Differences Between Characters In The Kite Runner By Khaled Hosseini

Improved Essays
The novel titled The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini incorporates numerous amounts of both comparisons and contrasts between characters. The insight given to help understand the Afghani culture assists in the portrayal of some similarities and differences between social classes. As the novel is read, the reader is told that Amir is of the majority and Hassan is of the minority. The two ethnic groups that are included in the novel are the Pashtuns, who make up the majority, and the Hazaras, who make up the minority. Amir and Hassan are in many ways both alike and different. Most importantly, Amir learns a life lesson. The lesson not only makes sense in the novel, but also in the reader 's everyday life. Live every day to the fullest and have …show more content…
Hassan will do anything for Amir. During the kite tournament, Hassan runs the final kite when Amir cuts it and has won. Hassan chases the kite wherever it goes no matter what. The kite ends up landing in an ally. Hassan finds the kite, but Assef and his friends also find him. Amir, who is sitting back hiding and watching is debating whether or not he should intervene. Hassan can simply stay out of trouble if he just hands the kite over to Assef. Hassan is incredibly loyal to Amir, which eventually leads him into a terrible, gruesome punishment. Hassan was raped right in front of Amir. Amir 's lack of loyalty toward Hassan simply is not fair compared to the unmatched loyalty Hassan has in …show more content…
Amir shows how living with regret can literally eat a person alive. Guilt takes control over the mind and never loosens its grip. Later on, Amir attempts to move on by finding Hassan 's son Sohrab. It is the least Amir feels he can do to pay Hassan back for the mistake he made. Amir must ask him self if he can move on, and if he can forgive himself. Amir and Hassan 's friendship shows the reader that it is important to live every day to the fullest and try not to have any regrets. Baba even says, "It may be unfair, but what happens in a single day can change the course of a whole

Related Documents

  • Great Essays

    Kite Runner Guilt Quotes

    • 2184 Words
    • 9 Pages

    While this demonstrated Amir’s cowardice, it also provided readers insight into how deep Hassan’s affection for Amir actually was. Hassan allowed himself to be raped rather than sacrificate the kite. This demonstrated extreme loyalty that very few would ever even consider. It is evident that Amir’s “happiness” seemed to always come at the expense of others. Following this traumatic event, the relationship…

    • 2184 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    He seems to always be outshined by his best friend/unknown brother/servant boy, Hassan. Amir’s father, baba, always seems to show a greater interest in Hassan, whether it was birthdays, given recognition for a good deed done, or just being attentive to him. Amir always felt second to this servant and it made him angry. When it was time for the annual kite running tournament, Amir and Hassan had teamed up. Amir would take down all the opponents and Hassan would fetch the 2nd place kite for him as a trophy.…

    • 542 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Amir made that choice independently from what he believed. This tells the readers that Amir was selfish. He was using Hassan as an object that will bring him the one thing that would lead to Baba’s affection. The author shows how regardless of how far relationships between two ethnic groups that are located on opposite ends of a scale are they can never share a strong bond. If a child such as Amir at the age of twelve embraces thoughts of racism than hope for that country is lost.…

    • 434 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    While Amir allows his prejudice toward Hassan’s social rank and his competition for Baba’s attention to interfere with his friendship with Hassan, he strives to reconcile the relationship by adopting Sohrab, demonstrating his loyalty to Hassan. Amir’s judgement toward Hassan’s low status limits his ability to see and treat Hassan as an equal and a friend. His jealousy of Baba’s attention toward Hassan deepens Amir’s resentment toward Hassan, contributing to his rejection of Hassan’s loyalty. Eventually, Amir realizes his wrongdoings towards Hassan and attempts to repay Hassan by raising Sohrab. While the friendship of Amir and Hassan remain central to the novel, Hassan’s constant loyalty causes Amir to avoid Hassan, but Amir’s transformation…

    • 169 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Amir did not think that Hassan could be hurt, just the thought of Hassan having the kite had been the reason Amir kept searching. The second example of Amir’s selfishness towards others is after Amir watched Hassan get raped, Amir shut out Hassan. “‘I don’t know what I’ve done, Amir agha. I wish you’d tell me.…

