Baba And Amir Relationship Analysis

Baba and Amir had an extremely important relationship when he was a young boy. Almost everything he did was influenced by his father. He would do almost anything to win his father’s affection. Now that Amir is returning home to find Sohrab, after Baba’s death and many years without seeing his homeland, he is finally coming to terms with their relationship. By finding out that Hassan is his brother, Amir’s mental image of his father shatters, his vying for Baba’s attention goes away, and Amir finally accepts his childhood relations with Baba. When Amir visits Rahim Khan after he arrives in Pakistan, news that will change his whole world is waiting. Rahim Khan tells Amir that Hassan is his brother, and not just an ex-servant. As Rahim Khan describes “As it turned out, Baba and I were more alike than I’d ever known” (Hosseini 226) Amir learns how his father was not the perfect man. The Baba of his childhood was gone, and was replaced with one who was a lot like Amir. As a child, all Amir wanted was to be like his father. He constantly tried to emulate what his father did and how he acts. Now, he sees that they are not so different after all. They both betray people who would give the world for them, making Baba imperfect.
Amir struggles learning this fact as he thinks “And how was I going to reconcile this new image of Baba with the one that had been imprinted on my mind for so long?” (Hosseini 226). The godlike image of his childhood has dissipated, along with the idea that Baba and Amir are opposites. All his life he thought Baba was the man who fought the bear, the man who could do no wrong, but with one single truth coming out, his whole entire depiction of his father changes. He no longer sees a perfect man, but a man living with guilt. With this realization, Amir comes to terms with not being perfect like his father, and resolves the perfect image of his father in his head. Baba’s perfect image is not the only thing Amir overcomes when he goes to find Sohrab, he overcomes his need for attention from Baba. As Rahim Khan says “I saw how you suffered and yearned for his affections, and my heart bled for you…. when he saw you he saw himself. And his guilt” (Hosseini 301) Amir hearing this helps his come to terms with his father’s treatment of him. All his life Amir felt he was second best to Hassan. His father would ask to bring him along on trips, gift him lavish presents, which were things no ordinary master of a servant would do. Amir was very jealous of this attention and constantly vied for it himself, but when he found out that Hassan was his brother, this jealousy disappeared. Readers see Amir accept Hassan after he rescues Sohrab by fighting Assef. One of his injuries was a cut on his lip described as “Clean down the middle. Like a harelip” (Hosseini 297.) Hassan had a harelip and Amir receiving one while rescuing Sohrab is symbolic of him finally accepting Hassan. The harelip shows that he is ready to make Hassan a part of himself and his family. He is no longer a jealous boy who just wants to push Hassan away, he accepts that Baba gives Hassan some attention. This longing for Baba goes away and Amir accepts that the attention is shared between the two boys, and he comes to terms with his need for affection. The reveal that Amir and Hassan are brothers brought upon the massive changes that led Amir to accept this childhood relationship.
It allowed him to get rid of the perfect image of his father, and stop vying for his attention. These two ideas were the basis of Amir and Baba’s relationship for a long time until this truth knocked them both away. What was left of the father and son was a healed relationship. Amir no longer was competing to be like Baba and to have all of his attention, he was free to relax as himself. Finding Sohrab brought out dirty secrets that Baba kept hidden, but in the long run it brought down the barriers keeping Amir from accepting his childhood relationship with his father, helping him accept this
relationship.