The Doubtful and The Pure During political turmoil and social upheaval, would you be able to control your actions and feelings around the people you love, or would you be another factor in their already present unhappiness? "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini is about a boy named Amir who grows up in Afghanistan during societal shifts in power. It explores the friendship of Amir and his servant half-brother Hassan, depicting how birthright can alter one's entire life. The novel shows the different stages in which Amir is trying to redeem himself from past actions, ultimately making some questionable decisions. Overall, the book "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini portrays a toxic power struggle between the main characters, Amir and Hassan. …show more content…
The main protagonist, Amir, has held a position of social power over Hassan since birth because he was born as a Pashtun to a wealthy and well-respected man, Baba. On the other hand, Hassan was born on the opposite ethnic spectrum, as Hazara. Because the majority of Afghanistan's people were Pashtun, most Hazaras were treated as an inferior ethnicity. Traditionally, Hazaras undertook skilless tasks, which was appealing to Pashtun families as they could have their own house slave that did chores. Amir and Hassan spent much of their time together, which allowed them to form a bond, whether it was reading books or flying kites. However, even after all of this, Amir still does not see Hassan as a friend; he sees him as an inferior kid who is hanging around. Amir's true colors begin to show when he has a distinct advantage in gaslighting Hassan. A great example is when Hassan asks for the meaning of a word; because Amir had the advantage of going to school, he made up definitions, lying to the person who believed him most. In contrast, Hassan's character and morals are opposites to Amir's despite being from a lower
In the novel The Kite Runner, author Khaled Hosseini writes about Amir a young Afghan child who is a coward and who later as an adult seeks redemption from past mistakes. These characteristic effects Amir’s live throughout the novel from childhood to present. However, these are just words on a paper without some proof and the novel happily supports this either through the events or the behavior of other characters. Now let’s start with Amir’s past childhood.
While Amir is a Sunni, his childhood friend Hassan is Shi’a, an inferior division of Islam. Simultaneously, Amir and Hassan belong to different ethnic groups-Amir is Pashtun while Hassan is Hazara. During his childhood, Amir would constantly mock Hassan’s illiteracy and poke fun at him. But, the pivotal demonstration of pressure from his surroundings that makes Amir commit his own act of cruelty is when he watches Assef rape Hassan for refusing to give him the kite that Hassan caught for Amir. To this, Amir describes the look of Hassan’s face to “a look I had seen before. It was the look of the lamb” (76). Throughout his upbringing, Amir constantly believed that his father blamed him for killing his mother in childbirth. To Amir, Hassan’s rape is a sacrifice that Hassan has to pay the price, the lamb to kill, in order to win his father over. To justify his refusal to intervene, Amir reminds himself that “[Hassan] was just a Hazara, wasn’t he?” (77). Amir’s surroundings cause him to have a negative outlook on people that his society deem lower. Amir knows he is morally wrong for not helping Hassan, but his need for his father’s love overpowers his friendship. Adding to his pressures, Amir believes that Baba prefers Hassan over him, a belief that further drives him to be cruel to Hassan. As a result, Amir’s motivation for validation and love from his father
Amir goes through many events that take place in the book that change him, and the way he is perceived within the book. Amir is a young boy, who is tortured by his father’s scrutinizing character. Amir is also jealous of Hassan, because of the fact that his father likes Hassan instead of Amir. Amir fights for his father’s approval, interest, and love. This is when Amir changes for the good as he deals with the guilt of the rape of Hassan. Amir witnessed Hassan getting raped, but decides to nothing in order to win over his father’s interest. The guilt that Amir builds up is carries from his premature times as a child to his mature times. From Afghanistan to
The history of Afghanistan influences the way Amir’s life develops by affecting his relationship with himself, Baba, and Hassan. People are greatly influenced by the culture that they grow up in, and a community’s culture is shaped by the events that they go through. Throughout the book, the reader can see that Amir struggles with his self-confidence and often-times looks down on himself as a weak and unworthy human being.
Amir's mother passes away during his birth, and his left with the suspicion that his father blames him for her death. Amir longes for his father's attention and approval, but does not receive any affection as a son. He grows up with his Hazara best friend, Hassan. In Afghanistan culture, Hazaras are considered lower class and inferiors in society. Amir describes his friendship with Hassan saying, “then he would remind us that there was a brotherhood between people who had fed from the same breast, a kinship that not even time could break."
At times Amir had trouble realizing that they were best friends because Hassan was a Hazara, he was of Asian descent and of the Shiite tribe, he resembles his ancestors, the Mongols. Amir is a Pashtun, of the Sunni tribe, a majority group in Afghanistan. Hassan was loyal and showed endless amounts of respect and praise to Amir. Though Hassan knew what Amir had witnessed and done to him, he covered up for him. He did not ever let Amir get into trouble with Baba, his father. Hassan was also the half brother of Amir, neither knew until Rahim Khan, a friend of Baba’s informed Amir. He and Hassan had a connection, both as friends but also as brothers.
