The novel "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini tells the story of two boys, Amir, a Pashtun, and Hassan, a Hazara, and the transformations they experience. The novel portrays Amir's journey towards developing resilience and perseverance as an adult, following a series of heartfelt experiences during his childhood, most notably how Hassan takes the blame for throwing pebbles at the dog and how he stands up to Assef to protect the cowardly Amir. A common source of entertainment for Hassan and Amir were kids as they would play by hitting the one-eyed German shepherd next door. Whenever Amir "Asked, really asked." to do something "Hassan never denied [him] anything" (4). As a result, Amir was able to convince Hassan to do anything. Additionally, when Ali caught them, "Hassan would mumble, looking down at his feet. But never told on me, never told that the …show more content…
When Amir found Hassan, he “Felt his body was clenching up, and something cold rippled up his spine” (71). Since he was too scared to go out and help Hassan. Although Amir thought of saving Hassan, instead, “He just watched. Paralyzed” (73). After watching around the corner for a moment, he saw Assef raping Hassan. And runs away and thinks, “I ran because I was a coward. I was afraid of Assef and what he could do to me” (77). The quote gives a first-person perspective of Amir and his thoughts as he makes a cowardly decision to run away. He could not stop thinking about how afraid he was to try to help Hassan. He hesitated to interfere because he “was afraid of getting hurt” (77) and began to consider that “Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay to win Baba.” (77) after what happened to Hassan. This demonstrates how highly Amir regards himself before considering others. As a kind of repaying for his sins, it is comparable to Assef, who raped Hassan and was responsible for Amir’s