the kite runner notes

Amir and Baba’s Relationship
Amir’s complex relationship with his father is a significant factor in his life. Baba, Amir’s father, does not understand his son, he complains to his best friend and business partner Rahim Khan about his confusion with Amir. “He’s always buried in those books or shuffling around the house like he’s lost in some dream…I wasn’t like that” Baba cannot understand why Amir does not have the same interests as he does. When Amir over heard this conversation between Baba and Rahim, it was like “Baba sounded frustrated, almost angry”. Baba is disappointed that Amir is not a replica of him; he wants a son to take over the business and keep his name intact, which is why Baba does not try to make a bond with his own son. “If I hadn’t seen the doctor pull him out of my wife with my own eyes, I’d never believe he’s my son”. Baba is very distant from Amir because he feels that there is no real connection between himself and Amir. Amir’s Childhood was very tough on him because he was brought up without a mother, and blames himself for her death, as she died giving birth to him. Amir also lacks a proper relationship with his father in his early years. Amir makes it clear that he longs to become like Baba and for him and Baba to have that special bond and connection that fathers and sons are meant to have. Baba is an honourable man at heart; he is just unable to understand his son’s interests and neglects him because of it. Amir’s relationship with Baba is very hard on him and makes him feel like he needs to prove something to Baba, which is one thing he has always tried to do his whole life.
Even though Baba was dead, Amir and Baba’s relationship was not yet over. Khaled Hosseini uses baba’s death as a way to create another hiccup in Amir and Baba’s relationship. This came about when Baba’s darkest secret was revealed by Rahim Khan. Which was that Baba had slept with Ali’s wife Sanaubar and impregnated her, making Hassan his child. Amir went through a series of mixed emotions at this revelation. Initially the news made Amir furious. This was symbolic because it made Amir think of his father as a hypocrite due to all of the lessons he had thought him in his past. Baba once told Amir, ‘There is only one sin ‘and that is theft…when you tell a lie, you steal someone’s right to the truth.’ As Amir reflected on his father’s dishonesty and betrayal, he started to see himself in a similar way. Amir realized that his father was more like him than he ever knew and this is when their relationship made the final change. He saw how much they were the same. His feelings towards his father finally changed. “Baba and I were more alike than I’d ever known. We had both betrayed the people who would have given their lives for us.” Amir finally realizes that Baba was a man who also made mistakes and lived with regret. He recognized that the negative behaviors’ he had witnessed from his father, came from the struggles he had while trying to deal with the guilt and failures of the past. In the same way Amir had also suffered from the terrible things he had done. The big difference is at the end of the day Baba was a better man than Amir was, but Amir knew he had time to change this. From here on, Amir took on the task of redeeming both his and Baba’s mistakes. He agreed to go on the search for Hassan’s orphaned son Sohrab and to take care of him and raise him like he was his own.