Amir And Baba Relationship Analysis

Improved Essays
The Relationship of Amir and Baba In Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, the main character and narrator, Amir, has a very complex relationship with his father, Baba. Amir and Baba are nothing like the typical father and son bonds that readers would expect. Amir loves Baba very much, however, throughout the book Amir feels as if he is fighting for Baba’s acceptance and affection. Although their relationship is strained for a majority of the book, there are both differences and similarities that Baba and Amir share. These differences and similarities help readers identify the theme of tension between father and son, and help the readers understand the dynamics of both characters. To start off their relationship, as a child, Amir found a love …show more content…
Amir is awfully rude to people whom help him succeed the most, mainly including Hassan and his own father. Amir is a narcissist who only cares about himself and not the needs of others and Hassan always seemed to get the brunt of Amir’s anger and selfishness. Amir, because he had been pampered all his life, would never stop disrespecting Hassan and bullying him. Because of Amir’s unlikable personality, Baba out of all people is the most disappointed. Baba was not always there for Amir because he didn’t understand why Amir isn’t exactly like him. Baba speaks to Rahim Khan, his business partner, about his misunderstanding of Amir, and doesn’t quite grasp why his son’s interests aren’t comparable to his own: “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 sounded frustrated, almost angry” (23). Baba was an exceptionally distinguished man and loved entertaining guests with elaborate parties showing his wealth. Amir on the other hand, prefers to be out of the spotlight and away from attention. He would rather have the company of a good book alone in his room. This dynamic comparison comes with much frustration and anger between the two characters. Baba can never accept that Amir doesn’t follow in his footsteps and that they are in fact different.
Hosseini has created a complex father son relationship among Amir and Baba in The Kite Runner. Baba, lacks the deep love most fathers have for their sons which affects Amir’s upbringing. Because Baba’s expectations for his son are so high, it forces Amir to focus on nothing but pleasing him. Amir would have been a completely different person if he weren’t motivated but one thing, which is Baba’s acceptance. Hosseini includes many examples of trying times for this father-son duo which enhances the theme of tension between father and

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Both Baba and Amir have committed sins against their loyal friends/servants, and live in guilt, which leads them on a journey to redeem themselves, by doing good deeds. Amir's mission to redeem for himself makes up the main point of the novel. From the get-go, Amir endeavors to make up for himself in Baba's eyes, principally in light of the fact that his mom had passed away when conceiving him, and he feels he is guilty for her passing. To make up for himself to Baba, Amir supposes he should win the kite-competition and present to Baba the losing kite, both of which are inducing episodes that set whatever remains of the novel in movement.…

    • 522 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Amir would then find escape in all of his mother’s books. Baba was probably dealing with several internal conflicts himself, involving the death of his wife giving birth to Amir and the secret of having a second son, Hassan. That’s why he would be harsh on Amir for all the little things he did; Baba was aiming for Amir’s…

    • 2147 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Kite Runner, written by Khaled Hosseini, depicts the childhood and growth of Amir, a privileged Afghan boy. The character development of Amir is an important literary element of The Kite Runner. Amir is highly influenced by his father, his opportunities in America, and his moral obligations. One source of Amir’s character development is his father, Baba. Amir’s mother dies giving birth to him, so Amir’s only parent and most significant role model is his father.…

    • 705 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the story Amir had many secrets that were kept away from him. The biggest one was by Baba and it affected him in a very bad way when he finds out. In the story Baba and Amir both try to redeem themselves when they grow up because they realized that they did bad things when they were younger. We see Baba in the story doing a lot of things to help…

    • 1236 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Baba and Amir don’t have a close relationship. Amir is not alone. He has Hassan, a Hazara who works for Baba. Hassan and Ali, his father, were raised with Amir.…

    • 903 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Some live with the idea that family will always understand you and be there with you. Although many people believe this to be true, in some cases it is not. Just like Alice Walker from the excerpt “Father” and Amir from “The Kite Runner”, where unfortunately their own fathers were not as understanding as they would like them to be. In the excerpt “Father” it interprets Walker’s relationship with her father and how she regrets not having a stronger connection with him. In the novel “The Kite Runner”…