The novel tells the story of, Amir. Amir is portrayed as the protagonist; the novel revolves around his recollection of past events 26 years ago as a young boy in Afghanistan. Amir is adventures and brave. Hassan is Amir’s closets friend and servant to his house and is portrayed as a subservient male, often supporting and accepting blame for Amir’s actions. Assef, Wali and Kamal are the “ bad guys” within the novel; Wali and Kamal hold down Hassan and Assef rapes him purely for ethnicity differences, as Hassan is a Hazara. Afghanistan boys are supposed to be athletic and true to Islam .The leaving of Soraya Hassan mother with another man gives the notion that women lack morality leaving behind there children .The Taliban laws are followed closely within Afghanistan and women are treated without any rights, beatings, stoning and execution become the reality for women who violate the laws. Culturally Afghanistan women are portrayed to be subservient to there husband only live and breath to provide children, cook food and clean their
The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, follows the maturation of Amir, a boy from Afghanistan, as he discovers what it means to stand up for what he believes in. His quest to redeem himself after betraying his friend and brother, Hassan, makes up the heart of the novel. When Amir hears that his father’s old business partner, Rahim Khan, is sick and dying, he travels to Pakistan to say his goodbyes. Rahim Khan tells Amir about Hassan’s life and eventual death; the Taliban murdered Hassan while he was living in Amir’s childhood home. As his dying wish, Rahim Khan asks Amir to rescue Hassan’s son, Sohrab, from an orphanage in Afghanistan. Although Amir refuses at first, he thinks about what Rahim Khan had always told him: “There is a way to be good again…” (226), which gives him the incentive he needs to return to Afghanistan and find Sohrab. Hosseini draws parallels between Amir’s relationship with Hassan and Amir’s relationship with Sohrab in order to demonstrate the potential of redemption.
...h him; another part to this is because he believes Hassan is just a dirty Hazara boy. “I'd chase the car, screaming for it to stop. I'd pull Hassan out of the backseat and tell him I was sorry, so sorry, my tears mixing with rainwater. We'd hug in the downpour (Hosseini 109).” After Amir causes Hassan to leave, he laments about letting, more like making, his best friend leave him. He sees the dirty Hazara boy as his best friend at that moment. In both of these stories, the main character realizes how similar they are to the other social or religious group.
With the struggle of social stature between two boys; Amir, a Pashtun - Sunni Moslem that is considered of a higher class with seniority, and Hassan, who is looked down upon because he is a Hazara of lower class. Hassan and his father Ali, (a good friend of Baba, Amir’s father) live in a mud shack on Baba’s property together – they are servants for Amir and Baba. Despite the social differences between the boys, and at a time in Afghanistan when bigotry has sparked flame between these two ethnic groups, they still find a way to create what seems to be an everlasting bond with one another. “Hassan and I fed from the same breasts. We took our first steps on the same lawn in the same yard, and under the same roof, we spoke our first words. Mine was Baba, his was Amir.” (Page 13) Even as children, Amir was always the weaker one; Hassan was always sticking up for him and fighting his battles for him. Even though Amir was educated and Hassan was not, Amir still found ways to be jealous of Hassan at times especially when he corrected him and foun...
In the book, Hassan and Amir’s social statues are different. Amir is a Pashtun, which is the majority group of Kabul. Amir is well respected because of his father and he doesn’t get verbally abused due to his race. However, Hassan is a Hazara, which is the minority group in Kabul. Hazaras are looked down upon and used as servants. Hassan is verbally and physically abused due to his race. Assef is the antagonist of the book and he tortures Hassan by calling him “flat-nose” and raping him. Race is one of the main themes of separation that shows how social classes are separated due to race. Amir also looks down on Hassan for being a Hazara. In the book, Amir never shows his friendship with Hassan when in public. Hassan is ridiculed thought out the book but remains loyal and friendly to Amir.
Raised like brothers yet they could not be more different. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini shows how two brothers, Amir and Hassan, could be alike in many ways, yet personalities are completely different. Amir and Hassan although raised like brother, and later discovered they were half brothers, were completed individuals in personality, meaning of life, and how they treated each other. The story takes them from early childhood, to the day Hassan leaves, to Amir growing up and going back to Kabul. The Kite Runner takes you on a emotional journey about a boy named Amir, and his uncommon bond to his servant Hassan, whom Amir had to go through choices to abandon his friend amidst the increasing struggles politics, religion, ethics, and love.
There are many oversimplifications and stereotypes, even if they may be from a reality-based ideology. The ethnic group of the Hazara and the Pashtun is not entirely developed. Amir was always referred to as a Pashtun but the background of the Pashtun isn't fully touched upon. The narrator only focuses on the Mongolian-like physical features of the Hazara's, and because of this diversity, they are considered a more lowly class than Pashtuns.
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.
He illustrates that in many example, such as, Baba, however, never calls Ali, Hassan’s father, his friend, because of their ethnic and religious differences. Also the culture can play an important part in this novel. For an example, when Hassan is getting raped by Assef and hi friends, Amir refers to the sacrificial act of the lamb because Amir is Pashtun and Hassan is Hazara (Pashtan is Sunni Muslim, but Hazzara is Shi’a Muslim). At that time, Assef says Amir is part of the problem for being friend with Hazara. For another example, when Amir and baba moves to America, they communicate with the Afghan group there because the search about people look like them, and behave with the same