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Amir and baba's relationship
Kite runner analysis
Kite runner analysis
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1. On page 202, Amir states “He knew about Assef, the kite, the money, the watch with the lightning bolt hands”. Why does he compare the “watch” to “lightning bolt hands”?
Amir compared the watch to lightning bolt hands to show the destructive quality that the watch possessed. Similar to how a lightning bolt causes extreme destruction, the watch served the same purpose. Amir used the watch to frame Hassan of a crime that he had not committed. This led to Ali and Hassan moving to Hazarajat and eventually changing Baba and Amir’s life forever. Everything changed after Ali and Hassan left; Afghanistan lost its peacefulness and Baba and Amir had to leave their home forever and escape to America. Their way of life changed and they always yearned for the same feeling of happiness and togetherness that they had before the incident with the watch.
2. Sanaubar returning in such a miserable condition and empty-handed. What theme does that incident show?
3. When the Taliban group settled in, everyone celebrated, but Hassan. What did that incident foreshadow?
4. Why does Rahim Khan bring up the topic of Hassan being
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Since Hassan was Baba’s child, he was also Amir’s step-brother and that makes Sohrab Amir’s nephew. This makes it Amir’s duty to help out his nephew as they are related by blood. In Afghan tradition, blood relations serve great importance and Rahim Khan carefully plays this card to ignite motivation within Amir. Even after informing Amir that he knew about Hassan’s rape and the fact that Amir witnessed it, the watch incident and even telling him that he is aspiring to cowardice just like his father always said, Amir did not agree. Since Amir’s guilt did not encourage him to help out Sohrab, Rahim Khan revealed this secret with the hope that for once Amir’s selfishness will
Not only did Amir ran away, but he never told anyone what he saw, this including Hassan. However, this is not his last sin, for in a few months later Amir frames Hassan for thief. Hassan, when faced with Baba, say that he stole the items in question to protect Amir. And shorty leaves Baba’s service with his father against Baba insistent to stay with them and solve the issue in a differ manner… In the end, Amir got the bonding time he what with his father, however, at a cost of not helping Hassan in his greatest time of
Because he was ashamed of what he did. This quote explains how he ruins their trust between Hassan and Amir, “I went into Hassan's living quarters. I lifted the Hassan's pillow and placed the watch under it and a handful of afghan dollar bills”(91). Amir was brought into his father's office after this event with Hassan and Ali crying in the room. Shortly after ali made Baba take them to a bus station leaving Amir with guilt because of what he did. Another example is when Amir had promised Sohrab that he would never be taken back but he lied about his promise: “Sohrab it's only for a short period of time but you have to be placed in an orphanage until we get this sorted out”(342). This event lead to Sohrab losing all trust in Amir, making them lose the little connection the had.
The person who assaulted Hassan was Assef, and later in the book Assef is revealed to be in support of the Taliban and the Nazi-like way of thinking. In this case, Assef impacts Amir and Afghanistan in an alike way, haunting both Amir’s past and the city of Kabul. Additionally, Amir is also alike Afghanistan because the both of them have somewhat recovered despite their brutal history. Afghanistan now has control over the city of Kabul. They have rebuilt the city and to a degree, it has been restored to its former glory.
Baba is a very high standing man in Kabul, but seems to be extremely harsh to Amir when he was a child. He is a very large, tough man who was very well known in the town and as Amir stated in the novel, “Lore has it my father once wrestled a black bear in Baluchistan with his bare hands” (Hosseini 12). This small detail of Baba makes it known to the reader that Baba is a man of great courage and strength. Some may think that an honorable man is one with no flaws, but many disagree. Every human being makes mistakes, including Baba. When Amir grows up and goes back to visit Rahim Khan in Afghanistan, he finds out that his father lied to him his entire life about Hassan being his half-brother. He also finds out from Rahim Khan that all Baba had back then “was his honor, his name” (Hosseini 223). He did not tell Amir and Hassan that they were brothers because they had a different mother and that would have made their entire family be looked down upon in the town. He did it for their own good, and wanted for them both to grow up as honorable men, like himself. There is a difference in making mistakes and trying to do what’s best to fix them, rather than making the same mistakes over and over again, which is what Amir seemed to do in the novel. Amir was the exact opposite of his father, which made it very hard for them to have a
