Memories Of Father In The Kite Runner By Khaled Hosseini

Baba’s high expectation influences Amir 's fixed mindset because Baba feels that his son should be more courageous and follow the values that make up a Pashtun man. Throughout Amir 's childhood Baba always sets these high expectations for Amir that leads Amir to believe that one cannot be weak at things. Throughout the story, Amir is a shy insecure boy while Baba is a confident and proud man. Due to Amir 's introverted self, he spends most of his time reading books and poetry; while Baba tries to force his interest onto his son Amir for the purpose that Baba wants Amir to be the great example of what a Pushtun man should be. An example that shows Baba has a fixed mindset was when Amir states, "With me as the glaring exception, my father molded the world around him to his liking. The problem, of course, was that Baba saw the world in black and white. And he got to decide what was black and what was white. You can 't love a person who lives that way without fearing him too. Maybe even hating him a little" (Hossieni15). This quote shows that Baba was a man with a strong personality, and it was his way or the highway. This instills so much fear in Amir that he is afraid of committing mistakes around his

Their relationship doesn’t flourish because Baba is still showing Hassan more attention than Amir. Amir realises this when Baba is concerned for Hassan and the way he is acting, clueless of confrontation Hassan had with Assef. Amir believed that being the winner of the Kite Running Tournament will make Baba love him more because he has used his talent, to become well known in the community.

Firstly, Baba is not a good father because he often disregards his son, Amir, due to him not being like his father. The night when Baba and Amir comes home from watching the Buzkashi tournament, Amir sees

In the book, Baba seems to be very tough and masculine. There were even rumors that he once tackled a bear. “ 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 Khan used to say.” When Amir was young he tried really hard to be like his dad. He joined the soccer team to gain his approval, but he wasn’t interested in that. “Of course, marrying a poet was one thing, but fathering a son who preferred burying his face in poetry books to hunting...well, that wasn't how Baba had envisioned it, I suppose.” Amir couldn’t live up to his father’s expectations because he wasn’t the same person as

Similarly in The Kite Runner, Amir struggles to find a connection with his father, Baba. According to Amir, their bond was a fundamental basis of their lives, however when describing Baba, he claims he is “a force of nature,” using a metaphor to not only place Baba as a superior character, but leaving room for sympathy for Amir as he, like Raimond, feels a distant sense of connection to the world of his father. Another prime example of Amir feeling no connection to the world of his father is the soccer games that he, whilst full of regret, participated in, just to try and feel that sense of belonging he was hoping for. Amir would pretend to enjoy soccer even though he was “hopeless” and his “scraggy legs” couldn’t keep up with the sport. Amir’s condescending tone expresses his embarrassment and hate for the sport but the will to persevere to make his father happy, therefore demonstrating how Amir strives to belong. Amir’s personal relationship with his father was obviously dishonest which contradicts with his father’s

Baba also gave Amir a car that night to show Amir that he was proud of his success; Baba wanted to reward him for what he had accomplished. On Amir’s wedding day, although Baba was deathly ill, Baba exclaimed, “It’s the happiest day of my life, Amir,” (Khaled Hosseini, p.175). Baba made a speech at Amir and Soraya’s wedding. He openly shared that Amir fulfilled his expectations by saying that above all else, “Amir jan is my only son...my only child, and he has been a good son to me,” (Khaled Hosseini, p.177). Although it didn’t seem obvious at first, Baba truly loved Amir. The Kite Runner and The Crucible both have two fathers with strong paternal loves for their sons.

This is very hard on Amir because he ends up growing up without a real parental figure in his life and blames himself for his mother’s passing, for she had died giving birth to him. A few days before the day of the kite flying competition, Baba takes Amir and Hassan to buy kites from an old blind man. “If I changed my mind and asked for a bigger and fancier kite, Baba would buy it for me - but then he'd buy it for Hassan too. Sometimes I wished he wouldn't do that. Wished he'd let me be the favorite” (chapter 5). This displays Amir’s jealousy for his father’s interest in Hassan due to the fact that Baba treats Hassan like his own son and not him, leaving Amir feeling neglected and alone. At the kite fighting competition the next day, it came down to Amir and a blue kite, fighting for first place. When Amir wins the competition the blue kite fly’s off; so Hassan, Amir’s loyal best friend offers to go find the blue kite and return it to Amir. In the processes of looking for the kite, Hassan ends up getting cornered in an alley with three vicious bullies. Amir stumbles upon them in the alley but instead of stepping in, he thinks of how badly he wants the kite as well as his father’s approval so he chooses not to step in, as a result he watches his best

