Amir's Insecurity In 'The Kite Runner'

Hassan is the son of Amir and Baba's lifelong servant, Ali. He has a face like a Chinese doll and a flat nose. His eyes are green and slating, and he has a cleft lip. Though he is Amir's servant Hassen sees Amir as his best friend and spend all his time off together with him. Seeing that he and his father is Hazards their staus in the Afghan community is low, but despite that, they seem to accept and love their lives the way it is.

The third section of this chapter mentions the winter of 1975 and Amir reveals ”I saw Hassan run a kite for the last time” revealing that the terrible event that Amir has been foreshadowing so far in the novel, has a relation to Hassan. Four days prior to the start of the tournament, Baba hints that Amir might win the tournament this year stating “I think maybe you’ll win the tournament this year”. This is the statement fuels Amir's determination to win Baba’s love and what has impacts on his choices on what's right and wrong in the future chapters of the

From that point on, he started to believe that god was on his side, as what was supposed to be a punishment, intended to bring pain, instead brought relief from the pain. On the other hand, when Amir was on the receiving end of the punishment and Assef was delivering the pain, Amir also started to laugh, as once again, the beating led to relief, instead of pain, because Amir finally felt that he got what he deserved. This proliferation of guilt started to build up when he witnessed Hassan get raped and the needing to be punished started when he brought Hassan to the pomegranate tree and tried to make Hassan punish him by smashing a pomegranate on him. However, Hassan refused, and he let it build up for decades. Because of this, when he was finally beat by Assef, it was a great moment of catharsis for Amir, as it relieved him of over two decades of pent up

He sees the disconnection as an opportunity for a new beginning. Situational irony further enhances that Amir would like to move toward the future and never toward the past, and to urgently wash away his offense. He wants a new birth, free of sins he committed by letting Hassan be raped and lying to force Hassan out of his house to avoid guilt, but soon realises he has to face his conscience. After the death of Baba, Amir lives in his home with his wife, Soraya, when he receives a phone call from Rahim Khan in Pakistan. He had knew what Amir had kept all these years as he says “Come. There is a way to be good again” (193), and so came to a shock to Amir. All of Amir’s past that he tried to conceal in the river has resurfaced. There was a silhouette of shame over Amir. He had shamed himself by not helping Hassan when he was attacked, lying to Baba about Hassan stealing his money, and consequently creating a situation where Hassan and Ali had to leave their home. Rahim Khan speech suggests that Amir needed to right his wrongs that had been done, indicating to Amir that there is a chance to redeem himself for the sins he had committed in his

Amir even says himself, “‘And, under the same roof, we spoke our first words. Mine was Baba. His was Amir. My name. Looking back on it now, I think the foundation for what happened in the winter of 1975-and all that followed-was already laid in those first words’” (11). Hassan’s death even after years of not seeing Amir, is still in service of him. Hassan dies protecting Amir’s home in the hopes that Amir will come back to him. Amir, on the other hand, receives his own version of his dad’s love, and after coming to terms with the mistakes that he made as a child, adopts Hassan’s son with the hope that he can right his wrongs, and make up for his mistakes with

Amir has shown to Baba that he is not a reflection of him, which makes Baba believe that it is not necessary to develop a connection with his son. This makes Amir feel guilty of himself which leads him to pursue a series of events where he attempts to win Baba’s love, even if those decisions put Hassan’s life in danger. After winning Baba’s affection and creating a stronger bond with his father in America, Amir still feels guilty for betraying his best friend in the winter of 1975. Amir’s guilt is not tearing his life apart as much as it did when he lived in Kabul, but it still affects him negatively. He is willing to do anything to let go of his guilt, even if it means putting his life at risk. After finding out Hassan is dead and he is Amir’s half-brother, Amir heads back to his childhood home during a time when the country is run by a terrorist organization, so he can rescue Hassan’s son, Sohrab, and finally be able to find peace in his life. Everyone makes mistakes in their life and even if those mistakes might have destroyed another person’s life, there is always a way to earn redemption and that is by letting the guilt that one carries lead to something

