An Unbreakable Family Love

1143 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Critically analyse Amir character in the kite runner

An Unbreakable Family Love
The story of Rostam and Sohrab is a key element in Khaled Hosseini's novel The Kite Runner. As the favorite tale of Amir and Hassan in their childhood, this epic story also has a manifold significance throughout the novel. On the one hand, this ancient story can be considered as a metaphor for the characters and destinies of Baba, Amir and Hassan. On the other hand, the divergence in understanding the fates of Rostam and Sohrab demonstrates how backgrounds and experiences influence Amir's and Hassan's life attitudes. Moreover, the name of Sohrab has special meanings to Amir and Hassan, because it is not only an anchor of Hassan's heroic dream, but also the hope and motivation of Amir's redemption.
Comparing the story of Rostam and Sohrab to the story of Baba, Amir and Hassan, there are some significant similarities and connections. In Shahnamah, Rostam is a tragic hero who gives a deadly strike to his greatest enemy Sohrab in a battle, "only to discover that Sohrab is his long-lost son" (29). Rostam morally wounds his son unintentionally, but Sohrab chooses to bear the hurt since he holds a sincere love for his father in his heart. The dying words of Sohrab show how eagerly Sohrab wants to meet his father, and he finally proves his love for Rostam with his death. In The Kite Runner, Baba’s character image is a parallel to Rostam’s, while Amir and Hassan share similar thoughts and personalities with Sohrab. Ashamed of the experience of fornicating with his servant's wife, Baba never admitted Hassan as his son. Baba always tries to compensate his fault by giving Hassan the same gifts as he gives Amir. Nevertheless, the obliteration of Hassan's true identity resulting from Baba's concealment is unque...

... middle of paper ...

...vel goes "For you, a thousand times over" (371), people are willing to do anything for their blood-connected relatives, and the devotion for the family relationship just doesn't need any reason.
No matter how the backgrounds change, the eternal theme is the family love in either the story of Rostam and Sohrab or the story of Baba, Amir and Hassan. Like Rostam, Baba and Amir have hurt persons who have the closest relationships with them. Nevertheless, like Sohrab who sacrifice himself to prove his love for his father, Amir and Hassan are willing to bear pains to protect and help the one they care about the most. Blood is thicker than water, and the ties of the family have a magical power. Through the connections between these two stories, Hosseini has proven that there is no irremissible fault in a family as long as everyone can hold the honest love in their hearts.

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of Critic Roland Barthes's 'The Kite Runner'

    1354 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Direct And Indirect Characterization In The Kite Runner

    292 Words  | 1 Pages

    Khaled Hosseini’s direct and indirect characterization of Amir in chapters twenty through twenty-three of The Kite Runner are used in order to advance the plot and Amir’s personality.

    Read More

  • Amir's Worthy Of Forgiveness In The Kite Runner

    1157 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Kite Runner is a book about a young boy, Amir, who faces many struggles as he grows up in Kabul and later moves to America to flee from the Taliban. His best friend and brother , Hassan, was a big part of his life, but also a big part of guilt he held onto for many years. The book describes Amir’s attempt to make up for the past and resolve his sins so he can clear his conscious. Amir is worthy of forgiveness because although he was selfish, he was very brave and faced his past.

    Read More

  • Kite Runner Literary Devices

    1359 Words  | 3 Pages

    Actions made in a moment of pain, anger or simple immaturity can take anyone to make mistakes that can change their lives completely. Everyone has something in the past that is shameful, embarrassing and regrettable that is kept present daily. Whether this event happened during childhood, adolescence or early adulthood, this event could haunt and have shaped that person’s life into what he or she is today. In a similar way, in the book The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is shaped by a tragic and eventful past that has shaped Amir’s, Baba’s, and Hassan’s life. The four literary elements that will be used in this essay that Hosseini strategically uses in this book are: irony, simile, Metaphor, and personification.

    Read More

  • The Kite Runner Compare And Contrast Baba And Amir

    671 Words  | 2 Pages

    There are many parallels between the first half of Amir’s life and the second half. Specifically, Hassan runs the blue kite for Amir during their adolescence and later Amir runs the kite for Sohrab. Moreover,

    Read More

  • The Kite Runner Shame Analysis

    1541 Words  | 4 Pages

    Though some may rise from the shame they acquire in their lives, many become trapped in its vicious cycle. Written by Khlaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner describes the struggles of Amir, his father Baba, and his nephew Sohrab as they each fall victim to this shameful desolation. One repercussion of Baba hiding his sinful adultery from Amir is that Amir betrays Hassan for his father’s stringent approval. Sohrab’s dirty childhood also traumatizes him through his transition to America. Consequently, shame is a destructive force in The Kite Runner. Throughout the course of the novel, Baba’s shameful affair, Amir’s selfish betrayal, and Sohrab’s graphic childhood destroy their lives.

    Read More

  • A Quest for Redemption by The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

    1131 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Kite Runner: A Journey Towards Atonement

    1939 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...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.