    • 832 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Guilt In The Kite Runner

    • 1438 Words
    • 6 Pages

    “When a coward stops remembering who he is... God help us” (Hosseini 241). These words should resonate with any guilt-ridden person, as to be guilty is to recognize one’s own cowardice and mistakes. Amir, the protagonist of The Kite Runner, speaks these words to himself in a time of great internal turmoil. The author, Khaled Hosseini places an emphasis on guilt’s effect on the individual as a main theme, mostly made manifest through the character of Amir.…

    • 1438 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Amir has developed into the strong son Baba always wanted. He is now able to fight for himself and others. With the help of Rahim Khan, Amir realizes “there is always a way to be good again” (page 2). Ironically, Amir spreads kindness in the same way that he spread lies when he was young: he plants money under a mattress to help a family in need, rather than labeling Hassan as a thief.…

    • 1077 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Both situations haunt Amir at different points of his life, Baba’s hatred affects more of his childhood whereas not standing up for Hassan haunts Amir’s adulthood. One major theme in Khaled Hosseini’s novel The Kite Runner, is searching for redemption with his relationship with Baba and Hassan.…

    • 964 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Khaled Hosseini’s uses of foils, metaphor, and parallelism in The Kite Runner materially help to reveal motifs based around its conflict and the theme of the text. By employing these devices, Hosseini highlights a plethora of the book’s motifs, such as redemption and regret; moreover, he exudes the book’s central theme, which pertains to the enjoyment of life and search for inner peace. Other than radiating the implicit messages of the book, the aforementioned stylistic choices also are necessary to develop both the story’s characters and plot. In particular, the character arc of Amir, the main protagonist of the book, would be stripped of an immense amount of significance his internal and external conflict are intensely emphasized by the three…

    • 1071 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Kite Runner’s seventh chapter unarguably serves as the plot’s turning point, it depicts the creation of the novel’s core conflict, that of Amir’s subsequent guilt following his betrayal which is later established as the driving force behind the majority of the story. In this chapter Hosseini not only explores the ideas of betrayal, guilt and cruelty, but also continues to construct the novel’s purpose as an ode to Hosseini 's home country of Afghanistan through the utilisation of a variety of literary techniques such as symbolism, characterisation and narrative perspective. Hosseini has constructed a tale rife with symbolism, examples of which can be observed through the light of dawn to the darkness of dusk, and even via the colour blue…

    • 1331 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Parent-child Relationships in Hosseini’s The Kite Runner and Shakespeare’s Hamlet In both texts, Hamlet and The Kite Runner, Hamlet and Amir, each have a relationship with their father, that plays a huge role in their lives. They idolize their fathers and strive to attain their approval; no matter the consequences. Furthermore, their fathers’ past actions and conflicts heavily influence their fates and their identities dramatically.…

    • 1477 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Both characters in the Lord of the Flies and The Kite Runner crave the acceptance of their peers. Although Baba technically is not Amir 's peer, he is the main character whom Amir craves acceptance and praise from. “Mine was Baba” (Hosseini 11). From this quote it is concluded that Amir 's first word is Baba, and throughout his life, Amir strives for is his dad to genuinely love him. Similarly, when Ralph arrives on the island and is elected chief, he immediately gains the boys acceptance.…

    • 1751 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Courage In The Kite Runner

    • 1152 Words
    • 5 Pages

    A father and son duo sit together in a dark metallic van. The boy shakes with fear while he grasps his father’s arm. Suddenly, the van stops, and the heavy doors swing open. The son watches a soldier make suggestive looks toward a woman nearby that make him feel queasy. The father stands up and defends the woman.…

    • 1152 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In The Kite Runner Amir and Baba have many differences; due to this, Amir does whatever it takes in order to connect with Baba and his gain approval. A great example of this is when he let Hassan get raped in order for him to get the kite to bring it home to his father: He opened his arms. I put the kite down and walked into his thick hairy arms. I buried my face in the warmth of his chest and wept.…

    • 1617 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays