Steve Hall

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The Influences People Have on Others An Essay on the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Housseni ENG3U Written by Steve Hall For Mrs. L. Wickett 4/30/2013

The Kite Runner, by Khaled Housseni

Steve Hall

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It is said that people come into others lives for a reason. In the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Housseni, this is very true for the protagonist, Amir. Characters in this novel help shape Amir and help him have a deeper understanding of himself as a person. They do this by teaching him something, showing him something he did not know about himself, or adding something important to his life, by filling a void that is otherwise empty.

Throughout the novel, The Kite Runner, the narrator, Amir has many people surrounding him who teach him things about himself and the world around him. Some are eager to do this, and teach him intentionally; though Amir also learns a lot from those who are unaware they are teaching him. The things people in Amirs life teach him influence him, shape him into the fully grown both emotionally and physically person he is at the novel, and help him understand his place on earth, ultimately helping him to succeed in life.

An example of a character that is eager to teach Amir strategies on how to succeed and facts about life is Rahim Khan, one of Amirs fathers business associates and close friends. Rahim strives to help Amir understand who he is and how he fits into the big wide world. He teaches him strategies on how to succeed. He does this in instances, such as, when Amir is a young boy and feels Baba hates him. Rahim explains to Amir, that Baba, in fact, does not hate him; he is just a person whose respect is earned quite difficultly. Rahim also shares with Amir, facts about life, Rahim possesses from the wisdom he has, after acquiring it over many years. An instance of this is when Rahim calls Amir in America, stating that he must return to Kabul, Afghanistan to visit him and that there is a way to be good again. (Housseni 1) A recurring
The page number to where this quotation is located is unknown at this time; however it was said by the character, Rahim Khan, in the novel The Kite Runner, written by Khaled Housseni.
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The Kite Runner, by Khaled Housseni

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theme in this novel is the search for redemption, focusing on the fact that Amir struggles with internal problems, and he feels as though he must redeem his soul some how, since he witnessed his best friend later revealed as his brother be brutally raped, by Assef, an older boy who has a passionate hate for Hazaras. Rahim shows Amir that the way to redeem himself and cease the struggles he faces internally, is to retrieve Hassans son Sohrab, who has been sold as a sex slave to Assef, following Hassans assassination. Rahim is portrayed as a slightly omniscient character, in a sense that he is a fly on the wall that is very good at reading people. It is also implied that different characters in the novel share a lot with Rahim Khan. The reader can infer that Hassan has shared the memory of his rape with Rahim in later years. Rahim holds knowledge to characters pasts and deep thoughts, therefore he is able to stand as a guardian for Amir and help guide him across the rickety bridge that life is, as best as he can.

Another character who teaches Amir about life and about himself is of course, Amirs father, known as Baba. Baba lives by the strict belief that there is only one sin, and that is theft. He explains this by stating examples such as, if you lie, you steal someones right to the truth. If you murder, you steal a life, you steal a womans husband, a childs father, and so on. Baba teaches this to Amir intentionally, and it sticks inside Amirs head. Amir remembers this when he wants Hassan and Ali to leave their house, so he frames Hassan by hiding his watch in Hassans belongings, thus, making Hassan look like a thief. Unintentionally, Baba teaches Amir to stand up for what is right and to speak up when witnessing a wrong doing. He does this, when traveling to Pakistan with Amir, a Soviet soldier says that the only way their van will be

The Kite Runner, by Khaled Housseni

Steve Hall

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granted passage is if he gets to have 20 minutes with the woman in the back (Housseni 2) implying sexual intercourse by force. At this moment, Baba stands up and declares that to get to the woman, the soldier has to go through Baba. Amir pleads to Baba to sit down and remain silent, but Baba refuses, and ends up succeeding in getting the soldier to leave. As the van is driving away, the womans husband comes over and thanks Baba, saying he is a very good man. At this moment, Amir realizes how important respect and dignity is in the world.

Another way characters influence Amir and help him grow to become a successful, happy and hard-working member of society is by showing him traits of good people, or showing him traits he possesses. For example, Hassan is a character who shows Amir traits good people possess, because Hassan is a good, hard-working human being. Therefore, in a sense, Hassan is leading by example, and showing Amir how to impress others, because the truth is, Hassan is an impressively respectable and admirable person. A character who shows Amir traits he possesses is Assef. The traits that Assef highlights in Amir are not good ones.

