Assignment 3: Amir and Hasssan

The animosity between Amir and Hasssan is apparent in the text. Their relationship seems to be a complicated one because there is constantly mixed feelings. But after reading the chapters I have come to the conclusion that the meaning of their friendship meant two different things to both parties involved.

Amir is desparate for his father’s approval, this is why he gets jealous and envious of Hassan when Baba him attention.I also think there is a possibility that Amir is just being friendly to Hassan because if he treated him with disrespect his father would disapprove of him even more because Baba had such a soft for him.

When it came down to tough situations Amir’s thoughts went straight to him labeling Hassan as the servant boy and as one of the ‘flat-nosed’ Hazaras.We see this on page 41 when the bullying occurred when they were walking one day. The every first thought he had was, “ but he is not my friend! I almost blurted bout. He’s my servant!” If Amir truly respected and believed in their friendship he would have shouted a comeback out immediately to stand up for his friend and protect his rights as a human being.

Amir even resented the fact that Baba paid for Hassan to have plastic surgery on his harelip. On page 46 he even goes to the extent to state that he wished that he had a scar to gain Baba’s sympathy, he didn’t think it was fair.

We can see Amir’s approach to Hassan was one like a master to their servant. I think we can see this even in the simple things. Even though Hassan was a much better kite runner and Amir admitted to it he assigned him as his assistant in the competitions.

Hassan would do anything for his friend even confessing he would eat dirt for him on page 54, “ if you asked I would”. He clearly loved his friend without limitations and took their friendship as one he cherished most in his life. Amir was playing a sick game with him. He loved taunting him about the things he could find that he held over him, like his vocabulary. Since he was so jealous about the relationship he had had with Baba, he focused on Hassan’s short-comings to make him feel better about himself.

Therefore, the two boys have total opposite approaches. Hassan is a true friend to Amir, but Amir sees Hassan as just a servant who he is pressured to be nice to him to avoid more disapproval from his father.