The novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Husseini, presents the relationships between Amir and Hassan. Amir is the son of a well-known man in all of the Kabul, Afghanistan; he grows up in this town and develops a friendship with his servant’s son, named Hassan. Time creates numerous challenges, which affect the lives of these two characters. One day, Amir got a chance to save Hassan’s life, but the way he acted had significant consequences on the lives of both boys and led them to choose separate paths.
The idea of friendship in The Kite Runner is considered to be one of the most important, particularly in terms of how friendship is appreciated by boys of different classes, how close the concepts of friendship and betrayal can be, and how the genuine idea of guilt may influence the consequences of friendship and future of other people’s lives.
“But he’s not my friend!…He’s my servant!” (Hosseini 41) This phrase by young Amir reflects his attitude to his friendship with Hassan, his comprehension of the essence of friendship in general, and his fear to realize that a poor boy may signify something more in his life than just a servant. The idea that friendship may be experienced because of social inequalities helps to analyze the bond as it is. Even though boys spend their childhood in the same houses, their status inequality bothers Amir all the time and makes him jealous of Hassan.
Rich people cannot allow themselves to make friends with poor people; such their attitude to the relations between humans shows that money, status, and recognition are somewhere above pure human feelings and interests. In my opinion, in this case, the attitude of poor people to friendship is purer and more humane: “for you a thousand times over!” (Hosseini 67) Poor Hassan never thinks about the consequences of his actions, which are directed to help his best friend, Amir, and always wonders if something may bother his friend (Hosseini 23). These attitudes to the friendship of people from different classes prove how considerable the financial position may be.
This essay on The Kite Runner proves that the idea of friendship and betrayal becomes the central one in this novel as well. Although Amir comprehends that his actions are wrong and unfair in regards to Hassan, he is too weak to ask for forgiveness and is ready to find out many reasons to keep silence and to avoid answering (Hosseini 111). The characters of the novel comprehend that fear is everywhere “in the streets, in the stadium, in the markets, it is a part of our lives here” (Hosseini 216), however, they cannot comprehend that the fear of betrayal is more severe and more terrible.
It is impossible to predict the results of betrayal, and this is why its fear may destroy the personality from the inside. Amir cannot even describe the “depth and blackness of the sorrow that came” (Hosseini 301) to find out the forgiveness. The friendship theme in The Kite Runner captivates and touches mind indeed, however, the concept of betrayal of friendship should affect not only the mind but also soul and teach its readers to accept friendship as it is, without paying attention to social status, original roots, and color of skin.
It is challenging for many people to take into consideration the events of the present to improve their own and other people’s futures. The Kite Runner is the novel that helps to comprehend how attitudes to friendship and friendship itself may have an impact on the future of different people. Mistakes, made by Amir in the past, led to the tragic end of Hassan but saved Hassan’s son, Sohrab’s future, and allowed Amir to see the smile on Sohrab’s face “lopsided. Hardly there. But there” (Hosseini 370).
Amir’s unforgivable sin (Hosseini106), his theft of Hassan’s safe future, cannot allow him to enjoy that smile, that happiness, that fairness. He comprehends that it is “better to get hurt by the truth than comforted with a lie” (Hosseini 58), but it was too late to save Amir and Hassan’s friendship, but it was just in time to save another life, the life of Sohrab.
One mistake in the past, one betrayal and abandonment of a friend, and one lie to a father have made Amir’s life beautiful and terrible at the same time. His inabilities to cope with his own fears made him weak and unfair to himself. However, his mistakes are educative indeed. The idea of friendship in The Kite Runner is correctly described by the author.
It helps to comprehend the essence of truth and the necessity to ask for forgiveness and to be able to forgive. Each person is under a threat of making mistakes and suffering because of them, and this story and the friendship, described there, teach its readers to develop pure friendship and not to be prejudiced by social inequality or different origins. Only in case human fears disappear, people will get a chance to create good friendly relations and enjoy these relations day by day.
Works Cited
Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. New York: The Berkley Publishing Group, 2003.