It has often been said that what we value can be determined by what we sacrifice. This is often true, for in The Kite Runner by Khalid Hosseini, the character, Hassan, illustrates on numerous occasions what is most dear to him through his sacrificial tendencies. With his rape being the most stimulating sacrifice, Hassan illuminates his values of friendship and loyalty which transpired a chain of events that highlights the message of the novel as a whole. Friendship is something that Hassan values tremendously. Perhaps this is because Amir is the only one he could consider as a friend. Because of his limitation of friends, Hassan does whatever necessary to uphold that friendship towards Amir. An example which illustrates Hassan and Amir’s friendship Assef remarkably dehumanizes Hassan, but as soon as Assef shifts the humiliation towards Amir, Hassan immediately draw for his catapult. Little did Hassan know that this gesture of protecting himself as well as his friend would one day come back and haunt him. As a result of the stunt Hassan pull on Assef and his crew, he pay the price while he was running the last kite for Amir at the end of the kite tournament. When Hassan is returning home after achieving the kite, he runs into Assef and his crew again. They wanted the kite from Hassan, but he was not going to let that happen. This, again, is because of his friendship with Amir, which he very much values. He values it so much that he wouldn’t give up the kite to the bullies. His determination led Assef to come up with an alternative for the kite; hence, this led to Hassan’s rape. Assef rape Hassan while his two sidekicks pin him to the ground. Hassan didn’t even whimper as he is being rape, for he knows that this sacrifice is for a higher purpose. He is sacrificing himself so that he could have that kite to bring back to Amir; with this kite, Amir can use it to gain his father’s affection and approval. This just goes to show the level of determination which Hassan It is highly transparent throughout the length of the novel, for no detail is spared about Hassan’s commitments and his faithful adherence to a sovereign. This commitment can be seen when Hassan ran the last kite for Amir at the kite tournament. As Hassan set off for the kite, Amir told him to bring it back. This means that because there were other kids competing for the same kite, Hassan should make sure he wins it. Hassan yelled back, “For you, a thousand times over.” This quote illustrates that Hassan would run the kite for Amir over and over again which shows that he is very determined, committed, persistent, and obviously has a weak spot for Amir. With such a level of determination, Hassan’s loyalty is far beyond that of a slave. It is of such a rich and succulent devotion as if his dedication towards Amir is somewhat clouded. Another scene which exemplifies Hassan’s loyalty is, again, the rape. While being rape, Hassan did not struggle or tried to fight off Assef and his crew, but he rather resign to their wicked actions. This goes to show adherence to a sovereign; Hassan knows that Assef and his sidekicks are of a higher societal class than he is and he must respect that, so he submits to them. Submissive gestures is commonly and vividly portrayed through Hassan’s actions. Another scene where he depicts his loyalty is when he lied to Baba about stealing Amir’s watch and money. Amir wanted Hassan out of his life, for
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).
Actions made in a moment of pain, anger or simple immaturity can take anyone to make mistakes that can change their lives completely. Everyone has something in the past that is shameful, embarrassing and regrettable that is kept present daily. Whether this event happened during childhood, adolescence or early adulthood, this event could haunt and have shaped that person’s life into what he or she is today. In a similar way, the book The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is shaped by a tragic and eventful past that has shaped Amir’s, Baba’s, and Hassan’s lives. The four literary elements that will be used in this essay that Hosseini strategically uses in this book are: irony, simile, metaphor, and personification.
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
The theme of loyalty is widespread throughout "The Kite Runner". Hassan is a very loyal character in this story, he is loyal to his brother Amir this is demonstrated from the start he tells Amir “for you a thousand times over” often to mean he would do anything for Amir when the situation calls for it. Amir on the other hand is jealous and feels entitled to his father’s love and care, he does not understand Baba’s love for Ali and Hassan and as such he does everything to discredit Hassan and put himself on better grounds with his father. Hassan’s loyalty is juxtaposed with Amir’s betrayal, for in every act of kindness demonstrated by Hassan he receives and equal or greater amounts of betrayal from Amir. Nonetheless Hassan remains
At the beginning of The Kite Runner, young Amir wins a kite fighting tournament. He feels like he has finally redeemed himself for his father. However, Amir’s happy day turns dark, when an hour later, he witnesses Hassan, his best friend, raped in an alley. He had “one final opportunity to decide who [he] was going to be. (77) Instead of standing up for his friend and...