    Read More

  • Similarities between Amir and Author Khaled Hosseini in The Kite Runner

    1979 Words  | 4 Pages

    War establishes many controversial issues and problems within society and can often expose an individual to many economic and sociopolitical hardships; thus creating an altercation in the way they view life. Amir, from the novel The Kite Runner and the novel’s author Khaled Hosseini, both saw the harsh treatment toward the people of Afghanistan through a series of wars, invasions, and the active power of a Pashtun movement known as the Taliban. Amir, much like Hosseini, lived a luxurious and wealthy life in Kabul. He is well educated and immerses himself in reading and writing. After transitioning from a life in Afghanistan to a life in the United States, both Hosseini and Amir faced obstacles in order to assimilate to American society. In The Kite Runner, written by Khaled Hosseini, the protagonist Amir parallels the experiences and hardships that Hosseini endured in his own lifetime.

    Read More

  • Baba In The Kite Runner

    1265 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout Khaled Hosseini’s novel The Kite Runner, Hosseini depicts a character unlike any other, Baba. Baba is portrayed throughout the novel as a tough man who is always willing to help someone in need. Baba seems to love and care for everyone in the novel except his son, Amir. Amir is always trying to pursue eminence in Baba’s eye and give Baba a reason not to loathe him. Amir thought Baba hated him because when Amir was born, it killed his mother, Baba’s “princess.” Baba’s transformation throughout the novel is very clear as he transforms from a father who despises his son, to accepting his son and finally being a true father to Amir.

    Read More

  • The Kite Runner

    1421 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Kite Runner focuses on the relationship between two Afghan boys Amir and Hassan. Amir is a Pashtun and Sunni Muslim, while Hassan is a Hazara and a Shi’a. Despite their ethnic and religious differences, Amir and Hassan grow to be friends, although Amir is troubled by Hassan, and his relationship with his companion, one year his junior, is complex. Amir and Hassan seem to have a "best friend" type relationship. The two boys, Hassan and Amir, are main characters in the book titled, The Kite Runner. The two boys have a relationship that is significantly different compared to most. There are many different facets that distinguish the relationship the boys possess. The boys do write their names in a pomegranate tree as the "sultans of Kabul" (Kite Runner 27) but, their friendship is not strong and it is one sided. Hassan has love for Amir. He loves him like a brother. Hassan is exceedingly loyal to Amir. The relationship between the two boys is emotionally wearing and rather gloomy for the most part. The main reason for their complicated relationship is the fact that Amir is Pashtun, and Hassan is Hazara. The Afghan society places Hassan lower than Amir. Hassan is Amir's servant. The placement of Hassan in the Afghan society disenables Amir from becoming Hassan's true friend. Amir sees Hassan as lower than human. Amir ruins the chance for friendship between himself and Hassan because he is jealous of Hassan, he thinks of Hassan as a lower human, and because Amir possesses such extreme guilt for what he has done to Hassan. Amir is an unforgivable person overall.

    Read More

  • Kite Runner Theme Essay

    1380 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • kite runner

    1000 Words  | 2 Pages

    Khaled Hosseini, the author of The Kite Runner, grew up in prejudiced Afghanistan during the 1960’s as a middle-class Pashtun living with Hazaras working for his family. His move to America after the Communist Coup proved difficult for his family, especially his father. In his novel, Hosseini writes through a young boy, Amir, very similar to himself, who grows up with his father and two Hazara servants in Afghanistan at the time of the Taliban attacks. Both Amir and his father, Baba, treat their servants, Hassan and Ali, like family. Society, however, does not approve of such relationships between Pashtuns and Hazaras. As Amir hides and watches horrified, another Pashtun boy rapes Hassan. This leads to the continuation of Amir’s internal conflict about the treatment of Hazaras by the public, and also makes him feel guilty and self-conscious throughout his entire life. In addition, Amir strives for affection and attention from his rather indifferent father. Amir’s outward conformity to societal values in his relationships with both Hassan and Baba, as a result of his inner struggle and guilt, contribute greatly to the significance of The Kite Runner.

    Read More

  • The Kite Runner Amir Character Analysis

    614 Words  | 2 Pages

    Amir begins his life as a meek boy who desperately clambered to earn his father's’ affection. He was a cowardly, selfish, short minded boy who would even stab his childhood friend in the back for a slim chance at bonding with his dad. He was outshone by his best friend, who would stand between the bullies and Amir, and fight Amir’s battles for him. His father noticed this, and told Rahim Khan “A

    Read More

  • Theme Of Father And Son In The Kite Runner

    1500 Words  | 3 Pages

    Hassan and Sohrab is completely set aside to Amir’s relationship with Baba, and their family acts as a foil to Amir’s, promoting the theme of the necessity of an empathetic father. Hassan listens to his son,enjoys spending time with him, and plays with him. He takes his son’s feelings into account. Sohrad has a strong connection with his father and enjoys his early years spent with Hassan. While Amir’s early childhood was spent trying to get his father 's attention while also trying to find ways to make him proud of him. He tries his best to make a bond with his father while Sohrab’s bond is organic and natural. Sohrad has his father’s love and affection and does what he is told while Amir constantly strives without success for his father’s love. This leads to him carrying on bad decisions.These two father-son relationship hassan is foil to Baba while Sohrad is a foil to Amir. Both Baba and Hassan are strong and brave men who stand up for what they believe is right in the world. For example Babe puts his life at risk trying to save a woman from rap by a soilder. “Tell him I’ll take a thousand of his bullets before I let this indecency take place”. Same thing goes for Hassan, when he went to go get a kite for Amir. Hassan runs the losing kite for Amir, then finds himself in a situation rap, mine while Amir made a choice to put

    Read More

More about An Unbreakable Family Love

Open Document