The Most Important Emotion In 'The Kite Runner'
Is love the most important emotion in The Kite Runner?
I believe that love is what the whole novel symbolises.
Initially, at the start of the novel, we learn that Amir and Hassan are partners in crime, ‘Hassan and I used to annoy our neighbors by reflecting sunlight into their homes with a shard of mirror’ and their relationship seems to illustrate a brotherhood. This brotherly love is sealed when they carve ‘Amir and Hassan – The Sultans of Kabul’ on a tree where Amir usually reads a story to Hassan.
This relationship between them is conflicted by the society they live in. Kabul is divided between Pashtuns and Hazaras. Pashtuns are the higher class, whereas Hazaras are the lower class, which is indicated by the fact Hassan is the son of Ali; the servant of Amir’s father’s home. There are also racial slurs towards Hazaras in the novel, which in a way has influence on Amir’s and Hassan’s relationship. For instance; Amir was trying to bury his guilt after teasing him and he states: ‘He was just a Hazara after all wasn’t he?’ The racism implies that Hassan doesn’t mean anything, he’s inferior, and he doesn’t matter. This is a completely unethical way of dealing with guilt. …show more content…
This is presented through his guilt for “killing his mother” as Amir referred, - as he feels responsible for her death after childbirth. This guilt is reinforced later on in the novel when we learn in Chapter 11 that Baba was like the widower who remarries but can’t let go of his dead wife. We also acknowledge that Amir’s affection towards his father is also clear through his jealousy of Hassan. For example, Baba took out Hassan and Amir in the antique Black Ford Mustang which drew envious looks as it was in Hassan’s and Amir’s favourite film they watched in the cinema. Baba, not only buying Amir a kite from the best kite maker in Kabul, but he also buys Hassan one too. Amir stated “I wish he didn’t do
I believe that love is what the whole novel symbolises.
Initially, at the start of the novel, we learn that Amir and Hassan are partners in crime, ‘Hassan and I used to annoy our neighbors by reflecting sunlight into their homes with a shard of mirror’ and their relationship seems to illustrate a brotherhood. This brotherly love is sealed when they carve ‘Amir and Hassan – The Sultans of Kabul’ on a tree where Amir usually reads a story to Hassan.
This relationship between them is conflicted by the society they live in. Kabul is divided between Pashtuns and Hazaras. Pashtuns are the higher class, whereas Hazaras are the lower class, which is indicated by the fact Hassan is the son of Ali; the servant of Amir’s father’s home. There are also racial slurs towards Hazaras in the novel, which in a way has influence on Amir’s and Hassan’s relationship. For instance; Amir was trying to bury his guilt after teasing him and he states: ‘He was just a Hazara after all wasn’t he?’ The racism implies that Hassan doesn’t mean anything, he’s inferior, and he doesn’t matter. This is a completely unethical way of dealing with guilt. …show more content…
This is presented through his guilt for “killing his mother” as Amir referred, - as he feels responsible for her death after childbirth. This guilt is reinforced later on in the novel when we learn in Chapter 11 that Baba was like the widower who remarries but can’t let go of his dead wife. We also acknowledge that Amir’s affection towards his father is also clear through his jealousy of Hassan. For example, Baba took out Hassan and Amir in the antique Black Ford Mustang which drew envious looks as it was in Hassan’s and Amir’s favourite film they watched in the cinema. Baba, not only buying Amir a kite from the best kite maker in Kabul, but he also buys Hassan one too. Amir stated “I wish he didn’t do