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
The character of Amir goes through drastic changes as he moves from adolescence to adulthood. As a child Amir begins his life in Kabul, where his character is shaped through conflicts with his father and Hassan. Later, when he moves to America he leaves these conflicts behind and is able to create a stronger relationship with his father. However, when Amir is an adult he is called back to Afghanistan by an old friend to confront these earlier conflicts. In The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, observable changes can be seen in Amir’s character as he moves from Kabul, Fremont, and later back to Kabul.
Amir’s mother, Sofia, dies in childbirth; Amir inherits her love of literature and probably her looks to some extent, but, her being dead, never receives any motherly love or guidance, which could have helped him out of the cowardly hole he later digs himself into. Amir’s father’s best friend and business partner, Rahim Khan, tries to give Amir the motherly love he clearly needs, fostering Amir’s love of writing and steadfastly standing up for him when Amir’s father, Baba, criticizes him, but Rahim Khan does not do enough to instill honesty, courage, and strength of conviction in young Amir. Amir’s best friend, Hassan, a servant a year younger than Amir, is everything Amir is not: athletic, brave, loyal, honest, and kind, inciting jealousy in Amir. Assef, a local bully, poses a real threat to Amir, hating Amir for the crime of befriending a Hazara (oppressed ethnic minority), but Amir is protected by Hassan, allowing young Amir to freeze and not stand up for himself in Assef’s presence. Last, but most importantly, is Amir’s father, Baba, and his views on Amir: he blames Amir for Sofia’s death,
When Khaled Hosseini wrote The Kite Runner, he made several important choices involving narration. He chose to write the story in first person from a limited point of view. This is a very fitting decision because, writing in the first person adds a sense of intimacy that is crucial to this story; writing from a limited perspective allows the reader to make their own conclusions about what the characters are thinking. The way Hosseini writes The Kite Runner makes it very intimate, and feels like a person telling their life story. If The Kite Runner had been written in third person, or omnisciently, the story would not have impacted readers as much, and would have been too cold and impersonal to create emotional connections with the reader.
“ For you, a thousand times over”. This one sentence sums up the immense love, loyalty and friendship Hassan had for Amir.
Have you ever experienced an event that you thought you have previously been through? This can be due to Déjà vu, or in Amir’s case, another chance at redemption. In The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, Amir redeems himself when he goes back to Afghanistan to make things right. The usage of cycles in The Kite Runner show the changes in Amir throughout the book by highlighting his changes when cycles repeat. This is shown in the cycles of Hassan’s family undergoing abuse, when Amir puts cash under mattresses, and how characters laugh when they are beat.
In the novel The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, the protagonist Amir is on a journey to seek redemption for the remorse he feels for betraying his best friend Hassan. At the age of twelve, Amir witnesses Hassan get raped and decides to run away instead of standing up for him. Consequently, Amir is unable to cope with the guilt for not helping him and frames Hassan for theft, causing him and his father to leave Kabul. Years later, when he returns to Afghanistan to rescue Hassan’s son “[he plants] a fistful of crumpled money under a mattress” (Hosseini 254). Amir retraces his steps and repeats an act he did twenty-six years ago, but this time with a different intention. This shows a growth in Amir’s character as he put the money out of care and appreciation, instead of placing
Throughout the novel, The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, the main character, Amir, undergoes a massive change when he decides to stand up to the “bad guys” in the novel that he has hid from for so very long. Primarily, in Amir’s childhood, he acts cowardly towards the neighborhood bully, commonly known as “…Assef Goshkhor, or Assef “the Ear Eater.”,” (p.41). Each confrontation with Assef and his gang results in Amir retrieving gutlessly, and Hassan stepping in the fend them off. In addition, as the time advances, Amir becomes easily labeled as the “…boy who [would not] stand up for himself,” (p.24) but in Chapter Twenty-Two, Amir’s actions and attitudes change. Astonishingly, Amir does not withdraw his request to meet with the Talib official
Hosseini tragically displays the betrayal of a so-called friend. When they were young, Amir and Hassan did everything together and they were inseparable. Amir’s obsession with gaining Baba’s love not only made him lose someone that adored him, but also someone that would always stay by his side. Later on, Amir redeems himself of his horrible past by taking in Hassan’s son, so he can have a clean future. Hosseini depicts good versus evil to question readers if Amir is forgiven for his one good deed compared to his many bad deeds.Was Amir really Hassan’s friend considering how disrespectful he is to Hassan? In the novel Kite Runner, Hosseini shows that Amir did
Amir’s misadventures begin as a boy living in an affluent Afghanistan world. On the day of his birth, his mother hemorrhages to death. Robbed of any feminine influence or comfort, he goes to his overshadowing Baba for love and acceptance. His father denies his only son the tenderness he desires, leading Amir to believe his father despises him. After all, Amir’s
There has always been an old question that remains unanswered, sparking interest and arguments: is a person’s nature or nurture more influential on their character? This debate can be directly tied to Amir, the main character of the novel The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini. Amir is a perfect example of how a persons genetics affects their personality more than their environment. Along with several studies done, The Kite Runner shows how your genetic makeup effects the choices you make and the person you become.
Social conditions are what shape a country. Over the years, people, not only in Afghanistan, but around the world create norms that define people’s roles in life, their future, and how they should be treated based on their gender and beliefs. Khaled Hosseini’s first novel, The Kite Runner, comments on the social conditions of Afghanistan through telling a story about the lives of two Muslim boys; a privileged Sunni Pashtun, Amir, and his long-time friend and servant, Hassan, a loyal but disadvantaged Shia Hazara. Hosseini expresses Amir’s uncertain feelings toward Hassan which form the decisions he makes throughout the book. These choices result in Amir destroying his relationship with Hassan. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini is a commentary on the social conditions in Afghanistan as shown through the roles of women and men in society and the ideals of Afghan culture. Unfortunately, these problems are still active in most of Afghanistan.
A character that is morally ambiguous is unclear and they make rash decisions that make others think differently or confuse them. In the story, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, the main character, and narrator of the story, Amir, face harsh realities and dwells on his bad decisions and qualities throughout the story. Amir’s friend and brother, Hassan, is there with Amir throughout the story and experiences tough decisions and horrible tragedies as well. More horrible than Amir experiences. The author put morally ambiguous characters like Amir into the story to represent why it is important to have clear thoughts and good decision making. Amir’s decisions he has made are not bad nor not all good, and that is why Amir is chosen to be a morally ambiguous character in The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini.
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
In life there are people that you could judge like a book, but others are morally ambiguous where you don’t know the other side to that story.In the book The Kite Runner there are many characters that are morally ambiguous which means the appear something but there a complete opposite. The Kite runner by Khaled Hosseini is an adventure book with many different characters. Some of those character are morally ambiguous. Zaman is the chacheter I will be talking about is a middle aged man that has a family later on in the novel you get to meet him, he appears to be good. But soon to come you learn a dark thing he is doing. Although he tries to reason with his bad doing.
In the novel, Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, the protagonist, Amir, is torn between two truths as he lived associated with different kinds of religious groups in Afghan society: Pashtuns and Hazaras. Each identity played a unique part in Amir’s life. Whether they had a positive or negative effect, both changed his values and beliefs. Individuals also shaped Amir’s character. Baba, Assef, and Hassan were major influences upon Amir’s growth throughout the book; their differences shaped Amir into the man he later became as all three represented a different side of Afghan society.