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Critically analyse Amir character in the kite runner
Essay on the kite runner
Essay on the kite runner
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Recommended: Critically analyse Amir character in the kite runner
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 …show more content…
Interestingly enough, both Soraya and Amir have lived a life of luxury and privilege because of the ethnic background, religion, status and income. Nevertheless, the married couple has the most difficulties feeling acceptance and support from their fathers. Hassan lived in a small hut, had few toys and had the very evident appearance of a boy living in poverty. Through all of the difficulties that both Hassan and his father, Ali, faced, the love was apparent. (quote quote
This quote, an excerpt from the letter Rahim Khan wrote to Amir, reveals the inner torment Baba faced regarding his two sons, whom he didn’t know how to love fairly, and the guilt he carried for fathering an illegitimate son, guilt that is reminiscent of Amir’s guilt for betraying Hassan. All his life, Baba had been hard on Amir, withholding the fatherly affection Amir longed for, but, as Rahim reveals, this was also hard on Baba. Baba wanted to be able to show affection to both of his sons, but didn’t know how when one of his sons was illegitimate and the other represented everything that made him feel guilty. In this quote, it is also apparent that Baba is much more like Amir than either of them thought. Baba harbored guilt for betraying Ali, just as Amir suffered guilt for betraying 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
We see a innocent boy who is struggling to be himself. His father that goes by the name of Baba continuously makes Amir feel unworthy and shameful. In a scene Amir eavesdrop and Baba unapologetically proclaims, “If I hadn’t seen the doctor pull him out of my wife with my own eyes, I’d never believe he’s my son” (Hosseini 23). Baba bluntly insinuates that he doesn’t understand Amir. He doesn’t understand why he spends so much time reading books and why every time there’s an opportunity to fight with the local boys he doesn’t. From the genesis, the audience can tell that the protagonist will have an issue with his identity. By not being accepted by Baba, Amir selfishly watches his dear friend Hassan get raped because he knew if he stood up for him that there will be a chance that the kite would be tarnished and as a result he wouldn’t receive the affection that he always craved from Baba. As soon as this occurred, Hassan and Amir’s relationship drastically alters. Hassan later tells Rahim Khan what happened. His unforgettable scar haunts him and this scar is later passed on to his offspring. Amir’s identity issue is what forced Hassan and Ali to depart. This could’ve been changed if Amir didn’t doubt himself from doing what is moral because at the end he ends up doing just that. If he knew that his identity truly lied in the decision that he makes the regret he suffered wouldn’t have exist.
It is not often that Amir’s love for Baba is returned. Baba feels guilty treating Amir well when he can’t acknowledge Hassan as his son. Baba discriminates against his son Amir by constantly making him feel weak and unworthy of his father. Baba once said to Rahim Kahn, “If I hadn’t seen the doctor pull him out of my wife with my own eyes, I’d never believe he’s my son” (Hosseini 23). Amir doesn’t feel like a son towards Baba since he seems like such a weakling. This neglect towards Amir causes him to feel a need to be accepted by Baba to end the constant discrimination from his father and he will do anything for it. “I actually aspired to cowardice, because the alternative, the real reason I was running, was that Assef was right: Nothing was free in this world. Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba” (Hosseini 77). Amir did not stop the rape of his good friend for one sole purpose. Amir felt that he had to betray his own half-brother to gain th...
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,
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 helping a friend. He shows his unconditional love when he suddenly packs up and leaves all he has ever known, “‘[Ali and Hassan] can’t live [there] anymore.life here is impossible for [them] now”’
*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.
In The Kite Runner, Amir and his father, Baba, display lives of contradictions while Hassan and Rahim Khan live lives of purity. Baba is displayed as an immoral man while at home because he is not loving his son and he cheated with his friends’ wife and had a child. Even some of Baba’s good qualities, such as his care for Hassan and Ali, his father, seem to have a selfish motive behind them because he wants to keep his son close to him. While Baba is never the father figure in the first part of the book, once they leave their home, Baba seems to care a lot more about Amir.
One of the decisions that Amir made was to enter the kite tournament since that was the one thing Baba and him had in common. Amir was the best kite runner in his town, but he did not usually win the tournaments. However, one day Amir’s kite was the last one in the sky, and he had won the competition. When Amir looks back up at Baba, “Standing on the edge of the balcony, pumping both of his fists. Hollering and clapping” (Hosseini p.71).Seeing Baba jumping with joy was the best moment of Amir’s life, since he had finally made him happy. Following this Hassan runs after the kite to catch it for Amir, but hours pass and he does not return home. Amir goes searching for him and finds him surrounded by Assef and his two friends. Assef tells Hassan that he is willing to forgive him if he gives him the kite; otherwise he will do something to him. While all of this was happening, Amir was watching from afar. “ I had one last chance to make a decision. One final opportunity to decide who I was going to be. I could step I into that alley, stand up for Hassan --- the way he’d stood up for me all those times in the past --- and accept whatever would happen to me,” (Hosseini p.82) said Amir. Knowing what was happening was wrong, Amir decided to run. Amir admits to himself being a coward. He was scared of what Assef would do if he stood up to him. Besides the fact that he left Hassan alone with Assef, Amir lied to Baba and Ali when they asked if he knew what was wrong with Hassan. Amir felt guilty every time he saw Hassan and just wanted to get rid of him. After the Hassan incident, Amir is never able to see himself as a good person and always feels guilty. Things begin to slightly change once Baba and Amir move to the United States. After years of sacrificing for Baba, Amir makes decisions on what is best for him. Despite Baba’s approval, Amir decides to become a writer. On the course of his
Loyalty is one of the only things that can hold the bonds of family and friends.
As a child, Amir is constantly jealous because Baba shows more affection towards Hassan than he does to his own son. Amir feels he is too different from Baba and that Baba would much rather have Hassan as a son because the two are more alike. The jealousy impacts the relationship between the two boys because Amir sees Hassan’s personality and masculinity as competition for his father’s love while Hassan sees Amir as a companion and friend. At one point, Hassan suggests an idea for a story that Amir failed to think of himself,
There are millions of kids like Hassan all around the world unfortunate enough and have to live their lives like that every day.(C) I wonder if Hassan is jealous or unhappy with his life, does he wish to change lives with Amir to live lavishly like he does? Does Amir have any pity towards Hassan because he has to live this way?(Q) It saddens me that kids like Hassan are happy with so little and that they aren't given an education, so they could change their path in life and not live like their parents but unfortunately there's isn't a lot we can do unless we fight for it.(108)