The Roles Minor Characters Have in Literature

always buried in those books or shuffling around the house like he’s lost in some dream… I wasn’t like that.” (Hosseini 23). Baba expresses his frustration that his son is not alike his father. He expects his son to enjoy and plays sports tremendously that he forgets that his son is another person with his own likes and hobbies. This shows us the disconnect between Baba and Amir. Moreover, Baba shows more examples that he is not a good father when he criticizes his son for lacking a quality that he thinks is vital. Later in the same conversation with Rahim Khan, he says: “That’s not what I mean, Rahim, and you know it… There is something missing in that boy.” (Hosseini 24). He argues that Amir is lacking a “mean” streak that he thinks is needed for the child. He continues to tell Rahim that Amir does not have the ability to stand up for himself and he sounds as if he is losing patient over the child. This is an example of a terrible father as Baba tries to put what he has in mind unto his son. Furthermore, he displays being an incompetent father

Baba could’ve steered Amir to helping Hassan’s son in the end. It was Amir’s decision to save Sohrab in the end, it also could’ve been Baba’s dying wish; to help Hassan. In chapter 18, Amir puts the puzzle pieces together for Baba being Hassan’s father and also realizes that what Rahim Khan wanted was for Amir to redeem his own sins and Baba’s as well. And he decides to save Sohrab. “On the rickshaw ride back to Rahim Khan’s apartment, I remembered Baba saying that my problem was that someone had always done my fighting for me.” This proves that Amir had decided to redeem himself and Baba by fighting for what is the truth. Baba’s redemption followed Amir by Amir going to save Hassan’s son from the Taliban raided country. Eventually, this can be turned into Amir’s own redemption for what he had done to

His selfish bias making it impossible for Amir to begin earning redemption. This is again proven when he returns to Pakistan to visit Rahim Khan. Rahim Khan pleads with him to try and get Amir to rescue Sohrab, his nephew, from Kabul, but Amir refuses: “‘you know,’ Rahim Khan said, “one time, when you weren’t around, your father and I were talking. And you know how he always worried about you in those days. I remember he said to me, ‘Rahim, a boy who won’t stand up for himself becomes a man you can’t stand up to anything’ I wonder, is that what you’ve become?’ I dropped my eyes. […] Finally, I settled for this: ‘Maybe Baba was right’” (Hosseini, 221). When given the choice to defend his honour and go rescue a young boy, or insult himself and look at the world through a negative lense, Amir chooses to adopt an incredibly negative persona, as per his past. He chooses to refuse the opportunity to experience empathy and relate to Rahim Khan’s desperation and pain, and instead drives a wedge between their relationship. Pushing himself further away from the redemption he craves so desperately. As a fear of empathy inhibits one’s ability to find redemption and uphold healthy relationships.

Amir’s mother, Sofia, dies in childbirth; Amir inherits her love of literature and probably her looks to some extent, but, her being dead, never receives any motherly love or guidance, which could have helped him out of the cowardly hole he later digs himself into. Amir’s father’s best friend and business partner, Rahim Khan, tries to give Amir the motherly love he clearly needs, fostering Amir’s love of writing and steadfastly standing up for him when Amir’s father, Baba, criticizes him, but Rahim Khan does not do enough to instill honesty, courage, and strength of conviction in young Amir. Amir’s best friend, Hassan, a servant a year younger than Amir, is everything Amir is not: athletic, brave, loyal, honest, and kind, inciting jealousy in Amir. Assef, a local bully, poses a real threat to Amir, hating Amir for the crime of befriending a Hazara (oppressed ethnic minority), but Amir is protected by Hassan, allowing young Amir to freeze and not stand up for himself in Assef’s presence. Last, but most importantly, is Amir’s father, Baba, and his views on Amir: he blames Amir for Sofia’s death,

S1/B3: Finally, Rahim Khan successfully shapes Amir into becoming the responsible man he has always wanted to be. This is indicated when Amir and Soraya are attempting to have a baby and Amir wonders what kind of father he will turn out to be. He thinks, “I wanted to be just like Baba and I wanted to be nothing like him” (Hosseini 184). Although Baba was the ‘ideal’ man: strong, popular, and well known, this is not the man Amir wants to turn out to be. Amir sees that Baba was secretly a materialistic, selfish, dishonest coward. So, while Amir wants to be a popular and strong idealistic father to his child, he does not want to leave his child feeling neglected by him, as he experienced with Baba. Amir would rather be a responsible and understanding

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

19). Since Amir thought that he had killed his mother, he always believed that his father, Baba, hated him for it. Amir uses this perceived reason as explanation for why Baba stayed distant from him, and never addressed this issue, keeping the shame for something that he should not feel guilty for. Adding on, Amir also felt guilty for allowing Hassan to get attacked by Assef and not saving his best friend. After the attack occurred near the beginning of the book, Hosseini continuously mentions the event and how terrible Amir feels, even years after. This shame motivated Amir to go back to Afghanistan and find Hassan’s son, as well as bringing him back to America (Hosseini, 2003). Finally, Baba also had guilt to bear in the novel. Baba was Hassan’s biological father. “How had Baba brought himself to

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.

