Amir is selfish and cowardly, but he is not to blame for his flaws. Discuss. For the question whether Amir is to blame for his flaws, it is fundamental to understand when someone is truly selfish and cowardly. Being selfish is best defined as being concerned with one´s own profit only, without considering the possible effects this has on others. Being or acting cowardly can be defined as lacking the ability to act in the right way at the right time, especially on moments when you are most vulnerable. Amir lives in troubled times in Afghanistan, where a war is going on between his homeland and the Soviet Union. Afghanistan is a non-western country, which has norms and values that differ significantly from western countries .To illustrate, in non-western countries the freedom of religion is broadly rejected. Western norms and values are far more equal than non-western. The class-society Amir lives in clearly represents these differences in equality. He grows up in a time and a place where he, privileged by being born as the son of a Pashtun, has more rights than his best and only friend Hassan, a Hazara. Hazaras are an ethnic minority in Afghanistan and are seen as inferior to Pashtuns. Besides the country Amir lives in and his ethnicity, there are some other factors which have influenced his youth and adolescence, which have contributed to the man Amir grows up to be. Amir was raised in a wealthy neighbourhood. His mother died giving birth to him so he grew up with his
He also pays more attention to what his father has to say. As a result of this, their relationship deepens. Amir’s adjustment represents a way to overcome a conflict with somebody else and this can be applied to everyday
Everyone has heard the saying “nobody is perfect” and it is true we are all humans, we all make mistakes sometimes, but to what extent does someone stop forgiving when they have endured all the hardship a person gives them after they have been forgiven several times. There is a certain point in life when some people do not deserve to be forgiven because every time that person is forgiven, that person takes advantage it because that person knows they will be forgiven. There is one very prominent character in a story who fits the reason of why some people do not deserve forgiveness, especially when they've been given multiple chances to do the right thing. That person is Amir from the book the Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.
From a young age, Amir was constantly hearing how dissapointed Baba is in him. This kind of perception leads to fatal flaws within character developpement. One can blame that Baba 's lack of support causes some of the other events to take place in Amir 's life. Baba 's perception of Amir had degraded Amir 's moral strength and maybe if Baba had encouraged Amir 's potential more, Amir woudn 't feel like he always had to proove something to Baba
The author provides the reader with mixed feeling about Amir. In his childhood in Kabul Amir comes off as heartless person. He is this because he has done evil stuff in his life. In the beginning of the story something bad happens to Hassan, Amir says,¨In the end, I ran.
To begin, no matter what, Hassan bravely stands up for Amir. However, when the roles are reversed, Amir cannot do the same due to Hassan’s social class lurking in Amir’s mind. When Assef started to harass Hassan while simultaneously trying to evoke a response in Amir, it almost gets Amir to look beyond Hassan 's social class. “Assef narrowed his eyes. Shook his head.
Afghanistan is a country full of social expectations and boundaries influenced by both class and ethnicity. Amir and Hassan come from polar opposite social backgrounds: Amir, a wealthy member of the dominant Pashtuns, and Hassan, a child servant to Amir and member of the minority Hazaras. Yet, as young children, it seems as though this difference is a mere annoyance rather than a serious blockade to their friendship. This all changes, though, when Amir makes a split second decision, a decision shaped by his unconscious desire to uphold their class difference. Hassan does everything for Amir, most specifically, he runs his kites, and when the town bully wants to steal that kite, Hassan resists even in the face of unspeakable violence.
As a result, he often has difficulty relating to his son, leading him to think that “there is something missing in [Amir]”, because he is not like himself (Hosseini 24). Amir continuously tries to impress Baba, a longing that has a lasting negative impact, as he bases his self-worth on the approval his father. As a result, Amir develops a habit of being overly jealous towards people, such as Hassan, that hold Baba’s interest. Even trivial items-such as the construction of the orphanage-have the power to provoke
In the novel, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, the author leads the reader to believe that Amir, in the beginning, is selfish. At the start of the book, he shows Amir making fun of Hassan's illiteracy, along with making many snide remarks. By doing this, Amir is subtly reminding Hassan of his superiority. Amir also gives us another glimpse of his selfishness when he watches Hassan get raped. Amir decides to be a bystander instead of standing up for his good and faithful friend because he is afraid of getting hurt.
Can Amir be good again… ? This is the exact question that has been continuously running through my mind with each turn of the page in The Kite Runner, though before hand, I found myself wondering what aspects, qualities, or characteristics have ever defined Amir as “good” in the first place? Furthermore, by the term, “good”, do our minds think of “good” as in only benefiting thyself, or benefiting those of the world around us? Before one can determine if Amir can be good again, these questions that linger in the depths of our mind must be brought to the surface of reality and acknowledged. As far as the reader knows, Hassan and Amir both started life at the same place, but when one analyzes the characters personal characteristics, they foil each other in such a way that Hassan seems to have a sole purpose of exposing the flaws of Amir throughout their childhood, leaving an everlasting impact on the reader's thoughts, in which it is hard for the reader to detect the good in Amir when there seems to be so much bad.
In Khaled Hosseini’s novel, The Kite Runner, Amir struggles to cope with his inaction during Hassan’s rape. Overwhelmed with guilt, Amir devises a plan to get Hassan and Ali dismissed so they would no longer be a constant reminder of all the times Hassan had protected him and his failure to do the same. The guilt of betraying Hassan burdens him for years, and even after he and Baba move to America, he carries the weight of his actions with him. However, after he accepts Rahim Khan’s request to rescue Sohrab and bring him to safety, Amir strives to leave behind the selfishness and cowardice he had previously succumbed to. Amir progressively begins to forgive himself for his injustices towards Hassan as he recognizes his evolution from a coward
This discrimination has become built into society and effects everyday life. As Pashtuns, Amir and Baba have the opportunities to receive an education and start their own business. While the Hazaras, Hassan and Ali, may only work as servants. This discrimination brought on by social hierarchy causes isolation, violence, and guilt, to those surrounded by it throughout the book. These ideas are caused by discrimination and are explored through Amir’s experiences in the book.
Amir is the main focus of the novel; it basically starts with his childhood all the way until he’s an adult. He was one of the most wealthy people in Afghanistan, until the Russian’s take over later on. His father, Baba, is very respected by others. Baba never paid much attention to his son, also his honesty with him was very poor. Therefore, Amir would spend most of his childhood with his servant, Hassan.
The protagonist, Amir is witness of a terrible crime being committed to his friend, but Amir does nothing to stop it from happening. Hosseini uses this situation in the book to show how Amir was acting selfish. This act of selfishness leads to guilt later on. According to (http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/the-kite-runner/themes.html) “Amir becomes exactly the sort of coward Baba worried Amir would become” (1). This obvious guilt made Amir feel like a helpless coward.
Amir finally did the worst possible thing to Hassan and his father Ali, trying to get them fired Amir, “lifted Hassan’s mattress and planted my new watch and a handful of Afghan bills under it” (104). He betrayed Hassan and Ali, the two people who cared about him the most, and the two people he himself cared about the most. Amir is a coward and even though one would feel bad for him, he did things that couldn't be forgiven. Although he just wants his father’s love which readers can understand, it gave him no right to do any of these things to Hassan and
However, he also turned out to be someone who tried his best to confront his sins and redeem them by building orphanages, fixing Hassan's harelip, and helping others in general (Li Cunxin, Levy98's Blog). Unlike Baba, Amir was afraid of confronting his sins. In the novel, Baba, with reference to Amir, says, "A boy won't stand up for himself becomes a man who can't stand up to anything" (page 22, chapter3) which foreshadows how Amir was unable to face his sin, unlike