kite runner

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.

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

Pg. 134 Amir wants to major in writing but Baba disapproves. It isn't what Baba wants.

He goes from being a wealthy and successful man in Afghanistan, to a minimum wage worker at a gas station. This description of Baba captures how much of a struggle it has been for him and it shows exactly what he’s going through. Finally, what shocked Baba the most, was what happened at the grocery store. Baba was trying to purchase oranges and he didn’t have cash on him so he wrote a check. The store owners ask for ID and Baba goes insane. He takes this personally and gets offended because he thinks they are making him out to be a thief. Amir tries to comfort him and tell him this is the policy, this is what they have to do but Baba just can’t comprehend it. Amir said he “wanted to tell them that, in Kabul, we snapped a tree branch and used it as a credit card.”(Hosseini 128) Baba was a well respected man back in Kabul, this kind of thing never happened to him, Hassan and Amir would take a wooden stick to the bread maker, he’d carve notches on the stick, one notch for each loaf of naan purchased and at the end of the month Baba would pay for the number of notches on the stick. No questions and no ID. This transition was very hard for Baba to understand because his customs and culture were very different.

While on a truck, he defended the women. Willing to take the bullet without hesitation, he put his life on the line for the stranger, for his passion had been stronger than his fear of death. Baba acted out of bravery due to his grand stature, level head, and big heart, “when all six-foot-five of him thundered into the room, attention shifted to him like sunflowers turning to the sun” (13). Baba was well respected in Afghanistan, and he knew that his voice would be heard; therefore, he used his power as a way to defend the defenseless. He was willing to sacrifice himself even though his son disagreed with the idea. Amir thought only of himself and that he would be left as an orphan if Baba was shot; whereas Baba wanted to help the woman as long as he was only risking his own life. His heart reached out for anyone needing an extra hand. He loved and cared for so many people, he wanted to help all of them. Baba put in hard work to help the people around him, and they all looked up to him due to “the marks he had left on people’s lives” (174). Baba’s willingness to sacrifice himself for strangers shaped his reputation in Afghanistan.

(‘Hosseini 142’). “So, if I understand, you’ll study several years to earn a degree, then you’ll get a chatty job like mine, one you could just easily land today, on the small chance that your degree might someday help you get…discovered.” This shows how Baba has higher expectations from Amir and is really disappointed when he hears that Amir wants to peruse a career in

Amir's first word indicated how much Baba meant to him. Everything Amir did in his childhood was to gain his father's approval. He tried to connect with Baba by playing soccer, which turned out to be unsuccessful. It was very difficult for him to gain acceptance from a man who wanted him to be the complete opposite of himself. Baba wanted carbon copy of himself; a son who was athletic, strong minded and brave, for him to grow up to become a "man's man." Baba noticed how Amir never stood up for himself, it was always Hassan that came to his rescue. He also

Baba also gave Amir a car that night to show Amir that he was proud of his success; Baba wanted to reward him for what he had accomplished. On Amir’s wedding day, although Baba was deathly ill, Baba exclaimed, “It’s the happiest day of my life, Amir,” (Khaled Hosseini, p.175). Baba made a speech at Amir and Soraya’s wedding. He openly shared that Amir fulfilled his expectations by saying that above all else, “Amir jan is my only son...my only child, and he has been a good son to me,” (Khaled Hosseini, p.177). Although it didn’t seem obvious at first, Baba truly loved Amir. The Kite Runner and The Crucible both have two fathers with strong paternal loves for their sons.

4. We begin to understand early in the novel that Amir is constantly vying for Baba's attention and often feels like an outsider in his father's life, as seen in the following passage: "He'd close the door, leave me to wonder why it was always grown-ups time with him. I'd sit by the door, knees drawn to my chest. Sometimes I sat there for an hour, sometimes two, listening to their laughter, their chatter." Discuss Amir's relationship with Baba.

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

Amir and Baba eventually leave Afghanistan as well, forced out by the Russian invasion of their beloved country. Everything he does at this point proves that he truly loves Amir; he sacrifices his wealth, business, and life to bring Amir to the safety of the United States. In response to this new country, filled with new people and languages, Amir and Baba’s relationship drastically transforms. Before, Baba was all powerful and knowledgeable, but now, Amir guides his father in the American way. Nowhere is this more evident than when Baba vandalizes the Nguyen’s store after they ask

No matter what, Hassan bravely stands up for Amir. However, when the roles are reversed, Amir cannot do the same due to Hassan’s social class lurking in Amir’s mind. When Assef started to harass Hassan while simultaneously trying to evoke a response in Amir, it almost gets Amir to look beyond Hassan's social class. “Assef narrowed his eyes. Shook his head. When he spoke again, he sounded as baffled as he looked. ‘How can you call him your ‘friend?’’ But he is not my friend...he’s my servant!” (41) Amir thought, showcasing the opinion he created about Hassan. Working for Baba and Amir as servants, Hassan and his father are put below their bosses on the social hierarchy.

Throughout the book The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, there are many differences between Baba and Ali and between Amir and Hassan. Although there are a lot of differences between them, there are also some similarities between their relationships. Their differences range from where they are from, to what they enjoy, to what they believe is the right thing to do. Even though they had these differences, they didn’t let them ruin their relationships until later on in their lives.

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

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.