During the van ride to Jalalabad, while everyone is talking about the kite tournament, Amir notices that Rahim Khan is strangely silent. Soon, Amir is getting carsick. When they arrive in Jalalabad, Amir realizes that although he has what he thought he always wanted, he feels empty. That night, unable to sleep, Amir States, "I watched Hassan get raped," yet no one hears him, and it is the beginning of his insomnia. Amir realizes that he himself was the monster of Hassan's dream.…
Amir’s father, Baba, sees the cowardice that Amir possesses and the constant need he has for his father’s approval. As the story progresses, Amir witnesses an act of evil in the aftermath of the kite running festival. He sees Hassan, his only friend, being raped by Assef, the town bully. Overwhelmed with horror and fear, Amir flees the scene, leaving his faithful friend behind. As a young boy, he seeks redemption for having abandoned his friend by seeking out physical pain as punishment. Amir narrates, “I hit him with another pomegranate, in the shoulder this time...‘Hit me back, goddamn you!’ I wished he would. I wished he'd give me the punishment I craved, so maybe I'd finally sleep at night. Maybe then things could return to how they used to be between us”(Hosseini, pg 92). Amir longs for forgiveness and to share the bond they once had. This incident serves as a lesson to Amir that redemption requires much more than encouraging Hassan to throw a pomegranate at his chest. While Hassan is a loyal friend, who might have recognized Amir’s attempt at redemption, Hassan refuses to participate. This failure at redemption leads to Amir distancing himself from Hassan, and the two continue to grow farther apart. The theme of redemption re-appears when Amir receives a phone call from his old friend, Rahim Khan. As Rahim finishes his conversation with Amir, he says, “Come. There is a way to be good again” (Hosseini, pg ). Without the prodding from Rahim, Amir may have never overcome the regret of his cowardly mistake. Even though he has grown and matured into adulthood, he realizes that his past is still a heavy burden. It is not until Amir returns to Afghanistan that he succeeds in finally securing atonement. After hearing the news of Hassan’s death and the fate of…
Amir see's what happen to Hassan the day he'd gotten raped and did not tell anyone about it so now that he has faced Assef a second time he's determined to defeat him. Though things did not go according to plan Sohrab saves Amir with his slingshot the same way Hassan saved Amir back when they were younger. Amir thinks he have rescued Sohrab, but finds out that Sohrab would have…
After Amir wins the competition, Hassan goes to retrieve his kite, when he then gets into a brawl with Assef and his two other boys. When Amir goes to find Hassan, he sees how he is getting abused by Assef and decides not to do anything about. He thought to himself, “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” (Hosseini 77). In the end, Amir decided to run because he was a coward and only thought of the best for himself, not Hassan. Readers uncover irony within this section of the novel. In order for Hassan not to be raped, he had to give Assef Amir’s kite, which Hassan knew would help boost Amir and Baba’s relationship. So Hassan, being a great friend, sacrifices himself, just so that Baba can be proud of Amir for once. After the rape, Amir and Hassan become distant from one another. When the two are face-to-face, Amir wishes Hassan would punish him. For instance, he pelts Hassan with the pomegranates, because he wants Hassan to hit him back. Punishment, Amir feels, would at least begin to make up for the way he wronged Hassan. Hassan, however, will not retaliate, and that became the greatest torment for Amir. Since Amir is still filled with the guilt of leaving Hassan to be raped in the alleyway, he decided he has to put an end to this. Seeing Hassan everyday was a constant reminder of his wronged actions. So, Amir went into Hassan’s living quarters, lifted his “mattress and planted [his] new watch and a handful of Afghani bills under it”, which made Baba believe Hassan stole all those items (Hosseini 104). Baba begs for Ali and Hassan to stay with them, but Ali makes the final decision that it would be best if they…
Unexpectedly they run into Assef, a school bully, who attacks Amir for the sheer fact of Amir standing by Hassan and calling him a friend. "I treated Hassan well,…
Where he failed to take action as a child, he now has the chance to do the right thing as an adult. Family friend, Rahim Khan telephones Amir and tells him to come to Pakistan. Amir realizes that Rahim Khan knows of his betrayals to Hassan for he said, “Come. There is a way to be good again” (202). Even though it was twenty-six years later, Rahim Khan understands that Amir can atone for the past by helping Hassan now. Meeting Rahim Khan, Amir learns that the Taliban has killed Hassan and his wife yet Hassan’s son, Sohrab has survived. Amir further learns that he and Hassan share the same father making Sohrab his nephew. The way for Amir to make amends for his past actions is to go back to Kabul despite the danger and rescue Sohrab from an orphanage: “Hassan had loved me once, loved me in a way that no one ever had or ever would again. He was gone now, but a little part of him lived on. It was in Kabul. Waiting” (239). Amir knows that he will never have a friend as loyal and loving as Hassan again. The best way he can repay Hassan is by helping Sohrab. Amir must be selfless and possibly sacrifice his own family’s happiness and his life to find Sohrab: “I have a wife in America, a home, a career, and a family. But how could I pack up and go home when my actions may have cost Hassan a chance at those very same things?” (238). If Amir acted differently when he was younger, Hassan may still be alive today. Amir…
During the annual kite tournament, Amir witnessed his brother, Hassan being brutally beaten and raped by Assef: he did not say a word. Instead of standing up for his brother, Amir kept quiet while he stood and watched in horror. “I opened my mouth, almost said something. Almost. The rest of my life might have turned out differently if I had. But I didn’t.…
He is selfish, demanding, cowardly, disrespectful and jealous. He does not seem like the type of person that will do something for another out of the kindness of their heart. He always thinks about himself and what he wants. He has never sacrificed anything for the people he loves. Growing up with the memory of Hassan’s rape still fresh in his mind like a situation that has just unfolded has finally opened his eyes and makes him realize he needs to be brave for once in his life. So Amir acts. He goes back to Afghanistan to find Hassan’s son, Sohrab. Rahim Khan’s advice, “There is a way to be good again” (pg.2) helps Amir to put his feelings into action. Assef, now a Taliban officer, beats Amir up badly, but this, heals Amir of his wrong doings from the past and he takes Sohrab back to America with him to live a good life. Amir finally puts someone before himself after all the sacrifices Hassan has made for him in the past. This shows the love and sacrifice he makes for Hassan’s child knowing it is the only way he can ever repay Hassan for the years of mistreatment in their…
