What Is The Sacrifice In The Kite Runner

In Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, Amir runs from the rape of Hassan with the belief that this sacrifice of Hassan, will grant him Baba’s affection and respect. In the alley Amir wants to take action, he wants to speak, but says “I didn’t, I just watched, paralyzed”(78). He finds himself conflicted between “looking at the blue kite resting against the wall, close to the cast-iron stove; and the other, Hassan’s brown corduroy pants thrown on the heap of eroded bricks”(81). He see’s the vulnerability in Hassan’s face and the “resignation in it,” and he know’s that Hassan has assumed it as his faith(81). Amir also finds in Hassan’s face the look of an animal, that sees “that its imminent demise is for a higher purpose”(82). Running from the scene, Amir says of himself, that “I ran because I was a

Amir find’s in himself an understanding “that nothing was free in this world. Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay to win Baba”(82). After the rape, the innocence, and the purity of the relationship between the boys dies, and Amir exclaims he “was just a Hazara”(82). In this story the blue kite is an object that causes the dynamic of the relationship between the boys to change. For Amir the blue kite is an object that he finds himself needing to acquire under any circumstances, even if that meant abusing the loyalty and respect that Hassan held for him. For the entirety of Amir’s childhood, he had been neglected of Baba’s affection and approval, and this lead him to believe that the blue kite was the only way for him to win his father’s heart. This desire of Amir to acquire Baba’s love, ultimately lead him to disappointment Hassan, and not intervene in his rape. Consequently, Baba is responsible for Amir’s actions that are taken out of jealousy and cowardice. These feelings had falsely convinced Amir that Hassan would have to be his sacrifice, and be the one to atone his suffering, so he can live