Amir as a young boy, growing up with Hassan, a servant who will do anything to please him - such as even eat dirt goes to Amirs head. However, Amir realizes this fact when throwing pomegranates at Hassan, and Hassan will do nothing to stand up for himself, but instead breaks a pomegranate on himself. At first, Amir thinks this makes Hassan weak, because he will not stand up for himself, and Baba has always shown Amir that you must stand up for yourself when you are being wronged. Soon after, Amir comes to the realization that Hassan is not weak because he wont retaliate he is strong. Amir learns from Hassans
The page number to where this quotation is located is unknown at this time; it is said by a corrupt soldier of the Soviet Union to the driver of the van Baba and Amir are traveling to Pakistan in, in the novel The Kite Runner, written by Khaled Housseni.
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The Kite Runner, by Khaled Housseni

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demonstration that in life, he must pick his battles. He must differentiate what is worth fighting for, and what is not. Amir sees how Baba admires that Hassan is so respectful of everyone, and Amir wants nothing more than Babas admiration, so later in life, Amir learns to be as respectful as Hassan to the people that are around him, subsequently earning Babas respect.

Although Assef is a perfect example for Amir of how not to behave in society, Assef also has a special way in the novel of showing Amir what is wrong with him. Assef, being a very negative person, highlights negativity in others. He does this to Amir when they are young by threatening him, and Amir has Hassan fight his battles. Assef then laughs and jeers at Amir because he is nothing but a coward, and has Hassan to fight all of his battles. This ruminates with Amir, and it is one of the events that trigger him to set out and change his ways to be braver, along with Baba standing up for the woman in the van later in the novel.

Amir struggles with a lot of dark memories internally. He is reminded of his dark past everyday, and one of the recurring themes in The Kite Runner is the persistence of the past especially in the case of Amir. There is no kind of medicine or surgery that can help Amir. Amirs heart has holes in it from what happened to him as a child. His guilt wears away at it. The only thing that can help him is to find love to fill the voids in his heart.

He finds his first love in America, working at the flea market. Amir discovers his swapmeet princess, Soraya. Soraya soon becomes his wife, and she fills a small void in his heart and life with love and support. Soraya is his rock. Theres nothing more that they want than to

The Kite Runner, by Khaled Housseni

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have a family, and share all of their love with a child. This child could be the the answer to filling the last hole in Amirs heart. Unfortunately, it is discovered that Soraya and Amir are unable to have children of their own. When Amir returns to Afghanistan, he finds there was another reason Rahim called him to come visit. Hassans son is an orphan in trouble. Amir sets out to find Hassan, rescue him, bring him to America and be part of his and Sorayas life. Hassans son Sohrab is the key to Amirs redemption the key to filling the void. Sohrab is a person Amir can love unconditionally and share everything he has learned with. Near the ending of the novel The Kite Runner, when Amir returns to Afghanistan as an adult and is on his journey to rescue Sohrab, Assef says the only way he will let Sohrab be free is if he has the opportunity to beat Amir repeatedly. Amir agrees, to save Sohrab, and Assef laughs and jeers at Amir, once again, teasing, saying that he has not changed and is still a coward.

At this point in the novel however, Amir has grown and learned the tricks of the trade to being a good person. He understands himself and his purpose on earth, and his acceptance to being beaten by Assef is not a cowardly act, but rather an act of immense bravery. He knows from what Rahim Khan had taught him, he must redeem himself to be good again. He knows from what Baba had taught him that the only true sin is theft, and Assef is stealing Sohrabs right to a safe life. He also knows from Babas act in the van traveling to Pakistan, it is braver to try and cease an act of cruelty and possibly fail, rather than sit and witness the act of cruelty happen and do nothing about it. Amir knows from watching Hassan that in life, he must pick his battles, and this is definitely one to be selected. The things people have shown him, taught him and done for him helped him realize what he needed to do to have his pride, and not only his pride, but Sohrab as well. At the end of the novel, all voids in his life

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have been filled. He has a wife, Soraya, whom he cares for deeply, and an adopted son, care for, share his knowledge of the world with, and to love, a thousand times over.

Word Count: 1760

The Kite Runner, by Khaled Housseni