The Effects of Power
The definition of power is described as “the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behaviour of others or the course of events” (Oxford Dictionary). Many people have power whether it be a huge or small amount of it. The people who have power tend to use it against the other person or people. In the novel, The Kite Runner, there are varying degrees of power between parties and the party with less power ends up feeling inferior.
Assef used his status to bully and take advantage of Hassan and Amir. When Assef saw Hassan and Amir together, he wanted to scare them by having his brass knuckles out and ready to fight. “Assef slipped on the brass knuckles. Gave me an icy look … I looked in his crazy eyes and saw that
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he meant it. He really meant to hurt me. Assef raised his fist and came for me” (Hosseini 41). Assef believed that Hazara people polluted Afghanistan and had no place in their predominately Pashtun country. This made him hate seeing Hassan and Amir playing together. Since he was older than the two boys, he took advantage of his size to scare them. With his father being an important Afghani man – like Baba, he knew that he would be able to get away with torturing the boys. Assef had a reputation of being a ‘savage’ so he used that title along with his brass knuckles to have power over Amir and Hassan. Upon finding Hassan with the blue kite that he ran for Amir, Assef decided to take it from him but when Hassan resisted, he left him with a horrible memory.
“ ‘I’ve changed my mind,’ Assef said. ‘I’m letting you keep the kite Hazara. I’ll let you keep it so it will always remind you of what I’m about to do’ ” (Hosseini 73). Since Assef was of high status and Hassan was just a “simple Hazara” it did not matter what happened to him. Assef knew this and he knew that no one would believe Hassan if he did speak out about what happened. Assef had a mentality similar to Hitler’s, so he thought that simply beating Hassan up and taking the kite would not be enough. Dr. Benjamin G. Voyer states that “… individuals with power have been shown to be less capable of understanding the perspective of others, and their emotions and feelings.” Assef could not understand why Hassan and Amir were friends and why Hassan was adamant on keeping the kite instead of handing it over to him. He did not care about how his actions would make Hassan feel because all he wanted was revenge for when he threatened to make him “one eyed Assef” (Hosseini 42). All he knew was that Hassan had no right to be defying him and that made him extremely angry. This resulted in him choosing to do something that he knew would scar Hassan – preventing him from ever defying him …show more content…
again. Amir used the small things that his privilege gave to him, to feel power over Hassan.
While reading to Hassan, Amir comes across a word that Hassan does not know so he teases him about it. “ ‘Well, everyone in my school knows what it means,’ I said. ‘Let’s see. Imbecile. It means smart, intelligent. I’ll use it in a sentence for you. ‘When it comes to words, Hassan is an imbecile’ ” (Hosseini 29). Being a Hazara prevented Hassan from being able to attend school, so he did not learn how to read or write. Amir liked that it was the one area where he excelled and he used that against him. In the moment of teasing Hassan, it makes Amir feel better about himself even though he knows that doing so is wrong. This small amount of power made Amir feel so good that it became his “favourite part of reading to Hassan” (Hosseini 28), instead of simply feeling good for helping out a
friend. With the knowledge of Hassan’s loyalty, Amir knew that Hassan would never sell him out which put him in the perfect position to frame him. “… 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” (Hosseini 105). Amir knew that Hassan was so pure, so honest that he would never tell a lie. He knew that Hassan was a true friend who would do anything for him and he used that power to get rid of him. Hassan could have easily told Baba and Ali that he was innocent in the situation and Amir would be rightfully blamed but instead, he owned up to something that he did not do. “While having power can make you happier, seeking power does not make you happier” (Markman, Art). Amir always had power over Hassan because of his status and privilege and that made him feel good about himself. However, in this situation having all the power made him feel guilty. He could not get over his guilt for watching Hassan’s assault and he did not want to see him every day knowing that he did wrong by his supposed friend. Amir was looking for a way to get rid of Hassan and the only way he could successfully do so was by abusing the power that he had over him. The Taliban used fear to gain power and take over Afghanistan. While going to find Sohrab, Amir and Farid encounter the ‘Beard Patrol’. “One of them, a dark-skinned man in his early twenties with thick, knitted eyebrows twirled a whip in his hand and rhythmically swatted the side of the truck with it. His roaming eyes fell on me. Held my gaze. I’d never felt so naked in my entire life” (Hosseini 247). The Taliban wanted everyone to be on their side and to prove that they were, men had to wear long beards and turbans. They had officers patrolling to make sure that there was no one was openly walking around defying them. The Taliban knew that if they patrolled around and made random checks than people would be afraid of what would happen to them if they were caught disobeying the