Amir's Cruelty In 'The Kite Runner'

One of the most prominent reasons that people bully is because they are insecure and have their own problems. This is particularly true in Khaled Hosseini’s novel The Kite Runner.  The main character, Amir, has plenty of insecurities and he doesn't know how to deal with them. Before Amir knows it, these doubts about himself intensify and turn into evil thoughts and actions.  His insecurities continue building up and turn into jealousy and hatred. When hatred turns to aggression, Amir doesn't know how to deal with that aggression other than taking it out on his lifelong friend Hassan. Amir becomes particularly cruel to Hassan not only because he feels like his own father, Baba, likes Hassan better than him, but also because he feels as if he

is not good enough for Baba and could never be.
    Amir’s cruelty is rooted deep down in his own personal issues.

He feels like Baba hates him and anything he does. Since his mother died when he was born, Amir feels like Baba somehow blames her awful death on him.  Amir knows it wasn’t his fault, but feels as if he has to prove himself to Baba.  He puts a great deal of pressure on himself to be the best he can be and to be more like Baba.  Unfortunately, anything he does isn't good enough to receive Baba’s full appreciation. One night Amir single-handedly beat his whole class in a game called “Battle of the Poems.” Later when he told Baba about it, Baba just nodded, and muttered, “good.”  It was clear that Baba was less than enthused about Amir’s accomplishment. To Amir, it seemed like Baba would never be impressed with anything he did no matter what. Another way Baba distanced himself from Amir is that he was never home. It seemed like Baba always had something better to do. Although Amir knew Baba was trying to help out out the community, he couldn't help but feel increasingly jealous of everything that stole Baba’s

attention.
I remembered all the times he didn’t come home until after dark, all the times I ate dinner alone. I’d ask Ali where Baba was, when he was coming home, though I knew full well he was at the construction site, overlooking this, supervising that… I already hated all the kids he was building the orphanage for; sometimes I wished they’d all died along with their parents (18).  
Amir was feeling insecure because he thought Baba didn’t care about him enough about him to be home. He became so envious of Baba’s attention that he started thinking violently towards those who attracted his attention.  It is not surprising he takes his anger out on the person who steals Baba’s attention away, their servant Hassan. Another reason Amir feels insecure is because he feels like Baba is ashamed of him. A particular example of this is when Amir and Baba were at the yearly Buzkashi concert, and Amir started crying because he saw somebody fall off their saddle and be viciously trampled to death.  Amir leads to say, “I will never forget Baba’s valiant efforts to conceal the disgusted look on his face as he drove in silence”(21). Although he tries to hide it, Amir clearly knows how ashamed Baba is of him. Amir just adds this to the list of the many things he has done to disappoint Baba and his reputation.  
    Hassan isn’t just an ordinary servant boy; he is practically family to Amir and Baba.

Although he is still a servant, Amir feels like Baba likes Hassan more than him as almost treats him like a son. Whenever Amir goes somewhere with Baba, Baba always wants to invite Hassan. An example of this is when Baba took Amir to Ghargha Lake and told Amir to fetch Hassan. Amir had lied and said that Hassan had the runs and couldn’t go. He did this because he was jealous that Baba wanted Hassan there too instead of just him. He never received Baba’s full attention and felt like  Hassan was always stealing it from him. Once at Ghargha Lake, Hassan and Amir were skimming stones and Hassan had made his stone skip more that Amir. Baba had put his arm around Hassan and, he even patted him on the back. This made Amir instantly jealous of Hassan because he  received so much special attention from Baba. Amir’s primary goal in life was to impress Baba yet, Hassan seemed to do that naturally. For Hassan’s birthday, Baba got him a special gift of plastic surgery. Amir felt like Baba’s gift was so special and was jealous that Baba put so much thought into it. Amir wanted to be the only person Baba truly cared about, but it was clear that he cared about Hassan just as much. The only way Amir knew how to deal with this frustration and feel better about himself was by bullying

Hassan.
All Amir’s life, Hassan had been there as a friend for him in his troubles and times of need but, Amir wasn’t always there for him. When Amir read to Hassan, every time they stumbled across a word Hassan didn’t know, Amir would tease him about it, exposing his ignorance. He did this because he enjoyed feeling superior to Hassan. Since Amir was always worrying about if Baba liked Hassan more than him, feeling superior to Hassan was important to him. Another time Amir wanted to feel superior to Hassan is when he pressured Hassan to eat dirt for him. Amir wanted to see how loyal Hassan was, and he succeeded. Hassan told him that he would do anything for him, giving Amir the answer he craved. Amir just wanted to prove to himself that he could have power over Hassan and control him. Another instance when Amir bullied Hassan is when Amir forced Hassan to slingshot rocks into the eye of the neighbor's dog. Even though Amir got nothing out of seeing the poor dog in pain, it reminded him that he could control Hassan. When he bullied him, Amir didn’t see Hassan as much of a threat because he knew he could control him. Amir used bullying to hide his insecurities and distract himself.
Over and over again in The Kite Runner, the main character Amir takes advantage of his best friend and servant, Hassan. He does this because of his insecurities and because he fears that Baba likes Hassan better than him, which is the ongoing theme throughout this book. Who knows how Amir and Hassan’s lives would be affected if Baba was a normal loving father and treated Amir like a valued son and, Hassan as a servant.