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Sayeed Mohammed Ms Carre ENG 3U1.40 November 7th 2014 The Kite Runner: Reading Response Journal 1 for Chapters1-13 In the novel The Kite Runner, Amir is a very dynamic character. He is a very odd and is unique in his own ways. The setting of the novel is very distinct. It makes people realize how lucky they are to live in a country without war. The narrative shows the development of how the country was before war and how it develops to be a conflicted country. The protagonist Amir, is a very complex person, this is perceived by the actions that he makes. He is considered to be blessed because he lived a rich childhood in Afghanistan compared to the other kids in his community. He could afford to accommodate more than four hundred people …show more content…
to his birthday party with food and drinks served by servants (Hosseini 94). Despite the fact Amir and his servant Hassan are basically brothers, he try’s to fit in with society by treating him poorly because he is a hazara.
In the novel Amir ‘s conscience whispers, “What does he know, that illiterate hazara? He’ll never be anything but a cook”, this shows the way he feels about hazara’s. Amir’s jealousy of his father admiring Hassan causes him to create envy towards him. Amir tries to avoid his Baba and Hassan from being together because he wants to have a father son moment with him, “He asked me to fetch Hassan too, but I lied and told him Hassan had the runs. I wanted Baba to myself” (Hosseini 13). Amir overhears his father telling Rahim that he cant believe that Amir is his son because of the fact that they have nothing in common “I’d never believe that he’s my son” (Hosseini 23). This makes him very persistent to find a way to impress his father and change that thought of his. He impresses him by winning the kite battle “the single greatest moments of my twelve years of life, seeing Baba on that roof proud of me at last” (Hosseini 66). Amir is very selfish because he only thinks about himself. He continues to frame and get Hassan in trouble and doesn’t worry about Hassan’s feelings of being framed for things he doesn’t do. Amir feels …show more content…
a lot of pressure because he believes that he should take responsibility for his mother’s death “ After all, I had killed his beloved wife, his beautiful princess, hadn’t I?” (Hosseini 19). He is a big coward because he didn’t help his best friend that is extremely loyal to him. He witnessed Hassan get raped by Assef and decided to run away while it was happening instead of helping him, like he would for him. Amir shows a variety of unique impressions as a character. In the beginning of The Kite Runner, the setting of the novel is taken place in Afghanistan 1974 when Amir and Hassan were kids (Hosseini 44).
The setting is very unique in the way that it shows the culture of Afghanistan before the Russians invaded. The fact that Amir grew up in the 1970’s helped to portray a “back in the day” life in Afghanistan. The setting shows how hazara’s were treated and what they had to do to make a living “ That Hassan would grow up illiterate like Ali and most Hazaras had been decided the minute he had been born…. after all what use did a servant have for the written word” (Hosseini 28). The novel gave a good description of how Afghanistan has changed from the 1970’s to the 1980’s (Hosseini 110). In chapter 10 the setting changed from Baba and Amir being in Afghanistan to America. They move to America to live a better life while the Russians invaded Afghanistan. Baba always thought it was a good idea to move to America “ Baba loved the idea of America” (Hosseini 124). They lived different life in America compared to Afghanistan where they have to work harder to make a living. This shows how two different countries impacted their lifestyles
differently. Therefore the novel portrays a very complex protagonist by making him different from society. The character is conflicted with many choices that drive his decision-making. The country of Afghanistan is first a peaceful country and then turns into warfare which makes people untrustworthy. The protagonist Amir has to deal with the transition of his country from being peaceful to political disruption.
Khaled Hosseini’s direct and indirect characterization of Amir in chapters twenty through twenty-three of The Kite Runner are used in order to advance the plot and Amir’s personality.
Hosseini’s purpose of writing the Kite Runner was to teach the readers the different ethnic groups in Afghanistan. The main character, Amir, is a Pashtun and Pashtuns are Sunni Muslims, then there are Hazara’s that the Pashtuns do not get along with. Hazara’s are not welcomed by the Pashtuns because they are different social classes.
