Wednesday, November 25, 2015

I have a few quotes from The Kite Runner that I need explained! I need to know their significance in the story.1. "You can't love a person who...

In the first quote, Amir is talking about his father, trying to understand their troubled relationship.  Baba is larger than life, strong, influential, with the ability to "(mold) the world to his liking".  The problem with a person who has this much confidence and power is that "he (sees) the world in black and white... and (gets) to decide what (is) black and what (is) white".  Amir, who, under the best of conditions feels inadequate, lives in awe and fear of his father, who consistently attempts to impose his will on his son.  Amir resents his father for his extreme dominance and for the way he makes his son feel even more insignificant.  Sometimes Amir feels these things so strongly, he hates his father (Chapter 4).


In the second quote, Amir continues his exploration of the relationship between himself and his father.  Amir has just written a story of which he is very proud, but when he shows it to Baba, the older man is uninterested, and shows no inclination to read it.  A family friend, Rahim Khan, "rescues" Amir, reaching for the story with an interest that is genuine.  Looking relieved, Baba hands the unexamined writing to Rahim Khan and leaves the room.  Amir is so hurt and angry that his father cares so little about his accomplishments that in that moment, he wishes that he wasn't even related to Baba (Chapter 4).


In the third quote, Amir reflects on his own reaction when Hassan gives him the kite he has retrieved for him.  While he had been running after the kite, Hassan had been accosted by bullies, and been beaten and sodomized by one of them.  Amir had, undetected, witnessed the attack, but had done nothing, having lacked the courage to step forward in defense of the Hazara boy.  When Amir meets up with Hassan again, Hassan, apparently unaware that Amir had seen what had happened, gives the kite to him, and to his great shame, Amir remembers that he had looked to see that the kite was undamaged.  Despite the secret knowledge of what Hassan had gone through to get it, Amir's main concern had selfishly been the condition of the kite.  The realization of his own cowardice and unbelievable self-centeredness produces a sense of self-loathing and guilt within Amir that he will carry with him for perhaps the rest of his life (Chapter 7).

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