Furthermore, Amir forgives Baba for not telling him that Amir and Hassan are half-brothers. Hassan gets treated very well by Baba, considering he is a server at Baba’s house. Hassan gets great birthday presents, and he is always welcome to father-son activities with Amir and Baba. Sometimes Amir is jealous and doesn’t understand why Hassan gets treated the same as himself. Amir wants to be treated better, because he is Baba’s son, and Hassan is Baba’s servant. What Amir doesn’t know is that Hassan is his half-brother. Years later, Rahim Kahn tells him this when Amir visits him in Pakistan. Amir learns that a long time ago, Baba had an affair with a Hazara woman, which was socially unacceptable. Out of this affair, a child was born: Hassan. Hassan is not Ali’s son; Hassan is Baba’s son. Baba never tells Amir, and this makes Amir very angry and disappointed. For Amir, his father is a hero and not a liar. However, when Rahim Kahn explains Baba’s situation and why he acted this way, Amir starts to

The minor characters in a story can play such a major role. In the novel, “The Strange Case of Dr .Jekyll and Mr.Hyde” by Robert Louis Stevenson, the readers are introduced to several minor characters, such as Lanyon, Enfield, Carew, and Poole, who help advance the plot. Hastie Lanyon was an old friend of Jekyll who wrote a letter to Utterson about what he witnessed, Richard Enfield told the story of the door , Sir Danvers Carew was murdered by Hyde, and Poole was Jekyll’s butler who got Utterson for help. These minor characters play a major role in the plot.

Today I was talking to one of my dearest friends, Rahim Khan, about Amir. I have been worrying about how he has been doing around the other kids and who will take over my business. Is he cut out to run it? How can he run a business if he can’t even stand up for himself? Rahim said that I am, “...the most self centered man he knows.” I think he was overreacting. I feel like if I wasn’t there when Amir was born I wouldn't have known that he is my son. He is nothing like me and I don't understand why. You would think that since I practically raised him myself (besides the help from Ali), that he would be more like me. I miss his mother so much. Having to raise Amir without her help makes me wonder if things would be

In the first half of the book, it showed that Rahim Khan was more of a paternal figure in Amir's life then Baba ever was. First of all, Rahim Khan agreed to read Amir's stories when Baba refused to read it and that gave Amir hope that one day he might actually become a writer, Rahim even wrote him a note saying that Amir has been granted with a special talent and that it's his job to fulfill it. Secondly, on Amir's 12th birthday, Rahim Khan gave Amir a notebook to write all his stories, this encouraged Amir to continue writing no matter what Baba thought about it, the notebook was one of the things Amir's brought with him when he fled Pakistan. As can be seen, Rabin Khan has treated Amir nothing but the best, and that why Amir agreed to visit him in Pakistan, where he found out about Sohrab and what he's going through at the moment and decides to go rescue him from whatever situation he might be in - which might be a lot worst than he expected.

When Amir and Baba went to the lake one day when Baba had built the orphanage, Amir exclaimed, “he asked me to fetch Hassan too, but I lied and told him Hassan had the runs” (13). This associates the power Aamir wants in order to impress his father. Furthermore it embellishes the fact that Amirs quench for power over Hassan was growing since the beginning of the book, Hassan was always, “steps in to fend them off” (22), which made Amir feel weak and powerless. This enraged the evil that was brewing inside him, and created a dynamic of always wanting more. The power that came from Baba’s approval always came so easily to Hassan, However for Amir, he always went out of his way to be vengeful towards him. Hosseini depicts this constantly throughout his life, for example when he graduated highschool in California and Baba mentioned how good it would be to have Hassan there with them in the new car they had gotten, Amir said, “a pair of steel hands closed around my windpipe at the sound of Hassan's name” (134). Hosseini wants us to see that Amir is constantly wants that power over his father’s relationship with him, but Hassan always gets in the way of that. Even when Amir was doing an act of good to save Sohrab, he “hadn’t felt happy and [he] hadn’t felt better, not at all” (289). Amir began to laugh during the time that he

Amir's relationship with Baba hasn't been good ever since Baba's wife died a couple of days after the birth of Amir. Amir always thought that his father hated him a little for killing his wife. Amir says" I always felt like Baba hated me a little. And why not? After all I have killed his beloved wife, his beautiful princess." Furthermore, Amir is not turning out the way Baba wished we would. As a kid Baba was very athletic and wasn't afraid to stand up to what he believed in. Amir however, likes to read books and is shy; because of the major difference in personalities their father son relationship is not prosperous. In the novel we don't learn much about Hassan's and Ali's relationship. Nevertheless, we do learn that Ali and Baba knew each

Amir has an extremely complex association with Baba, and as much as Amir loves Baba, he once in a while feels Baba completely adores him back. Amir's yearning to win Baba's warmth in this way motivates him not to stop Hassan's ambush. Baba has his own specific inconvenience taking up with Amir. He feels remorseful treating Amir well when he can't perceive Hassan as his tyke. In like manner, he is a huge test for Amir, and he can simply exhibit his worship for Hassan in a circuitous manner, by bringing Hassan along when he takes Amir out, for event, or paying for Hassan's lip surgery. Alternately with this, the most revering relationship amidst father and youngster we see is that of Hassan and Sohrab. Hassan, regardless, is executed, and toward