Over the course of the novel, Baba implies that he is not proud of Amir and the only reason he knows Amir is his son, is because he witnessed Amir 's birth. He states to Rahim Khan that he thinks Amir needs to stand up for himself more often. Countless times during the novel, Amir feels like he has to fight for his affection, that he has to earn Baba’s love. In order to prove himself worthy of affection and to redeem himself for not being a son Baba could be proud of, Amir yearns to win the kite runner competition. He reminisces on a memory, when all “I saw was the blue kite. All I smelled was victory. Salvation. Redemption” (65). In the aftermath of Hassan’s rape, Amir got rid of Hassan so he would not have to face the cause of his guilt on a daily basis. Amir buries the secret of the rape deep within him, where he hopes that it will not come back to haunt him, which is not the case. “We had both sinned and betrayed. But Baba had found a way to create good out of his remorse. What had I done, other than take my guilt out on the very same people I had betrayed, and then try to forget it all? What had I done, other than become an insomniac? What had I ever done to right things?” (303). As mentioned earlier, Amir is not one who stands up for himself. In order for Amir to redeem himself for betraying Hassan, and not standing up for him earlier,
Amir's actions showed how much of a coward he was. Amir suffered his whole life living with the guilt of knowing that Hassan was raped, much like Baba lived his whole life in guilt knowing that he stole the truth from Ali by committing adultery. Baba ran from the truth, and so did Amir to protect the family name, even if that meant betraying the people closest to him. Baba was a man more worried about his image than anything, and that is what he taught his son as well. Slowly that is all Amir knew how to do: protect his family and himself, leading him into a life of guilt, and running from people when situations were challenging, instead of making the admirable decision and help a
In the beginning Amir is a coward who cant defend himself and through out the book this begins to change and finally he fully changes in the end of the book. Amir never was the type of boy to fight or stand up for himself. For example, Amir over hears Baba say to Rahim Khan, “You know what happens when the neighborhood boys tease him? Hassan steps in and fend them off…Im telling you Rahim, there is something missing in that boy” (Hosseini, 23). Baba is complaining to Rahim and he doesn't understand why Amir lacks the courage to stand up for himself. He puzzles that Hassan is the one to step in and defend Amir. He also is very confused over the fact that a hazara is more courageous than his son. Baba knows that Amir is not violent and he wishes that he would just stand up for himself. Amir overhears this and is very troubled that Baba doesn’t approve of him. To Amir this is a realization that he is a coward and his father notices it. Later in the book, Amir sees Hassan being raped and he is contemplation jumping in and being courageous because he says, “I had one last chance to make a decision. One final opportunity to decide ...
Just as Hassan is the primary juxtaposition for Amir, Rahim Khan is the primary juxtaposition for Baba. During Amir’s childhood, Rahim Khan is the fatherly, caring figure that Baba should have been. Rahim Khan encourages Amir’s writing and is the reason that Amir pursues writing in the end. However, this should have been Baba because it is a father’s job to always love his son unconditionally. Even more than this though, Rahim Khan also seems to be an all-knowing figure in the household. He knew about the rape and that Amir witnessed it and yet did nothing. However, this knowledge could be used for anything. Instead of using it to take advantage of Amir, he uses this knowledge to sympathize with Amir. Just as a father should do, he takes Amir’s side and supports him even though Amir does not deserve it. He writes Amir a letter and tells him not to feel guilty about what he has done. Even in person Rahim Khan says to Amir “[insert quote here].” Rahim Khan has no reason to care about Amir and be nice to Amir and yet unlike Baba, he does. He shows that love and care do not need a reason. This is something that both Amir and Baba seem to struggle with throughout the book. It is only after drastic life changes that they begin to realize that they should care about other people around
Amir also committed a sin that affected him negatively throughout his life. This sin occurred when Hassan, Amir’s best friend during his childhood, was getting raped by Assef. This situation occurred when the children were chasing kites. Hassan got the kite first, but Assef insisted that he wanted the kite. Assef also had a racial and religious prejudice against Hassan. Because Hassan did not give the kite, Assef decides to rape Hassan as a “punishment”. Instead of helping his friend out, Amir just walked away from the scene and let Hassan get violated in one of the most vulgar ways. After this incident, Hassan quietly walked back home and gave Amir the kite for which he was confronted by Assef for. The kite in this situation proves to be an important symbol. Whereas earlier in the novel the kite represented happiness and fun to Amir, in this situation it represented sin and guilt to Amir. The only reason that Hassan got raped was that he was trying to get a kite for Amir. Now the kite acts a reminder to Hassan of his wrong-doing and it will now begin to haunt him for a long time. Although when in America, Amir does not get reminded about Hassan, deep inside he still feels guilty. Amir immediately begins to feel the most guilt when he goes to Iran when Rahim Khan, Amir’s childhood friend, asks him to come. He feels that Rahim Khan has reminded him of his “past of unatoned sins”(Hosseini 2).
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.
Even when Amir was nasty and cruel to him, he had always been a faithful, kind soul. He never doubted that Amir was his friend and that he held a special place in his heart. When Hassan got raped, Amir did not help Hassan. There were ultimately two options: step up to the bullies and rescue Hassan, or run away. Even after hearing Assef say how Amir would never do the same for him, about how he would never stand up for him, he still chose to run away and pretend like he did not just witnessed what had happend. There is also scene where Amir is feeling guilty and both the boys are around a pomegranate tree. Amir just starts pelting Hassan with pomegranates and threatens to him to throw one back. He exclaims, “You’re a coward,” (...). And what does Hassan do? He picks up a pomegranate, but instead of hurling it in Amir’s direction, he smashes it on himself and says, “are you satisfied?” (....). There is this constant pressure on Hassan and Amir’s relationship. The Afghan society would not approve of such “friendship.” Both of the boys were good, but Amir was so young when he made the mistakes that it made the reader question whether there was a way for Amir to be morally good again.
Amir trying to win the affection of his father, Baba, but it is a struggle because Baba seen how Amir is not like him at all when he was a kid, therefore he cannot really relate to Amir, so it seems like he is distancing himself from Amir. Alternatively, he tends to show more care for Hassan because Hassan possesses the traits that Baba carried when he was a young boy. Hassan repeatedly stood up for Amir and only did things that would make Amir happy and Amir eventually took advantage of that. Hosseini shows this by stating, “Sometimes, up into those trees, I talked Hassan into firing walnuts with his slingshot at the neighbor’s one-eyed German shepherd. Hassan never wanted to, but if I asked, really asked, he wouldn’t deny me. Hassan never denied me anything” (Hosseini 3-4). This is an example how Amir manipulates Hassan into doing things for him, while he knows that Hassan will not deny him because he just wants Amir to be happy. Someone would say that given their social statuses, Amir being a Pashtun and Hassan being Hazara; Hazaras being the slaves, the Pashtun the slave owner, that Hassan has to do whatever Amir tells him because of their rankings. Although, this is not the case because they do not go by these rankings, Amir is just being very manipulative because of the emotions that Hassan has towards him and his ultimate goal, being someone that Baba would accept and be proud
Amir actually believes that Baba hates him and blames him for the death of his mother. Amir overhearing Baba’s conversation with Rahim Khan only makes matters worse. Amir concludes from this that Baba will only forgive him for killing his mother if he wins the kite fighting tournament and runs the last kite cut. This is the beginning of the end for Amir’s life as it is, because at this point, Amir would do anything to win the tournament and get the last kite. It’s Baba’s poor parenting that pushes Amir into letting Hassan be raped and Amir is so desperate for Baba’s approval that for a moment, it’s actually worth it to him. Amir’s confidence and emotional health quickly deteriorates, however, and he carries the guilt of what he did to Hassan for the rest of his life. We see that it still affects him when he is much older when he remarks that he believes that “something, someone, somewhere, had decided to deny [him] fatherhood for the things [he] had done”
Amir wants to get rid of Hassan because he feels so guilty about the rape that he thinks it would be best if either him or Hassan were gone. Baba has always told Amir that the biggest sin was theft, so Amir tries to set Hassan up by saying he stole Amir’s presents. Amir went into Hassan’s room and put his new watch and money underneath Hassan’s mattress. Then Amir went over to Baba’s office and knocked on the door. He then tells Baba that all of his gifts are missing and that he thinks Hassan stole them. When they go to check in Hassan’s room, they find the gifts where Amir had left them: right underneath Hassan’s mattress. When Baba asks Hassan if he stole the gifts, Hassan says yes. Hassan knew that he had been set up, but he still took the blame for Amir’s sake, because if Baba found out that Amir had tried to get Hassan in trouble, then Amir would’ve gotten in a lot deeper trouble than Hassan did. “My heart sank and I almost blurted out the truth. Then I understood: This was Hassan's final sacrifice for me. If he'd said no, Baba would have believed him because we all knew Hassan never lied. And if Baba believed him, then I'd be the accused; I would have to explain and I would be revealed for what I really was. Baba would never, ever forgive me.” (Hosseini 105). Hassan had once again, sacrificed himself for Amir’s sake. Amir finally realizes how good of a friend Hassan truly is, and begins to feel more
Amir shows change within his actions as we go through the novel, he realizes his father’s approval isn’t all he needs but also a way to redeem himself from allowing Hassan to be raped. Amir shows another side to his character when he took care of Baba while he was dying, he cared for him until he died. When Amir visited Rahim Khan and was told to find Sorab, just by agreeing it also shows he’s developed a more caring and compassionate side. Amir even allowed Assef to beat him senselessly just for the boy, showing that the boy was a priority to him and would give up his life to save the him just like Hassan did for Amir. In the end the two boys live together in San Fransisco only having each other left to lean on, and Amir treats the Sorab just like Hassan, treated him, he would do anything for him a thousand times