Amir had settled in America and had cut off all connections of himself with Afghanistan. The physical journey helps Amir to establish his identity. Amir’s confrontation

At the beginning of the novel, young Amir quickly learns how one poor decision can entirely change the way someone lives. He beloved best friend Hassan was loyal and would happily fulfill any request Amir asked of him, but when Amir started to notice his father, Baba, giving Hassan more attention, he grew envious. When the time came that Hassan desperately needed Amir’s assistance, Amir turned his cheek and took the easy way out.

Amir seems to be a very selfish person who will avoid any conflict that does not involve him. Amir is the son of Baba and Hassan's best friend. Even though Hassan and Amir are great friends, Amir seems to take their friendship for granted. On the day of the kite running tournament, Hassan gets mixed up with gang who intend to rape him. They proceed to do so as Amir sits at the sidelines and watches. Amir says, ¨I had one last chance to make a decision. One final opportunity to decide who I was going to be. I could step into that alley, stand up for Hassan--the way he’d stood up for me all those times in the past--and accept whatever would happen to me. Or I could run. In the end I ran. I ran because I was a coward. I was afraid of Assef and what he would do to me.¨ (Hosseini 77) Amir has the option to help his friend who has been with him through thick and thin, but afraid of his own personal safety, he runs. Leaving Hassan completely alone and helpless. Amir also desires attention from his father and will think or do awful things to get it. Amir says, “I’d, ask Ali where Baba was, when he was coming home, though I know full well he was at the construction site over-looking this, supervising that. Didn't that take patience? I already hated all the kids he was building the orphanage for; sometimes I’d wish they'd all die along with their parents.” In Amir's mind, getting Baba’s attention is all that matters. Sacrificing others for his own gain becomes a habit of his. Amir is aware of his selfishness and in someway wants to make up for it.

Throughout the novel, The Kite Runner, courage plays a large role in determining the fate of each character. All of the characters show courage in different ways. For example, when Baba lost his wife and the mother of his children, he chose to raise his two sons on his own. Baba’s son, who is also the main character, Amir, is seen as the opposite of his father. Baba is a courageous, smart and very public man. Amir, on the other hand, struggles to stand up for himself and never feels the need to be courageous during his youth. He feels inferior to his best friend, Brother and loyal servant, Hassan. Hassan is constantly being praised by Baba for being brave, loyal and Baba views Hassan as his proudest achievement. Amir has a strong craving for respect from his father which influences the choices Amir makes throughout his life. He is constantly battling between choosing his morals or his father’s approval. However, during a conflict that happens later in the novel, Amir finally shows his courage and

4. We begin to understand early in the novel that Amir is constantly vying for Baba's attention and often feels like an outsider in his father's life, as seen in the following passage: "He'd close the door, leave me to wonder why it was always grown-ups time with him. I'd sit by the door, knees drawn to my chest. Sometimes I sat there for an hour, sometimes two, listening to their laughter, their chatter." Discuss Amir's relationship with Baba.

