The Boundries Of Relationship In 'The Kite Runner'

Joshua Bray
Ms. Haydon
English 10
April, 3rd, 2023
The Boundries Between Relationship “For me, America was a place to bury my memories, for Baba, a place to mourn his past.” Khalid Hosseini, demonstrates how in The Kite Runner, relationships between characters can be easily contorted due to the past and trauma. In the situation of the relationship between Amir and Baba, it can be seen that due to each of their trauma and guilt, their relationship becomes distorted in a way where it is not beneficial for either of them. For Amir, it’s his desire to gain his father's attention, while for Baba, it’s his desire to atone for himself for the lies he has told. Many of the relationships Amir has in the story can be described as contorted and blocked

After both Amir and Baba had moved to America during the time skip that occurred during the joint in between chapter 10 and chapter 11, a noticeable change in the relationship between the two of them occurs. We see that the relationship is more stable and respectful compared to Amir and Baba’s relationship in Afghanistan when they had Hassan. In chapter 11, Baba acts respectfully toward Amir and supports him in his career and college which is a stark contrast to that of earlier chapters in which Baba views Amir’s interest in writing as strange. We see how Baba cares about what Amir feels like in America in this segment of the story as he directly notes how “Peshawar was good for me. Not good for you” (130), which this conversation demonstrates that Baba cares about Amir and is willing to make sacrifices for him. It is noted at this point in the story by Amir, that “I'd seen the way he winced and rubbed his wrists on damp days. The way sweat erupted on his forehead as he reached for his bottle of antacids after meals. "Besides, I didn't bring us here for me, did I?"(131). While it can be seen that the relationship between Amir and Baba is more stable and respectful in America compared to that of Afghanistan, it can still be understood that there is a broad border between the two of them which separates the two from having a standard father-son relationship. This border in their relationship is most likely brought by the gap brought upon by the absence of Hassan throughout the story. Hassan’s leave in the story impacts Amir as it brings a sense of guilt due to the fact that he had felt that he caused the disparity between him and Hassan to form, because of his lack of confrontation. Baba had always viewed Hassan as a second son early in the story, so the sudden disappearance of Hassan in his life most likely caused him to shift his attention to Amir. At this point,