Motivations of the Protagonist Amir Khan in 'The Kite Runner': An Analysis of Human Behavior

In his critically acclaimed first novel, The Kite Runner, author Khaled Hosseini tells the story of a 12-year-old Afghan boy named Amir, who seeks his father’s love but is hindered by his own cowardice. Both Amir’s cowardice and his father’s lack of attention are compounded by the people and events surrounding Amir, until they feed into each other in a vicious, never-ending cycle.

“ For you, a thousand times over”. This one sentence sums up the immense love, loyalty and friendship Hassan had for Amir.

A man is insensible to appreciate prosperity until he has tasted adversity. Adverse situations shape an individual’s identity and play a significant role in one’s life by shaping personal values, determining one’s own potential and self worth. Khaled Hosseini conveys how hardships shape individuals identities through the characters of Amir, Baba, Hassan and Ali in his novel The Kite Runner. Like every individual they go through a series of incidents and hardships that shape who they become and how well they deal with struggles in

The Kite Runner is a film based on the first novel of Khaled Hosseini, which was published in 2003 and became a bestseller, thus was translated to many different languages and spread around the world, becoming a discussion topic for quite a while. One of the reasons why this book is so rich and attractive is the variety of characters, which are all born in Afghanistan and spent at least most of their childhood there, but at the same time have different views, virtues and experience. And those characters, depending on the generation they belong to, are shaped by particular circumstances, political and historical events.

John Piper once said, “Redemption is not perfection, the redeemed must realize their mistakes.” One can see an idea similar to this in Kahled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner. In the story, the author sends the message that redemption can be a lifelong pursuit, and until achieved, happiness will not be obtained.

The Kite Runner, written by Khaled Hosseini establishes a theme of selfishness through Amir’s eyes through the course of the novel. Amir was an Afghan boy who was born in Kabul, Afghanistan who lived the majority of his life behind enemy lines. Amir had been living in a large mansion with his father Baba, and two family servants Ali and his son Hassan. Throughout the novel, Amir began to become annoyed at how Baba had almost favored Hassan over his own son. After a kite flying tournament in downtown Kabul that Hassan and Amir had participated in, Hassan had begun to track down his kite that had flown away. Upon finding it, Hassan had found himself cornered in an alleyway with the biggest bully in Kabul, Assef. Followed by two other boys, Assef and the boys had threatened to steal Hassan’s kite because he was of a religion that wasn’t “pure” in Kabul, Hazara. When Hassan refused to give up his kite, he had been raped by the boys with Amir watching and not acting to help Hassan. Through the course of The Kite Runner, Amir often felt sorry for himself for the incident with Hassan, when in reality he kept watching as the events unfolded in front of him, which ultimately transformed him into a selfish character.

In the book the Kite Runner by Hosseini, the main character, Amir, grows up in Afghanistan, and the strong culture affects his moral character while he lives their and after he moves away. He is unable to fit in with the cultural expectations his father puts on him, the religious racism divides him and his half brother Hassan, and the traditional family values cause tension between him and his wife, this all leads back to the theme of Amirs struggle to fulfill his ideals of masculinity.

In the novel The Kite Runner, the protagonist, Amir, is a young boy growing up in a well off family in Kabul, Afghanistan. Amir’s closest friend is Hassan, the son of his family’s beloved servant. Amir’s self image at the beginning of the novel is one in which he views himself as a coward, worthless and selfish.

In the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, we see that scars can both physical and emotional. When Amir gets sent on a journey back to Afghanistan to pick up Hassan's son, he is forced to face and overcome the emotions he has pushed away for so long. Rahim Khan has a conversation with Amir where he reveals to him that Baba was also Hassan’s father. Amir responds to this by saying, “What can you possibly say to me? I’m thirty-eight years old and i’ve just found out my whole life is one big fucking lie!”(Amir 223). He clearly feels plenty of emotions including betrayal and confusion. On the other hand, he also see’s how Baba treated his best friend in their situation. In order to get rid of his guilt, Amir decides to go back to Afghanistan

Honesty and respect are among many qualities that deep relationships carry, especially loyalty. In Khaled Hosseini’s novel, The Kite Runner, he uses two young boys to convey his theme, “loyalty is not freely given, it is learned.” This theme is portrayed as Hosseini uses examples of devotion from his character, Hassan, to teach Amir what defines loyalty. While these two boys grow up together and form a friendship, a life-changing event splits them apart, only to take Amir twenty-six years to discover the truth of their past, their fathers, and their lives.

The Kite Runner is a powerful book contrasting selfishness and selflessness. The book follows the life of Amir, a character who experiences guilt and tragedy throughout his life. While growing up in Kabul, Amir witnesses the imperfect and prejudice society in his country. Within an imperfect society, there are many who are self-invested, and among those, there are those who are selfless. Characters Amir and Hassan possess selfish and selfless traits. The traits that these characters possess are influenced by fear, victimization, and loyalty, ultimately leading them to inaction and action.

In the novel The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini tells a notable coming-of-age story portraying the actions and thoughts of Amir, a penitent adult living in the United States and his reminiscence of his affluent childhood in the unstable political environment of Afghanistan. Throughout the novel Khaled Hosseini uses character description to display his thoughts on sin and redemption.

Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner is a remarkable coming-of-age novel describing and revealing the thoughts and actions of Amir, a compunctious adult in the United States and his memories of his affluent childhood in the unstable political environment of Afghanistan. The novel showcases the simplistic yet powerful ability of guilt to influence decisions and cause conflict which arises between Amir’s childhood friend and half-brother, Hassan; Amir’s father, Baba; and importantly, himself. Difference in class The quest to become “good again” causes a reflection in Amir to atone for his sins and transform into the person of which he chooses to be.

The Kite Runner, a novel written by Khaled Hosseini, focuses on Amir’s journey in life, both physically and emotionally. During Amir’s childhood Afghanistan became very unsafe. He and his father, Baba, fled from the city of Kabul to Pakistan and then made their way to America in hope of a better life for Amir. "For me, America was a place to bury my memories. For Baba, it was a place to mourn his." The need for Amir to "become good again" is embedded in the idea of a physical for redemption of his dignity.

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.