Betrayal In The Kite Runner

Jadyn Perez

Ms. Lane

Comp II

20 March 2023

Betrayed

Throughout life, numerous experience betrayal in multiple different ways. Although, as life continues, they are stuck with the consequences of these actions. The Kite Runner is an American novel that is fiction yet, still inspired by Hosseini’s personal childhood while living in Afghanistan. The novel is set in the 1960’s to early 2000’s through the war in Afghanistan. Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner portrays various actions of betrayal and the consequences that unite with those actions. Hosseini’s The Kite Runner uses the character Amir as a main piece in portraying betrayal and its consequences. Amir befriends his father’s servant, Hassan, while living in Afghanistan. Throughout the

Ironically, it is Amir’s father, Baba. Baba has always had a ‘soft spot’ for Hassan in the novel. “The signs have been there for me to see all along, they came flying back at me now.” (Hosseini 225). This quote was said by Amir after finding out that Baba was secretly Hassan’s biological father. Amir continues to mention all the times Baba has gone out of his way to help Hassan, such as, hiring a doctor to fix Hassan’s harelip, never missing Hassan’s birthday, and saying how Hassan is at home when he is with Baba, and he will never consider gaining new servants. These are just some instances of how Baba is always there for Hassan and sees him as more of a son than he does Amir. In The Kite Runner Amir always fought for Baba’s love rather than automatically receiving it like Hassan. In Amir’s eyes, he felt betrayed by his father because he never received the same love as their

After finding out this news, Amir was deeply hurt. “How could he have lied to me all those years? To Hassan? He sat me down on his lap when I was little, looked me straight in the eyes, and said, there is only one sin. And that is theft… When you tell a lie, you steal someone’s right to the truth. Hasn’t he said those words to me? And now, fifteen years after I’d buried him, I was learning Baba had been a thief. And a thief of the worst kind, because the things he’s stolen has been sacred: from me the right to know I had a brother, from Hassan his identity, and from Ali his honor.” (Hosseini 225) In this part of the novel Amir is feeling the same betrayal Hassan felt prior. Amir is shocked to find out that he has a brother, and this brother is the person he spent his childhood betraying. Due to this fact, Baba not only betrayed Amir, but also Hasssan and