The Kite Runner

by Khaled Hosseini

Canada: Anchor, 2003. p. 391

Question:

Why does Amir fight so hard to take custody of Hassan's son?

Answer:

     As a child, Amir had constantly tried Hassan's loyalty towards him.  Hassan was his willing servant, devoted friend, and as he later found out, his brother.  As a Hazara boy, Hassan was constantly bullied and tormented by the other Kabul boys in his town, most commonly Assef, the town bully.  Kabul, the town in which Amir and Hassan reside in, holds kiting contests.  It is a contest in which all the kiters in the town come out with their kites and fight all the other ones.  It was considered a great honour to catch the winning kite.  Hassan is considered the best kite runner in all of Kabul, though it is not recognized as he was Hazara, a race considered lower in society.  He seems to always know where the kites are going to land, and he always catches the kites and hands them to Amir, making it seem like Amir was a great kite runner. 

     The happy friendship does not last for very long, however, as Amir witnesses Hassan's rape by Assef, and does nothing to stop it.  He is greatly troubled by this event, and feels very guilty for not helping his friend.  He starts to ignore his friend, as he does not want to show to Hassan that he had seen his friend in pain and had not tried to help.  Hassan tries to figure out why his friend is ignoring him, but to no avail.  As his guilt gets worse, Amir starts to resent what he has done, or what he had not done.  He forms a plan to get rid of Hassan and his father from his house.  He frames Hassan for a theft.  He immediately feels guilty for this, however, and tried to redeem himself, but Hassan's father had already taken the decision to leave.

    The Russians then invade Kabul, and Amir and his father, a wealthy merchant, take refuge and run from Kabul.  Many years later, Amir gets a phone call from an old friend.  He finds out that Hassan has been murdered, along with all the other Hazaras.  He also finds out that in those years in which Amir had been absent from Hassan's life, Hassan had gotten married, and his wife had borne him a son.  Amir must go collect Hassan's son from the war torn nation of Afghanistan.

    I believe that Amir tried so hard to take custody of Hassan's son because he feels guilty about his past.  I think that he feels he must redeem himself for the hurt that he had caused Hassan, and that the only way to do so, now that Hassan is dead, is through his son.