Culture In The Kite Runner

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

Once back in Kabul, Amir takes steps he would never have imagined, which truly define his character. On his venture back to Afghanistan he learns the truth about Hassan’s connection with Baba. After hearing this Amir feels robbed of the truth and is angry at how his own father could hold this back from him. Despite his feelings, Amir realizes he must not only pay for his betrayal of Hassan but for Baba’s betrayal of Ali too. Amir knows he must face his fears and he understands this when he reveals, “I remembered Baba saying that my problem was that someone had always done my fighting for me" (Hosseini 239). Following this he undertakes a personal mission to find Sohrab and finds the courage to stand up to the Taliban, nearly dying in the process. During his quest Amir comes face to face with the disturbing Assef and fights him for Sorab, the ultimate sacrifice for his dead half-brother. While he is beaten he begins to laugh, which angers Assef even more. Amir explains that, “What was so funny was that, for the first time since the winter of 1975, I felt at peace" (Hosseini 303). After successfully bringing Sohrab back to California, Amir defends his Hazara nephew when General Taheri insults him. Over the dinner

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

However, Assef carries the theme of guilt and regret throughout most of the book. Assef influenced Amir’s life negatively, however, if Assef would not have raped Hassan, the sequence of events resulting would have changed dramatically. Originally Assef caused Amir to think of himself as a horrible person, but in the end Amir felt relief when he brought Sohrab to a better place. When Amir freed Sohrab from the abuse of Assef, he also freed himself from the guilt he had experienced for years. But, most importantly he freed Hassan from the pain of betrayal he had died with. Assef has brought dark skies to Amir’s life, but in the end brought sunshine as Amir saved

Amir regrets that he abandoned Hassan when he was attacked, and he lives with the unbearable sin. As Assef attacks Hassan, Amir realizes that he could stand up for his friend or run as a coward:

In the winter of 1975, Amir witnesses Assef sexually abuse Hassan, Amir’s best friend. Amir betrayed Hassan by watching this abuse happen. Amir was afraid that if he

In the begging of the book Hassan is sexually assaulted by Assef over a kite that Hassan and Amir won in a kite game it was then when Hassan was cornered by Assef and his freinds and then sexually assaulted. Hassan always fought all of Amirs fights when anyone was picking on him he even stood up against Assef who had brass knuckles on that he had used many times to hurt people Hassan stood infront of him with a sligshot pointed to Assefs eye. Amir wanted to make it up for Hassan all the times that he did not do anything when Hassan was in trouble so he had to fight Assef to get Sohrab

On page 77 Amir says “In the end, I ran. I ran because I was a coward. I was afraid of getting hurt.” That may explain the reason why Amir doesn't intervene to help out his best friend because he was afraid of Assef, but if you keep reading on that same page it says “I actually aspired to cowardice, because the alternative, the real reason I was running was that Assef 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.” This shows the type of person he is and how his part of the relationship is with Hassan. Amir doesn’t intervene as he agrees with Assef knowing that Hassan saved him from Assef brass knuckles and had forgotten that the reason why this happened was because Hassan was after that blue kite for Amir and wasn't willing to give it up. Assef gave Hassan the option of giving up the kite or getting harmed because on page 72 it says “You pathetic fool! Someday you'll wake up from your little fantasy and learn just how good of a friend he is. Now, bas! Enough of this. Give us that

Mishra later supports this in her article by claiming, “the thing that makes him commit a crime for which he has to bear a lifelong sense of guilt in his inherent cowardice” (72). That being said, Amir was forced to face his guilt each time he looked at Hassan which caused him to frame Hassan and make him leave his home. Due to the closeness between Amir and Hassan’s family, Mishra claims “Amir destroys the only family that he and his father had in Kabul” (82). Later Mishra elaborates on Amir being left with a lingering sense of remorse and guilt that he can’t come to terms with despite the many years that pass. This is apparent through his Amir’s father’s passing, his return to afghanistan, his learning of Hassan’s passing, and the adoption of Sohrab.

