Examples Of Abuse Of Power In The Kite Runner

Power abuse is typically associated with corruption in the government or dictatorships. It is not commonly attributed to people on an everyday scale, and especially not to children. Yet, the abuse of power can be present in many different situations, most of which stem from the same root issues. Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner illustrates how the abuse of power originates when people have felt insecurity and a lack of power in their own lives, and it can happen on many different scales, shown through Amir, Assef, and the Taliban.

In the novel The Kite Runner the text explores many different ways the relationships and people surrounding a person can shape one's self, this is most prevalent in Amir. During Amir's childhood, he is constantly vying for Baba's attention and affection. Amir's cowardice is seen through many different examples in the novel, mainly Assef and his violent actions bring forth his cowardice in many forms. Hassan is Amir's best friend in the beginning of the novel, he is also a role model to Amir.

In the novel The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini uses the literary element archetypes. Archetypes are typically characters, actions, or situations that seem to represent universal patterns of human nature. Hosseini uses the archetype of the villain, which can be seen in the character Assef. By using archetypes, it shows the universal role of a character, in The Kite Runner, it shows the universal role that the villain has, but one step further. Throughout the novel, Assef’s main goal is to cause to harm to others including Hassan and Amir. He goes beyond the idea of a typical villain we know, not only does he want to cause harm but, physically and mentally destroy a person. We can see that over time Assef progressively gets worse as a villain, from taking pleasure in bullying, to raping innocent children, he slowly turns into a psychological monster that takes pleasure from the pain that is inflicted on others.

One of Amir's prime qualities of his personality is being able to redeem himself. Throughout the story, Amir makes horrible decisions like running away as Hassan is raped, and strives for the affection of his father through jealousy. Although he makes a lot of mistakes, Amir proves that he can be a sharpened person towards the end of the story when he tries to adopt Sohrab, Hassan’s son. Amir and Sohrab eventually go to America, and when Amir and Sohrab talked, Amir told him, “I won’t ever get tired of you, Sohrab...Not ever. That’s a promise. You’re my nephew, remember (Hosseini 324)?” Amir greatly redeems himself by taking care of Sohrab

Moreover, Amir tries to redeem himself to Sohrab. Sohrab had one request, and that request was to never go back to an orphanage. When a lawyer tells Amir that sending Sohrab back to an orphanage is their best bet, Soharb tries to kill himself by slitting his wrists. Amir was always “... met by silence” (352) whenever he tried to talk to Soharb. Soharb went silent when they moved to America, and Amir did everything in his power to give Sohrab a good life. He wanted to make up for the pain he had caused Sohrab, Amir couldn’t live knowing that Sohrab tried to kill himself because of what he had done. Sohrab had also saved Amir’s life. When Amir unexpectedly confronted Assef, the man who raped Hassan, he almost beat him to death. but Sohrab stepped in and shot Assef’s eye with a slingshot, saving Amir’s life. Amir owed his whole life to Sohrab. Amir tried everyday to redeem himself to Sohrab subconsciously speaking, Amir was trying to give him a better life than Hassan, to be the man he should have been all those years

antagonist, the man with the green eye. He runs into many of obstacles along the way of his journey to be

“The strong were always eating the weak,” James Rollins. Those who have power are more likely to take advantage over those categorized in a lower class. In this fictional novel, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, the overall concept of abuse of power and bullying is portrayed. The protagonist, in particular, is constantly dragged into the many conflicts relating to the theme in many situations throughout the novel. The situations associate Amir and Hassan, the antagonist, Assef, and the Hazaras.

We live in a world where people who have any kind of power will abuse it at some point in their life. Adults, Children and people of authority abuse their power and sometimes it causes a great controversy about whether what they did is acceptable or not. Many negative effects can be demonstrated when someone abuses their power. The sadness, guilt, regret and the feeling of being worthless are the effects when someone abuses their power.

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

The relationship that grows between Sohrab and Amir reveals a method for Amir to diminish his guilt from his childhood because of how much of Hassan he sees in Sohrab. For starters, their physical characteristics are intensely similar. Amir notices that “the resemblance was breathtaking,” (279) during his first-time meeting Sohrab when he is trying to free Sohrab from Assef’s control. Being able to actually see Hassan, Amir’s childhood best friend, in this boy allows for Amir to feel as if he’s

Unfortunately, Sohrab’s suffering under Assef has caused him to recede into such a depression, that he converses very little, even when Amir offers his friendship. Rahim Khan gives Amir letters from Hassan and Amir learns that the letters are old and that Hassan and Farzana were brutally murdered by the Taliban. Amir finds out about Sohrab’s existence when he visits Rahim Khan in Pakistan. “They named him Sohrab, after Hassan’s favorite hero from the Shahnamah, as you know, Amir

The novel, The Kite Runner, written by Khaled Hosseini, is a story about betrayal, forgiveness, and redemption that revolves around that two main characters, Amir and Hassan. Amir is a young selfish boy who constantly manipulates and exploits Hassan for personal gains. He uses Hassan as a scapegoat to win Baba, but upon accomplishing this task, he is riddled with guilt. Amir uses his friendship with Hassan for ulterior motives. His lack of action caused severe guilt, which he tries to escape throughout the entire story. He uses various scapegoats to rid himself of his guilty conscience.

When Amir and his wife, Soraya, can’t seem to have a child, Amir believes that it is because of his wrongdoings in the past. Right up until Amir is in his 30’s does he confront his mistakes. It takes a call from Rahim Khan to persuade him that there is ‘a way to be good again’ (Pg. 2). Amir knows that he needs to make up to Hassan for the wrong that he did all those years ago, and so by confronting his mistake and trying to redeem himself by rescuing Sohrab, Hassan’s son. Amir’s confrontation with Assef when he is getting back Sohrab made him feel like he was confronting his mistakes and gaining redemption ‘For the first time since the winter of 1975, I felt at peace… In some nook in a corner of my mind, I’d even been looking forward to this.’ (Pg. 265). This is the punishment and redemption that he has been waiting all these years for, because Hassan wouldn’t punish him all those years ago when they were under the pomegranate tree.

A couple years pass, there is a game where twelve year olds are flying kites, Assef is a sore loser, and he rapes Hassan over it. Which Amir totally saw and did not help at all because he is an equally sore winner. Many events begin to develop in quick succession after this point. Amir, overcome with guilt, frames Hassan for theft. Hassan leaves the household with Ali, his father, despite Amir’s father begging them to stay.

When Sohrab is ten years old, his mother and father are killed, and sent to live in an orphanage. After living in the orphanage for a few months is selected by Assef, who takes him and his father and raped Hassan, Sohrab