Throughout the novel, Amir endeavors to be approved by his father, Baba, who is admired by people in Kabul. Unfortunately, Baba believes that Amir, unlike him, is very unmanly “and [that he] never fights back. He just... drops his head ” (Hosseini 24). Since Baba wishes for a son who would stand up for himself, he can’t help but observe that Amir’s friend Hassan, as the guy who “steps in and fends the [bullies] off” (Hosseini 24) is his idea of the ideal son. Though aware of his father’s expectations, Amir is unable to change himself and instead envies Hassan and the fact that Baba treats him like his own son by“[patting]Hassan on the back. [and even putting] his arm around his shoulder [like a fatherly figure]”(Hosseini 15). Despite the manifestation of this hatred in Amir, he continues to recognize the bond that he shares with Hassan, “ brotherhood between people who had fed from the same breast” (Hosseini 11) which is because both their mothers died during birth. The confusing emotions he feels for Hassan has Amir face a situation in which he acts inappropriately and allows the guilt to manifest upon him. After winning a very important kite tournament for the first time and “seeing Baba on that roof, proud of [him] at last” (Hosseini 71) Amir begins to search for Hassan who had gone to run his kite earlier. Finally, Amir finds him in a dark alley and as he “peeks around the corner” (Hosseini 75) he witnesses a sight that eradicated not only his relationship with Hassan but also Baba’s brotherly relationship with Ali, Hassan’s father. Peeking through the corner of the alley, like a bystander, he watches his one and only friend getting raped. The guilt that came upon him was for two reason; one, his lack of courage to stand up to

First, Amir’s relationship with his father, Baba, helped create Amir’s identity. Their intricate relationship often left Amir feeling worthless as if he could not live up to the standards of a Pashtun. This negatively impacted Amir growing up; his values constantly changed as he tried to form a close bond with his father. Baba raised Amir to believe that everyone in Afghanistan had a certain role to play in life, but they should all be treated with respect. Baba’s values made Amir think he had disappointed his father. The high expectations that Baba had for Amir showed that he cared about their reputation. Being the child Amir was, he translated Baba’s hardness as though his father were unhappy to have a child such as Amir. Amir recounts the emotion displayed on his father’s face after an afternoon together; he laments, “Mostly I will never forget Baba’s valiant efforts to conceal the disgusted

This one decision left a stain on Amir for the next thirty years. A quote on pg. 88 states “I wish someone would wake me up, so I wouldn’t have to live with this lie anymore” This quote explains how guilty Amir felt after seeing Hassan get raped as he desperately sought for anyone to find out but didn’t chose to tell anyone the actual truth. Another example from the text is when Amir tries throwing pomegranates at Hassan, as an attempt to get Hassan to fight back and punish Amir for choosing to leave Hassan. However, Hassan refused to throw any pomegranates at Amir, but instead smashed one into his face. A quote on pg.94 states “I wanted Hassan to fight me back for the way I failed him” This quote indicates that Amir wanted Hassan to fight him back, so he could have the “punishment [he] craved” (93) This demonstrates that Amir wanted to feel the act of being punished for his wrongdoing, similar to how Hassan was brutally raped due to Amir’s apparent mistake. Amir’s guilt forces him to travel across two countries to seek redemption for the mistake he made. 15 years later, Amir’s guilt led him to make the hefty decision of returning to Afghanistan “to be good again” (189) by rescuing Hassan’s orphaned son, Sohrab, from the terrible conditions he was left to face in Kabul. Amir sees this as an opportunity to redeem and free himself from

I love the way his chapters' lengths widely vary; it is as if he just writes down his story as it comes to him. Because Hosseini does not follow a strict structure when writing, his characters are very well-developed and the audience is told almost everything about each of them through Amir. This unique style of narration allows me to see situations in the book from many characters' different perspectives. For example, when Amir says "I finally had what I'd wanted all those years. Except now that I had it, I felt as empty as this unkept pool I was dangling my legs into," I see a lot more than a simile and some irony. As a reader, I not only understand that Amir has given everything he has to receive his father's love, but I also know that Hassan has had to suffer through a lot for Amir to get here. Was Baba's love worth all of Hassan's suffering? I am pretty sure Hassan is actually happy for Amir because the author has consistently been showing the audience that Hassan will not do anything to harm Amir. However, when the author compares Amir's emotional state to that of the barren pool directly in front of him, I can infer that Amir is at a total loss for words. Hosseini has told the audience that Amir is a well-educated child, so when he resorts to comparing himself to vague physical objects in his immediate vision, I believe Hosseini is trying to state that Amir is unable to think of any words to express