“The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini tells the story of Amir who struggles to move on and become a better person after terrifying childhood events in the winter of 1975. The Kite Runner is divided into three sections: Amir’s childhood in Afghanistan, Amir and Baba’s journey in California, and the last section which is Amir back in Kabul. The story starts from the narration of Amir (the protagonist) in 2002 as an older man. He takes us back into his childhood where we meet his family and know more about his childhood but more specifically about what events lead him to not move on and be a better person. Furthermore, Amir lives in a big house with his dad who he loves and calls Baba but they also live with their servants, Ali and Hassan (a dad …show more content…
A Pashtun is someone who’s Muslim but is a Sunni Muslim. On the other hand, a Hazara is someone who’s also Muslim but is part of another group of Muslims; Shi’a. Furthermore, Hazaras are discriminated a lot in their town due to most people not being Hazaras. Hassan and his dad are faced with many rude insults and are discriminated from their neighbourhood. Amir seems to think that Baba dislikes him due to him liking poetry and not being that strong of a guy. He starts to assume that Baba likes Hassan more as he trusts Hassan to do his favours and shows more love to him. He decides the only thing he can do to earn his Baba’s love is to win the kite-fighting tournament.Amir and Hassan decide to try to win the annual winter kite fighting tournament together. After all the unique strategies and a little bit of luck, Amir really wins. But all he needs now is Hassan to chase down the defeated kite and as soon as that is done, he’ll finally have the love from his Baba that he strives for. Before Hassan leaves he says,“For you, a thousand times over.” Not everything goes the way Amir plans when Hassan bumps into Assef; the bully who wants
In the novel The Kite Runner, author Khaled Hosseini writes about Amir a young Afghan child who is a coward and who later as an adult seeks redemption from past mistakes. These characteristic effects Amir’s live throughout the novel from childhood to present. However, these are just words on a paper without some proof and the novel happily supports this either through the events or the behavior of other characters. Now let’s start with Amir’s past childhood.
The Kite Runner is a book about a young boy, Amir, who faces many struggles as he grows up in Kabul and later moves to America to flee from the Taliban. His best friend and brother , Hassan, was a big part of his life, but also a big part of guilt he held onto for many years. The book describes Amir’s attempt to make up for the past and resolve his sins so he can clear his conscious. Amir is worthy of forgiveness because although he was selfish, he was very brave and faced his past.
There are many parallels between the first half of Amir’s life and the second half. Specifically, Hassan runs the blue kite for Amir during their adolescence and later Amir runs the kite for Sohrab. Moreover,
At times Amir had trouble realizing that they were best friends because Hassan was a Hazara, he was of Asian descent and of the Shiite tribe, he resembles his ancestors, the Mongols. Amir is a Pashtun, of the Sunni tribe, a majority group in Afghanistan. Hassan was loyal and showed endless amounts of respect and praise to Amir. Though Hassan knew what Amir had witnessed and done to him, he covered up for him. He did not ever let Amir get into trouble with Baba, his father. Hassan was also the half brother of Amir, neither knew until Rahim Khan, a friend of Baba’s informed Amir. He and Hassan had a connection, both as friends but also as brothers.
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
Assef's vow comes true during the day of Amir's favorite sport: "kite fighting". In this sport, children fly their kites and try to "slice" each other's kite. Amir wins the tournament, and Baba's praise, with his kite the last one flying, but when Hassan goes to fetch the last cut kite, a great trophy, Assef and two henchmen are there instead. Hassan tries to protect Amir's kite, but Assef beats Hassan and brutally rapes him. Amir hides and watches Hassan and is too scared to help him. Afterwards, Hassan becomes emotionally downcast. Amir knows why but keeps it a secret, and things are never the same between the two. After hearing a story from Rahim Khan, Amir decides it would be best for Hassan to go away. Amir frames Hassan as a thief but Baba forgives him, even though he admits to committing
...h him; another part to this is because he believes Hassan is just a dirty Hazara boy. “I'd chase the car, screaming for it to stop. I'd pull Hassan out of the backseat and tell him I was sorry, so sorry, my tears mixing with rainwater. We'd hug in the downpour (Hosseini 109).” After Amir causes Hassan to leave, he laments about letting, more like making, his best friend leave him. He sees the dirty Hazara boy as his best friend at that moment. In both of these stories, the main character realizes how similar they are to the other social or religious group.
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 does not love sports as much as Baba, but he does love participating in the kite-fighting tournament. In the winter of 1975, Amir and Hassan competed in the tournament. Amir feels that this is a way to gain some of Baba’s love back, therefore winning is crucial. Hassan is a master at kite running. No matter the weather conditions or the amount of people running a kite, Hassan always knew where the kite was going to land.
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...
Raised like brothers yet they could not be more different. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini shows how two brothers, Amir and Hassan, could be alike in many ways, yet personalities are completely different. Amir and Hassan although raised like brother, and later discovered they were half brothers, were completed individuals in personality, meaning of life, and how they treated each other. The story takes them from early childhood, to the day Hassan leaves, to Amir growing up and going back to Kabul. The Kite Runner takes you on a emotional journey about a boy named Amir, and his uncommon bond to his servant Hassan, whom Amir had to go through choices to abandon his friend amidst the increasing struggles politics, religion, ethics, and love.
Baba struggles to adapt to America, while Amir flourishes. Amir stands up for Baba is when Baba is accused of stealing at the store. Baba was quite childish in the way that when he was blamed for stealing,-the only true sin in his mind- he threw a tantrum. This provides an opportunity for Amir to strengthen his fortitude. In this reversed role Amir takes care of the damage, asking the store owners for forgiveness and promising that he will pay the bill for any expenses, just as any responsible adult would do. The tables continue to turn as Amir brings Sohrab into his life. When he first stands up to Assef he fights back and doesn’t let Assef take care of his unfinished business. “ In the end he’d get us both. He’s kept that promise with Hassan. Now it was my turn (pg. 286). Instead of letting him take him down, Amir fights back, to the point of almost killing himself. By standing up for Sohrab, he makes up for not standing up for Hassan in the alleyway. He continues to stand up for Sohrab when he travels back to America. “You will never refer again to him as ‘Hazara boy’ in my presence.” (pg. 361), he tells the general. He ends up becoming not only a man, but a father in the way that he takes care of
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....
But, the only way to totally make Baba happy, was to run, and bring back, the trophy kite of the final duel. Amir describes this kite as “The key to Baba’s heart” (71). He sacrifices Hassan for Baba’s love. “Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba” (77). Amir says this while he watches Assef brutalize Hassan.
He illustrates that in many example, such as, Baba, however, never calls Ali, Hassan’s father, his friend, because of their ethnic and religious differences. Also the culture can play an important part in this novel. For an example, when Hassan is getting raped by Assef and hi friends, Amir refers to the sacrificial act of the lamb because Amir is Pashtun and Hassan is Hazara (Pashtan is Sunni Muslim, but Hazzara is Shi’a Muslim). At that time, Assef says Amir is part of the problem for being friend with Hazara. For another example, when Amir and baba moves to America, they communicate with the Afghan group there because the search about people look like them, and behave with the same