Kite Runner Character Analysis Essay Example

his characteristics from the beginning of the book. I [Amir] sat on a park bench near a willow tree. I thought about something Rahim Khan said just before he hung up, almost as an after thought. There is a way to be good again" (Hosseini 1). Perhaps, a better example for Amir’s guilt is the pomegranate scene. Hassan and Amir had a special Pomegranate tree that they would go to together and read. They spent some of their closest times there. After Hassan is raped and Amir had done nothing to help him, Amir wants to help Hassan learn to fight back. One day, when they are sitting under this pomegranate tree, Amir asks Hassan if he hit him what would he do.

Hassan says nothing. Amir hits him with a pomegranate and tries to get Hassan to get angry at him so he can fight him. In other words, Amir keeps throwing pomegranates at Hassan in a way of punishing himself because he feels guilty and holds himself responsible because of Hassan’s rape. Even though Amir keeps trying to accomplish Amir to get angry and fight him back, Hassan doesn’t do what Amir wants him to do and doesn’t understand his behavior (Hosseini 28). As eNotes denotes, Amir is also condescending. This is, of course, seen most often in his treatment of Hassan.

He allows Hassan to take all the blame for their childhood pranks. He uses Hassan's lack of education to make him the butt of his secret jokes--calling Hassan an imbecile after he has told him that it means "intelligent" (Hosseini 29). Even when he frames Hassan, his superior attitude shows because he believes

that he is more worthy of Baba's attention than Hassan is. Additionally, When Hassan is cornered by Assef and his friends and is raped by Assef, Amir has witnessed to the incident but he hides. He does not have the courage to stand up and to try to protect Hassan.

He cannot even bring himself to face Hassan and projects his self hatred and shame onto Hassan. Every time he sees Hassan it reminds him of his own shame (Hosseini 67). Hassan is treated in various ways by various different characters throughout the book. Amir treats him as a brother or an incredible close friend, though he doesn't realize the depth of his actions towards Hassan in a brotherly way when he is a child. Baba is surprisingly protective and kind to Hassan even though he is his servant's son; the true reason for this is revealed later in the book.

Assef treats Hassan in a very racist and prejudiced way, perhaps almost as though he is an item rather than a person. He faces discrimination every day, because he is a Hazara, a minority whom the Pashtu’s treat like slaves (Noor 148). Despite all that; Amir is extremely loyal and compassionate. When Amir planted the watch and money in Hassan's room, it was obviously his intent for Hassan to be blamed for the theft. Amir's jealousy over his father's close relationship and patronage with Hassan caused him to make this unfortunate decision. When Amir announced that the money and watch were missing, he expected Hassan to be blamed.

What he did not expect was for Hassan to accept the blame and for Baba to forgive him for

the theft. Nevertheless, the shame of the affair was too much for Ali, and he decided to move out of Baba's home (Hosseini 85-86). Hassan lying about that he stole the watch shows how loyal he actually is. This was the last time that Amir saw Hassan. Baba is a very decisive and generous man who tries to help his mostly his own people. In the book, some scenes show the reader how heroic Baba can be sometimes; one is in Chapter 10, when he stands up for a man and his wife as they are fleeing Kabul.

Ronny Noor summarizes and analyzes this scene in his article from World Literature Today; Amir and Baba are being smuggled out of Soviet occupied Kabul along with other Afghanis. Their goal was to reach the safer territory of Pakistan. Amir thinks of how secretly they had to leave Kabul, telling no one, not even their servant. The rafiqs had taught everyone in Kabul how to spy on their neighbors and even their family. At a checkpoint, the Afghani soldiers would have let the truck pass without issue, but one Russian soldier demanded a half hour with one of the refugees, a married woman.

The soldiers are harassing and going to harm a female passenger and Baba stands up and prevents this from happening at the risk of his own life. Baba defended the woman, telling the Russian soldier that he had no shame and that he would "take a thousand bullets before let this indecency take place. The Russian soldier aimed the barrel of his gun at Baba's chest, but the shot that rang out did not kill him.

It came from the gun of a more senior Russian soldier (78(3/4), 148). In addition to that, like many people around the world, Baba also has a hypocrite characteristic.

For example, he never accepted Hassan as his son because he was the undesired result of sexual relationship with a servant. Additionally, although Baba demands honesty from Amir and Hassan, he always wanted them to be honest to him. Also, Edward Hower states in his article from New York Times Book Review, “Baba can't relate to Amir because he doesn't see Amir as a "courageous boy" yet Baba demonstrates a lack of courage in his relationship with his son and Hassan by not being honest” (4). As a result, the characters Amir, Hassan and Baba are very richly described and they are very special considering their characteristics.

Amir is guilt-ridden and condescending, Hassan is loyal and compassionate and Baba is very protective and heroic, maybe somewhat hypocrite. The Kite Runner has become because of the author’s rich descriptions of the characteristics of the characters in the book. As I mentioned in the beginning, if the reader finds himself/herself in the book or someone they know, then it means the author Khaled Hosseini succeeded what he is trying to give the reader. If not, then start looking around and meet new people because you will need them as much as they will need you. Works Cited Edward Hower (2003, August). The servant: A debut novel chronicles an Afghan man's return to search for the friend he betrayed. "New York Times Book Review,4. Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. New York: Riverhead, 2003. Print. Ronny Noor (2004). " Afghanistan: The Kite

Runner. " World Literature Today,78(3/4), 148. "SparkNotes: The Kite Runner: Character List. " SparkNotes: Today's Most Popular Study Guides. Web. 24 May 2010. . "What Are Three Character Traits of The Kite Runner's Narrator Amir and an Example for Each? - The Kite Runner - Questions ; Answers. " ENotes - Literature Study Guides, Lesson Plans, and More. Web. 24 May 2010. .