Friendship In The Kite Runner

Although opposites attract, when jealousy, anger, envy, and shame are brought into a friendship is it really a genuine friendship? Throughout the entire novel there is no sign of Amir being as affectionate, sympathetic, loyal, and as attentive as Hassan is to him. The definition of a friend is described as “a person whom one knows and whom one has a bond of mutual affection”, Do Amir and Hassan fit the description of a friendship if they don’t share the same amount of affection towards each other? The answer is no, Amir and Hassan never shared the same amount of mutual affection. Amir and Hassan are not friends. Amir was constantly jealous of the aspects Hassan had in life and how personable he was. Amir was mainly jealous of the relationship Hassan had with Baba, because Hassan was always
A Hazara is defined as “ A member of the Dari-speaking, predominantly Shiite people of central Afghanistan.” Hazaras are generically lower class in Afghanistan around this time. Amir always thought less of Hassan and never really addressed him as a friend because of his social status. Amir says “ Never mind any of these things. Because history isn’t easy to overcome. Neither is religion. In the end, I was a Pashtun and he was a Hazara...Nothing was ever going to change that. Nothing.”(Hosseini, 25). Amir is overlooking the fact they grew up together doing everything and were raised as brother all because Hassan is a Hazara. Amir also lets Assefs views on the two get to him when he tells Hassan “Have you ever wondered why he never includes you in the games when he has guests? Why he only plays with you when no one else is around? I’ll tell you why, Hazara. Because to him, you’re nothing but an ugly pet..” (Hosseini, 72). Assef is picking up on what Amir is doing to Hassan and it is not how a true friend should act towards their