free money" (130). Baba acting differently in America was not all contributed to not having his wealth, but rather the way he lived. Baba did not feel as guilty living in America as he did in Kabul. While Baba was in Kabul, he could not share his wealth with his other son, Hassan, but now that Baba was in America with no wealth, he could focus on his relationship with Amir. On Amir’s graduation day, Amir says, “This was his day (Baba) more than mine. He
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
And hide it under Hassan's bed to make it look like he stole it from Amir, and tried to hide it. Amir tells his father about how he believes that Hassan stole it. When Hassan and Ali returned from doing their work Baba confronted Hassan about stealing Amir’s watch and birthday money, Hassan lies and agrees to stealing it, even though he did not, Baba forgave Hassan for what he did. “Then I understood: This was Hassan's final sacrifice for me... He knew I had betrayed him and yet he was rescuing me once again.” (Hosseini, 111) Ali and Hassan had decided to leave, they already had their bags packed. Baba demanded them to stay but they made their decision. This was the Amie had ever seen Baba cry. “That was when I understood the depth of pain I had caused . the blackness of the grief i had brought onto everyone, that not even Ali’s paralyzed face could mask his sorrow.” Ali and Hassan had left, Amir never saw Ali or Hassan again, he regrets everything he did, and continues to regret it for life. Baba also betrayed Ali, but in a different way than Amir. After Baba had died, Amir found out that Ali was not actually Hassan's biological father, but was actually in fact Baba. Since Ali
.Amir was more interested in reading and poetry, his father was into sports even though Amir loves his father, his father loves him just as much as him. To Amir this wasn’t enough he wanted to make his father proud and gain acceptance, so Amir went into a annual kite-tournament and bring back the losing kite. Amir thought this was the only way he could be accepted by his father. Growing up Amir had everything he wanted but that emotional connection with his father. He was willing to do anything to have that. Hassan, Amir’s best friend started getting a lot of attention from Amir’s father Baba when Amir saw that he got really jealous. He passively attacked
Amir’s struggle with the morality of his decisions allows him to grow as a character. Amir had always feared Assef and was not able to bring himself to stand up to him. Baba always criticized this inability claiming that “‘a boy who won’t stand up for himself becomes a man who can’t stand up to anything’” (Hosseini, 24). In the alley,
This began all began in his childhood, after he witnessed Hassan being raped. Amir’s guilt ate him alive, he couldn’t even stand to see him, so he came up with a plan to get rid of Hassan. “Then I took a couple of the envelopes of cash from the pile of gifts and my watch, and tiptoed out . . . I went downstairs, crossed the yard, and entered Ali and Hassan’s living quarters by the loquat tree. I lifted Hassan’s mattress and planted my new watch and a handful of Afghani bills under it. I waited another thirty minutes. Then I knocked on Baba’s door and told what I hoped would be the last in a long line of shameful lies” (Hosseini 104). It is evident that Amir’s intense remorse drove him to make ungraceful decisions. In the end, this only made his guilt worse. As the guilt seems to subside with time and his life in America goes on, Amir one day receives a call from Rahim Khan: “Come. There is a way to be good again, Rahim Khan had said on the phone just before hanging up. Said it in passing, almost as an afterthought. A way to be good again” (Hossseini 192). Khan's phone call makes Amir realize that the guilty feelings have only been living deep inside of him all along. Now, he wants to go and visit Khan, to see how he can be good again. Eventually, after rescuing Hassan’s son and becoming more of himself once again, Amir comes to the conclusion