Amir's inability to seeing an alternative for winning his father's attention

Camille Kelleher

Throughout the beginning of Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, the plot line took a long time to progress at the expense of character development. Amir continually referred to a period when happiness would disappear and his life would be plagued by pain; however, this time has yet to come. There has been strong character development of Amir, Hassan, Baba, and Rahim Khan and their relationships with each other. Until Amir and Hassan won the kite battle, I disliked Amir because of his need for constant attention and acceptance from Baba and his rudeness to Hassan because of his own insecurity. Amir was very self centered and should be more supportive of Hassan and help him move up the caste system that seems to be present in Afghanistan. I know that my prejudice against Amir is in part due to a “western” mind created from a world of freedom and equal opportunity. The interactions Amir had when he went looking for the Hassan and the blue kite made me realize that Amir is very fair to Hassan relative to the other characters in this society. For example, the old merchant's comment that the hazara’s father should clean the floor with his eyelashes is not only inappropriate and racist but also completely random given the situation. The old merchant’s prejudiced remark makes Amir look like a saint.

Amir’s need for acceptance and gratification from his father is clear when he doesn’t stand up for Hassan. He is so focused on getting the blue kite to show that he is a winner and hero that he doesn’t see other options like standing up for Hassan. He watches Hassan be tortured by the three neighborhood boys when he should intervened in the fight. His father would have praised Amir much more for his bravery and defensiveness than the retrieval of the blue kite. Amir’s inability to see this option is a side effect of youthful mistakes and innocence. I think that this decision will be a large influence and determinant of the rest of the plot line and will haunt Amir for the rest of the story. The strength and trust between Amir and Hassan’s brotherhood was destroyed. The glory from winning the kite battle is immediately lost, and I think that Amir might even blame Hassan for his negligence and inability to avoiding these situations and standing up for himself. It will be interesting to see how much this will change the tone of the story.