Growing Up (Amir vs. Hassan) Although Amir and Hassan both grew up in Afghanistan, their experiences are very different. Amir, as Farid says, always has been a tourist in his country while Hassan has grown up like most other citizens. Hassan does not have as many privileges compared to Amir, they were not raised by the same fathers, and they have different positions in society. Their contrasting childhood leads to vastly different choices the boy makes in their life. From his young days to his grown up days, Amir has many privileges, was raised by a very successful father, and is a rich Pashtun boy. Amir was raised by his father, Baba, who is very successful and respected, but lacks in the areas of showing love and affection towards his son. …show more content…
I could wade into this river, let my sins drown to the bottom, let the waters carry me someplace far. Some place with no ghosts, no memories, and no sins.” As a privileged boy, Amir was able to go to school, and be leisurely to enjoy his freedom. He hardly has to do any tedious work as Hassan completes his chores for him. Amir often relies on Baba or other people even in his older years because he was never able to build his independence when he was young. “ “What about me Baba? What am I supposed to do?” ” (p.g. 156) Whenever Amir makes decisions, one of the first thoughts is, ‘What will Baba think?’. This caused him to make very irrational decisions out of his greed for Baba’s affection such as abandoning Hassan in the alleyway. As he grows more mature though, Amir learns that his own opinion is important. He defends his dream of becoming an author, even when Baba disapproved of this because it was not a ‘manly’ job. “During their argument about his career path, Amir thinks to himself: “I would stand my ground, I decided. I didn’t want to sacrifice for Baba anymore. The last time I had done that, I had damned myself.” On the other side of the spectrum, Hassan was born as a Hazara, raised by a servant father, and did not have many