The Kite Runner: Post Two

As I read The Kite Runner, a theme that really stands out to me is how the way people influence each other can have good and bad consequences.

One relationship where this is the case is the bond between Amir and Hassan. Amir holds a lot of sway over Hassan, and he is very much aware of this. He sometimes trifles with Hassan's loyalty, like when Hassan said, "Would I ever lie to you, Amir agha?" (Hosseini 54). Amir responds, "I don't know. Would you?" (Hosseini 54). Hassan vows, "I'd sooner eat dirt" (Hosseini 54). Amir decides to tease him, and asks, "Really? You'd do that?" But Hassan continues to be loyal and earnest, replying, "If you asked, I would" (Hosseini 54). Amir sometimes takes this devotion, and the power it gives him, for granted, not realizing how lucky he is to have such a faithful friend as Hassan. As Amir later thinks, "He was just a Hazara, wasn't he?" (Hosseini 77).

Amir has much influence over Hassan, but in turn, Amir's father, Baba, has a great hold over Amir. Throughout his life, Amir has never been able to meet Baba's expectations. The one thing Amir does well that Baba values is fly kites. So when Baba suggests to Amir, "I think maybe you'll win the tournament this year" (Hosseini 56), winning the kite-flying tournament becomes Amir's raison d'etre. Amir yearns for acceptance from his father, and forgiveness for his mother's death when he was born, and believes winning the tournament and bringing the losing kite home to be the only way to earn these things. This influence helps Amir in that it encourages him to do his best to win.

On the other hand, these two influential relationships and the struggles contained in them soon converge into an event of utter malevolence. When Amir finally cuts the string of his last opponent, he is overjoyed, but is concerned about getting that last kite. He scarcely has to tell Hassan, who is an extraordinary 'kite runner'; Hassan assures him, saying, "I'm going to run that kite for you... For you a thousand times over!" (Hosseini 66-67). However, after Hassan has gotten the kite, a group of bullies, whom Hassan previously offended in his defense of Amir, corners him. They offer not to pulverize him if he will give them the kite, but in his loyalty to Amir, Hassan refuses (Hosseini 72). Amir has gone searching for Hassan and his kite, and finds him with the bullies, but he does not interfere, throughout the whole awful episode of violence, because his desire for the kite, and through it his father's approval, is so deep (Hosseini 77).

Because Amir does not fully understand the nature of the many influences in his life, and doesn't have his priorities very well-ordered, his conflicts grow even more twisted and deep. Having betrayed his staunchest ally for the sake of transient attention from his father, it remains to be seen if Amir can find a way to mend the harm he has caused.