Regret is a basic part of everyone 's life; being too scared to take action or worrying too much about what others would think cause a lot of conflict and pain in people 's lives. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, is no exception to this. Amir is a young boy living in the struggles of Afghanistan trying to find his way through life; with a dead mother and a distant father, he relies heavily on his friendship with his servant Hassan. But that friendship collapses when Amir is too cowardly to save his friend and kite runner Hassan. This changes the way that he sees things and for Amir kites symbolize happiness, guilt, and the freedom that he can never have so long as his actions go unredeemed.
Though in some ways kites symbolize bad things, …show more content…
He tells the reader of his winters saying that he loves to play cards with Hassan "and kites, of course. Flying kites. And running them." (Hosseini 49). The authors diction in these sentences makes it seem as if there was nothing better to Amir than kites. "Of course" kites were one of the best parts of the winter. The description and addition of the different parts of kites, flying and running, show that Amir thoroughly enjoys this activity and all aspects of it by his detailed knowledge of the subject. Amir and Hassan work as a team; Amir fly 's the kite and Hassan runs them "[standing] with his arms wide open, smiling, waiting for the kite." (Hosseini 55). Hassan and Amir are very different people who live, who live very different lives; but, kites were one thing that they were both truly passionate about and loved to do. They were the perfect team, Amir with his impeccable flying and Hassan with his gifted running. It brought them joy and pride and filled their winter with plenty of excitement. The author 's use of parallelism between Amir and Hassan and Baba and Amir 's relationship with kites solidifies the idea that when it was …show more content…
As Hassan is protecting a kite for Amir, Assef prompts Hassan with his questioning of Amir saying, "but before you sacrifice yourself for him, think about this: Would he do the same for you?" (Hosseini 73). While Assef might be wrong in his answering of this question, the question itself is a valid and very good one. It has been hinted at that Amir is coward and the author 's choice to include this questioning of Amir 's character puts the idea further into the readers mind. Hassan would willingly give up everything for Amir, and ever eat dirt if he asked him; but, Amir wouldn 't do the same for Hassan. And while Hassan would never make Amir go what he went through to get that blue kite, Amir makes Hassan. After the situation in the alley, Amir sees that Hassan has "the blue kite in his hands; that was the first thing I saw. And I can 't lie now and say my eyes didn 't scan it for any rips." (Hosseini 78). Amir has just seen, and willingly let, his friend get raped and all he can think about is the condition that the kite is. He can now never look at that or any kite without thinking of the pain and misery that he put Hassan through to get the blue one for him. Amir has asked Hassan to ' 'eat dirt" and reasoned his decision the same way that Assef reasoned raping him; Hassan "was just a Hazara" (Hosseini 54 and 77).
Though in some ways kites symbolize bad things, …show more content…
He tells the reader of his winters saying that he loves to play cards with Hassan "and kites, of course. Flying kites. And running them." (Hosseini 49). The authors diction in these sentences makes it seem as if there was nothing better to Amir than kites. "Of course" kites were one of the best parts of the winter. The description and addition of the different parts of kites, flying and running, show that Amir thoroughly enjoys this activity and all aspects of it by his detailed knowledge of the subject. Amir and Hassan work as a team; Amir fly 's the kite and Hassan runs them "[standing] with his arms wide open, smiling, waiting for the kite." (Hosseini 55). Hassan and Amir are very different people who live, who live very different lives; but, kites were one thing that they were both truly passionate about and loved to do. They were the perfect team, Amir with his impeccable flying and Hassan with his gifted running. It brought them joy and pride and filled their winter with plenty of excitement. The author 's use of parallelism between Amir and Hassan and Baba and Amir 's relationship with kites solidifies the idea that when it was …show more content…
As Hassan is protecting a kite for Amir, Assef prompts Hassan with his questioning of Amir saying, "but before you sacrifice yourself for him, think about this: Would he do the same for you?" (Hosseini 73). While Assef might be wrong in his answering of this question, the question itself is a valid and very good one. It has been hinted at that Amir is coward and the author 's choice to include this questioning of Amir 's character puts the idea further into the readers mind. Hassan would willingly give up everything for Amir, and ever eat dirt if he asked him; but, Amir wouldn 't do the same for Hassan. And while Hassan would never make Amir go what he went through to get that blue kite, Amir makes Hassan. After the situation in the alley, Amir sees that Hassan has "the blue kite in his hands; that was the first thing I saw. And I can 't lie now and say my eyes didn 't scan it for any rips." (Hosseini 78). Amir has just seen, and willingly let, his friend get raped and all he can think about is the condition that the kite is. He can now never look at that or any kite without thinking of the pain and misery that he put Hassan through to get the blue one for him. Amir has asked Hassan to ' 'eat dirt" and reasoned his decision the same way that Assef reasoned raping him; Hassan "was just a Hazara" (Hosseini 54 and 77).