Things Fall Apart Chapter 1-11 Analysis

Amir and Baba do not try to involve themselves with Hassan and Ali. Just like when Amir starts to understand the low social status Hassan has and accept the status quo. He says “That Hassan would grow up illiterate like Ali

The moment Amir heard Baba explaining to Rahim Khan that Hassan stands up for himself and Amir, which leads him to conclude, “…there is something missing in that boy.” , Amir instantly behaves aggressively towards Hassan. This subconscious jealously causes Amir to betray Hassan in a variety of circumstances: the right of correct education, the act of allowing Hassan suffer, and the act of keeping quiet when Amir innated Hassan being a ‘thief’. Inevitably, Amir felt always challenged with his lack of confidence caused by Hassan being admired by Baba and being adroit, which lead to terrible decisions to a loop of

From brief observation, it may appear as though Hassan and Amir are the best of friends. However, as readers come across this quote from Amir’s point of view, they achieve a bit of insight on his deepest thoughts and feelings. According to Amir, history and ethnicity can break the bonds of their seemingly everlasting companionship. Amir is wrong to think this way and to follow in the footsteps of his flawed societal views. However, not all the blame can be placed on Amir, for his reasoning can be traced back to his father’s complicated relationship with the beloved family servant, an event that has clearly had a significant influence on him.

His father doesn’t pay him much attention because of his characteristics though, he isn’t athletically talented or very smart with the books either. However, Amir grows to understand what his goal in life is, and he goes out and strives to achieve it to the maximum potential. Amir begins his life by feeling unwanted and worthless. His own father doesn’t want anything to do with him and his life, alls he cares about is his work and his nephew.

Amir and his father’s weak relationship in Afghanistan changes when Amir finally accomplishes something Baba can be proud about, spreading light of a possible close relationship in the future. At the beginning of the novel, Baba is talking with his friend, Rahim Khan, about his worries for Amir not standing up for himself, when he is being bullied. Khan responds to Baba saying, ““Children aren’t coloring books. You don’t get to fill them in with your favorite colors””(Hosseini 21). This quote illustrates the difficult relationship Amir and his father have with each other because Baba wants to mold him into the ‘perfect’ son, but Amir does not find appreciation in the same things as Baba, causing this ‘mold’ to be ruined. Amir and Baba being polar opposites causes them to naturally separate from each other because Baba likes building luxury to fit his ego, but Amir values the smaller gestures people do in life. Once Amir finally does something that makes Baba proud and improves ‘their’ ego, Baba starts to appreciate Amir more and tries to do more things with him. This is depicted when Hosseini writes, “Baba and I were finally friends” (Hosseini 85). Although Amir thinks they are close, they are not as close as they could be because Baba usually invites friends and family to join them on their outings. Also, when they are alone it is very awkward for the two of them because they do not know each other very well. The reason Amir feels like he is gaining his father’s acceptance is because he is taking him places, rather than ignoring his existence completely, which is a significant step compared to their relationship before. This step in their relationship illustrates they have a chance at becoming even closer in the future.

Although Baba and Ali grew up together, they grow to be very distinct people. Baba is a respected Afghan businessman who constantly gives to the community. Baba also stood up for himself and others when he felt that something was unjustified. Ali on the other hand is very reserved and doesn’t do anything when people make

The fact that Amir does not stack up to Hassan in the eyes of their father becomes clear during a conversation that he overhears between Baba and Rahim Khan. Not only does his father not understand his inclination to spend his days reading and writing, he also looks down upon Amir’s inability to stand up both for his own self and for others and tendency to let Hassan fight his battles for him. He states unequivocally that “A boy who won’t stand up for himself becomes a man who can’t stand up to anything” (22). This leads to Amir’s heightened jealousy of Hassan, general feeling of inadequacy, and an

We can see that Amir has much prosperity when Rahim Khan is around because he has trust and hope for Amir. In order for a person to grow and succeed, he needs someone that has trust and hope for him like Rahim Khan. That is why Rahim Khan is closest to Amir. Growing up involves having a close relationship with the grown-ups around someone, especially his/her parents. Amir's emotional and mental maturation is very much influenced by the relationship

One lie that robs Hassan and Amir of the truth is drastically changing the outcome of their lives. Correspondingly if Baba doesn’t rob Hassan of knowing who is real father is his life may be totally different beginning from his adolescence; "Possibly, Baba would have brought them along to America. Perhaps Hassan would have had a home of his own now, a vocation, a family, a life in a nation where nobody minded that he was a Hazara"(Hosseini 238). Since Hassan is known to be Ali’s son, he is a servant whom does not attend school and is unable to move to America like Amir and Baba. Hassan being a servant leads to having different social standards than Amir which cause many problems for both of them such has Hassan’s’ rape; Hassan’s rape leads to Hassan and Ali moving out which is ultimately the cause of Hassan’s death.

