Fear In The Kite Runner

Chase Conley
English 10
Mr. Gossler
3-1-23
In Khaled Hosseini’s best-selling novel “The Kite Runner'', Amir’s relationship with his past affects the theme that fear changes lives. Amir’s past is full of trauma and guilt from decisions he made out of fear, these decisions greatly impact the course of his life consistently throughout the story. Examples are the end of his and Hassan's relationship, his decision to go back to kabul as an adult, and his fight with Assef.
The guilty and scarring end to Hassan and Amir’s relationship develops the theme that fear changes lives. After winning the kite flying contest, Hassan ended up in an altercation with Assef and his friends while Amir was close behind watching from an alley. Amir was frozen

After finding out Rahim was dying and going to Peshawar, Amir learns that Hassan and his wife had recently been executed. Hassan's son was left alone and orphaned, and when Rahim asking Amir to save the child Amir pleaded that “ Kabul is a dangerous place, you know that, and you'd have me risk everything..” (221) This is a direct example of Amir letting fear be in control of his life. Throughout his life the guilt from Hassan's assault has hung over his head, but saving Hassan's son would surely balance things. Yet Amir is initially too afraid and too consumed by his guilt from a childhood mistake to make the easy decision of going to kabul. This is a direct example of how Amir’s past reflects the theme that fear can change lives. Amir is also driven by the fear of disappointing his father. After Amir pleaded to Rahim khan that he can't go to kabul because of the dangers, Rahim khan remembererd a conversation he had with Baba when Amir was young. Amir was very afraid growing up and Baba was worried that “ A boy who won't stand up for himself becomes a man who can’t stand up to anything.” (22) When Amir spoke of the danger in Kabul, Rahim Khan asked Amir, “ Is that what you've become?”(221) Amir ultimately made the decision to go to kabul, but was it because he knew Rahim was wrong, or because he was

When Amir goes to kabul to save Sohrab he finds that the man keeping the boy is none other than Assef, Amir and Hassan’s (Sohrab’s father) childhood tormenter. Amir asks to leave with Sohrab but Assef insists that he and Amir must fight to the death in order for them to leave. Amir having never been in a fight, begins to get beaten badly. His jaw is mutilated, he’s covered in blood, and his ribs are broken, yet as he continues to get beaten he begins “ Laughing and laughing. And the harder [he] laughed, the harder [Assef] kicked [him], and punched [him], and scratched [him].”(289) Assef was screaming “WHAT'S SO FUNNY?”(289), but Amir kept laughing because deep down he felt healed, he felt healed because he was finally getting what he deserved for letting Assef assault Hassan. This demonstrates how Amir’s relationship with his past affects the theme that fear changes lives. In this instance, Amir’s life changes because he overcomes his fear and his guilt from childhood. By fighting Assef for Sohrab, he overcomes his fears and problems with standing up for himself and others, and by losing the fight so badly he finally gets the punishment he felt like he deserved for letting Hassan get assaulted. He no longer holds the guilt for what happened to Hassan so heavily in his soul. When he finally speaks to soraya on the phone after being away in kabul for a month he’s