Assef is the character responsible for Amir’s guilt. He is the one who raped Hassan and if he did not, the story would be changed drastically. He is the source of evil in the novel. The sociopathic qualities he demonstrates are very evident. Assef if very different from the other characters in the sense that he never feels guilt and has no conscious. Baba and Amir both are able to redeem themselves but Assef has no remorse after his actions. Assef believes that “Afghanistan is the land of Pashtuns … we are the true Afghans, the pure Afghans, not this Flat-nose here. His people pollute our homeland.”(40) Assef bullies Hazara’s such as Hassan as he believes people like him should not be in Afghanistan. His actions are very rude and he never apologizes
He made a sweeping, grandiose gesture with his hands. " Afghanistan for Pashtuns, I say. That's my vision." (40) Assef rapes Hassan went they are children and later Hassan’s son Sohrab. He also stones people to death for fun and people see him as a hero for it.
This quote, an excerpt from the letter Rahim Khan wrote to Amir, reveals the inner torment Baba faced regarding his two sons, whom he didn’t know how to love fairly, and the guilt he carried for fathering an illegitimate son, guilt that is reminiscent of Amir’s guilt for betraying Hassan. All his life, Baba had been hard on Amir, withholding the fatherly affection Amir longed for, but, as Rahim reveals, this was also hard on Baba. Baba wanted to be able to show affection to both of his sons, but didn’t know how when one of his sons was illegitimate and the other represented everything that made him feel guilty. In this quote, it is also apparent that Baba is much more like Amir than either of them thought. Baba harbored guilt for betraying Ali, just as Amir suffered guilt for betraying Hassan.
One day when Hassan and Amir are walking through Afghanistan, they come across Assef, a sociopathic bully known for his brass knuckles and his rancor towards Hazaras. He prepares to fight Amir and Hassan, but Hassan threatens to shoot out Assef's left eye with his slingshot, saying they'll call him "one-eyed Assef." Before the daunted bully backs off he warns them that he will have his revenge.
Life in America for Baba and Amir is much different than their life in Afghanistan. Specifically, Amir adapts well to America. He completes high school and college. Furthermore, he follows his dream of becoming a writer. In American Amir becomes a young man who marries Soraya. The reader witnesses a kinder, non-vindictive Amir.
Fathers have a remarkable influence on their children. Every son looks up to their dad, and dreams of becoming a man just like them. In the novel Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, Ali and Baba play a tremendous role in their sons lives: Hassan and Amir. Both boys strive to become the man their father is, and would go to any measures just to mirror their fathers. All children need a father figure in their lives, and even though Ali and Baba raised their children differently, they were both loved unconditionally.
Hassan defends Amir from being beaten by Assef, who has a reputation in Kabul of being a psychopath. When Assef threatens them, Hassan does not hesitate to respond saying, “You are right, Agha. But perhaps you didn’t notice that I’m the one holding the slingshot. If you make a move, they’ll have to change your nickname from ‘the Ear Eater’ to ‘One-Eyed Assef,’ because I have this rock pointed at your left eye” (45-46). Later on, Amir stands up for Sohrab, Hassan’s son, as Hassan stood up for Amir countless times before.
“A boy who won’t stand up for himself becomes a man who won’t stand up to anything,” Baba noticed of his young son, Amir. It was the winter of 1964 when Hassan was born in a little shack outside of the father and son’s home that would change the rest of the immature Afghani’s life. Baba, an honorable and praised man, maintained unorthodox beliefs and courage to last his entire country an eternity. He grew up with a Hazara servant, Ali, who remained loyal throughout his entire service. Hassan lived as his only offspring, yet later discovered to be Baba’s child, grew up with Amir like a brother, always happily obeying and defending him. Throughout The Kite Runner, Baba’s statement about courage proved extremely significant. The evidence of which presented itself when Amir ignored Hassan’s attack, pleaded his father not say anything to the taunting Russian checkpoint soldier, and when he nearly
Happiness is everyone’s main goal in life; however, one cannot define happiness, nor how it is achieved. Happiness plays a pivotal role in the novel “Kite Runner”, written by Khaled Hosseini. The main character, Amir, is on a quest for happiness and strives for it throughout his entire life; however, it is not without struggle and hardship. Amir achieves many accomplishments in this novel which ultimately lead up to him becoming truly happy. One of Amir’s accomplishments that contributed in his quest for happiness is his marriage with his love, Soraya. Another one of Amir’s accomplishments that also contributed in his quest for happiness is the discovery of his father’s flaws. Furthermore, Amir also gained happiness by giving his orphaned nephew,
I am not familiar with your reference, but I kind of know that you are referring to some famous story of philosopher. So, Amir thought process definitely could be related to that. You mentioned that Amir’s choice is not based on Hassan, Baba, or Rahim Khan, but because he wants to break the cycle of lies he has faced throughout his life. I think this is a golden opportunity for Amir to redeem himself. The choices he makes will decide who reset of his life will be different from now on. How far is he willing to go save his nephew? He is willing to put his life on line just like how Hassan did his?
