The Relationship Between Baba and Amir in The Kite Runner, written by Khaled Hosseini.

Authors Avatar by batleny (student)

The Relationship Between Baba and Amir

“The Kite Runner,” written by Khaled Hosseini, is a novel about growing up in Afghanistan during the civil war, and later moving to America as Afghan immigrants. Throughout the novel, the relationship between fathers and sons plays a very important role. The relationship between Baba and Amir is probably the most important one, and through the course of the novel, their relationship changes accordingly to emphasize the transition from childhood to adulthood.

Throughout Amir’s childhood in Afghanistan, Amir and Baba’s differences causes them to have a very distinct relationship; however, on the inside, they are both closely related as they have both gone against many of the values that Baba regards so highly. Even though Amir spends most of his childhood trying to live up to his father’s expectations, Baba never feels the father-son connection that Amir so deeply longs for. As seen very early on, their personalities and preferences are highly contrasting. Amir is an introvert, insecure boy, while Baba is a confident and proud man, who is highly admired in Afghanistan. Due to his introvert self, Amir spends most of his time reading books and poetry; he is even so good at poetry that he can recite more than anyone in his class. In chapter three, Baba even goes as far as to say that “If [he] hadn’t seen the doctor pull [Amir] out of [his] wife, [he’d] never believe that [Amir was his] son,” (23) as the way they act is so different. Baba wants Amir to be an athlete like him, who stands up for himself, but Amir is not talented at soccer and does not have an interest in Baba’s sport of choice. Once, Baba took Amir to a Buzkashi tournament. During the tournament, one of the chapandaz fell of his horse and was trampled to death. This caused Amir to cry all the way home, and instead of comforting him, all Baba did was try and hide his disgust for his son’s weak nature. Another point of concern for Baba is that Amir does not stand up for himself, and as he quotes, “a boy who won’t stand up for himself becomes a man who can’t stand up to anything.” (233) Later in the book, we find out that even though Baba seems perfect compared to Amir on the outside, they are both very closely related, as they have both gone against many of values that Baba regards so highly. First of all, they have both betrayed their best friends; Amir, by not standing up for Hassan when he was assaulted by Assef and his friends, and Baba, by sleeping with Ali’s wife, Sanuabar. On the outside, Baba always seems like the perfect man who everyone looks up to, but when studying him in detail, there are many bad sides to him. We also find out later that it is not only Amir that has lied, but also Baba. One of the times that Amir lies is when he accuses Hassan of stealing his watch, which ultimately leads to Hassan and Ali leaving their house. But Amir is not the only one guilty of sinning. Baba, too, goes against his very own principle, which says that “when you tell a lie, you steal someone’s right to the truth.” (17) At the end of the story, it becomes known that Hassan was in fact Amir’s real brother, which Baba had lied about for the whole duration of the story. This is highly ironic as Baba breaks the very values that he himself regards as being so sacred and fundamental.

Join now!

As Amir goes into adulthood, and him and Baba flee from Afghanistan to go and live in America, their relationship blossoms and becomes real as they help each other and care for each other in order to start a new life in a land that is equally foreign to both of them. Once a wealthy man, Baba has to work long hours in America in order to live the life he used to. Amir, being a young man now, helps his father with all his chores, and goes with him to the flea market in the week-ends to sell whatever ...

This is a preview of the whole essay