Character Moments

Throughout the novel, The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, Amir, the main character, undergoes changes in character. Hosseini portrays Amir as ignorant and innocent, the ideas of cowardice and selfishness are shown through his actions as Hosseini introduces the idea of developing a conscience for defining yourself through experience and not influence, through strengths and weaknesses. Amir’s ignorance, and selfishness in his younger years, and finally his strength to persevere through how he lived in his past to make things right.

Amir’s ignorance roots from his inability to relate to those that are struggling, the social hierarchy in Afghanistan, especially Kabul, made sure he didn’t see much struggle, hence his ignorance. The differing social status’ between Amir and Hassan wasn’t expressed until they were older, their lives taking different turns, Hassan into house chores and Amir into education. “While I ate [breakfast] and complained about homework, Hassan made my bed, polished my shoes, ironed my outfit for the day, packed my books and pencils.” This added to how Amir’s ignorance of the social power he holds over Hassan, treating him like an equal only when convenient, and then using his status to his advantage, maybe even unknowingly, making him arrogant, eventually only thinking for himself. Amir’s drive for earning his father’s love was interrupted by ignorance of how important his relationship with Hassan was, leading him to make the decision in the alleyway, to run and turn away from Hassan, “I ran because I was a coward. I was afraid of Assef and what he would do to me. I was afraid of getting hurt. That’s what I told myself as I turned my back to the alley, to Hassan.” 

The only reason Amir goes back to Afghanistan is because Rahim Khan called him back to save Sohrab. Amir is successful in bringing Sohrab back to America with him, back to his Afghan community, but is now aware of the social constructs, confronting them instead of ignoring and going with what was considered ‘normal’,  “’And one more thing, General Sahib,’ I said. ‘You will never again refer to him as ‘Hazara boy’ in my presence. He has a name and it’s Sohrab.'” Amir as an older man has gained his independence from what he was taught as a child, his ignorance of the social hierarchy, he has learnt from the past experiences and developed an understanding of his mistakes and set his ignorance aside.

Partnered with his ignorance, Amir never experienced hardship during his childhood, deeming him naturally selfish, he doesn’t absorb the full reality of other peoples situations because he can not see any problems but his own. He concerns himself only with what his father thinks of him and how he can gain his love through his actions as Baba only seems to respond to actions, even though he knows deep down that he could never earn it permanently no matter how hard he tried. Because Amir’s mother died in childbirth, he thinks Baba’s distance is about pinning the blame for her death on him, “…I always felt like Baba hated me a little. And why not? After all, I had killed his beloved wife, his beautiful princess, hadn’t I?” So his self pity also adds to his selfish demeanour, him thinking that everything he does is justified by his need for his fathers approval.

In trying to redeem himself from something that wasn’t his fault, Amir damages the people around him, caring only for his safety and wellbeing, demonstrating his selfishness. Despite his guilt after his negative actions, he does not try to redeem himself, instead sulking in his guilt, not knowing that he has to resolve the problem himself. The magnitude of Amir’s selfishness is how he thinks he can win his father’s love permanently, so much that he thinks winning the tournament is all that matters. When Hassan is raped and Amir is conscious of the event, but doesn’t say anything, “I opened my mouth, almost said something. Almost. The rest of my life might have turned out differently if I had.” His thoughts are on the kite and if it was damaged, fully revealing his selfishness in getting what he wants at the expense of Hassan. “Behind him, sitting on piles of scrap and rubble, was the blue kite. My key to Baba’s heart.”

However, when Amir is older, his idea on acting and confronting his guilt changed from ignoring it to being able to overcome his fear of getting hurt to save Hassan and Sohrab, proving that he has grown emotionally and mentally, “I was older now, but maybe not yet too old to start doing my fighting. Baba had lied about a lot of things as it turned out but he hadn’t lied about that.”, and with this he makes the decision to walk away from what he used to be. His age has affected how he views the world and people, his new clarity on life and himself has come from his experience without other opinions and influences from other people.

Hosseini advertises Amir’s weaknesses more than his strengths but addresses his perseverance many times after his childhood view on Afghanistan, explained through his going back to Afghanistan and saving Sohrab. To do this he gives up his sense of what he thought was security, Rahim Khan had shattered that with news of Hassan being his half brother and then finding out that Hassan and his wife had been shot. However, he pushes his guilt to the side, finds his feet and focuses on finding Sohrab and finally earning his redemption.

When the call from Rahim Khan comes, Amir could no longer ignore what he left in Afghanistan, as guilt always comes back to haunt you, “I knew it wasn’t just Rahim Khan on the line. It was my past of unatoned sins.” Despite his efforts to flee his guilt of letting Hassan get raped, it found him in America in the form of a phone call. This is the first display of perseverance by Amir, showing that he can work through how he has lived previously and develop a new way of thinking that is not dictated by the ‘important’ people in his life.

“There is a way to be good again, he’d said. A way to end the cycle. With a boy. An orphan. Hassan’s son. Somewhere in Kabul.” Amir’s eventual trait of being able to confront his guilt has only come with his age, as he never demonstrated this behaviour when he was younger. To work through his guilt and earning his redemption is a sign of his personal growth, Soraya helping him do what was right as well, as she had made mistakes and found redemption, so she was almost his inspiration to pursue his redemption after so long running from it.

Amir’s personal growth throughout the novel, The Kite Runner, highlights how people in the real world can become more than what they were taught in their early years, the realisation that clarity of self comes with age, as Amir didn’t demonstrate any admirable trait until he was older and he saved Sohrab. Hosseini purposefully did this to accent how a lot of people will mature and find themselves when trying to mend a mistake and find their redemption when they are older. Amir’s ignorance was revealed and discarded as he became aware of how horrible the situation Hassan and his relationship was, and his selfishness turned into selflessness to defend Sohrab. His perseverance shone through when he actually went to Afghanistan to save the last part of Hassan he could, his strength finally showing through his weaknesses. Amir still has a long way to go to fully gain his redemption, but now he has an older mentality to earn it.