Betrayal. How many of you have heard that word before, I am guessing almost all of you have. So what does betrayal mean to you when you hear it? Betrayal comes in many different shapes and sizes and everyone sees what betrayal is differently. For Amir it happens to be a choice he made as a little boy. In the book “The Kite Runner” Amir the main character changes drastically from the beginning of the book to the end book to the end. First I will be explaining how Amir was as a kid, what changed him, and how he is as a young adult. The the book starts off talking about how two kids are playing together near a tree; that is Amir and Hassan. The two big key role players in the book. There two young little boys are very special child-hood “friends”. …show more content…
All of Amir's life he has tried and tries to get Baba’s attention and to make him happy. Amir is the very opposite of his dad and vise versa. His dad is very outgoing, the town's hero, well spoken, and sporty. On the other hand Amir is exactly like his mother quiet, serene, a poet, and likes reading and writing. The one thing that his dad and him have in common is that they both enjoy kite running/fighting. As time goes on in the book “Amir still struggles to fulfill his father’s exacting standards (Miles 1).” Babe sometimes believes Amir isn’t his real son if he hadn’t “... hadn’t seen [his] own wife push him out (Hayes 2).” Amir sees how his father looks at him with a boorish look. So Amir comes up with a lucid plan, to win the kite runner contest and he is bound to win his father’s attention and heart and in due time he does. “He does get Baba's approval when he wins the kite fighting contest (Hayes 2).” For a while him and his dad start getting along and spending loads of time together but that doesn’t last long at all. They both came to their senses and realize that kite runner is the only thing they have in common and that is what gets them talking but they still will always love each other. After that Amir tries everything in his power to reconnect with his dad, to regain what he always wanted with his father. Amir …show more content…
After Amir had won the kite running battle Hassan decided to run Amir kite around Kabul to show everyone he was the champion. It had been a while since Amir had seen Hassan and thought he should have be back by now. But did he know something horrid was going on to Amir. Amir happened to find with Hassan was but he wasn’t alone, he turned the corner and “ [He] couldn't stop looking at: One was the blue kite resting against the wall, close to the cast iron stove; the other was Hassan’s brown corduroy pants thrown on a heap of eroded bricks (Hosseini 75).” Yes what you think is about to happen is happening. This poor little boy is about to experience the worst situation in his life right now. While his best “friend” is standing there watching not doing anything. As he is just standing there “Assef knelt behind Hassan, put his hands on Hassan’s hips and lifted his bare buttocks. He kept one hand on Hassan’s back and undid his own belt buckle with his free hand. He unzipped his jeans. Dropped his underwear. He positioned himself behind Hassan. Hassan didn’t struggle. Didn’t even whimper. He moved his head slightly and I caught a glimpse of his face (hosseini 75-76).” This boy is lying helpless and who knows what is going through his mind but his friend his brother is staring at him getting raped and not doing anything to stopped it. Hassan catches him looking and just
As he grows into a man and pushes his regrets to the side - though not ever completely out of his mind - he learns to live through and accept the pain he caused both himself and his best friend, Hassan. Towards the end of the novel, Amir goes to great lengths to earn the redemption he feels he needs in order to finally be at peace. The Kite Runner asks the audience what it truly means to be a good person - do we need to be born with goodness in our hearts, do we live the way that is comfortable and right according to ourselves, or do we have to constantly fail and prove that we are good?
In the book “THe Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini, betrayal is is one of the big themes that occurs in this book. Amir shows the most betrayal of all, like him witnessing Hassan's rape and not helping him at all. That was his cowardly thing that he did and experiences guilt from it. Many years pass since that event he starts to feel what other people felt when he would betray them, like when he was betrayed by his father and Rahim Khan, because he found out that Hassan was his brother and he felt betrayal of trust just as he made the people he betrayed feel.
Amir goes through many events that take place in the book that change him, and the way he is perceived within the book. Amir is a young boy, who is tortured by his father’s scrutinizing character. Amir is also jealous of Hassan, because of the fact that his father likes Hassan instead of Amir. Amir fights for his father’s approval, interest, and love. This is when Amir changes for the good as he deals with the guilt of the rape of Hassan. Amir witnessed Hassan getting raped, but decides to nothing in order to win over his father’s interest. The guilt that Amir builds up is carries from his premature times as a child to his mature times. From Afghanistan to
In Amir’s early childhood, kites represented happiness. Flying kites was his favorite pastime, as it was the only way that he connected fully with Baba, who was once a champion kite fighter. However, the kite takes on a different significance when Amir doesn’t stop Hassan's abusers from raping him in order to prevent the kite from being stolen. The kite serves as a symbol of Amir’s guilt throughout the novel. Hechose his fragile relationship with his father over the well-being of his best friend and half-brother: “Baba and I lived in the same ...
