Baba's conflicted morals

The more I get into The Kite Runner, the more I enjoy it. Although I really do not like Amir, his story is intriguing and reading about his thoughts, actions, and feelings regarding what happened between him and Hassan never gets boring. I found it impacting that Amir never forgets what happened.  The guilt that he feels for not having done anything when he saw his friend being raped lingers. Though he learns to live with him, that scene in his life marked the person he will become and we see that as we read on and time passes in the story.

         The contrast between Baba and Amir is sharper and sharper as the story continues. Baba is strong, courageous, sharp, intelligent, and admired, while Amir is weak, afraid, and innocent. Despite his good qualities, though, Baba’s courage and morals seem somewhat irrational to me. On their way to Kabul, one of the Russian guards asks to have sex with the woman traveling with them in order for them to get by. Nobody says anything, and if it weren’t for Baba, the woman would have had to sacrifice her body in front of her husband and child. Baba was the only man to stand up to this guard; he would have given his life for this woman he had never even spoken to before, solely because he is a righteous, proud man who stands up for his beliefs. This all seemed admirable and incredible when it happened, and I truly looked up to Baba while I read it, but then when he almost chokes Karim to death, my view changed. How could he go from giving his life for a woman he barely knows, to almost killing a friend? It is all sort of confusing. But through these scenes I realized Baba’s weakness for women. It is not a perverted kind of weakness, but a respectful one. I feel as though Baba feels the need to respect women and take care of them, as if they were sacred. This scene gave me a new perspective on Baba that made me doubt the legitimacy of his righteousness.