Unrealistic Expectations In The Kite Runner By Khaled Hosseini

Children are products of their parents, leading to most parents having certain expectations of how they want their offspring to grow up to be, but as stated in the novel The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, “Children aren’t coloring books.You don’t get to fill them with your favorite colors” (Hosseini 21). The haunting novel, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, is set in Afghanistan during the rule of the Taliban and describes the torturous journey of a young boy named Amir who’s father, Baba, had unrealistic expectations of him. Baba wanted Amir to be athletic and brave, even though Amir was more interested in standing on the side lines of fights and reading poetry and writing stories. In order to attempt and fill Baba’s expectations, Amir ends up betraying his loyal friend and servant, Hassan, when he was being assaulted by the sadistic neighborhood bully, Assef. This

guilt follows Amir through his whole life, and later on as an adult, Amir tries to gain redemption for his cowardice and make Baba proud of him for once.

This story further demonstrates that, in the end, despite parents’ expectations of their children, each of us is ultimately the constructors of our own paths.
Due to his father’s unrealistic expectations in The Kite Runner, Amir struggles throughout the novel to become his own person. When Amir was younger, Hassan always fought his battles for him, such as when Assef, the local bully, threatens the two boys and Hassan defends them with his slingshot. His father looks down on this because of his belief that “A boy who won’t stand up for himself becomes a man who can’t stand up to anything” (22). However, when he is older, and Hassan isn’t in his life anymore, Amir had to grow his own confidence and courage. As the story progresses, he can be seen standing up to his disapproving father unlike how he did when he was a kid. An example is when he decides to major in english, even though his father thinks that it isn’t “real work”(134), he chooses to pursue his own interests and become an

author rather than being a doctor or lawyer, which is what is father approves of. Another big step in Amir’s journey is when he decides to travel back to Afghanistan in order to see his old friend Rahim Khan. When he arrives the author includes several instances that contrast examples of his cowardice as a child. At one point he is staying in a poor household and one morning “When [he] was certain no one was looking, [he] did something [he] had done twenty-six years earlier: [he] planted a fistful of crumpled money under a mattress” (242). This action resembles what he had done to Hassan many years ago, when the guilt of betraying him took over and he placed money and a watch under Hassan’s mattress in order to make it seem as if Hassan stole it, so that Hassan would have to leave. However, the difference is that back then it was a matter of guilt and now it is a matter of redemption, showing how he has grown over the years. Another significant example of Amir growing responsibility and redeeming himself is when he faces his former bully, Assef, in order to rescue Sohrab, Hassan’s child. He eventually adopts Sohrab and gives him the love and attention he always desired from Baba. His bravery is also evident when he is speaking with General Taheri, Soraya’s father, and the General asks why he took in this Hazara boy. His response, “You will never again refer to him as a ‘Hazara boy’ in my presence. He has a name and it’s Sohrab” (361), shows another feat of his courage through him standing up for himself and his family. By the end of the book, Amir has grown from a selfish, jealous child seeking his fathers love to an adult who is able to fight his own fights and have the courage, loyalty, and compassion he always lacked as a child.
Like Amir, my parents have several expectations for me in my life. My parents and I are somewhat similar in that we have many of the same beliefs, in political and moral terms. We also share some aspects of our personalities. We are hardworking, stubborn, and kind of controlling. However, we are very unalike in our interests, very similar to Amir’s situation with Baba. My parents are both engineers and have very typical silicon valley careers. In contrast, when I become older I would prefer to not have an average 9-5 job like them. I want a career where I can be creative, travel, make an impact, and not have to sit in a fluorescently lit office all day. However, I am unlike Amir in that I am very more strongly opinionated and athletic, much like my father. I would say that I am more similar to my father, personality wise. Apart from this, I do feel fairly understood by my parents, while we have the typical child-parent disagreements, I think they will support me with any decision I make.