Friends Close, Enemies Closer: The Story of Betrayal, Guilt, and Redemption.
Friends are supposed to be there for you in times of need, be a shoulder to cry on and share your best experiences with. This was not the case for Hassan and Phineas. In The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, Amir (a wealthy Pashtun boy) surrenders the dignity of his best friend Hassan (a poor Hazara boy), only to be haunted by the guilt of his choice, sending him to make done what is right many years later. In A Separate Peace by John Knowles, Gene allows his jealousy to dictate his actions, creating a tormenting guilt inside him while destroying the bond with his best friend Phineas.In The Kite Runner, and A Separate Peace, both Gene’s and Amir’s struggle of betrayal …show more content…
Gene tries to compensate for what he did to Phineas with moral “jobs” to distract himself from the guilt and from Phineas, the truth. Gene “becomes a part of Phineas” when he tells Gene “if [he] can’t play sports, then [Gene] will play them for [him]”(Quote). Both Gene and Phineas can escape from the realities of their own lives- Gene from the guilt and longing to be like Finny; Finny from the devastating realization of no athletic future. Gene battles with feeling like he is constantly lying to Phineas even after hinting at his intentions on the branch. Telling the truth hurts Finny more and in this constant battle with himself and his guilt, the guilt begins to builds up inside of him: “It occurred to me that this could be an even deeper injury than what I had done before….. it was worse for him to know it. I had to take it back.” (Knowles 70). The way Amir and Gene deal with the guilt is different, but both are forced to live with it, ruining their bonds with others and changing who they …show more content…
In The Kite Runner, Amir’s secrets become the main focus in his life, leaving avoiding the truth his first priority. Amir runs from the opportunity to make things right with Hassan, and becomes a man who runs from the truth, reality and guilt of this decision for about 30 years after. The choice Amir makes in the moment becomes his secret, not what he saw: “I could step into that alley, stand up for Hassan – the way he 'd stood up for me all those times in the past – and accept whatever would happen to me. Or I could run.”(Hosseini 77). The defining moment of Amir’s life; If people knew about his secret, people like Baba would define him as a coward. This is another reason Amir is tortured inside; he knows that Baba was right about
Friends are supposed to be there for you in times of need, be a shoulder to cry on and share your best experiences with. This was not the case for Hassan and Phineas. In The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, Amir (a wealthy Pashtun boy) surrenders the dignity of his best friend Hassan (a poor Hazara boy), only to be haunted by the guilt of his choice, sending him to make done what is right many years later. In A Separate Peace by John Knowles, Gene allows his jealousy to dictate his actions, creating a tormenting guilt inside him while destroying the bond with his best friend Phineas.In The Kite Runner, and A Separate Peace, both Gene’s and Amir’s struggle of betrayal …show more content…
Gene tries to compensate for what he did to Phineas with moral “jobs” to distract himself from the guilt and from Phineas, the truth. Gene “becomes a part of Phineas” when he tells Gene “if [he] can’t play sports, then [Gene] will play them for [him]”(Quote). Both Gene and Phineas can escape from the realities of their own lives- Gene from the guilt and longing to be like Finny; Finny from the devastating realization of no athletic future. Gene battles with feeling like he is constantly lying to Phineas even after hinting at his intentions on the branch. Telling the truth hurts Finny more and in this constant battle with himself and his guilt, the guilt begins to builds up inside of him: “It occurred to me that this could be an even deeper injury than what I had done before….. it was worse for him to know it. I had to take it back.” (Knowles 70). The way Amir and Gene deal with the guilt is different, but both are forced to live with it, ruining their bonds with others and changing who they …show more content…
In The Kite Runner, Amir’s secrets become the main focus in his life, leaving avoiding the truth his first priority. Amir runs from the opportunity to make things right with Hassan, and becomes a man who runs from the truth, reality and guilt of this decision for about 30 years after. The choice Amir makes in the moment becomes his secret, not what he saw: “I could step into that alley, stand up for Hassan – the way he 'd stood up for me all those times in the past – and accept whatever would happen to me. Or I could run.”(Hosseini 77). The defining moment of Amir’s life; If people knew about his secret, people like Baba would define him as a coward. This is another reason Amir is tortured inside; he knows that Baba was right about