Relationship is the key theme in the novel. Critically examine the nature of Amir and Hassan relationship, highlighting the factors that influence that relationship. The theme relationship between Amir and Hassan is the key element in the novel. The nature of relationship between Amir and Hassan is externally, they have close relationship but internally they suffer from extreme breakdown in their friendship. Hassan was a guy, who is weak but intelligent and very loyal to his only friend Amir. The love and affection from Hassan is indeed enormous but Amir never in his life thought Hassan as his friend, rather a pathetic Hazara, a real servant. Amir has the secret of the unbearable situation where Hassan was raped by the village bully Assef. …show more content…
(Marx, 2017) In Marx's view, it is due to the almost timeless division of society by wealth and power. The ruling class ultimately controls legal and political institutions, as well as the power of manufacturing and production. Similarly in The Kite Runner, the ruling classes are pashtun having more power compared to those poor and powerless Hazara. The Pashtun called Hazara as ‘flat nose’ and sometime as ‘mice eater’. The Pashtun posses more power and Hazaras were humiliated and made to work under them as slaves. The thought of Hassan as his servant made Amir to avoid Hassan and he thinks that if he becomes close friend with that poor hazara, he would receive the same punishment that Hazaras were given by the Capitalist. Amir has the sense of fear for other Pashtuns, resulting gap in the relationship between the two …show more content…
“Baba, have you ever thought about getting new servants” (Hosseini, 2003, p. 83). Haasan was a strong boy who always stood for Amir. In the day of kite running that year, Amir saw Hassan being raped by Assef in the alley. Amir was helpless that time. Amir was afraid of Assef that the same incident would happen to him. So Amir refused to defend Hassan, instead he chose to ran away carrying the thought that Haasan is just a Hazara who depends on them for their living. Amir pretended nothing had happened that day. Day by day, the feeling of guilt developed in Amir. That feeling of extreme guilt made Amir to distant himself from Hassan. “There is a monster in that lake. It had grabbed Hassan by the ankles, dragged him into the murky bottom. I was that monster”. (relationship between Hassan and Amir).That was the dream of Hassan which becomes Amir’s haunting guilt in the whole novel. Amir feels that if he kept Hassan by his side, Hassan will one day find out Amir to be that monster. In order to get rid of that guilt, he even accused Hassan as thief resulting in leaving of Ali and Hassan to Hazarajat. From that we can conclude that the secret of Amir was the greatest factors influencing the relationship between Amir and
Hassan and his family are ethnically Hazaras, predisposing them to brutal discrimination at the dregs of society. Even the intimate relationship between Amir and Hassan was not immune to these connotations, as Amir dictated the relationship by lying to Hassan about words (Hosseini 29) and speaking condescendingly to him. Eventually, Amir’s inadequate free will, like Foster described (253), accepted the rape of Hassan, as Hassan’s social standing contributed to reasoning that intervening wasn’t worth the vengeance from Assef, as Amir asked, “He was just a Hazara, wasn’t he?” (Hosseini 77). Unfortunately, his avoidance was ironic in multiple ways, transferring
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
Finally, Hassan`s innocence, and naïve personality still showed loyalty to Amir. After Hassan was raped in the alleyway while Amir by the bystander, Hassan tried to keep a “normal” relationship with him. However, Amir was guilty for not helping Hassan, hoping he would receive one back when he refused to do
Amir’s internal conflict Amir’s is faced with a choice on how he would rather achieve happiness. He could take an easy path or he could take a path with more obstacles. There are many things in the way of Amir choosing the path that involves Hassan. Amir is a Pashtun and Hassan is a Hazara. Because of theiir social status it is hard for them to be true friends.
Amir recalls memories back from his childhood in Afghanistan, where he lived with his father as well as his friends and servants, Hassan and Ali. Amir and Hassan did everything together as if they were friends, but Amir never admitted to it and teased Hassan for being uneducated. He was a Hazara, which was an ethnic minority in Afghanistan. After a kite flying contest, Hassan ends up getting raped by a neighborhood bully, Assef. Amir and Hassan’s friendship drift apart. soon , Ali and Hassan move away and so do Amir and his father.
The intense feeling of inferiority was emerged in a variety occasions, which became so overwhelming it lead to betrayal. The novel basically revolved around Amir and his struggle of jealously from Hassan. Amir is constantly jealous and telling lies to obtain his desire of his father’s attention and affection. An example of Amir lying to his father to be alone with him is, “He asked me to fetch Hassan too, but I lied and told him Hassan had the runs. I wanted Baba all to myself.”
Hassan’s inferior character is presented by the way he serves Amir, ‘While I ate and complained about homework, Hassan made my bed’, which implies that no matter how close they may be, Hassan remains the servant which he accepts and is content with, ‘I’d hear him singing to himself in the foyer as he ironed’. Also, Hassan addresses Amir as ‘Amir agha’ which highlights his respect to Amir. However, despite their divisions, when they are alone together they consider themselves equal, ‘”Amir and Hassan, the sultans of Kabul”’, creating irony as they are both aspiring the same hopes and dreams but we know that it is unattainable.
One day Asseff rapes Hassan as an act of power, and Amir witnesses the actions but acts in a cowardly matter and simply avoids the matter by ignoring it. Amir then proceeds to cut off the relationships between himself and Hassan, “I actually aspired to cowardice, but the real reason I was running, was that Asseff was right. Nothing was free in this world. Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay to win Baba. Was it a fair price? The answer floated to my conscious mind before I could thwart it: He was just a Hazara. Wasn’t he?” Amir did it because the traditional and historical beliefs were more important than friendship. This action displays how being born in a different social class can outweigh all feelings of love and friendship with one of a different social group.
Baba keeping his past secret and not telling Amir his own son about Hassan affected Amir's life majorly by his relationships he made and the decisions he made throughout his life. Throughout the story Baba’s secret never really haunted him but kept Amir from secrets about his family and how he treated things different about his life. Amir's relationships were affected because of Baba keeping the secret about him being his real father. “But there was something fascinating albeit in a sick way about teasing Hassan.
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.
They had Hassan—““No they didn’t,” Rahim Khan said” (Hosseini 222). Amir was very angry after Rahim Khan implied that he and Hassan are half-brothers which brought forth the theme of betrayal in the novel. Rahim Khan, Baba, and Ali have been keeping this huge secret from Amir and Hassan all their lives, but if this were different many things would have changed throughout the book. For example, Hassan might not have gotten raped and Amir would not have this heavy burden on his back, but there is a way for him to get redemption. Redemption is the second theme that comes into play after the anagornisis.
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]
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
However, when Hassan asks a very insightful question, Amir instantaneously thinks of Hassan as an uneducated, poor Hazara boy who supposedly knows nothing. This reveals how society’s perception of Hazara’s is influencing Amir to think the same way. “But he's not my friend! I almost blurted.
Hassan is a victim of discrimination, bigotry, and class structure in Afghan society. Hassan and Ali are members of the Hazaras, a minority group of Afghanis. Amir and his father are Pashtuns, the majority, who believes they are a better class than the Hazara. Religion was all that separated Amir and Hassan, as did tribe and class. Amir learned from his father that the Harara tribe to which Ali and Hassan belonged, were inferior people. Because of this bigotry and basic class structure, Hazaras are often victims of physical, emotional and psychological abuse. Thus when a crisis comes and Hassan is being attack, Amir not only doesn't come to Hassan's aid, but also allows him to be brutally abused. Morality lacks because of this class structure, which allows people to be treated as second-class citizens. Considerations towards morality and religion helps the reader to broaden there understanding of the novel and it would be impossible to appreciated the book lacking them.