This author introduces Assef to the reader when he firsts encounters Amir. Those are Amir's thoughts at the view of Assef "Assef crossed his thick arms on his chest, a savage sort of grin on his lips. Not for the first time, it occurred to me that Assef might not be entirely sane." The reader then directly discovers, from this simple description of Assef's appearance the type of character he is. He is just passively crossing his arms, but still gives an overall image of a strong, savage, not entirely sane person. The insanity recurs, it is often visible in Assef's eyes, and the grin is now linked to violence" I will never forget how Assef's blue eyes glinted with a light not entirely sane and how he grinned, how he grinned, as he pummeled that poor kid unconscious" Amir was marked by the time he saw Assef beating up a little kid. Assef is a bully that takes pleasure in hurting other kids. At this point, he is a child and violence is like a game that let's him express his madness. Other kids are scared by his attitude, no one dears to contradict him. This is one of Amir's thought about one of Assef' "friend", right before the rape of Hassan. "He wasn't afraid of Hassan, not really.…
At the beginning of the novel, Amir is a young selfish child who cares about himself and only himself, which is evident by the choices he makes. His obsession to please Baba, his father, causes him to betray his best friend, later known to be his half-brother, Hassan. Hassan was raped by Assef, the novel’s antagonist, because he was protecting the kite Amir yearned for to satisfy Baba. Amir later confesses, “Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba” (Hosseini 7). As a consequence, Amir lives with an abundant amount of guilt, in which he tries to avoid, but as the years crawl by, he is unable to find tranquility. His guilty conscious troubles…
According to a study by the United States Department of Justice, more than 60 percent of American children were exposed to violence in 2009. In addition, according to this source, one in ten children witness their family member abuse another family member, and over 25 percent had been exposed to family violence in their life. In general, violence is a behavior which includes an action to hurt, harm, or even kill someone or something. Throughout this quarter, we were assigned to read and write a report on a novel “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini. One theme that caught my attention is children and violence. One of the main characters, Hassan was physically abused by Assef and ended up getting raped. In the novel, Assef is a very violent child.…
Amir resembles Baba because he too takes up redemption for the awful things he did. He understands the great danger Sohrab is in. He risks his life to help Sohrab; this shows loyalty to Hassan. Even though Sohrab is not Hassan sa his son shows that Amir is loyal to him. He would do anything for Hassan to make up for his childhood. After finding Sohrab, Amir comes face to face with Assef, Hassan's rapist. “Another rib snapped, this time lower. What was so funny was that, for the first time since the winter of 1975, I felt at peace. I laughed because I saw that, in some hidden nook in the corner of my mind, I’d even been looking forward to this… My body was broken – just how badly I wouldn’t find out until later – but I felt healed” (Hosseini 289) This scene depicts the acceptance that Amir finally faces. He starts coming to terms with his past because he feels at peace over the fact that he is finally getting justice for Hassan. That he is brave enough not to run away just as Hassan would stay to fight. Amir sacrifices everything for Sohrab just as Hassan did for him once. Amir finally shows the love for Hassan that was given to…
Amir, is the central character and is shaped both in character and intellect by power. He is privileged and wealthy, but also steeped in jealousy and cowardice. He is selfish and guilty of abhorrent behaviors. The one positive strength Amir has is his friendship with Hassan. Considered best friends this is a friendship that is generally one-sided with Hassan showing the loyalty and trust. There is an ongoing conflict for this friendship because Amir shares paternal heritage with Hassan. Hassan was born into servitude and thus Baba, the boys’ father, cannot lay claim to Hassan’s heritage. The Afghan traditions and culture pose a conflict for Baba regarding Hassan. Hassan for his part is loyal, forgiving, and an all-around pleasant person to be with. The two boys are drawn to each other naturally. Hassan is the family servant and never wavers in his loyalty to the family even with the knowledge that he should be considered part of it. At the same time, Baba struggles with his own morals and the rigid Afghani traditions. He is proud and determined but also emotionally detached from Amir. Amir feels the detachment deeply and constantly strives to receive Baba’s affection.…
Both Hassan and Amir get bullied, but Hassan is the main target of these bullies because unlike Amir, he is not from a higher class family thus making him an easy target for bullies like Assef. Hassan is a very loyal friend and for this particular reason he gets rapped by Assef when he refuses to give him the kite. He is so use to violence at this time of his life because as a person from a lower class that is the norm that he gives up and does not try to protect himself. Hassan’s safety is not a concern compared to Amir’s because of where he falls in the social hierarchy. Violence is not something that is condemned, and this is proven by the way Baba reacts to when…
In the alley, when watching transfixed as Hassan is tortured and humiliated by Assef, Amir opts to “[run]. [He] ran because he was a coward. [He] was afraid… maybe Hassan was the price [he] had to pay, the lamb [he] had to slay, to win Baba”. Knowing full well that Hassan would have gone to any length to protect Amir, for his perpetual loyalty never faltered, Amir fails to help the one who was always by his side in his time of need. For purely egocentric and self-protective reasons, and the fleeting gain of Baba’s attention, Amir betrays Hassan in an appalling manner, severing the ties of allegiance and brotherhood once holding them together.…