In the book Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, Hassan serves as the main embodiment of courage and fortitude that makes the reader feel as though he is the hero of the novel. His selfless personality made him always emphasize others over himself, making him a faithful companion of Amir. Hassan’s bravery led him to eventually sacrifice himself to protect Amir and his family. Hassan first shows his bravery and fortitude in Chapter Five where he and Amir encounter Assef while crossing a residential street. Assef tells Hassan, a Hazara, that he wants to “... rid Afghanistan of all the dirty, kasseef Hazaras.” (40). Assef then slips on his brass knuckles and raises his fist to strike Amir for being with a Hazara. Suddenly, Hassan pulled out his
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These personality traits are shown to their fullest extent in Chapter Seven where Hassan encounters Assef while trying to run after Amir’s kite. After searching for Hassan for several hours, Amir finally finds him in an alleyway with Assef and his three accomplices surrounding him. Assef tells Hassan that he will let him go if he gives him the blue kite, but Hassan adamantly says “Amir agha won the tournament and I ran this kite for him. I ran it fairly. This is his kite.” (72). Hassan knows that the kite means a lot to Amir and his loyalty towards Amir prevents him from giving it up to Assef. Hassan then sacrifices himself by getting raped by Assef to allow him to keep the blue kite for Amir. This scene is significant for the reason that it makes Amir feel guilty as he would probably not do the same if he was placed in the same situation. When Amir finally sees Hassan leave the alleyway, he asks “Where were you? I looked for you.”, to which Hassan does not respond and instead the two sit in silence. Amir thinks to himself “Did he know I knew? And if he knew, then what would I see if I did look in his eyes? Blame? Indignation? Or, God forbid, what I feared most: guileless devotion.” (78). This scene is significant in that it describes Amir’s fear of seeing Hassan as someone that has guileless devotion for him, meaning that he shows devotion without any ulterior motive behind it. This ultimately serves to define Hassan’s character as someone that has an insurmountable allegiance towards Amir and the courageousness to always please Amir regardless of what it took to do
These personality traits are shown to their fullest extent in Chapter Seven where Hassan encounters Assef while trying to run after Amir’s kite. After searching for Hassan for several hours, Amir finally finds him in an alleyway with Assef and his three accomplices surrounding him. Assef tells Hassan that he will let him go if he gives him the blue kite, but Hassan adamantly says “Amir agha won the tournament and I ran this kite for him. I ran it fairly. This is his kite.” (72). Hassan knows that the kite means a lot to Amir and his loyalty towards Amir prevents him from giving it up to Assef. Hassan then sacrifices himself by getting raped by Assef to allow him to keep the blue kite for Amir. This scene is significant for the reason that it makes Amir feel guilty as he would probably not do the same if he was placed in the same situation. When Amir finally sees Hassan leave the alleyway, he asks “Where were you? I looked for you.”, to which Hassan does not respond and instead the two sit in silence. Amir thinks to himself “Did he know I knew? And if he knew, then what would I see if I did look in his eyes? Blame? Indignation? Or, God forbid, what I feared most: guileless devotion.” (78). This scene is significant in that it describes Amir’s fear of seeing Hassan as someone that has guileless devotion for him, meaning that he shows devotion without any ulterior motive behind it. This ultimately serves to define Hassan’s character as someone that has an insurmountable allegiance towards Amir and the courageousness to always please Amir regardless of what it took to do