Even when Hassan shows Amir his unconditional loyalty, Amir still betrays him for his own personal gain. Amir enters a kite fighting competition in hopes of winning his father’s affection that he feels he does not currently have. He doesn’t have a lot in common with his father, but when his father was a child, he wins a kite fighting competition and talks about it with pride years later. Amir thinks if he wins one, Baba will be proud of him and give him the affection he wants. Eventually, he wins and his half-brother and close friend, Hassan, promises to run the kite for him. When Amir goes to look for Hassan, he finds him in an alleyway being harassed by three boys, Assef, Kamal and Wali. Assef lets Hassan keep the kite for a “price” as he says nothing is free. …show more content…
Amir watches Hassan get raped by Assef and decides to do nothing to stop it.
Amir starts to believe what Assef said about nothing being free in the world, “maybe Hassan is the price [Amir] has to pay, the lamb [he] has to slay, to win Baba. Was it a fair price? The answer floats to [his] conscious mind before [Amir] could thwart it: He is just a Hazara, isn’t he?” (Hosseini 77). This quote shows how Amir just thinks of Hassan as a price to pay, and doesn’t care what Hassan is going through for him. The answer goes to his “conscious mind”, which implies that Amir knows what he is doing and makes this choice himself. He just wants to “win Baba” and doesn’t seem to care what it takes to get there. Amir is starting to think of Hassan as “just a Hazara”, like he doesn’t matter. Hazaras are usually servants and looked down upon by some people but when Amir and Hassan were alone, he treated him like his friend. Hassan being the “lamb he has to slay” references to a religious holiday that is practiced, where they slit a lamb’s throat as a sacrifice to God. Amir sees the look in the lamb’s eyes, which is frightened but it is also accepting, as if it knows that it’s death is for a higher
purpose. When he sees Hassan in the alleyway, Amir says he has the look of the lamb. He only sees him as a sacrifice in return for the kite, though Hassan knows he is being thought of as this sacrifice but knows it is for a higher purpose, he just wants Amir to be happy. After Amir witnesses the incident in the alleyway, he runs away and pretends to bump into Hassan on the way back. He says how he looked for Hassan but couldn’t find him. The first thing he sees is that Hassan has the blue kite, the kite he promises to run for Amir. He couldn’t lie and say “[his] eyes didn’t scan [the kite] for any rips. [Hassan’s] chapan has mud smudges down the front and his shirt is ripped just below the collar. He stops. Sways on his feet like he is going to collapse. Then he steadies himself. Hands [Amir] the kite” (78). This demonstrates even more of Amir’s selfishness and Hassan’s unwavering loyalty towards Amir. Amir knows what just happened in the alley yet he checks the kite for rips instead of seeing if Hassan is alright. He’s so narrow minded about getting Baba’s affection that he doesn't bother to care about anyone but himself. Ironically, instead of the kite having rips Hassan’s clothes have “mud smudges” and his shirt “is ripped just below the collar”. When Hassan sways like he’s going to “collapse”, Amir makes no move to help him. Hassan steadies himself, which represents how he doesn’t have Amir to rely on for help, once Amir betrays him Hassan is by himself. Hassan is still loyal to Amir and keeps the kite in perfect condition for him. He is willing to go through so much to please Amir, but Amir only cares about himself and wouldn’t do the same for Hassan.
A noun also known as realism—verisimilitude. The technique is used overall in writing. Authors write historical fiction books with hints toward real life events or seem as if these could happen today; therefore, these books possess a high verisimilitude. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, is a historical fiction book. The book is about a boy, Amir, that grows up in Afghanistan with a close friend, Hassan, who he later finds out is his half-brother. While in America during the Taliban takeover, Amir returns to Afghanistan to retrieve Hassan’s son Sohrab after Hassan is killed. These events are actual happenings in Afghanistan during the war time. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, contains a high verisimilitude.
Amir is, to be put bluntly, a coward. He is led by his unstable emotions towards what he thinks will plug his emotional holes and steps over his friends and family in the process. When he sought after Baba’s invisible love, Amir allowed Hassan to be raped in an alleyway just so that the blue kite, his trophy that would win his father’s heart, could be left untouched. In the end, he felt empty and unfulfilled with the weight of his conscience on his shoulders comparable to Atlas’ burden. Unable to get over his fruitless betrayal, he lashes out and throws pomegranates at Hassan before stuffing money and a watch under his loyal friend’s pathetic excuse for a bed, framing Hassan for theft and directly causing the departure of both servants from his household. Even after moving to America, finding a loving wife, and creating a career for himself in writing, he still feels hollow when thinking of his childhood in Afghanistan. Many years later, he is alerted of Hassan’s death and sets out on a frenzied chase to find his friend’s orphaned son. He feels that he can somehow ease his regrets from all of those years ago if he takes in Hassan’s son, Sohrab. He finds Sohrab as a child sex slave for Assef, who coincidentally was the one to rape Hassan all of those years ago. After nearly dying in his attempt to take back Sohrab, he learns that he can take the damaged child back to the states with him. Sadly, Hassan’s son is so
Clearly, Amir hears how his father compares the two, and unlike Hassan who manages to meet Baba’s expectations, Amir grows bitter towards Hassan. He is unable to fight off his envy which later causes him to sacrifice his best friend’s innocence: “Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba” (82), and this is all because he realizes “his shame is complicated by his own realization that in part he doesn’t help his friend precisely because he is jealous of him” (Corbett, 2006). From here, Amir develops strong feelings of guilt that induces him to perform even more destructive acts, such as having Hassan and his father evicted from the house. Amir not only loses a close friend, but now he has to continue to live with remorse as he dwells on these memories.
