Cultural Differences in The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

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Who knew that the most opposite of people could become one in the same? The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini shows a capacious amount of love, betrayal, and friendship towards two completely different people. Amir, the son of a wealthy man in Kabul, Afghanistan, develops a friendship with his servant, Hassan. Amir and Hassan have a rather complicated relationship for two personalities that are originally very different. Hassan has strong feelings for Amir, but Amir never admits to their friendship because of their difference in social standing. As the years progressed, Amir is put in a difficult situation, during which his actions affect their lives forever which led them to follow two separate paths. Looking into his past, aged and wise Amir looks down upon the choices he has made as a child that alter his friendship with Hassan in a negative way. Throughout Amir’s life, he makes choices based on fear and guilt which results in a life filled with shame, until he is ultimately redeemed. Amir and Hassan’s relationship can be described as a set of opposites at the beginning of the novel, but as the novel progresses, it is shown that they could not be more similar, and by the end that they are one in the same.
As young boys, Amir and Hassan enjoyed doing everything together; however, Amir never considers Hassan and him friends, and their personalities are shown to be quite different at this early stage in their life. Amir is a Pashtun and Hassan is a Hazara, which means they have opposite social standings, but Amir spends most of the first twelve years of his life with Hassan anyway. Despite his social-standing and his childhood experiences, Hassan was both physically and mentally stronger than Amir according to Amir’s father, who said...

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...down a kite in the attempt to teach Sohrab about kite running, and thus taking over Hassan’s previous position as the kite runner. This is the key moment where it is shown that Amir has turned into Hassan. After many years of struggling with the past, Amir has overcome his mind and has changed into a better person.
At the beginning of the novel, Amir and Hassan were complete opposites, but as the novel progresses, it is shown how they are one in the same. When Amir was younger, he did not have the caring and faithful qualities like Hassan did, but once he was called upon to take charge of an important situation, he quickly gained those qualities. Amir overcame his past struggles to become more mature and gain those necessary qualities to live an honest life. Hassan brought out the best qualities in Amir, and their unique friendship changed Amir’s life forever.

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