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Selfish And Evil In The Amir Runner

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Amir and Amir only?
Beau van de Ven
Amir is selfish and cowardly, but he is not to blame for his flaws. Discuss.
For the question whether Amir is to blame for his flaws, it is essential to understand when someone is truly selfish and cowardly. Being selfish is best defined as being concerned with one´s own profit only, without considering the possible effects this has on others. Being or acting cowardly can be defined as lacking the ability to act in the right way at the right time, especially on moments when you are most vulnerable.
Amir lives in troubled times in Afghanistan, where a war is going on between the Soviet Union and Afghanistan. Afghanistan is a non-western country, which has norms and values that differ a lot from western countries .To illustrate, in non-western countries the freedom of religion is broadly rejected. There is more equality in western norms and values than in non-western. The class-society Amir lives in clearly represents these differences in equality. He grows up in a time and a place where he, privileged by being born as the son of a Pashtun, has more rights than his best and only friend Hassan, a Hazara. Hazaras are an ethnic minority and are seen as inferior in …show more content…

To start with, Amir had an uncommon youth. Amir did everything he could to deserve his father’s love and attention, because Baba kept a distance between the two of them. Amir definitely acted selfish towards Hassan, but because Hazaras were seen as inferior in Afghanistan, it is unfair to expect from Amir to see his servant as an equal and to treat him equally. Another key fact to remember is that on the moments where Amir acted cowardly, he was just a child. It is understandable that it is hard to deal with the situations Amir had to deal with at such a young age. All in all, Amir should not be the one to blame for his flaws, but the conditions in which he grew up should

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Amir makes hassan look like a thief by “planting [his] new watch and a handful of Afghani bills under [the mattress]” (Hosseini 104). Hassan knew of Amirs intentions that Amir wanted him to leave so Hassan lies and says that he stole it in order to remain loyal with his friend Amir. Thus, Hassan and his father Ali, feel like they can no longer serve Baba or Amir anymore and leave forever; Amir never sees him again. It was then that Amir realized how much of a horrible person he was and how undeserving he was to have Hassan. His father realized it was him and forgave him even though his father said “theft is unforgivable.”

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Amir first realizes the depth of his cowardice as he watches Assef rape Hassan in the alley and thinks, “I could step in into that alley, stand up for Hassan—the way he stood up for me all those times in the past—and accept whatever happened to me. Or I could run” (Hosseini 77). He has an epiphany that he could choose to be brave and selfless like Hassan and step up to Assef regardless of any physical consequences. However, despite his understanding that the noble choice would be to interfere and stop Assef, Amir is unable to act on it because his fear of Assef overwhelms him. The guilt that consumes Amir in the weeks following Hassan’s rape indicates that he understands the extent of his selfish behavior and needs to resolve it before he can forgive himself.

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Draft 1 – Sacrifice to Redemtion “When something bad happens you have three choices. You can either let it define you, let it destroy you, or you can let it strengthen you.” , said once by Dr. Seuss. In The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, Amir had gone through difficulties and has had to choose from the three choices. If Hassan didn’t sacrifice himself, Amir wouldn’t have become a better person.

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The Kite Runner describes the life of Amir. Before the war, he lived in Kabul with his father Baba, their servant Ali and Ali’s son Hassan. Hassan and Ali are from a lower class than Amir and Baba, but Amir and Hassan are best friends regardless. In this essay the assertion ‘Amir is selfish and

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Amir was jealous of all the attention Baba would give Hassan, instead of giving it to him, his son. For example Baba once gave Hassan the gift of fixing his cleft lip, and Amir got jealous and instead of being happy for his friend, he tried to assert himself by passive- aggressively attacking Hassan. Another example of Amir being immoral, after the Kite tournament.

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Afghanistan is a country full of social expectations and boundaries influenced by both class and ethnicity. Amir and Hassan come from polar opposite social backgrounds: Amir, a wealthy member of the dominant Pashtuns, and Hassan, a child servant to Amir and member of the minority Hazaras. Yet, as young children, it seems as though this difference is a mere annoyance rather than a serious blockade to their friendship. This all changes, though, when Amir makes a split second decision, a decision shaped by his unconscious desire to uphold their class difference. Hassan does everything for Amir, most specifically, he runs his kites, and when the town bully wants to steal that kite, Hassan resists even in the face of unspeakable violence.

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