Thursday 30 May 2013

My thoughts on Amir

As we're just finishing the Kite Runner, I thought I would share my thoughts on Amir. It seems like people either love him or hate him. I'm more towards the side of liking him. I think that everything he does that is wrong is just him being very scared, and he always feels bad about what he did after. For example, when he makes fun of Hassan for being illiterate, he is just doing it because he is scared that Baba likes Hassan better than him, Amir, Baba's own child, which I'm sure anyone could understand. Then after, he feels bad about it and realizes that he shouldn't have done it. As well, when he doesn't stand up for Hassan in the alley, it is just because he is scared of being beat up by Assef, and by not being able to take the kite back to Baba. We know how guilty he feels after this because this incident haunts him for the rest of his life. It isn't until he meets Assef again, years later that he realizes that he has to stand up for what is right and learns the lesson that Baba has been trying to teach him for years. He laughs as Assef punches him because his guilt is leaving him because he has finally redeemed himself, and because he has finally learned Baba's lesson. Therefore, I think that Amir was a good person, just very scared because of everything that happened to him and how he was treated by Baba.

2 comments:

  1. Alexandra, I very much agree with your assertion that Amir's past mistakes are the result of his fear. The first couple of times I read the novel, I disliked Amir, but the more I think about his character, the more I feel for him.

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  2. I also agree that Amir was a good person. Just because he didn't have the guts or the strength to stand up for the rape doesn't make him a bad person. I also agree the guilt had stayed with him his whole life and therefore he feels responsible for everything that later happens to Hassan. This guilt drives him to stand up!

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