Kite Runner: Character Analysis

Some conflicts that Amir has that I also used to have are: not having the courage to stand up for oneself, and feeling guilty.
As a kid, Amir never used to stand up for himself when he was being bullied by the older kids. Hassan had to step in and help Amir. I too, when I was young, didn’t stand up for myself when being bullied. Amir dealt with this conflict differently than I did, however. Amir didn’t do anything about it and someone always had to step in. He never told anyone that he was being bullied. But I always told my parents, my relatives, and any other adults near me when I was being bullied. I had to do this because I couldn’t stand up for myself. If I did, the bullies would get me back some day, I thought. But after telling the adults, the bullies would never bother me again. …show more content…
He feels guilty after letting Hassan get raped by Assef in the alleyway. He betrays him because he wants to get the blue kite and show Baba that he has won the kite tournament. He wants to make Baba feel proud and be closer to him. So he chooses the kite instead of helping Hassan, which causes great regret and feelings of guilt. When I was young, I also had feelings of guilt after I let my close friend get bullied. I was also scared of the bullies, so I ran away instead of helping my friend. And that caused me to feel very guilty. Amir tried to deal with his conflict by never talking to Hassan and being distant with him. But that made it worse. However, I dealt with my conflict by going home and telling my parents that my close friend was being bullied. So they stepped in to help and I later apologized to my friend for not sticking up to