The Kite Runner By: Khaled Hosseini

The people around you have a strong influence on your actions, and emotions. Either by something happening to the people on your block, or your friends doing something with you, everyone has an effect on their contemporaries. Even though this is true, many people put others second. For example in The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini the main character, Amir, lives in a world of regret because of the treatment of his peers. This is primarily caused by his constant need to betray them to get out of trouble.

This problem starts for Amir in the very beginning of the book when him and his friend Hassan are attacked by the neighborhood bully, “ ‘You’re bothering me very much. In fact ,, you bother me more than this Hazara here. How can you talk to him, play with him, let him touch How can you call him your friend?’... But he’s not my friend! I almost blurted. He’s my servant” (Page 41). When I read this my first thought was, is this selfish action going to cause more problems for Amir as the story progresses? I thought this was foreshadowing because it introduced a new character, and a new side of Amir that we hadn’t seen before.

By the middle of the book Amir has ignored many more incidents with Assef, the neighborhood bully. For example, “Assef yelped as he flung himself at Hassan, knocking him to the ground… I bit on my fist. Shut my eyes.” (Page 73). This quote made me realise that Assef indirectly caused Amir to act selfishly by putting him in situations where he would be in grave danger if he didn’t. In addition to this I realised that Assef was a symbol for all of the looming danger in Amir’s life because of the constantly changing Afghanistan.

Finally, by the end of the book Amir learns to look after others because his life choices caused him to grow regretful and depressed. This becomes evident when he visits an old friend on a quest to save Hassan’s son. This is shown when Amir has a conversation with his dad’s very wise friend, “Children are fragile, Amir jan. Kabul is already full of broken children and I don’t want Sohrab to become another.” (Page 220). This quote makes me think that although Amir needs convincing, he would do anything for Hassan just repay him for everything (including giving up his life) Hassan has done for Amir. I think this because Amir strayed away from his normal selfish tone just to help take care of Hassan’s child.

The Kite Runner is a very strong example of one child’s selfish journey to become a passionate man. In addition to this, The Kite Runner connects to the real world by showing readers the effects of a constantly changing nation on it’s citizens. Although this novel is a brilliant piece of fiction, the strong emotions and relationships depicted by the author are very real.