The Kite Runner Friendship Analysis

The Complex and Challenged Friendship of Amir and Hassan Thomas Aquinas, a famous Italian philosopher, once said “There is nothing on this Earth more to be prized than true friendship”. True friendship isn’t easy to obtain. True friends are there for someone, no matter the situation. But this friendship can fall apart, especially if jealousy sneaks its way into it. This idea is very relevant for Amir and Hassan in the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. In the novel The Kite Runner, Hosseini illustrates that when a close relationship is tainted by jealousy it can lead to betrayal; which follows as heavy guilt that will haunt one until they can eventually redeem themselves for their mistakes. These ideas will be tested in the friendship …show more content…
Amir and Baba go to a party, and he continues to feel tremendous guilt for betraying Hassan. His guilt starts to morph and manifest itself in different ways soon after the incident, even though “[he] finally [has] what [he has] wanted all [these] years. Except now that [he has] it, [he feels] as empty as [the] unkempt pool [he is] dangling [his] legs into” (85). Hosseini uses the word “unkempt” to compare how Amir’s guilt is like a dirty, empty pool. Pools are supposed to be filled with water, or happiness in this case, but Amir’s pool is dirty, unused, and empty. The phrase “dangling his legs into” shows how he is lifelessly dangling his legs in the pool, instead of swimming or doing what most people would do at a pool. This guilt is starting to consume him at this point, and take charge of his life. At the bottom of the pool is slushy snow, and slushy snow is brown and dirty, just like Amir’s guilt is. Later that night at the party, when everyone is sleeping, Amir can’t fall asleep. He sits up, wide awake, and “[thinks] about Hassan’s dream, the one about [them] swimming in the lake. There is no monster, [Hassan] had said, just water. Except [he] had been wrong about that. There was a monster in the lake. It had grabbed him by the ankles, dragged him to the murky bottom. [Amir] was that monster” (86). Hosseini’s use of the phrases “grabbed him by the ankles” and “dragged” to …show more content…
As the novel progresses, Amir moves to the United States where he receives a phone call from Rahim Khan when, asking him to go to Pakistan. When Amir gets there, Rahim Khan reveals that all along Hassan was his half-brother, and that Hassan had married and had a son. But Hassan and his wife were recently murdered by the Taliban and Hassan’s son, Sohrab, was all alone. All of this “[makes Amir] see how [his] entire life, long before the winter of 1975, dating back to when that singing Hazara woman was still nursing [him], [has] been a cycle of lies betrayals and secrets… [there is] a way to end the cycle. With a little boy. An orphan. Hassan’s son. Somewhere in Kabul” (226-227). Amir making the decision to go out and find Hassan’s son displays that he recognizes that there is a way to get rid of his guilt, and finally redeem himself of his past mistakes that have been haunting him for many years. Hosseini uses the words “end the cycle” to help the reader understand the gravity of the choice Amir has made. It means that Amir is sick of feeling guilty and lying, and now he has finally found a way to get rid of the guilt. Amir eventually finds Sohrab at an orphanage, and tries to adopt him. When Sohrab hears that he might go back to an orphanage, he attempts suicide. After this brutal event, Sohrab rarely ever talks again.