The Kite Runner: Character Analysis of Amir

Overview of The Kite Runner and Its Protagonist

Khaled Hosseini wrote and published The Kite Runner in 2003 (Miles 207–209). By 2005 the book had become a bestseller in the United States, and by 2007 it had been adapted into a film. Despite its success, it is considered a challenged book that confronts many issues regarding Afghan culture. In some ways, the controversies surrounding the novel have obscured its accomplishments. After just two years in print, Hosseini's book reached number three on the New York Times Bestseller List — a remarkable achievement given that English is Hosseini's second language (Miles 207–209).

The Kite Runner offers its readers a complex look into political history through an individual tale of friendship, betrayal, and jealousy. The book also provides insight into immigrant communities in the United States, giving a closer look at what it means to be away from one's homeland (Aubry and Timothy 25–43). This personal story about a boy and Afghan friendship is not only a way to explore contemporary Afghanistan — it also serves as a parallel to the nation of America as a whole (Miles 207–209).

While other coming-of-age stories tend to conclude in adolescence or early adulthood, we follow the main character of this story well into middle age. This raises questions about the novel's genre; however, it is clearly a story about redemption and atonement, and can therefore be justified as a coming-of-age narrative — the protagonist simply took longer to arrive at maturity (Miles 207–209). Amir is a very complex character seen in three dimensions: the selfish and confused boy in Afghanistan, the regretful and guilty man in America, and the fully grown man who finally does some good by returning to Afghanistan.

Amir is both the narrator and the protagonist of the novel, and is a Pashtun and Sunni Muslim (Shamel 181–186). Although not a completely sympathetic character, he is one for whom most readers feel compassion. His father, Baba, is wealthy by Afghan standards, and as a result Amir grows up accustomed to having what he wants. The only thing he feels deprived of is a deep emotional connection with Baba, which he blames on himself. He believes Baba wishes Amir were more like him, and that Baba holds him responsible for his mother's death during childbirth (Al-Saudeary 233–249).

Amir's Jealousy, Cowardice, and Betrayal of Hassan

Amir consequently behaves jealously toward anyone who receives Baba's affection, and his relationship with Hassan only intensifies this. Though Hassan is Amir's best friend, Amir views Hassan — a Hazara servant — as beneath him. Even though the novel describes the two as very close, Amir states: "The curious thing was, I never thought of Hassan and me as friends" (Hosseini 4.4). He knew that Hassan would never say no to him, and throughout the book Hassan is portrayed as someone who does everything for Amir. This is where Amir's selfishness is most apparent, though the novel makes clear that he is also simply a confused boy.

When Hassan receives Baba's attention, Amir tries to assert himself by passive-aggressively attacking Hassan — mocking his ignorance, for instance, or playing tricks on him. At the same time, Amir never learns to stand up for himself against others because Hassan always defends him: "Hassan never denied me anything. And he was deadly with his slingshot. Hassan's father, Ali, used to catch us and get mad… 'Yes, Father,' Hassan would mumble, looking down at his feet. But he never told on me" (Hosseini 2.2–3). Hassan's fierce loyalty was well known to Amir, who took advantage of it even as jealousy consumed him. All of these factors contribute to his eventual cowardice in sacrificing Hassan — his only competition for Baba's love — in order to secure the blue kite that he believes will bring him Baba's approval.

The defining point of Amir's character is the rape in the alleyway, where he witnesses Hassan being thrown to the ground by three thugs and raped by Assef. This occurs immediately after Amir's kite-fighting victory, as Hassan was retrieving the kite as a trophy Amir could present to his father. The arc of Amir's character in the novel centers on his growth from a selfish child to a selfless adult (Shamel 181–186). After allowing Hassan to be raped, Amir is no happier. He handles his guilt in a cruel manner, which intensifies his portrayal at the start of the novel as a coward. Rather than telling Baba about the rape, or even confessing to Hassan that he had witnessed it, his anguish manifests as aggression.

This aggression is most visible in the scene at the pomegranate tree — a tree supposedly representing the boys' friendship, with the inscription "Amir and Hassan, the sultans of Kabul" carved into its trunk. When they return to the tree after the rape, everything has changed. Amir torments Hassan by pelting him with pomegranates, frustrated that Hassan will not fight back. He wants Hassan to get angry, to blame him for the rape, just as Amir blames himself. Eventually, Amir decides to drive Hassan and Ali away entirely by framing Hassan for the theft of money and a watch. In an act of heartbreaking loyalty, Hassan falsely confesses to the theft. At this point in the novel Amir appears to be nothing more than a spoiled child unable to manage his emotions. Yet his guilt is relentless, and he recognizes that his selfishness has cost him his happiness rather than secured it.