The Kite Runner Character Analysis

Although Amir thinks his father, Baba, is angry at him for not living up to his family’s beliefs, Baba does not hate Amir. Baba just wants Amir to be a proud man, so Baba can relate to him and further extend their relationship, but Amir does not live up to his father’s specific expectations. When Baba sees that Amir is not growing up like he did he becomes disappointed in Amir. Baba does not agree with Amir’s love and passion for reading poetry and writing stories, because he believes it shows a lack of courage and this does help their relationship. Amir simply wants to make his father happy and try and live in his footsteps. In the book I believe this relationship is part of the reason why Amir didn’t help Hassan when he was being raped, because he wanted to please his father with the victory kite of the contest. If he were to help Hassan the kite would be taken by Assef, but in actual fact I believe Baba would be happier if he stood up for his friend rather than winning the tournament. Amir could have also left Hassan because he is jealous of his father and Hassan friendship.

As father and son, Baba and Amir have some similarities, but they are both very different people.

More specifically, courage played a large role in Amir’s decisions, actions and thoughts. Amir was seen as cowardly young boy who was constantly craving attention from his father. Amir began to mature when karma got back to him. He realized how impactful his decisions were on his friend’s and family. He felt the pain that he caused to others. He later redeems himself by fighting for what he believes in and helped Sohrab have a better life than what he would’ve had in Afghanistan. He showed true courage by forgetting his critics and did what he loved, returned to Afghanistan even though it posed many risks and he finally did what was right for others.. He discarded the mindset of winning acceptance from Baba which affected his life since he was a child. Amir was proven to be a brave, good-natured and generous character at the end of the novel, The Kite

In the novel, Baba shapes Amir's negative sense of self through his obvious discontent with his own son, "If I hadn't seen the doctor pull him out of my wife with my own eyes, I'd never believe he's my son" (Hosseini 23). Amir feels ashamed of himself due to his father's disappointment, which in turn triggers more feelings of self-doubt. Amr believes he must redeem himself to Baba because of how his mother died. “Amir strives to redeem himself in Baba‟s eyes, primarily because his mother died giving birth to him, and he feels responsible” (Saraswat 169). This inevitably leads to Amir's obsession with pleasing Baba.

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

In chapter 13, Amir stated, "Baba hated it when I cried" (Hosseini 172). Though Amir being oversensitive was one of the reasons why Baba was discouraged of him, after years of neglecting Amir, Baba exhibits his love and admiration for him. Throughout the story Soraya is the depiction of honesty and doesn't care about her reputation, while Amir on the other hand, is secretive so his family name isn't butchered. During these 5 chapters, Baba finally shows his appreciation towards the things Amir does, and even approved Soraya as his wife and welcomed her into the family. Though General Taheri approves of his daughter's decision, he is less warm at the idea of Amir as his son-in-law and Soraya finally lets go of her hatred for her

Amir always looked up to him and tried to impress him. EX: (ch.7) When Amir and Hassan won the kite race Amir immediately looked up to where baba was and he said, “I saw Baba on our roof. He was standing on the edge, pumping both fists. Hollering and clapping. And that right there was the single most greatest moment of my 12 years of life, seeing baba on that roof, proud of me at last.” (pg.66) His dad demonstrated all throughout this novel his character; kind, brave, truthful, and loving father. His dad has been nothing but there for him and showed him how a good Afghan man is supposed to be, but, for some reason Amir doesn’t pick up on his father’s character traits or Hassan’s. Amir longed for his father attention, affection, and most of all

In The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, the protagonist, Amir, his father Baba, Ali and his ex-wife Sanaubar are a few of the main characters in this story about Amir’s life. Keeping your self pride and doing what’s right for your family along with redemption are two large factors in decision making. Characters become completely different people when faced with these factors, doing things they never would’ve thought of.

Shortly after Baba’s death, his old friend Rahim Khan calls him to come back to Afghanistan to finally make amends. As Amir begins his journey back to Afghanistan, his character can be defined as empathic and loving.

During Amir and Baba’s relationship in Afghanistan they have a weak relationship because Baba neglects

Baba couldn't demonstrate to me the way any longer; I'd need to discover it all alone." (pg 154) In this Amir is presently acknowledging he was not as autonomous of a man as he thought he was and how he now needs to make sense of what sort of man he needs to turn into. After soothing Soraya after she had felt harmed about not satisfying Afghanistan's social orders principles of the perfect lady, Amir understands his and soraya's disparities inside their general public. Evidence: "As I drove, I asked why I was distinctive.

However in Amir, it is apparent that his morals change throughout the story, and mostly through his self realization and Baba’s own morals. In the beginning, when Hassan is being attacked by Assef, Amir decides survival is more important in that situation. This creates a lingering atmosphere of regret and self doubt, but also causes Amir

Amir had great influences on him as a child; Baba was a brave person, generous to everyone, and should’ve influenced Amir to be the same. On the contrary, Amir was selfish and chose not to stand up for his friend, even when the situation desperately needs it. This is not because of how he grew up, of his environment. Amir’s genetics made him to be fearful and mean, as shown throughout the book. “I knew I was being cruel, like when I’d taunt him if he didn’t know some big word. But there was something fascinating - albeit in a sick way - about teasing Hassan.” (Hosseini 54). Even though Amir had great influences growing up, Hassan took the brunt of his attacks and neglect. Near the beginning of the book, Hassan is raped in the alleys running a kite for Amir. Going after Hassan, Amir finds Hassan while this is going on but does not stop the rapist or stand up for his friend. Instead, Amir ran away and proceeded to abandon Hassan emotionally after the event. Baba was a brave man and would’ve stood up for Hassan, regardless of the danger to him, but Amir was not influenced nearly as much by his positive environment rather than his negative cowardice, or

“Now, no matter what the mullah teaches, there is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every sin is a variation of theft. Do you understand that?” (18). This is one of the many great values Baba taught Amir, and with these great values, Amir grew up successful. Baba himself was a very generous and caring person and would stand up for others. Now Amir didn’t necessarily as a child start adapting that method, but later he realized how much better it would for him in the future. An example of this

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.