Response to Emily

I agree with the term monster to characterize Amir because he was basically the monster ruining Hassan’s life. Amir didn’t know what he had with Hassan until it was too late to turn back and change what happened. His inability to step in and help Hassan in his moment of trouble against Assef shows just how pathetic Amir is and how unbalanced the friendship was between Hassan and Amir was because, unlike Amir, Hassan would’ve done anything to protect Amir. It was sad to realize that the friendship would never be the same again and that Hassan’s beloved personality got ruined. It was angering to find out that even after backing out of helping Hassan, Amir still only thought about himself and the attention he was getting from his father and decided that in order to make himself feel better, Hassan was the one that needed to go. This problem could’ve gone in so many other directions. Amir could’ve told Baba what Assef did and although he’d lose his father’s respect, he’d help Hassan, or he could’ve retaliated against Assef, but instead hurt Hassan even more. It was sad to see that Amir believed the only way to fix the pain of the guilt is to make the problem worse and ruin everyone’s happiness.