The Kite Runner Research Paper

The Kite Runner Essay No one is born evil, the environment in which one is raised influences what kind of person they will be. The Kite Runner, a historical fiction novel written by Khaled Hoesseni, follows a young Afghani boy named Amir. Amir makes some regrettable decisions in his youth and the guilt haunts him throughout his life as he searches for a way to redeem himself. Amir also grew up with his friend/servant named Hassan. Hassan is a Hazara boy that lived in the mud shack behind Amir’s house. Amir is a very selfish and cowardly character, but he was not born with these character traits, some factors can be attributed to Amir’s selfishness or cowardice. Baba, Amir’s father, would always treat Hassan with the same amount of love and

Amir is an introvert, instead of talking through his problems and feelings he prefers to keep them to himself. Amir tends to use his writing to convey his thoughts and emotions. One night, Amir said, “That same night, I wrote my first short story It took me 30 minutes. It was a dark little tale about a man who found a magic cup and learned if he wept into the cup, his tears turn into pearls.” (33). In this quotation, Amir wrote his first short story. Ecstatic to get his father’s opinion on the piece Amir rushes to Baba’s office. When Amir entered the office, Baba could not have bothered to read Amir’s story. This devastated Amir. Amir longed for his father’s approval but never got it. Amir is clearly going through a lot of mixed thoughts and emotions as he said he would write a hundred books if Baba even bothered to read one. It is evident that Amir is seeking attention and approval from his father, but Baba shuts him out instead, lowering his self-esteem. Also, bottling up feeling and emotions has proven to increase anxiety/depression levels. Amir loved reading as well as writing. Amir read to Hassan frequently because Hassan was unable to read. One day while reading to Hassan, Amir thought to himself, “That Hassan would grow up illiterate like Ali and most Hazara had decided the minute he had been born, […] after all, what use did a servant have for the written word?” (30). Despite growing up with

In Afghanistan, there are two main social classes and religions. There is the Pashtun (Sunni religion) and the Hazara (Shi’a religion). The Pahtuns are the group that is superior, and Amir is Pashtun while Hassan is Hazara. Amir takes advantage of Hassan and notes, “Hassan never wanted to, but if i asked, really asked, he wouldn’t deny me. Hassan never denied me anything” (4). In this example, the social class standard in Afghanistan is proven true, the Pashtun have more power than the Hazara. Amir forces Hassan to do things not because he can but because he is envious of Hassan. Baba payed special attention to Hassan because he is courageous and athletic while Amir was neither of those. Amir takes his bottled-up anger out on Hassan, usually in a passive aggressive way. Further, Amir grew up with Hassan. Hassan thought of Amir and himself and best friends, but Amir does not feel the same. Amir thinks to himself, “The curious this was, I never thought of Hassan and me as friends either […] Never mind any of those things. Because history isn’t easy to overcome. Neither is religion. In the end, I was Pashtun and he was Hazara” (82). In this quotation Amir realizes that he does not even think of Hassan as his friend. The social classes and divide of religion in Afghanistan make it hard for Amir to see Hassan as his friend and not his servant. In the first