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Soraya And General Taheri Character Analysis

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Soraya and General Taheri have a relationship proving that an imbalance of power is unhealthy. When Soraya runs off with an Afghan man at age eighteen, General Taheri appears within a month with a gun in hand threatening to kill the man and then himself (Hosseini 179). Through this act he asserts his power and control over Soraya’s life, which causes Soraya to loathe her father. General Taheri’s dominance also causes him to seem embarrassed of Soraya and he is quick to change the subject when his daughter is brought up in conversation (Hosseini 141). General Taheri does not hide his disappointment in Soraya for not conforming to Afghan standards and tries to control her decisions. When Soraya and Amir briefly debate adopting a child, General Taheri shares his opinion that he is “not so sure that [adoption] is …show more content…

When the book begins, Amir describes how he could manipulate Hassan into doing anything including shooting a neighbor’s dog with his powerful slingshot skills, even though Hassan does not want to (Hosseini 3-4). Amir is aware that Hassan’s gentle nature would never compel him to hurt the dog on his own, but Amir also knows that Hassan will not get mad at Amir for convincing him to hurt a dog. The pomegranate tree is also a large symbol of the boys’ imbalance of power. Amir asks Hassan, “What would you do if I hit you with this [pomegranate]?” while attempting to force some kind of reaction out of Hassan (Hosseini 92). Amir realizes that Hassan will never fight back due to the power Amir has. When Amir practically begs Hassan to hit him back, Hassan finally puts forward his first move of power by not giving Amir what he wants and instead smashes the pomegranate on his own forehead (Hosseini 93). Hassan and Amir are the perfect example of how a relationship with an imbalance of power can affect anybody, no matter what

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