Courage is an important theme throughout this story especially within the family values in Kabul. Baba had always believed that Hassan was very courageous and stood up for himself, but Amir was warned on multiple occasions that “a boy who won’t stand up for himself becomes a man who can’t stand up to anything” (chapter 3). Amir proved this on his own when he ran away from problematic situations, for example when Hassan was raped by Assef. Whenever there was danger around when Hassan and Amir were together, Hassan always stepped up and fought for his friend. The concept of friendship shifts through Amir and Hassan’s understanding of their relationship. Assef takes advantage of this confusion of whether Amir was his friend or simply like an owner to a dog. The last time Hassan took action for Amir, Amir had a choice to either stand up and prove how much Hassan meant to him, or run away from the problem. He chose the latter. “I actually aspired to cowardice, because the alternative, the real reason I was …show more content…
This was a clear act of courage made by Amir because he had grown up having others stand up for him. He especially made the connection with what he had done to save Hassan’s son with Hassan’s loyalty from the past when he first showed Sohrab how to fly a kite like his father. “Do you want me to run that kite for you? His Adam’s apple rose and fell as he swallowed… I thought I saw him nod. For you a thousand times over, I heard myself say” (chapter 25). Especially “for you a thousand times over…” is very meaningful for Amir to say. This shows how he feels he is doing right and trying to make up for all the terrible things that happened to Hassan. He also is keeping Hassan’s memory alive by saying something Hassan used to say to