Lies In The Kite Runner

Certain parts of life are unavoidable, no matter what one does. Lying is one of the most significant things that almost everyone does. However, in Khaled Hosseini’s novel The Kite Runner, he reveals that keeping secrets and lies can have many negative side effects that are not always thought of. Through the characters Baba and Amir, Hosseini reveals the truth about lying through their relationship. When Amir is a young child, he is consistently pushed away by Baba, causing strain to their relationship. As he grows up, they slowly resolve their issues, yet it all dissolves once again when Baba’s life altering secrets are revealed after his death. The pain that Baba causes in this relationship and the lessons Amir learns from it develops the

By not sharing common interests, Amir thinks that he is a disappointment to Baba. The way that Baba acts towards Amir only confirms in his mind that Baba does not like him, even hates him maybe, which further damages their already rocky relationship. Baba’s withholding of the truth continually gets in the way of his and Amir’s relationship, because Baba feels that he cannot love Amir fully due to his past. He keeps his secrets to make it easier for himself, as it is more difficult to face the truth. While Baba’s attempts to forget the past may solve his problems temporarily, it only makes it more difficult for Amir because he cannot understand why Baba is the way he is. This causes Amir to spend his childhood vying for Baba’s praise. When he finally receives the attention he’s always wanted after winning the kite tournament, they are briefly brought closer together, though they know it will not last, and that “[they’d] actually deceived themselves into thinking that a toy ... could somehow close the chasm between [them]” (87). While Amir thinks that he has to impress Baba to win his favor, Baba is actually never going to give Amir the attention he is searching for. This is due to Baba’s unspoken past, because his way of dealing with these feelings is to push them away, along with Amir. The gap this causes is so vast that practically nothing can close it. Baba’s guilt over his past constricts him from

He has finally learned to stand up for himself. By first rescuing Sohrab, Amir has stood up for himself and Sohrab physically. By not running away from the fight, Amir has stood up for himself the way that Baba always wanted him to. This also brings Amir closer to redemption, as he has corrected his past choice to stay uninvolved in a fight, all because he wanted to win his father’s praise. This demonstrates the growth that Amir has had, and it is all due to his relationship with Baba, as it taught him to stand up for himself. He has also stood up for himself in a physiological way. By making the decision to adopt Sohrab, he is again advocating for himself against others, such as General Taheri, and it also is the act that redeems him. Amir witnessed what happened to Baba when he withheld the truth and did not grow from his wrongdoings, and he has learned from that and is now doing what Baba should have done. He has stood up for himself, something that he should have done earlier in his life as it could have changed the outcome of the past, and he has also rescued Sohrab, representing how he should have saved Hassan. The only way that Amir could have saved and adopted Sohrab is by revealing the truth about his past, and in doing so allows him to redeem himself, as opposed to Baba who took his secrets to his grave.This demonstrates how Amir has learned from the mistakes Baba made, and how although his and Baba’s relationship was far