The novel, The Kite Runner, and its protagonist, Amir, present an archetypical example of the relation alienated characters have with the works they are in. There are several alienated characters in this novel, one of which is Assef. Assef is sociopathic and violent older boy who is also the antagonist. He always scorned Amir for associating with Hassan, a Hazara, which is, according to Assef, an inferior race that should only live in Hazarajat. He is a devout supporter of Adolf Hitler and his ideologies. On page 35 he says “It’s too late for Hitler, but not for us” (Hosseini), suggesting that he wanted to follow in his footsteps and annihilate who he believed was a substandard race from his country. Assef contributes extensively towards Amir’s development. Firstly, he killed Hassan. If this would not have occurred, then no circumstance would have unearthed itself for Amir to redeem himself. Secondly, and most importantly, according to Baba, Assef presented a perfect example of what a...
As said by Lehman Strauss, “To atone for means to make amends.” Atonement for a sin can be achieved when one redeems himself. One is never truly free of their sins until they attain redemption otherwise it haunts them for their entire life. True redemption is when guilt leads to good. In The Kite Runner, Amir tries to atone for his sins by rescuing and adopting his nephew, Sohrab. His guilt led him to perform a good deed.
Assef used his status to bully and take advantage of Hassan and Amir. When Assef saw Hassan and Amir together, he wanted to scare them by having his brass knuckles out and ready to fight. “Assef slipped on the brass knuckles. Gave me an icy look … I looked in his crazy eyes and saw that
Moral ambiguity is lack of clarity in decision making. Basically, moral ambiguity is when you have an issue, situation, or question that has moral or ethical elements, but the morally correct action to take is unclear, due to conflicting. The author of The Kite Runner is Khaled Hosseini, the book is about a boy named Amir and how much of a easy life he has at first, but near the middle of the book his life is horrible from there to the end of the book.
Assef is brutally violent and unnecessarily cruel. The kid lives in the same area as Amir and Hassan, but is of a completely different family: being half Aghan and half German, he represents the sort of Nazi side of the Afghan culture back then: adoring the concepts of Hitler, he wants to flush out what he believes to be trash and only leave the Pushtan people – this is also the source of his hate for Hassan, the Hazara, onto whom he looks down like one who doesn't know any better would look to a dog. Assef is quoted saying 'Too late for Hitler. But not for us," where by 'us' he means Pushtans.
Assef had showed hatred towards Hazaras, as he furthermore compared himself to Hitler. Assef stated, “Afghanistan is the land of Pashtuns. It always has been, always will be.” (Hosseini pg. 43) This quote has settled the fact that he had strong feelings of hatred towards Hazaras, and feels the need to remove them from Afghanistan. Therefore, not only did he rape Hassan as an act of revenge, but he wanted to show his assertion that Pashtuns have power over Hazaras. In addition, not only did Assef want to feel authoritative, he wanted to make Hassan feeble. This is a common effect of rape, as the person who is being raped feels powerless and helpless. It was Assef’s form of revenge, after being threatened by Hassan with a slingshot. As well, he wanted Hassan to remember it forever, as he stated, “... so it will always remind you of what I’m about to do.” (Hosseini pg. 78). Furthermore, he stated, “And there’s nothing sinful about teaching a lesson to a disrespectful donkey” implying that he showed no remorse for what he was about to do. Also, this specific event was not the only time rape was brought up in this novel. When Amir and Baba were fleeing Afghanistan, a young Russian soldier nearly raped a woman as “a payment to let them pass.” When Karim was translating the words that the Russian soldier spoke, “He says… He says every price has a tax” (Hosseini pg. 121), he was implying how the Russian soldier was