He shows a quality of a good father, being proud of his child’s achievements, when he watches his son graduate from high school. He tells Amir that : “‘I am moftakhir, Amir,’ he said. Proud.” (Hosseini 139). Baba’s development as a father is further showcased with him expressing his delightness to his son graduating. This is a far cry from where he often gave Amir a word of encouragement or a sign of recognition back in Afghanistan. Now, he starts to build a stronger connection with his son by communicating to him genuine interest and complements. Likewise, Baba continues to praise Amir’s skills as a writer towards other and he expresses this towards General Taheri when he says: “ Amir is going to be a great writer…. He has finished his first year of college and earned A’s in all of his courses.” (Hosseini 147). This passage conveys to one that he has changed to be a better father than what he is seen to be in the earlier parts of the novel. Now in the latter parts of the novel, one can see how confident and proud he is of his son. He is certain that his son is going to become a great writer and that is not a sentence that one would expect from him due to his earlier thoughts of Amir in the novel. Moreover, Baba shows that he is a good father when he expresses how happy he is to see his son has grown when he is going to a lafz with

Amir’s character represents a development of the human spirit. He is inherently good in his thoughts and actions early on in the story, but the reader can see him begin to evolve. The actions of others, more specifically his father and Hassan cause him to become plagued with aforementioned themes of evil. He sees himself largely influenced by greed and an ability to abuse his power over Hassan. The evil metamorphoses Amir into a character driven by self interest at the deprivation of others. Amir feels challenged for his father’s love by Hassan and uses his social status and educated ability to impose himself over Hassan when they read together. This abuse of power shows the corruption within Amir that develops into greed as Baba continues to distance himself from Amir. This selfishness climaxes when Hassan is defiled by Assef and Amir says

Amir was a son of a reputed father and he gets to attain school and he gets to learn and experienced many things. For example, he gets to participate in the poetry recitation where he is much interested in and sports although it wasn’t his choice. Whereas, Hassan as a servant stayed home to do the household work. Hassan made Amir’s breakfast, cleaned his room and did all the household chores while Amie goes to school. Though Hassan desires to get the education but there wasn’t a chance given to him as a servant. Therefore, despite illiteracy he would passionately listen to what Amir would read for him. Additionally, Amir grows up as young child who longs for his father’s love and approval. He lives with inexplicable jealousy of Hassan. Whereas, Hassan grows up as a young child serving under Amir and respecting Amir’s order. Hassan is cheerful, loyal and loving. He always attempt to please and serve Amir. Moreover, Hassan wasn’t privileged like Amir as he had to undergo insult and defamation by other people around

Amir seems to be a very selfish person who will avoid any conflict that does not involve him. Amir is the son of Baba and Hassan's best friend. Even though Hassan and Amir are great friends, Amir seems to take their friendship for granted. On the day of the kite running tournament, Hassan gets mixed up with gang who intend to rape him. They proceed to do so as Amir sits at the sidelines and watches. Amir says, ¨I had one last chance to make a decision. One final opportunity to decide who I was going to be. I could step into that alley, stand up for Hassan--the way he’d stood up for me all those times in the past--and accept whatever would happen to me. Or I could run. In the end I ran. I ran because I was a coward. I was afraid of Assef and what he would do to me.¨ (Hosseini 77) Amir has the option to help his friend who has been with him through thick and thin, but afraid of his own personal safety, he runs. Leaving Hassan completely alone and helpless. Amir also desires attention from his father and will think or do awful things to get it. Amir says, “I’d, ask Ali where Baba was, when he was coming home, though I know full well he was at the construction site over-looking this, supervising that. Didn't that take patience? I already hated all the kids he was building the orphanage for; sometimes I’d wish they'd all die along with their parents.” In Amir's mind, getting Baba’s attention is all that matters. Sacrificing others for his own gain becomes a habit of his. Amir is aware of his selfishness and in someway wants to make up for it.

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

This quote from chapter 15 describes what it was like when the locus were eating away at the village. They were literally covering the earth to the point where it was difficult to see the ground and were such a strong force that they could break tree branches. The cloud of locusts are a metaphor for things that cannot be easily stopped. This is important because the missionaries had a similar effect on the village. Although they did not physically eat away at the village, they still corrupted and in a sense "ate away" at the Ibo culture. The white men coming to the Ibo land is compared to the cloud of locusts that took over the land and could not be stopped easily. When the white men came, they began to convert some of the Ibo people to Christianity,