“‘There is no act more wretched than stealing, Amir,’ Baba said” (Hosseini 18). This is said within the first few pages of The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini and helps set the tone for the rest of the novel. Baba has a very set-in-stone way of looking at life, but his actions don’t always reflect this. Baba’s view of the world and what he considers the worst sin affects his son Amir negatively. This negative effect can be seen in Baba’s hypocritical actions, in Amir’s views of Baba, and ultimately in who Amir becomes due to Baba’s lack of a relationship with him. First, throughout the novel, it is clear that Baba’s actions are very hypocritical to the statement he made at the beginning of the story. During a conversation with Amir at the
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It is clear from the beginning of the novel that Amir and Baba don’t have the best relationship. Amir says, “I remembered all the times he didn’t come home until after dark, all the times I ate dinner alone… he was at the construction site, overlooking this, supervising that…I already hated all the kids he was building the orphanage for; sometimes I wished they'd all died along with their parents” (Hosseini 18). The lack of a good relationship between the two caused Amir to be hateful and even immoral at times. The first sign of this was when he was trying to win the kite fighting contest. Amir thought this was his chance to get to his father. In the book it states, “I was going to win, and I was going to run that last kite. Then I’d bring it home and show it to Baba. Show him once and for all that his son is worthy. Then maybe my life as a ghost in this house would finally be over” (Hosseini 56). Amir thought this was the only way to gain Baba’s approval, but it wasn’t even just winning, he wanted to bring home the last kite to his dad, too. This led him to not do anything to help Hassan in the alley that day. Amir states, “I actually aspired to cowardice, because the alternative, the real reason I was running, was that Assef was right: Nothing was free in this world. Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba” (Hosseini 77). Amir was willing to sacrifice his relationship with Hassan, just to gain his father’s approval. Baba’s lack of parenting also comes up later in the story when he was diagnosed with cancer. This is also the point in the story when Baba’s worst fear comes true, that Amir cannot stand alone. In the book, it states, “‘What about me, Baba? What am I supposed to do?’ I said…‘You’re twenty-two years old, Amir! A grown man!…What’s going to happen to you, you say? All those years, that’s what I
It is clear from the beginning of the novel that Amir and Baba don’t have the best relationship. Amir says, “I remembered all the times he didn’t come home until after dark, all the times I ate dinner alone… he was at the construction site, overlooking this, supervising that…I already hated all the kids he was building the orphanage for; sometimes I wished they'd all died along with their parents” (Hosseini 18). The lack of a good relationship between the two caused Amir to be hateful and even immoral at times. The first sign of this was when he was trying to win the kite fighting contest. Amir thought this was his chance to get to his father. In the book it states, “I was going to win, and I was going to run that last kite. Then I’d bring it home and show it to Baba. Show him once and for all that his son is worthy. Then maybe my life as a ghost in this house would finally be over” (Hosseini 56). Amir thought this was the only way to gain Baba’s approval, but it wasn’t even just winning, he wanted to bring home the last kite to his dad, too. This led him to not do anything to help Hassan in the alley that day. Amir states, “I actually aspired to cowardice, because the alternative, the real reason I was running, was that Assef was right: Nothing was free in this world. Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba” (Hosseini 77). Amir was willing to sacrifice his relationship with Hassan, just to gain his father’s approval. Baba’s lack of parenting also comes up later in the story when he was diagnosed with cancer. This is also the point in the story when Baba’s worst fear comes true, that Amir cannot stand alone. In the book, it states, “‘What about me, Baba? What am I supposed to do?’ I said…‘You’re twenty-two years old, Amir! A grown man!…What’s going to happen to you, you say? All those years, that’s what I