Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner

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Grace Pulpit once said “A friend is the one who comes in when the whole world has gone out.” True friends will always be present and have your back regardless of the circumstances. Amir and Hassan share a unique relationship; they are friends, brothers, and enemies. Growing up together, Hassan always had Amir’s back, but Amir did not always have Hassan’s. This developed a friendship that was one-sided, but the boys still had a close bond regardless. Amir says “…we were kids who had learned to crawl together, and no history, ethnicity, society, or religion was going to change that…(25).” The relationship between the two boys is one that is difficult to fully comprehend. The bond they share is one that not many people get to experience. The boys are separated from each other after the Russian invasion, but it is Amir’s decisions later in life that show what Hassan truly meant to him. They share a relationship that had varying definitions, but in the end they both loved each other. Amir and Hassan share this diverse friendship because of Amir’s selfishness, jealousy, and cowardly actions.
Amir is afraid to be Hassan’s true friend because he is different. This highlights Amir’s selfishness. In the novel, Amir often points out Hassan’s harelip, and the fact that he is a Hazara. He describes Hassan as “… a boy with a Chinese doll face perpetually lit by a harelipped smile (25).” Amir is not sure if he wants to be around Hassan because he is selfish and he recognizes that Hassan is in a lower social class than him. This makes the young Amir hesitant to be around Hassan because of what other people’s opinions might be. Amir is influenced heavily by this and that makes him grow afraid of becoming Hassan’s true friend. Amir is not stron...

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...ir and Hassan share is unique. They share a bond as brothers, but Amir at times considers them enemies. Their friendship is very diverse because of Amir’s selfishness, jealously, and cowardly actions. From childhood, they boys grew up together. Hassan had always been there for Amir; his first words were even “Amir”. This shows the loyalty that Hassan has for him. Amir is caught in a difficult situation in which he is trying to win his father’s attention, but Baba keeps a secret from the boys which could have totally alter their lives. Because of that and Amir’s cowardly actions the relationship crumbles, but Amir’s true feelings for Hassan come about when he travels back to Afghanistan to save Sohrab. He loved Hassan his whole life; it just took age for Amir to realize that he did.

Works Cited

Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. New York: Riverhead, 2003. Print.

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