Character Analysis Of Amir In 'The Kite Runner'

There is always that moment in one’s life that changes the way they look at oneself, makes the individual think about their shortcomings, and how they could use those experiences to shape who they can become in the future. In The Kite Runner, that moment for Amir was in 1975 when he was twelve and says that event made him who he is. In the text though, Amir is a prisoner of his own mind because of his past memories of Hassan and uses these feelings as an excuse for how he treats the people around him. He has profound guilt for his actions. Within the text, we see that he carries these memories throughout his life. Amir uses memories of Hassan as a release from guilt and in some cases is interpreted as a sense of comfort. In the beginning of the book, we see how Amir is a coward and doesn’t take responsibility for his actions. Baba mentions he is reluctant to praise Amir because he feels Amir lacks the courage to even stand up for himself. With this Amir constantly craves Baba’s approval. Baba says in relation to Amir that, “A boy who won’t stand up for himself becomes a man who can’t stand up to anything” (Hosseini, 286). This quote is a catalyst that would lead to major tests of character Amir will face throughout the …show more content…
Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba” (Hosseini, 77). This mentality causes him to let Hassan get raped by Assef because all he wanted was to get Baba’s approval along with the blue kite. In order for him to do that, he felt he had to sacrifice Hassan for it. He used the blue kite as a symbol of comfort to numb the pain and guilt of Hassan’s rape. But as we will see, he has profound guilt in terms of not sticking up for Hasssan. At the end of the day life comes down to choices one makes and to live with the