Responsibility Of Friendship In The Kite Runner By Khaled Hosseini

Best friends typically have loyalty that comes with the friendship, and Hassan was all about the loyalty, whereas Amir had trouble giving Hassan what he deserves. For instance, after Amir had won the kite race, Hassan had caught his kite to then be met by a bully, Assef, and his friends in an alley way. Amir is a bystander to what would be the raping of Hassan and Amir tells it as “I could step in to that alley, stand up for Hassan-the way he’d stood up for me…” to then finish with, “In the end, I ran.” (Hosseini 77). Amir immediately regrets his self-proclaimed cowardly decision. As Amir grows older, the circle of life catches up to him and he has the opportunity to stand up for Hassan’s son, Sohrab, against Assef. Revisiting the experience, he had of standing up for Sohrab, he admits “That was the first time I’d fought anyone.” (Hosseini 288). Amir is aware that he messed up with his opportunities with Hassan, in turn he ironically is the first to stand up for Sohrab who was up against the same person that troubles Hassan.

Amir has several intrapersonal conflicts throughout The Kite Runner. Amir has mixed feelings in his relationship with Hassan, due to Hassan’s lesser social status as a Hazara. He likes Hassan because they get along very well and they know each other better than anyone else does. Assef points out the first social conflict when he asks Amir how he can call Hassan his friend and Amir thinks, “But he’s not my friend! I almost blurted. He’s my servant!” (41). The response that Assef evoked from him highlights the inner dispute Amir has in his childhood. Hassan also played a role in Amir’s development since he always looked out for Amir. Amir did not need to stand up for himself because Hassan always did it for him such as when Assef was about to beat both of them up. This likely contributed to Amir’s cowardice throughout his life of not standing up for Hassan and leaving his problems behind him and choosing not to tell Soraya of his past earlier. In addition to his problems with Hassan, Baba’s unrealistic expectations of Amir challenges him greatly. From the time Amir was little, he always expressed less masculine traits. He did not enjoy watching soccer as most other boys would, and he enjoyed reading and learning from his mother’s old books. This created

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.

Amir and Hassan’s relationship throughout the book, The Kite Runner, is based off of love, betrayal, and forgiveness.

Hosseini tragically displays the betrayal of a so-called friend. When they were young, Amir and Hassan did everything together and they were inseparable. Amir’s obsession with gaining Baba’s love not only made him lose someone that adored him, but also someone that would always stay by his side. Later on, Amir redeems himself of his horrible past by taking in Hassan’s son, so he can have a clean future. Hosseini depicts good versus evil to question readers if Amir is forgiven for his one good deed compared to his many bad deeds.Was Amir really Hassan’s friend considering how disrespectful he is to Hassan? In the novel Kite Runner, Hosseini shows that Amir did

From reading chapters one to four, one of the main aspects of Amir and Hassan’s relationship is the sense of control Amir has over Hassan. It becomes apparent that Amir is the one with the most authority in their friendship when he ‘talked’ Hassan into firing walnuts at the neighbour’s one-eyed German shepherd, ‘Hassan never wanted to, but if I asked, really asked, he wouldn’t deny me’. This highlights the way Hassan looks up to Amir and obeys him due to their religious, cultural and social differences, ‘I was a Sunni and he was a Shi’a’. Nevertheless, Amir does express his sensitive side towards Hassan and feels protective over him, especially when he can see he’s upset, ‘I reached across my seat, slung my

This view is carried out with the supportive character, Hassan, who plays a significant role in the novel by representing a Christ figure who is forever forgiving of Amir. Hassan is the, “harelipped kite runner” whose only friend is Amir (Hosseini 2). Hassan demonstrates the themes of second chances and forgiveness through his actions of kindness. For example, when Assef and his gang come to torment Amir, Hassan comes to the rescue with his slingshot. Although Amir never considers him to be his friend, Hassan proves to be a flawless servant to his half-brother, even after Amir betrays him. Throughout the story, Amir remembers Hassan by his kind-hearted phrase, “For you, a thousand times over,” which evidences how magnanimous and

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.

Though Hassan was his best friend, Amir feelt that Hassan, a Hazara servant, was beneath him. He passively attacked Hassan by mocking and taunting him. Amir never learned how to affirm himself against anyone because Hassan always defended him. All of these factors lead to Amir not being able to stand up for Hassan when he needed him most.

He starts hating Hassan because of the guilt. In the novel Amir mentioned, “Every time Hassan was around, I was getting a headache” (Hosseini 93). It was a torture for Amir to see Hassan because he would remember what he did and feel bad about it because he knows that what he did was wrong and shouldn’t have sold his friend for a kite tournament to grab his father’s attention. Amir’s success as a loving and caring person is mostly influenced by Rahim Khan, he gives Amir the love that his father never gave him, he also encourage his creativity side, writing novels and short stories, Rahim Khan was always there for Amir when his own father wasn’t “Amir Jan, I enjoyed you story very much. Mashallah, God has granted you a special talent. It is now your duty to hone that talent, because a person who wastes his God-given talents is a donkey. You have written your story with sound grammar and interesting style. But the most impressive thing about your story is that it has irony. You may not even know what that means…My door is and always will be open to you, Amir Jan. I shall hear any story you have to tell. Bravo. Your friend, Rahim” That’s the main reason why Amir is willing to do anything to prove to his father that he his responsible and courageous and not like his father used to say. Ever since Amir has lived with Hassan he has always been jealous of him in every way because Amir’s father always said that Hassan was an ideal kid.

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.

Wayne Dyer, an American philosopher, once said, “Problems in relationships occur because each person is concentrating on what is missing in the other person.” This is the protagonist's main source of conflict in the book, the Kite Runner, written by Khaled Hosseini. Amir and Hassan appeared to have a brotherly friendship. Even though they grew up together, it was intriguing how Hassan develops a brotherly bond with Amir while Amir does not reciprocate the love. By concentrating on what is missing in Hassan, it causes Amir to become separated from the relationship because Amir values social class over his friendship with Hassan, and stems from his jealousy that comes from an idea that Baba favors Hassan.

The line between a friend and an enemy is thinner than one can ever imagine. In the words of Henry David Thoreau, "True friendship is never serene" (ThinkExist.com). The job of a friend is so much more than a companion, to pass the time with. They help us shape our life, and they're responsible to be that little voice in our ear, to help us analyze our actions and views. Through Amir's relationships, The Kite Runner shows the true role of a friend to point and guide us even when we don't agree; total devotion can ruin not only a friendship, but a life.

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

“The relationship between Amir and Hassan. It’s so different from any relationship I’ve experienced. Amir and Hassan are as closeas a servant and master can be, yet Amir acts like Hassan, a Hazara, is beneath him. Amir never learns to assert himself against anyone else because Hassan always defends him. I think these factors play into his childhood cowardice of sacrificing Hassan. Hassan however remains loyal, forgiving, and good natured,” replied Jack. “So what do you think of their friendship?”