Baba was usually aloof and cold when he was around Amir. Since Baba was interested in sports, he felt like Amir wasn’t his son because he was into writing and was weak. In a conversation with Rahim Khan Baba said that something was missing in Amir. He said that a boy who couldn’t stand up for himself would not stand up for anything. They don’t really have a good father and son relationship because Baba expected too much of Amir. It was that winning kite tournament that somehow bonded them together but after a while, it went back to being the “cold” treatment

He is the protagonist. Readers feel compassion for him. He is conflicted in many ways. He is jealous of the relationship and bond Baba has with Hassan. Yet he realises that Hassan is of the lower class in society.”I was going to win, and I was going to run that last kite. Then I’d bring it home and show it to Baba. Show him once and for all that his son was worthy.” (Housini 53) He is very emotional and a storyteller. Baba, the father. He is considered a hero and a leader in Kabul. He is Amir’s father. They never really had a strong connection especially in afghanistan. Baba always exceeds the expectations of others, because of that he expects more out of his son. Baba also comes off as someone who lives by his own moral code. He is hiding a secret that he is afraid to tell. Hassan is amir's playmate and servant. He is also the son of Ali. Hassan felt like Amir was his friend but Amir never really thought of Hassan that way.

Amirs father, Baba, is a strong man very set in his ways. He represents the independent culture of old Afghanistan. He instills his ideals of masculinity on Amir, and believes he should be stronger, more sports oriented, and able to stand up for himself. “Of

Baba is one of the few muslims in Afghanistan that believes there is only one sin, theft. He states to Amir with a great sense of sterness, ''When you kill a man, you steal a life . . . [you] steal his wife's right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone's right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness” (18). Although Baba tries to teach this lesson to Amir, he himself is a thief; he stole the “right to the truth” by retaining the truth of Hassan (18). Along with Baba’s betrayal to his son, he also betrays his beloved servants, Ali and Hassan through adultery. Sanaubar, Hassan's mother was potentially driven away by guilt; leaving Hassan without a mother and Ali without a wife.

Here in this essay I will discuss the complex relationship between father and son to demonstrate the need for a father figure in the novel "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini. The relationship between a parent and a child is a precious and haunted bond, but is not always a love relationship, but a relationship is full of pain and longing. The relationships clearly demonstrate this need for a father figure are those between Baba and Amir, and Amir and Sohrab.

Baba’s influence on Amir can be described in two words, tough love. Baba desperately wants Amir to resemble him in everything he does and do things how he would, but Amir struggles to meet these standards. Baba is reminded by Rahim that he does not get to choose the man that Amir will become, “‘Children aren’t coloring books. You don’t get to fill them with favorite colors”’ (21). It hurts Amir that he does not get Baba’s compassion and love but he stays true to himself and does not change for him. Even though Amir stayed true to himself he would still do what he could to earn Baba’s love. When he won the kite flying tournament Baba shows Amir that love because he did something they can both relate to, sports. It seemed Amir would do anything to be recognized by Baba but Baba did not care about Amir’s thoughts on himself. Baba even said to Rahim “If [he] hadn’t seen the doctor pull [Amir] out of [his] wife with [his] own eyes, [he’d] never believe [Amir’s his] son” (23). This obviously would be heart wrenching to hear and hurt Amir deeply, but he did not let that make him stop trying. The two clearly had a rocky relationship.

From generation to generation, the constant struggle for males to live up to the expectations of their fathers often affects the choices made and actions taken by the sons. Perhaps, the overbearing testosterone levels claim responsibility for the apparent need for sons to impress their fathers, but not all boys consider the realistic consequences of their decisions. In Khaled Hosseini's novel The Kite Runner, young Amir's admiration for his father Baba, coupled with the constant tension in their relationship obscures his mind from making clear decisions as he strives to obtain his father's love and approval.

Amir and Baba never got along, which caused Amir to believe that all father-son relationships are like his. Amir does not understand that parents are supposed to unconditionally love their children, like the love Hassan receives from Ali. Showing the differences in Amir and Hassan’s reactions to this story due to their relationships with their fathers explains the significance of having a bond between father and son.