Flying kites was a source of Amir 's happiness as a child as well as a way to attain his father’s approval. In Kabul, Afghanistan, a kite flying tournament was held annually. Young boys laced their string with glass and attempted to cut the strings of other kite flyers. That last on standing was deemed the champion and the idol of all the younger children. Before Amir competed in his kite tournament, Baba said, “I think maybe you 'll win the tournament this year. What do you think?” (Hosseini, 50) Amir took this opportunity and told himself that, “I was going to win, and I was going to run that last kite. Then I’d bring it home and show it to Baba. Show him once and for all his son was worthy. Then maybe my life as a ghost in this house would finally be over.” (Hosseini, 50) Amir wanted the approval and affection of his father badly enough that he was willing to allow Hassan to get raped in order to attain it. After this kits became the symbol of Amir 's betrayal to Hassan. The kite ultimately becomes the way that Amir connects with Sohrab, mirroring how Amir connected with Baba when he was a
Going through all these different motifs, it taught Amir many different lessons, good and bad. But in the end, Amir finally is able to let go of his guilt and make his awful choice to not help Hassan in his time of need, have somewhat of a better outcome. In the novel The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini’s repeated the use of rape, sickness, and sacrifice to represent many different things throughout the novel.
Though some may rise from the shame they acquire in their lives, many become trapped in its vicious cycle. Written by Khlaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner describes the struggles of Amir, his father Baba, and his nephew Sohrab as they each fall victim to this shameful desolation. One repercussion of Baba hiding his sinful adultery from Amir is that Amir betrays Hassan for his father’s stringent approval. Sohrab’s dirty childhood also traumatizes him through his transition to America. Consequently, shame is a destructive force in The Kite Runner. Throughout the course of the novel, Baba’s shameful affair, Amir’s selfish betrayal, and Sohrab’s graphic childhood destroy their lives.
According to dictionary.com betrayal means "an act of deliberate disloyalty,”. Betrayal is something that is very prevalent throughout the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini which is a story about the betrayal that a young boy named Amir does to his friend Hassan. Amir shows that he is a betrayer to Hassan when he belittles, plots, refuses to acknowledge their friendship, and walks away from Hassan. With each betrayal listed they progressively get worse and worse as Amir continues to show how little he really cares for Hassan.
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.
During The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini reinforces the theme of the loss of innocence and redemption. Many characters lose innocence or are the cause of another character losing theirs. Amir both loses his innocence and that of others. His innocence is stolen by his father. In the novel Amir overhears Baba saying, “‘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 24-25). This affects Amir for his entire life as he tries to compete with Hassan for his father's attention. He does not realize that in doing so, this crumbles his world as he knows it. It makes Amir resentful, calloused, and even cruel, all of which are characteristics of someone who has lost their innocence. In turn, Amir’s loss of innocence causes other to lose their innocence because of his lack of courage and disregard for others feelings.
Amir starts out the book as a very selfish child. His best friend, Hassan, gets more attention from Amir’s dad than he does. This causes Amir to only care about his relationship with his dad and only causing him to become more isolated from Hassan. Amir also begins to become angry and he forces Hassan to do things that hurt and affect him negatively. All of Amir’s anger is being placed on Hassan, causing Amir to have a negative image with the characters in the book. Every year a kite flying competition takes place in Pakistan, the country they live in. The children always run after the kites that get cut down for pride and to show off their accomplishment. Hassan being a servant, runs and gets the kites for Amir. One time Hassan is cornered by a group of boys and since he is a minority race and is a servant to Amir’s family, he is treated disrespectfully. As Amir catches up to them, he witnesses Hassan getting raped by the boys. Instead of stopping this and saving his best friend, he watches, hides, then runs away fearing that he will get hurt. Amir does this because he wants to show Baba that he got a kite and trying
The longing for parental acceptance is often what leads to childhood downfall. At some point a child strives to make their parent proud. When a lack of attention is displayed in a parent child relationship there is a lack of communication and support. In The Kite Runner this type of relationship is shown through Baba and Amir's interactions. Throughout The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini Amir and Baba’s relationship takes many turns. Their relationship affects the plot through many situations such as when Baba acts uninterested in Amir's life, When Baba fails to treat Amir the same as Hassan, and when Baba takes his guilt and anger out on Amir.
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.
In the story, The Kite Runner, Amir had always felt that his father did not love him. He is unaware of why his father is so distant from him, and acts as though he is not proud of his son. Amir, more than anything, seeks his father’s approval and love. The origin of this conflict is a great secret that his father withholds from Amir. It affects his father’s attitude, as well as their relationship, and is eventually resolved when the truth is at last revealed, and Amir is able to find closure.
I think that the theme of The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is betrayal. I think this because betrayal is expressed through many characters. In the novel Amir betrays Hassan more than once. Shortly after Amir’s victory in the kite tournament, both Hassan and Amir run to catch a kite. Amir loses Hassan for the reason being the Hassan is a lot faster than Amir. When Amir went searching for Hassan he finds him in an alley getting raped by Assef. Amir betrays Hassan by not helping him escape Assef. Another example of betrayal is between Baba and Amir. Baba betrays Amir by not telling him the truth about Hassan. Amir and Hassan are half-brothers because Baba slept with his servant’s wife. Amir finds out about Hassan and him, when he visits Rahim