The novel Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini tells a story of a childhood friendship between two Afghanistan boys, Amir and Hassan.
Hosseini strongly highlights the loyalty of Hassan towered Amir. By using this technique it makes Amir’s flaws and mischievous ways extremely obvious to us. Amir and Baba are a very privileged family, while Ali and Hassan are their servants. Amir and Hassan have a very close friendship, a relationship close enough to be brothers, because they were fed from the same breast. “Then he would remind us that there was a brotherhood between people who fed from the same breast, a kinship that not even time could break” (Pg.
11).At this point in the novel we still have the understanding that their nothing more than very close friends. Although they have this very close friendship, Amir often takes advantage of the fact that Hassan is less fortunate. Often, he makes fun of him because he can’t read or write, “…like when I’d taunt him for not knowing a big word.
” (pg. 54). We learn of several times that Amir makes fun of Hassan, or where Hassan feels so desperately stupid because he can’t read. For example when Amir returns to Afghanistan, he receives an old letter from Hassan.As he tells Amir about his son, he says “I have taught him to read and write so he does not grow up stupid like his father.
”(Pg. 216). Hassan is trustworthy, and stays loyal under any circumstances. On the other hand, Amir is selfish, jealous, mischievous, and the exact opposite of Hassan.
Amir was always trying to come between Baba’s relationship with Hassan in any way he possibly could. “He asked me to fetch Hassan too, but I lied and told him he had the runs. I wanted Baba all to myself. ”(Pg.
13). This is one example of Amir’s selfish ways towards Hassan.However, it happens on more than one occasion. Despite Amir’s selfish and evil ways towards Hassan, he never once betrays or disrespects Amir. For example Hassan tells Amir, “I’d sooner eat dirt than lie to you.
”(Pg. 54). Hassan is so loyal to Amir that he would rather eat dirt, before he would ever lie to Amir. Amir would do the exact opposite; he would rather lie to Hassan than eat dirt.
Eventually, Amir gets tired of his loyalty. After throwing many pomegranates at Hassan, all he wanted was for Hassan to fight back. “I wished he would hit me back.I wished he’d give me the punishment I deserved”(Pg. 92). Although Amir is showing emotion, and felling guilty he’s still being harsh on Hassan by throwing pomegranates at him.
“When I finally stopped, exhausted and panting, Hassan was smeared in red like he’d been shot by a firing squad”(pg. 93). If Amir was panting when he finished, he must have thrown a lot of pomegranates at Hassan. However, in the end Hassan was still a loyal friend and didn’t throw anything at Amir.
“Then Hassan did pick up a pomegranate. He walked toward me.He opened it and crushed it against his own forehead. ”(Pg. 54).
After all these years of Amir putting him down verbally, and now physically, he would still rather hurt himself, Ali, and Baba, than hurt his lifetime friend. Throughout the novel we learn how Amir’s one decision changed his life forever. I think the moral of the story is to think not only about yourself, but also to think about others before you make a decision. One thoughtless decision can cause many people pain. In the novel, we see how Amir continues to betray Hassan, even after he is raped.
