Foils In The Kite Runner

The book The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini centers around the theme of trying to redeem oneself and be good. Hosseini shows this theme through the foils of Baba and Rahim Khan, when Baba does charity to try and make up for what he's done, when Rahim accepts Amir while Baba tries to get him to fit into his idea of a man, and Babas concern with public opinion that causes him to hide his son, while Rahim tries to marry a Hazara. Hosseini uses the contrast between these two characters to reflect the importance of being good, and to outline the flaws in Baba even though at the beginning of the book he is portrayed as perfect and larger then life. Throughout the book people talk about how Baba has done many important charitable things for his
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Throughout the book Amir is trying to get Babas approval, but finds it easier to connect with Rahim and Rahim approves of Amir more. “‘Look, I know there’s a fondness between you and hi and I'm happy about that. Envious, but happy. I mean that. He needs someone who… understands him, because God knows I don’t. But something about Amir troubles me in a way that I cant express. It’s like…’ I could see him searching, reaching for the right words. He lowered his voice, but I heard him anyways. ‘If I hadn’t seen the doctor pull him out of my wife with my own eyes, I’d never believe he's my son.’” The contrast between the two shows how strong willed Baba is, versus Rahim who is able to appreciate what Amir is interested in. Because of Baba’s strong sense of what a man should be like, and what he was like as a child, he sees Amir as weak. This causes Amir to constantly try and impress him, and eventually he sacrifices Hassan to please Baba and get the kite back to him. This connects to the theme of being good because Baba sees himself reflected in Amir, and other people in afghanistan see the child reflected on the parents. This same Afghan principle of the children reflected on the parents is show with General Taheri and Soraya. Baba wants to be seen as good, and to be seen as good he feels that Amir needs to reflect the same principles that he does, and since Baba is such a strong person he believes Amir should
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When Baba had an Hazara son he was willing to hide it from everyone he knew to make sure it didn't reflect badly on him, but Rahim was willing to marry a Hazara and would have if his family hadn’t sent away his wife. “You should have seen the look on my father’s face when I told him. My mother actually fainted. My sisters splashed her face with water. They fanned her and looked at me as if I had slit her throat. My brother Jalal actually went to fetch his hunting rifle before my father stopped him.”