Although Hassan is his best friend, there are many instances where Amir reveals his jealousy, most notable when Baba sees Hassan as the stronger boy, "self-defense has nothing to do with meanness. You know what always happens when the neighbourhood boys tease him? Hassan steps in and fends them off. I 've seen it with my own eyes…” (Hosseini 24). 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. The only way for Amir to redeem himself of his repercussions is through a challenging process of sacrifice and self-discovery. Although one is unsure at this point whether Amir succeeds at his endeavors, it is clear that this story
Amir’s childhood is quite unusual compared to most children in Afghan. Amir’s father, Baba, is a very rich and successful individual in his lifetime. This success allows Amir to live a wealthy lifestyle with access to western commodity as well as servants. In novel, Amir is risen mostly by his servants Hassan and Ali, as well
...izens of Kabul. As a result, Hassan’s childhood is much more difficult than Amir’s, allowing him to become stronger, more resilient, and less ignorant. Nonetheless, the two boys grow up together in Afghanistan during a time when it is considered to be a relatively peaceful country. In the late seventies however, this peace is destroyed as a result of the Russian invasion in Afghanistan. Ultimately, the environments from which Amir and Hassan each came from largely influences the people they become in the transitional phase of their lives from boyhood to young adulthood.
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.
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 Khaled Hosseini’s book, The Kite Runner, Amir is an example of growing up, making mistakes, and facing the consequences of those mistakes. Amir grows so much throughout the book. He is a fictional example of maturing and growing up in a realistic manner. Making mistakes is a part of this growth, even though it is extreme. The reader is introduced to Amir and is disgusted about how he treats Hassan and abandons him in a time of needing rescuing.
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...
Even after Amir and his father flew to America one afternoon decades ago, still haunts him. Amir’s inaction that day impacts the rest of his life and leads to lies, betrayal, and guilt. He desires to be forgiven for his sin and does everything he can to find redemption. Amir is hopeful that “there is a way to be good again”(Hosseini 2). Social and ethnic tensions: The Kite Runner gives us a look at Afghanistan before the Soviet invasion and then after.
Amir is Pashtun, this is the more accepted and prosperous ethnicity. Hassan is a Hazara boy, this being an ethnic group that is looked down upon by Pashtun citizens of Kabul. “In the end, I was a Pashtun and he was a Hazara, I was Sunni and he was Shi’a, and nothing was ever going to change that.” (Hosseini 25). Throughout his childhood, Amir is put down regularly by neighborhood kids for befriending Hassan because of his ethnic background. Amir realizes that no matter what he may do, or no matter how Hassan may try to alter the situation, Hassan would always be too different for people to accept. This embarrasses and frustrates Amir. This frustration is one cause for Amir to slowly but surely push Hassan out of his life. Although it is not the most obvious reason, it is an underlying one. This is a mistake on Amir’s part because Hassan does so much for Amir, being the loyal friend that he is, and for Amir to push someone of such good moral and character out of his life, is a tremendous mistake on his behalf. It is quite obvious that Hassan would give his life for Amir, but, because of where Hassan comes from, Amir struggles throughout his childhood, to find a way to accept the friendship Hassan gives
Afghanistan since its beginning has been a place of conflict, despair, and at times lost hope. It has been taken advantage of and lost its sense of identity, which has had a direct effect on its people, and there own sense of what justice truly is.
However, despite the success he met in Kabul he was not able to do the same in America. Instead “It was living in America that gave him an ulcer” (129) and he spiraled down in health. To Amir the move to a foreign country was a fresh start, a new chapter to unfold before him, but to Baba it eventually became a place where the ghosts of Kabul came to
Throughout his childhood, Amir conforms to society and treats his Hazara servants poorly, but he questions the morality of such treatment. When Amir’s childhood bully, Assef, confronts him, Amir thinks to himself that Hassan works only as a servant for him, and that they have no friendship. Afterward, he thinks, “Why did I only play with Hassan when no one else was around?” (41). Hosseini uses a series of rhetorical questions to accentuate how Amir questions his beliefs about his relationship with Hassan....
Because of Amir’s extreme desire to receive the attention and affection from Baba, he begins to subconsciously sacrifice his relationship with Hassan in order to fulfill his interests. However, as Amir continuously matures and begins to recognize his initial ignorant, detrimental actions towards Hassan, he no longer “worship” his father like he did in the past. This causes him to ensure a sense of independence because of his ability to quickly adapt to a completely new, unfamiliar environment and remain adamant on pursuing their own aspirations.