Assef is the same guy that rapes Hassan. Amir runs into Assef, who is now apart of the Taliban, while trying to get Sohrab. Amir says, “I’ll pay you for him, … I can have money wired” (282). Amir is trying to buy Sohrab from Assef, but Assef doesn’t need the money. His parents are rich and live in this gorgeous place called Rockingham. He says, “Have you ever heard of Rockingham? Western Australia, a slice of heaven… So if I need money, I’ll have them wire it to me” (282). If Assef needed money, he would just have his parents send it to him. Assef wants something else from Amir. Assef wants to settle some ‘unfinished’ business with Amir. Assef fights Amir, but really he ends up just beating him with brass knuckles. In the end, Amir feels better. He says, “My body was broken-but I felt healed. Healed at last. I laughed” (289). Amir feels the pain of Assef continuously beating him, but he also feels like he is at peace, because when he wanted Hassan to hurt him back, he wouldn’t. He laughs because he is feeling at peace. Now that he has finally gotten what he has been waiting for and what he thinks he deserves. By Amir getting beaten feeling peace, he is finally fulling
Within Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, one witnesses a tremendous act of self sacrifice. During a kite competition Hassan retrieves a kite to bring back to his friend, Amir. However, while running back to Amir, he is cornered by Assef, town bully, and his lackeys. Assef gives Hassan an option to give up the kite and be let loose, or keep the kite and be raped. Hassan’s self sacrifice is letting himself be raped for his friend. It was important for Hassan to keep the kite because Amir is trying to please his father who has neglected Amir. Getting the kite from the competition is the real grand prize and it would please Amir’s father. Amir sees Hassan being raped, but doesn’t do anything because of his cowardice. Hassan and Amir notice each-other at one point. That is when Amir knows he has lost his relationship with Hassan. Amir goes on to say, “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(sacrifice) was the price I had...
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
Hassan would do anything for his friends and treat everyone, even bullies, with respect because his respectful dad, Ali, taught him to always be loyal to all, and never hurt anyone. Ali was Baba’s servant and long-time friend, and stayed close to him throughout their childhood and adulthood. Amir's actions showed how much of a coward he was. Amir suffered his whole life living with the guilt of knowing that Hassan was raped, much like Baba lived his whole life in guilt knowing that he stole the truth from Ali by committing adultery.
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.
Amir and Hassan’s relationship is a recurring theme throughout the novel. In the ethnic caste system, Amir is a Pashtun and Hassan is a Hazara. Pashtuns are placed in a much higher caste than Hazaras, therefore Hazaras are treated as servants to the Pashtuns. Every morning, Hassan prepares Amir’s breakfast, makes his clothes and cleans his room for him. In the annual kite tournament, at least two people must work together in order to properly maneuver the kite, one to lead the kite, and another to feed the kite’s glass string. Hassan’s role is the latter. His role is to feed the kite’s string for Amir and run after any fallen kites. The glass string attached to the kite is dangerous as it is coated with shards of glass and leaves bloody marks and cuts on the hands. Although Hassan catches the fallen kites, he must always bring it back to Amir. One winter, when Hassan and Amir were waiting under a tree for the kite to come to them, Hassan asks Amir “Would I ever lie to you, Amir agha?” (Ho...
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,” (.).
From the start of the novel Hassan is loyal to Amir, no matter what Amir does to him. For example, Hassan would say"For you a thousand times over,"(Housseini 55) to Amir, demonstrating his loyalty to his friend. The greatest example of
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is a very interesting novel that has a very bold and challenging theme. This theme is seen early on in the novel, but becomes increasingly more and more intricate throughout the reading. The Kite Runner is a novel based on a man named Amir, who grew up in Afghanistan and lives his whole life dealing with betrayal and redemption. Throughout this book, Amir has a gigantic flashback describing his whole intoxicatingly sad life. Hosseini creeps into a dark emotional depth as he talks about all the struggles of an Afghani child during the 1970’s who’s father treated him like less of a child than his servant. He talks about the struggles of a boy that betrays his best friend, only later finding