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How Does Amir Change In The Kite Runner

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Amir, the protagonist of the novel, is a man who grew up in Afghanistan but made a life in America. He is a successful writer who is married but unable to have children. However, he struggles with guilt from his past. He mistreated his loyal companion, Hassan, and did not prevent the brutal rape Hassan endured to keep the kite he retrieved for Amir. Guilt over his selfishness never leaves the Afghan man, and he searches for a way to atone for his wrongdoing. Although he realizes depth of his selfish negligence, it is too late to repair the damage done. However, as Amir grows, he matures into a much more noble character. His life-threatening rescue of Hassan’s son Sohrab serves as a form of penance and redemption for Amir. He finds some deliverance from his crushing guilt by doing for Sohrab what he had failed to do for Hassan. Throughout the novel, Amir progresses from a selfish, jealous child into a self-sacrificing, mature adult. Baba, Amir and Hassan’s father, is a strong, wealthy man. He is a successful businessman who was well-known and liked by the whole city. Amir respects his father, saying, “My father was a force of nature, a towering Pashtun specimen with a thick beard, a wayward crop of curly brown hair as unruly as the man himself, hands that looked capable of uprooting a willow tree, and a black glare that would ‘drop the devil to his knees begging for mercy,’ as Rahim Kahn used to say” (Hosseini 13). However, he was not the supportive, present father Amir longed for. Rather than being proud of his son, Baba clearly wished Amir were stronger and more like him. However, Baba is a noble figure who instilled moral values into his son, such as when he taught his son about the sin of theft, and when he guarded a woman’s honor with his own life. Baba’s distanced presence is a reflection of the inner conflict he struggles with because of the illegitimate son he longs to acknowledge. Both Baba and Amir battle with past transgressions, however, when the father and son move to America, their relationship improves. Although Baba has difficulty adjusting from a powerful, influential position in society to a low-wage worker, he finally becomes the father Amir always wished for. He dies from

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