A Complicated Kindness Character Analysis

Character Identities in A Complicated Kindness and The Kite Runner Miriam Toews ' A Complicated Kindness and Khaled Hosseini 's The Kite Runner grapples with the complexities of the human identity and how it can be affected by one 's environment. The author of each novel emphasizes the background of the central characters of Naomi and Amir to enhance the audience 's understanding of the two; highlight the development of their identity and how it affects their actions through the various conflicts they encounter. Their identity, however, are the result of various factors such as interests and hobbies, friendships and relationships, and upbringing. These factors ultimately shape the individuality of each character and their path throughout the

In A Complicated Kindness, Naomi’s romantic relationship with Travis initiates a series of uncertainties to her emotional stability. Although Naomi loves Travis and is willing to go as far as taking birth control pills to have sex with him, she believes that by taking birth control pills, “there would now be yet another part of [herself] that would not know what was really going on.” (Toews pg. 121) Knowing of Travis’ “bad boy” persona, Naomi wonders if they have a future together and if Travis truly loves her or if he is just using her for sex. Additionally, dating Travis resulted in Naomi becoming “bald, drunk, depressed and jealous.” (Toews pg. 182) From all the arguments and reckless decisions with Travis, Naomi becomes someone she does not want to be. Having been cheated on, Naomi conceives the idea that her relationship with Travis would be better had she been prettier and perfect like Travis ' co-worker. Naomi reflects on the emotional anguish from her relationship, and how her life would have been without him. In conclusion, Naomi’s romantic relationship with Travis takes a toll on the development of her identity as it puts a strain on her emotional stability. Although the effects of her love for Travis is inimical to her health, this encounter develops her character by shaping her to become an independent

In A Complicated Kindness, Naomi 's strict upbringing in the religious community in East Village radicalizes her rebellious tendencies and personality. Tired of the community 's "ban on the media, dancing, smoking, drinking, and having sex for fun," (Toews pg. 9) Naomi turns to rebellion as she believes her community limits her from living a regular teenage life. Naomi believes that her life shouldn 't be for "cheerfully yearning for death," (Toews pg. 8) like the other insipid followers in her town, so she secretly takes part in many of the banned activities outside the sect 's borders. Naomi 's upbringing has shaped her to be sneaky as she admits that in a town with "no room for in between. You 're good, or you 're bad. Or very good at being very bad without being detected." (Toews pg. 13) Having taken part in many of the banned activities, she proves to be the latter as she goes undetected for many of her actions. Next, in The Kite Runner; Amir 's childhood of wealth and privilege leads to a series of vicissitude events and guilt, which allows him to fix his mistakes to become a responsible person. Reflecting on his past, Amir realizes he "aspired to cowardice." (Hosseini pg. 65) Amir 's upbringing in a wealthy family allowed him not to have to work for anything; this