rules. “The Taliban bans music, other than religious song, unaccompanied by instruments. Television, movies and videos are banned. So is kite-flying, seen as a distraction from a life of prayer” (cbsnews.com). The Taliban wanted to control every single thing that the citizens of Afghanistan did and made everything seem serious. There was no time for leisure and the Taliban gained more power with each thing that they took away. They controlled every life in Afghanistan and took the ones that did not agree with the changes being made. The more fear that they instilled in the people of Afghanistan, the more power they obtained and abused. Taliban officers stoned a man and woman to death in the middle of Ghazi Stadium to remind everyone else of the power they possess in Afghanistan. On their mission to find Sohrab, Amir and Farid go to Ghazi Stadium to look for the Taliban official that had taken him. During halftime, the Taliban came in with a man and a woman that were sentenced to death as a result of having an extramarital affair. “The Talib, looking absurdly like a baseball pitcher on the mound, hurled the stone at the blindfolded man in the hole. It struck the side of his head” (Hosseini 271). As a spectator at Ghazi Stadium, one would be afraid of the Taliban more than they would have before. This public stoning was an extremely violent act that would show everyone the lengths that the Taliban were willing to go to, to act out what they considered to be justice. “ …‘God says that every sinner must be punished in a manner befitting his sin. Those are not my words, nor the words of my brothers. Those are the words of GOD’ ” (Hosseini 270)! Before carrying out the stoning, the cleric came to speak to the crowd explaining what was about to happen to these people. The Taliban use God as an excuse to abuse the people of Afghanistan. They claim that they are carrying out God’s work and that gives them the right to punish people they believe have sinned. The Taliban had so much power and they wanted to continue scaring people into following them, so public executions like this were the perfect way to ensure that. When degrees of power are varied, whomever has more power tends to abuse it. This concept is excellently displayed in the novel, The Kite Runner. Through the conflicts revolving around Assef, Hassan, Amir, the Taliban and the nation of Afghanistan, Khaled Hosseini displays how differences in power affect the lives of everyone. Power affects all people no matter what form it comes in, and one should learn how to control the power they possess before it becomes out of hand.
Hassan agrees and gives chase for the kite with Amir follow some time later on. However, during that time Hassan is corner by Assif and several others children. Hassan is then punished by Assif for protecting Amir, as well as being a different type of Afghani. In one swift motion, Assif performs a horrifying sexual act on Hassan, all the way Amir watch it far down a street. And what does Amir do? Well he ran as he put it, “I ran because I was a coward. I was afraid of Assef and what he would do to me. I was afraid of getting hurt” (77).
When they are children, Hassan is the scapegoat for Amir’s naughty ideas. According to Hosseini, “Hassan and I used to climb the poplar trees in the driveway of my father’s house and annoy our neighbors by reflecting sunlight into their homes with a shard of mirror.”
Kite Runner depicts the story of Amir, a boy living in Afghanistan, and his journey throughout life. He experiences periods of happiness, sorrow, and confusion as he matures. Amir is shocked by atrocities and blessed by beneficial relationships both in his homeland and the United States. Reviewers have chosen sides and waged a war of words against one another over the notoriety of the book. Many critics of Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, argue that the novel would not have reached a lofty level of success if the U.S. had not had recent dealings with the Middle East, yet other critics accurately relate the novel’s success to its internal aspects.
Amir tells him it means smart or intelligent and uses it in a sentence which says how Hassan is imbecile when it comes to words. Afterwards, Amir always feels guilty for it and ends up giving him an old shirt or a broken. As it says, ““Let's see. ‘Imbecile.’ It means smart, intelligent. I’ll use it in a sentence for you. ‘When it comes to words, Hassan is an imbecile.’”... I would always feel guilty about it later. So I'd try to make up for it by giving him one of my old shirts or a broken toy.” (Hosseini, 31) Amir teases Hassan for not knowing how to read and feels guilty for calling him a stupid person so he tries to make up for it by giving him old shirts or broken toys. In addision, Amir writes a story and wants Baba to read it but he shows no interest in reading it and quickly gets away to get ready. Rahim Khan comes along as he happily offers to read it and leaves him a note which encourages him to keep writing. When they leave, Amir suddenly wishes Rahim Khan was his father but then feels guilty for it and remembers all the good things about Baba. As it states, “When they left, I sat on my bed and wished Rahim Khan had been my father. Then I thought about Baba
Hassan and Amir were close, but were not “friends”. There was once a kite fighting tournament that Amir won and Hassan was the kite runner. Hassan went after the last kite and while returning to Amir from capturing the kite, Hassan ran into a known bully, Assef. Amir was looking for Hassan. When Amir finds Hassan, he sees Assef with him.
