Ethnicity make friendship a disaster
Relation with others is what decides how one is identified in their society. In the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, we learn a lot about Amir the protagonist, and Hassan his brother. We are shown the close relationship between Hassan and Amir, despite the fact that they both belong to different ethnic groups. Hassan happens to be a Hazara, while Amir is a Pashtun. Their relation is one, which differs from others, but due to the differences in their ethnic class, we see how it has an impact on Hassan and Amir’s relation.
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There are many different occurrences that occur throughout the novel that this friendship relation can be seen, but in reality it is not. This can be seen at the time when Hassan and Amir wrote their names in a pomegranate tree as the “sultans of Kabul” (Hosseini 4), but their friendship is not proven to be as strong as it is said to be. It is a one sided relation, which is seen to wear out. The cause for their tough relationship is the fact that Amir is Pashtun, and Hassan is Hazara a minority group, so society places Hassan lower than Amir. Due to Hassan’s placement in society Amir is immobilized from becoming real friend with Hassan, which creates a barrier between the two causing them to be close to a certain extent. Because of this, Amir loses the chance of friendship, in order to keep his place in society. An example of this is during the kite tournaments. Amir makes Hassan run with the kite to allow the kite pick up wind in order for it to fly, while Amir takes it easy and flies the kite that is in the air. This is shown in the passage, “Every kite fighter has an assistant-in my case, Hassan-who held the spool and fed the line.”(Hosseini 54). The following reveals that Hassan is given the harder job, and was treated as a pet, in which was told to fetch the kites. This is significant due to the fact that because of Hassan’s ethnic class, he is considered a person of low class, and is not given much respect as Amir would give to a Pashtun.
The spark of guilt inside Amir later becomes extreme for Hassan, which was lit by Baba. Baba had kept the affair with Hassan’s mother a secret until, Rahim Khan had notified Amir about the truth. When Amir found out the news, he had been disturbed after realizing that Hassan a loyal servant, who sacrificed himself many times for Amir, was his brother. In addition to the ethnic pressures, Amir did not want baba’s love for him to split with Hassan. But on the same note Amir plans to strengthen his relationship with Baba. He turns to the sport of kite flying, and with the help of Hassan, Amir wins the tournament, but shows disloyally, and cruelty towards Hassan. When Amir started to act this way, he did not recognize all the things Hassan had done for him. Despite Amir’s hatred towards Hassan, Hassan shows us that he is protective of Amir and does not want any harm to come in Amir’s way, and remains his love and loyalty. This can be seen with them in the yard throwing pebbles at windows and the neighbour’s dog. Amir says, “Hassan never wanted to, but if I asked, he wouldn’t deny me. Hassan never denied me anything” (Hosseini 4). Hassan had also lied to baba in order to protect Amir, “Yes father, Hassan would mumble, looking down at his feet. But he never told on me. Never told that the mirror, like shooting walnuts at the neighbour’s dog, was always my idea” (Hosseini 4). Not only that, Hassan had tried to protect Amir from Assef’s gang. Due to this incident with Assef’s gang, Hassan had been brutally beaten, causing Sohrab to save the two from Assef’s gang. Though Hassan had done a lot for Amir, Amir had not bothered to thank him.
As the novel progressed Amir’s hatred and guilt for Hassan goes beyond extreme, causing Amir to move farther away from Hassan. This can be seen when Amir says, “I’d hear Hassan shuffling around the kitchen in the morning, hear the clinking of the silverware, the whistle of the teapot. I’d wait to hear the door and only then I would walk down to eat” (Hosseini 87). Amir realizes the mistake he has made, when he says, “There was a monster in the lake. It had grabbed Hassan by the ankle, dragged him to the murky bottom. I was that monster” This signifies the role it plays in the separation of Amir and Hassan. At this point of time Amir is aware of the mistakes he had made, but he does not want be close to Hassan again, so he frames Hassan, so he can remove the problem away from his house and life. This way he does not have to put up with anything, but deep down he knew what he had done was wrong.
More or less the friendship shown between Amir and Hassan in Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner is un-comprisable to anything acts of friendship. In reality, a true friendship is one that is your support, which will help one to gain success. This can be considered the the most important aspect to accomplish in one’s life. As shown in the novel, Amir and Hassan’s friendship is not successful. It broke, after Amir’s guilt and hatred went extreme toward Hassan. Unlike a real friendship, in which unbreakable after fights and arguments, people tend to forgive each other, and continue with life. Also we do not see both the friend be there for each other, only Hassan had played his role correctly as a friend of Amir, while Amir was never there for Hassan. This is what decides the creation a healthy friendship, even between people of different ethnic groups. In his book, Khaled Hosseini shows how a strong friendship can be ruined due to their background.
