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Selfish And Evil In The Amir Runner

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Amir and Amir only?
Beau van de Ven
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 essential 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 the Soviet Union and Afghanistan. Afghanistan is a non-western country, which has norms and values that differ a lot from western countries .To illustrate, in non-western countries the freedom of religion is broadly rejected. There is more equality in western norms and values than in 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 and are seen as inferior in …show more content…

To start with, Amir had an uncommon youth. Amir did everything he could to deserve his father’s love and attention, because Baba kept a distance between the two of them. Amir definitely acted selfish towards Hassan, but because Hazaras were seen as inferior in Afghanistan, it is unfair to expect from Amir to see his servant as an equal and to treat him equally. Another key fact to remember is that on the moments where Amir acted cowardly, he was just a child. It is understandable that it is hard to deal with the situations Amir had to deal with at such a young age. All in all, Amir should not be the one to blame for his flaws, but the conditions in which he grew up should

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