One day when Hassan and Amir are walking through Afghanistan, they come across Assef, a sociopathic bully known for his brass knuckles and his rancor towards Hazaras. He prepares to fight Amir and Hassan, but Hassan threatens to shoot out Assef's left eye with his slingshot, saying they'll call him "one-eyed Assef." Before the daunted bully backs off he warns them that he will have his revenge.
Amir takes advantage of Hasan because he is a Hazara and his servant. “When it comes to words Hassan is an imbecile” (29). This is when Amir first starts to belittle Hassan knowing that he is a Hazara therefore illiterate. Instead of helping his friend, Amir chooses to instead downplay him and mock Hassan. “What would you do if I hit you with this?” (92). Amir pelting Hassan with the pomegranate after he asks this question continues his betrayal because Amir knew Hassan would not do anything about it. “A loyal Hazara. Loyal as a dog” (72). Assef of all people acknowledged that Hassan was loyal to Amir. This in some ways makes Amir as disgusting as Assef but it there are worse instances of betrayal by Amir.
Hassan defends Amir from being beaten by Assef, who has a reputation in Kabul of being a psychopath. When Assef threatens them, Hassan does not hesitate to respond saying, “You are right, Agha. But perhaps you didn’t notice that I’m the one holding the slingshot. If you make a move, they’ll have to change your nickname from ‘the Ear Eater’ to ‘One-Eyed Assef,’ because I have this rock pointed at your left eye” (45-46). Later on, Amir stands up for Sohrab, Hassan’s son, as Hassan stood up for Amir countless times before.
Or maybe he chooses to escape, leaving his "sidekick" in sadness. The reason that lies behind the assault went up against by Hassan is extensively more heart tweaking as Hassan being a devoted specialist does not surrender the kite to Assef when crippled. So to reprimand his constancy towards Amir, Assef shows Hassan a lesson by ambushing him in a disconnected
Power has been defined as the psychological relations over another to get them to do what you want them to do. We are exposed to forms of power from the time of birth. Our parents exercise power over us to behave in a way they deem appropriate. In school, teachers use their power to help us learn. When we enter the work world the power of our boss motivates us to perform and desire to move up the corporate ladder so that we too can intimidate someone with power one day. In Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness Kurtz had a power over the jungle and its people that was inexplicable.
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.
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 witness what had happened. There is also a 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 throw him back. He exclaims, “You’re a coward,” (.).
When the readers were first introduced to Assef, he was described by Amir as a sociopath. He approved of Hitler's ways, said what he tried to do was right, and Assef wanted the same to happen to the Hazaras, because of his beliefs, "Afghanistan is for Pashtuns,"(Hosseini,43) this quote was said by Assef to Amir when he met them in an alleyway after Daoud Khan had become president. Years later, when Amir met Assef again, when Amir was trying to get Sohrab, you can see how much worse Assef had become, he turned into what he had admired when he was younger. His hatred of the Hazaras in Afghanistan had led to the massacre in Mazar-i-Sharif. That was the circularity in the life of Assef, going from a young sociopath, to a
Early in the novel, Amir sees Hassan cornered by Assef and his gang while trying to defend Amir’s kite he won with during the kite running tournament. He tries to decide whether he should save Hassan like he has done for him on multiple occasions or turn his back on his only friend. “I could step into that alley, stand up for Hassan-the way he stood up for me all those times in the past
Power is defined as the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events. The idea of power is omnipresent in The Kite Runner. Evident through the manipulation of his characters and his immaculate plot design, Hosseini uses an array of circumstances to display the utter truth that many people use their power to inevitably corrupt the lives of those around them. Through acts of deceit, betrayal, and cowardice, everyday men are being transformed into monsters.