Khaledi's Kite Runner by Jasmine Chung

The Kite Runner: History of Amir’s life

Can people be jealous of their best friends? People can be jealous of one another because of their appearance, smartness or even the amount of attention they receive from other people. As jealousy starts to build up within people, they may do anything to be on the same level as their friends just to receive other people’s attention, and that can cause a huge struggle in their friendships. To be friends with someone, one does not need to find similarities in every single aspect because everyone is different. Friends are there to support each other not to compete against each other to win someone’s respect. Many friendships break due to jealousy and mistreatment. Khaled Hosseini, the authour of a novel The Kite Runner clearly explains the idea of how people can easily be separated through forces of violence and jealousy. The protagonist Amir narrates a story of his life, a Pashtun boy from Kabul who is haunted by the guilt of betraying his childhood friend, Hassan, a servant of his but also his best friend. Amir’s personal history and his relationship with Hassan are quite revealing in understanding the character development in Amir.
The novel begins with a man named Amir who tells the tale of his life, beginning with his peaceful, innocent days as a young, wealthy boy who enjoyed spending time with his servant Hassan. The two were best friend although Amir often shunned admitting it, for Hassan was much loser in social status. The story unfolds with Amir seeking attention from his Baba, his father so he manages to win the kite contest to gain respect from him. Hassan does everything in his power to capture the kite. When Hassan does not return with the kite, Amir goes out to look for him. He finds himself standing near a dark alley witnessing his best friend getting bullied by some upper-class teenagers near their neighborhoods. Amir hides out and betrays Hassan. Amir selfishly finds a way to get rid of Hassan and his father from the house. For the rest of his life, Amir tries to find a way to forget about his past by immigrating to the United States, a nightmare that changed his whole life.
Amir cannot break free from his unsettled memories of his past. As a young child, Amir is served breakfast every morning by Hassan; then he is driven to school in gleaming family mustang while his best friend stays home to clean the house. Although Amir was smart and well-educated, he showed jealousy towards Hassan. Amir and Hassan grew up together and shared special brotherhood even though they were two opposite people. Amir was a troubled and flawed character who was not gregarious while Hassan was outgoing and brave. Amir became jealous of Hassan when his Baba would admire Hassan more than himself. He felt as if Hassan was intruding in with the father-son relationship. Baba treated Hassan more like his son because he had all the qualities that Baba wanted from his ideal son. The stronger relationship between Hassan and Baba caused Amir to commit terrible sins against Hassan. He was afraid to be Hassan’s friend, and he constantly tested his loyalty. Ironically, it had been Amir who could not trust himself; he used Hassan as his shield. Hassan respected Amir and did everything he could “a thousand times over” for Amir. For example, on the day of the kite running contest, Hassan helped Amir Gain respect from Baba by winning the competition for him. Hassan did not care if Amir received all the credits for winning the kite contest because if Amir was happy, he was too. He was already grateful that Amir would read him stories under pomegranate tree and help Hassan to be educated.
The stronger jealousy caused Amir to send Hassan away by lying to Baba that Hassan stole all his birthday gifts. To escape the Soviet Invasion, Amir and his father left Hassan and his father behind to flee to California. Amir embraced America because this was a chance for him to start a new life with a professional career. He thought America would give him no sins and memories. “[t]he past claws its way out.” Amir learned that one cannot erase their special memories completely and easily. During his new life in California, he never forgot about his childhood years with Hassan; he realized that his past memories were always with him in his heart even if he lived on the other end of the world. He would see two identical kits flying on top of him. Suddenly Hassan’s voice whispered in his head and the thought of Hassan running to catch his kite for Amir recalled in his head. “There is a way to be good again” (2). The kites flying in the sky have symbolized the strength of their never-ending friendship. The part of Hassan was still in Amir as if they have shared a special brotherhood relationship. “[t]here was a brotherhood between people who had fed from the same breast and kinship that not even time could break.” The fact that they were fed from the same breast meant that they were related in blood; half brothers. As he thought about Afghanistan, he realized all the little activities they enjoyed doing as little kids such as reading stories under trees and climbing trees. He realized how cruel it was for him to torture Hassan even when he kept protecting the sensitive Amir from neighborhood bullies. The fact that even though at the time when they were young, Amir pushed away Hassan, after twenty years, he realized without Hassan, he would not e where he is today and what he is today. Their relationship was never forgotten after a long period of time.
In the novel, the relationship between Hassan and Amir helped Amir to be the man he is today. During his childhood, he could not meet his father’s expectations. He was an intelligent boy but made serious mistakes that left a huge struggle between him and Hassan. “I thought of the life I had lived until the winter of 1975 came along and changed everything. And made me what I am today” (2). Amir felt distant from his father because Hassan interfered in their family relationship. Over the years, anger and jealousy grew in him that forced Amir to send Hassan away. The kite running tournament was the triumph of Amir’s life. Hassan was brutalized by upper-class teenagers because of his religion and his physical appearance. Amir’s failure to defend Hassan haunted him for the rest of his life. As the Russians invaded Afghanistan, Amir and Baba moved to the United States to escape the brutal war. He called America his real home. As a grown man, Amir atoned for the sins from Hassan by returning to his country to find and adopt Hassan’s son named Sohrab. During his trip to Afghanistan, he sees images of families trying to survive under the tyranny of the Taliban. During his journey, he met his old enemies who bullied Hassan and Amir decided to fight back for the harm he caused to Hassan. Amir wanted to show Hassan that he was ashamed for the way he had treated him. When Amir adopted Sohrab, he lived in California; however, there was a silence between them because Sohrab was the one who was emotionally damaged. Later on, the kites bring the two closer together similar to how it brought Amir and Hassan together. By protecting Sohrab and relating his past with him, he was able to relive the moment of his childhood he had spent with Hassan. “Do you want me to run that kite for you? For you, a thousand times over” (39). Finally, Amir was able to put a smile on his face because he knew that Hassan would always be with him and Sohrab.
Amir sometimes felt as though he had not come from his father’s blood because of his lack of courage and pride and could not accept the fact that Hassan was better than him. His anger separated the two brothers apart. Hassan was very understanding towards Amir, and when Amir acted rude towards Hassan, he always accepted it and was always loyal to him. He was dedicated to make Amir’s life happier first. This novel teaches us about pride and friendship through the relationship of Amir and Hassan.