Kite Runner Father Son Relationship Essay

The bond between a father and his son is a relationship that is blind to any race or culture. The importance and power of said relationship is tremendous, but a bond so strong must be maintained with participation from both parties. In the case of Amir and Baba, two men that should be confidants struggle to find their connection. Since Amir’s childhood, Baba has always struggled to understand why his son’s interests never agreed with his own. To make matters worse, Amir feels an innate sense of jealousy when he witnesses Baba interact with their servant, Hassan. Although the father-son relationship should be an unbreakable bond, in the case of Amir and Baba, it is the opposite, throughout Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, we see the status of their …show more content…
According to Baba, an ideal son would be athletic and masculine, rather than a literary genius. “[Baba] signed me up for soccer teams to stir some passion in me. But I was pathetic, a blundering liability to my own team.” (Hosseini, 20) Despite the fact that he is forced to follow his father’s desires, Amir still wants to please him, and is still desperate for his father’s admiration. Baba yet again pressures Amir to conform to his desires, in this case about a kite running tournament, and casually states “maybe you’ll win the tournament this year. What do you think?” (Hosseini, 56) By Baba making his intentions uncomfortably obvious, and by Amir not being assertive with his true passion of writing, there is an awkward tension in the relationship. It is perfectly acceptable for a father to have expectations or hopes for his son, but Baba makes it worse by not accepting or at the very least, understanding, that Amir has his own passions. On page 31, Hosseini depicts a scene where Amir nervously ascends up the stairs, and trots into Baba’s personal smoking lounge. Amir nervously extends his skinny arms, holding two sheets of paper, upon which is a story