    • 527 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In literature, no scene of violence exists for its own sake. In the book titled The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini there are many scenes that contain violence, and these violent scenes do not exist for their own sake. The Kite Runner showcases the friendship between Hassan and Amir, and how one disloyal action can lead to years of guilt. The violent scenes in this book include war, murder, fighting, and sexual abuse. All of these scenes all contribute to the overall meaning of the book and each scene impacts the book in a different way.…

    • 1217 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The feeling of remorse causes Amir to make really difficult decisions, such as confronting Assef, that makes the journey so much harder. In addition to finding a freedom from the guilt, Amir tries to find forgiveness for his mistake by saving Sohrab, Hassan 's son. Throughout the entire book Amir goes on this journey to try to find a way to be "good again". In real life, people constantly struggle to find forgiveness or redemption for a mistake they made. This journey causes people to go outside their limits to atone their mistakes by confronting those whom they betrayed or somehow finding a way to correct their…

    • 1033 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Heroism In The Kite Runner

    • 1019 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In life people change over time, at one point you can be very self centered and at other times you can become a hero, throughout the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini Amir demonstrates how people can change over maturity. In the novel Amir is at first portrayed as a negative and jealous person who treats his servant Hassan unfairly. Amir is very jealous how Baba behaves with Hassan, because he feels that he is getting less attention. Throughout the novel Amir comes around and becomes a contemporary hero by going back to Kabul and showing everyone he cares about that he has changes for the better throughout his maturity. In the novel The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini illustrates how Amir overcomes his past to become a contemporary hero…

    • 1019 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This makes him miss his wife and resent his son for causing the love of his life to perish. Amir sees himself as superior to his servant friend, Hassan. But, Hassan is the model of a good friend. No matter how much Amir hurts him, Hassan just shows him love. During one point in their childhood, Amir has a chance to prove that he sees Hassan as friend but is too afraid of what will happen to himself if he was to stand up.…

    • 964 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini chronicles the story of how Amir, a boy in Afghanistan, grows up to become a writer in America. Throughout his life, he endures hardships, attempts to gain his father’s respect, and struggles with a colossal degree of remorse over his past. In order to clear his guilty conscience, Amir must travel back to Afghanistan and rescue his nephew, Sohrab, from the Taliban. During the story, Hosseini is able to construct his plot effectively using the novel’s two major themes of suffering and guilt.…

    • 1183 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “It may be unfair, but what happens in a few days, sometimes even a single day, can change the course of a whole lifetime, Amir.” This quote, from the book, The Kite Runner, speaks of the theme of cautiousness and consequences. Although it is purely fictional, the story is strikingly realistic in that the critical decisions that the characters make are instances that could happen to anyone. The story itself is propelled by the aftermath of the winter of 1975. But Amir is not the only character who lives with regret.…

    • 722 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Hassan was not the kind of person to break a promise or to disappoint a friend, especially Amir, and Amir understood that, “Good old Hassan. Good old reliable Hassan. He’d kept his promise and run the last kite for me” (70). Hassan suffered because of his loyalty to…

    • 1161 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Amir was with his old friend Rahim Khan. Rahim khan was telling Amir how his life has been over the past years. Rahim tells him that Hassan had been living with him in Baba’s house in Kabul “‘Hassan ‘I said. When was the last time I has spoken that name? Those thorny bulbs of guilt bore into me once more, as if speaking his name had broken a spell, set them free to torment me anew.”…

    • 1503 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    While Amir and Hassan are being bullied by Assef, Amir questions his friendship: "How can you talk to him [Hassan], play with him, let him touch you?... How can you call him your 'friend '?... But he 's not my friend! I almost blurted. He 's my servant!…

    • 908 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Kite Runner is a story about the life of a man named Amir and his life adventures. We are introduced to Amir’s childhood in Afghanistan during the 1980s. We also learn about his hardships, his move to america, and his move back to Afghanistan. Afghanistan is a country located within south and central Asia. Many great powers have tried to conquer Afghanistan.…

    • 1052 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays