A Monster

Amir crossed a line when he saw Hassan get raped and chose to protect himself and his relationship with his unloving and unconcerned father, instead of saving the only person who truly loved him. Amir changed that day, he become weaker and cowardly. He now had a new understanding of the terrible things that he was capable of. He continued to change until he was truly revealed to be a monster. In contrast, Hassan’s love for Amir was so strong that he really stretched himself to the limit and made the ultimate sacrifice.  The first example of this is when Amir does not tell his father or Ali about what happened to Hassan.  Then he emotionally pushed Hassan out of his life, by ignoring him, When he realized that this was no longer was enough, he resorted to other methods to push Hassan out of his life. Amir pelted Hassan with pomegranates until he was bleeding and crying. He thought that his would compel Hassan to beat him. Hassan remained loyal and took the beating and did not fight back. Finally as an act of complete selfishness and cruelty, he accused Hassan of stealing. He wanted Hassan gone and he thought that blaming him of a cardinal sin (according to Baba) would relieve him of Hassan’s presence. He not only stole a good and happy life away from Hassan but also way from Ali and Baba. He kept all the dirty little secrets to himself and he got away with it. These types of sins come with a price. Amir became constantly filled with guilt; it ate away at his soul. His guilt was a constant reminder of the person he had become, the person that his father was disgusted by. He was sickly, cowardly, and he lacked all forms of honor.

Hassan was the opposite of Amir, as far as Amir went to the dark side, Hassan went just as far to the light. He made every type of sacrifice for Amir, not because he had to or felt obligated to, but because he wanted to.  He took a terrible beating and was raped, in order to get Amir his precious kite. He let Amir abuse him and misuse him to compensate for Amir’s own guilt. He knew that Amir watched him get brutally raped and beaten and yet he remained loyal to Amir. He sacrifices his comfortable life at Baba’s house for Amir. He took the blame for the stolen items and he left to please Hassan as well. He even begged and cried to his father, Ali, to keep Amir’s secret, although Ali would have gladly told on him. Hassan’s love and friendship extends far beyond the normal and yet Amir treats him like his slave.