Throughout Amir’s journey to absolve himself from the internal and distressing pain he has felt ever since witnessing the devastating altercation in the alley, trying to reach a standard his father, Baba, would approve of also took a toll on his childhood. Baba often speaks of how he cannot fathom the fact that Amir is a part of his bloodline. (quotes quotes quotes) Trying to achieve the perfect son status that Baba wanted Amir to be clouded his mind so greatly that, during the moment, Amir did not show compassion towards Hassan’s troubling moment of need. What matter most was retrieving the last fallen kite to his father to prove he was not a mistake that Baba made Amir believe he was. Even after Baba’s death, his actions brought more despair and uncertainty to Amir’s complicated life. The secrets and lies that were kept from Amir and even Hassan could have altered the fate of both men. (quote quote quote) Throughout the novel, Amir could arguably be considered as selfish, rude and mean toward his half-brother Hassan. However, since Baba never told the two about their true relationship Amir grew up disliking Hassan because he did not know that they shared blood. Knowing their true identities possibly could
Redemption is defined as the action of saving or being saved from sin, error, or evil. Throughout life, individuals are faced with numerous incidences of redemption that can be taken up or ignored. Those who choose to take the opportunity are often able to grow mentally and accelerate much further than those who do not. However, what must be taken into account is that true redemption is for oneself rather than for others. For example, redemption by finally getting a well-deserved promotion which impresses others is not truly beneficial redemption. What must occur is happiness for the promotion within. In The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, the employment of redemption as a central idea prevails throughout the novel, specifically in the life
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
In Kite Runner there are many lesson that could be learned and many things are shown to the reader that the author is trying to point out. “It may be unfair, but what happens in a few days, sometimes even a single day, can change the course of a whole lifetime, Amir” he said” (Hosseini 142). One thing you do can change your whole life and make things either more difficult or easier. The scene in which Baba tells Amir about Soraya past in Khaled Hosseini’s novel, The Kite Runner, is important because Hosseini uses it to establish one thing you do can change your whole life and make things either more difficult or easier through Soraya running off with a guy, Amir watching Hassan get raped, and Baba lies.
On the day of the kite running competition, Amir vows to win the entire competition in Baba’s honor. To end the competition, Amir cuts down the last remaining kite in the air, at which point in time Hassan runs after the falling blue kite. In hopes of retrieving the last cut kite for Baba, Amir follows Hassan on the run. However, Assef and his two sidekick bullies corner and rape Hassan. Amir watches the entire occurrence in
To begin, the first instance of redemption is found and portrayed through irony. As Amir's mother died giving birth to him, he has always felt guilty. Leading up to the annual kite-fighting tournament, Amir feels as if winning will redeem her death, and solidify his relationship with Baba. When he comes upon Hassan who is cornered by Assef, Amir feels as if his rape might be justified: “Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay to win Baba. Or was it a fair price?” (Hosseini, 82) If Amir gains the kite, he wins Baba's heart. Ironically, the sacrifice of Hassan is the catalyst to Amir's need for redemption. Instead of redeemi...
*Hassan was crying because of the shame he felt after the encounter with the soldier who said he had slep with his mother at some point.
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).
The other source of tension in Amir’s life is his relationship with Baba, his hard-driving and demanding father. Desperate to win his father’s affection and respect, Amir turns to the sport of kite flying, and at the age of 12, with the assistance of Hassan, he wins the annual tournament in Kabul. Amir’s victory soon is tarnished when he witnesses a vicious assault against his friend, who raced through the streets of Kabul to retrieve the last kite, Amir had sliced from the sky, and fails to come to his aid. Amir’s cowardness is compounded by a later act of betrayal that causes Ali and Hassan to leave their home, and he now faces the nightmare, bearing the burden of his poor choices for the rest of his life.
The kite runner was written from 1975-2001. The book takes place in Kabul, Afghanistan. There is racism throughout the book. A pashtun is believed to be more superior than a Hazara. Babaś best friend from childhood Ali, now lives with Baba, and serves as his servant because he is a Hazara. Hassan and Ali are Amir and Baba’s servants. Amir and Hassan are friends growing up. Little do they know they are half brothers. Hassan gets raped, sticking up for Amir. This causes a major conflict in the story. Ali and Hassan move out of the house. Soon after Baba and Amir are Forced out of Afghanistan by Sov Invasion and move to California to start a new life.
In 1951, Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst C.G. Jung stated, “No tree, it is said, can grow to heaven unless its roots reach down to hell” (Carl). This quote represents the idea that light and darkness are inseparable. We see this notion many places throughout the world, whether it be the Chinese Yin-Yang symbol or the Unity of Opposites principle proposed by the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus. We can also see a similar concept in The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. The use of symbolism, the plot, and direct quotations from the book lead us to conclude that joy and pain are interconnected and are meant to coincide with one another.