Before his rape, Hassan aimed a slingshot at Assef for trying to start a fight with Amir, this led to Assef's "unfinished business" where it says on page 286, "...Hassan saying that they'd have to start calling him One-Eyed Assef instead of Assef Goshkhor. I remember how envious I'd been of Hassan's bravery. Assef had backed down, promised that in the end he'd get us both. He'd kept his promise with Hassan. Now it was my turn." Assef "never forgets a face" and saw through Amir's disguise and his age in the Taliban compound, this led to Amir facing off with Assef in a fight he couldn't avoid since it was to take Hassan's son Sohrab to a better place, Amir's "way to be good again." Amir's past of not helping Hassan from preventing his rape by Assef made Amir a bad person since Hassan protected him countless times. This action led to Rahim Khan's phone call which led to Amir fighting Assef for Sohrab which follows the novel's trend of past events becoming extremely relevant in the present. Assef fights Amir for Sohrab, who is Hassan's son, to take him back to America where Amir now lives for Rahim Khan's ' way to be good again,' which is instigated since Hassan

Amir as a young twelve year-old never stands up for himself, always letting Hassan stand up for him. When Hassan was in need of Amir to stand up against Assef for Hassan, Amir just runs away only thinking about trying to get Baba’s praise over having won the kite tournament. This action haunts Amir for the remainder of his life even when he is in America, Amir has just suppressed the memory. When Rahim Kahn calls Amir and tells him, “Come. There is a way to be good again” (Hosseini 192). Amir then travels to Pakistan and hears Rahim Kahn’s final request before he dies; the request is to find Hassan’s son and get him out of Afghanistan. While in Afghanistan, Amir and Farid find Sohrab, Hassan’s son, under a Taliban official’s care. While meeting with the official to get Sohrab from said official, the official reveals himself to be Assef. Amir then is allowed to take Sohrab but only if he can beat Assef; Amir realizes this is his moment to redeem himself as he can stand up to Assef and defend some part of Hassan, that being his son. As Assef is beating up Amir with his brass knuckles, while lying on the ground bleeding Amir suddenly feels like a huge weight is removed from his chest. After Amir and Sohrab get away from Assef, Amir tries to find a way to bring Sohrab back to America with him when he discovers that Rahim lied to him about Thomas and Betty Caldwell being in Pakistan. The moment Amir fights Assef is Amir’s moment of redemption because that is when Amir feels that the past sins he has committed are no longer crawling over his

Amir decides to come to Afghanistan after receiving a letter from his best friend Hassan. Hassan explained what had happened after he left Afghanistan. He explains his life in Afghanistan, and how his son Sohrab learns how to read and use the sling short. But he always tells him about his dream that he had. One day Amir will come back to Afghanistan, and if he does come back he will find a faithful friend waiting for him. Amir heads to Afghanistan, but he seems very scared. Because now Talban had power in Afghanistan. Amir finds out that Hassan was kidnapped by Assef. Assef was a bully. He had kidnap Sohrab. But now Farid and Amir arrived to talk with the Taliban’s to free Sohrab. Assef recognizes Amir and he beats him up in front of Sohrab.

One shameful thing to point out is the fight between Assef and Amir. Assef said on page 286 “We have some unfinished business, you and I”. This means Assef is talking about when Hassan stopped Assef and his friends from hurting Amir back when they were children. It is important because he is serious about the unfinished business and Hassan is no longer there to protect him. “When it’s all done, only one of

Even though Hassan is technically inferior due to the society in Afghanistan, Amir should act like they are equals. Throughout the book, Amir treats Hassan worse and worse, until they are separated. At one point in the book, as Hassan is essentially tortured, being raped by the neighborhood bully, Assef, “the ear eater” Amir does nothing but watches (Hosseini 45). While Amir

As I read pages 281-284, I realized how different people think in the world and how evil individuals can be. Assef was stoning adulterers, raping children, flogging women for wearing high heels, and massacring Hazaras, as Amir said. I realized how sick people can by catching a glimpse of another person’s life. Assef thought that all that he was doing was okay because it was all in the name of Islam. It broadened my horizons therefore making this excerpt a window. This educated me on how much evil people there are in the world.