Bildungsroman In 'The Kite Runner'

The average person encounters challenges in everyday life that shapes their character. These challenges are what make up their character and proceed to show the outcome of their life. There are many ways to change your character such as shifting your perspective on others without judgement or learning from prior experiences. In the novel, The Kite Runner, Amir is the character that changes greatly based on the maturity he has gained from his childhood to adulthood. Amir’s character has been shaped by many factors, the two biggest influences involve his best friend, Hassan, and father, Baba. These two influences shaped Amir at an early age. The third character that shaped Amir happens later in his life involving the women that he later ends up marrying. Amir goes from being a selfish child to being a selfless adult.

Born in Kabul, Afghanistan, Amir was the son of a wealthy social worker. He was brought up with the son of his servant, and perhaps his only best friend, Hassan. Amir had a rocky relation with his father. At times, it seemed as his father loved him but those moments didn’t lasted forever. He thinks Baba (his father) wishes Amir were more like him, and that Baba holds him responsible for killing his mother, who died during his birth. Despite being best friends, Amir thinks that Hassan is beneath him because he belonged to an inferior cast. He used to mock him jokingly or tried to outsmart him. In all fairness, it was Amir’s cowardly nature that

Amir who is both the protagonist and narrator in the story is a very intelligent,selfless, courageous. He is also the son of Baba who is a very well known businessman in Kabul. His greatest desire is to please his father. A very important quote that Amir writes is " That was a long time ago, but it's wrong what they say about the past,I've learned about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out. Looking back now, I realize that I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty six years." this quote reveals a major point in the story. As we continue to read we realize that the deserted alley was were Hassan was raped and he's been feeling guilty for twenty six

Both Hassan and Sohrab have gone through abuse at the hands of Assef, but Amir ends this cycle of abuse by rescuing Sohrab when he returns to Kabul. This shows how Amir has become nobler and made the decision to do what he feels as morally correct. When he was 12, he witnessed Hassan get raped by Assef in the alleyway and he did nothing to help Hassan. He tried

1. What kind of relationship does Amir have with his father? How does this affect Amir? When Amir was little, his relationship with his father is really distance. Amir always tries to do things to be closer to his father, but his dad is always harsh on him.

Before this, Amir was trying to forget ever since he left Kabul, and it was only until this moment that he realizes in order to be a whole and good person, he cannot forget any longer. He understands that he must confront his past and deal with it. The past is a problem that not only exists in this book but modern day society. People struggle to move on from a dramatic event that happened in the past. The past can never

When this horrific event occurs, Amir chooses not to interfere. From that point on, he is clouded with questions regarding Hassan and is unable to escape his shame even when he moves to America, gets married, or launches a successful writing career. Amir’s

The young boy feels just as bad as Hassan does when he got raped. For example, after the rape, Amir is in a crammed room with his family and he can’t fall asleep. He whispers to himself hoping other people would hear, “I watched Hassan get raped” (Hosseini 86). This represents, as a result of how Amir finally accepts his guilt for Hassan, and want to fix his sins in the past.

Throughout the novel, “The Kite Runner,” by Khaled Hosseini, Amir is haunted by memories of his past. The theme has been, betrayal, loyalty, guilt and honor. The tone throughout is confessional. Amir the main character, is constantly troubled by his memory of Hassan’s rape and believes “he became what [he] is today at the age of 12,” because of his own cowardice at not stopping Hassan from being raped. After Hassan’s rape, Amir spends the rest of his life trying to redeem himself for his betrayal of his loyal friend. The rape leads Amir to his final quest for redemption when he is told “there is a way to be good again.” The climax of “The Kite Runner” is when Amir seeks to rectify the wrong he did to Hassan and finally finds Hassan’s son, Sohrab.

While living in Afghanistan, Amir witnesses the raping of his loyal friend and servant, Hassan. Instead of stepping up and stopping the horrific event from happening, "[Amir] bit on [his] fist. Shut [his] eyes" (73). Amir harbored the pain of witnessing his best friend suffering and believed that if he told anyone what had happened that he would be a disgrace to his father. Throughout the rest of his life, Amir believed that every bad situation was God punishing him for not standing up for Hassan. Because Amir was not able to forgive himself, he was unable to move on with his life and be at peace. He believed he was not good enough for anyone's forgiveness. After about twenty-five years, Amir saw his chance at redemption--his chance for forgiveness. He learned of Hassan's death, and that his only son, Sohrab was in an orphanage. Knowing the conditions of Afghanistan, Amir went to save Sonrab and bring him back to America for a better life. Upon returning to America, Amir had admitted his horrific event to Soraya and gained her

When you do something wrong and you know you shouldn't have done it you feel guilty, right ? Well so does Amir, at least his own kind of guilt. Amir watched Hassan get raped and did nothing to stop it. The summer following Hassans painful misfortune, Amir and Hassan spend less and less time together they don’t play outside as much they had before, so when Amir asked Hassan,

(Hosseini, 34.) This shows that Amir acts selfishly whilst Hassan is getting raped, showing the ignorance of equality within society. Amir’s apathy is due to the lack of courage and desire to help because of the segregation between himself and Hassan. As Amir tells his story about his past, he claims, “Because the past claws its way out. Looking back now, I realize I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years.”

Amir resents his choice to be a coward when Hassan is raped. His guilt is immediate and it gnaws at him. A few days after Hassan was assaulted, Amir already feels guilt and resentment inside him. “’I [Amir]

Given the fact that Amir’s father is rich this gives him the opportunity of having whatever he wants, the only thing Amir wants and can’t have is his father’s approval. He will hate anyone whom his dad gives more attention or approval to. Even though Hasan is Amir best friend he doesn’t sees him as an equal but as his servant. Amir has always had Hasan’s protection no matter what it meant to him, but when it came Amir’s time to prove his loyalty to his friend he failed miserably. While Hasan got raped he just stood there watching without doing anything just for the fact that he was afraid of losing the kite that will bring him his father’s approval.

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