Friendship And Betrayal In 'The Kite Runner'

Friendship is perhaps the most documented human bond in English literature and betrayal has for long been frowned upon and disapproved of, by the public at large. Yet there is an undeniable interdependence between the two; their existence seems to be somehow dependent on one other. When the distinction between friendship and betrayal starts to lessen, the scenario becomes much more complex. For instance, friendship punctuated with intermittent betrayals typically spell doom for any friendship. As the popular English poet William Blake has so articulately said, “It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend.”

Friendship is not just companionship; it is a sacred bond between two individuals. Friendship, involves deep interpersonal relations enmeshed with irrationalities which are commonly associated to human beings. In The Kite Runner, when Amir asked Hassan to fetch the prize kite from the kite tournament, Hassan responded by saying, “For you a thousand times over!” This gave a clear indication of the …show more content…
With the act of betrayal, individuals tend to understand that their friendship will never be the same. The perspective of individuals towards their friends changes and they start looking at their erstwhile friends in a very poor light. The short story20 Years Later backs this aptly, as Bob looked at his former friend Jimmy as the person that he actually was, a person who chose his conscience over friendship. His initial disbelief at the betrayal quickly transformed into a medley of anger, sorrow and even disgust. Adding on to the point, in The Kite Runner, though the friendship of Amir and Hassan ended remarkably quickly, the effects of Amir’s betrayal lingered on for much longer. Generally the slow death of a friendship is much more painful than an instantaneous end. In essence, these bad friendships can be compared to weeds; these either need to be fixed or