The Kite Runner: Opinion Two

"'I am moftakhir, Amir,' he said. Proud. His eyes gleamed when he said that and I liked being on the receiving end of that look." 

(page 131)

One of the themes of the book is the relationship between father and son. In The Kite Runner, the simple, easy father and son relationship is Ali and Hassan. I realized very quickly that their relationship is one of great love, as Ali is incredibly proud of Hassan, especially since the boy is all he has. However, the audience then sees the relationship between Amir and Baba; theirs is definitely one of great complexity and cannot be so easily categorized. For instance, it seems that Amir believed throughout his childhood that he was a great disappointment to Baba; he spent his entire childhood waiting for the moment when he could say "Baba and I were finally friends" (page 85). However, when they arrived in America, it seems that Amir's relationship with Baba changed quite a bit. They became closer and Baba did not seem to be so disappointed in his son; this could just be from the maturing of Amir, but I thought it had more to do with the peace and freedom American meant for Amir. He was more comfortable in the new country, and Baba relied upon him for much. I also found it to be interesting that once cancer struck Baba, he and Amir's relationship definitely improved; I feel as if this happens most times in relationships such as this. The first half of the book caused me to recognize the importance of the father/son relationship of Amir's maturation. If Baba and Amir's relationship would have been different, Amir would be a very different individual and many of the moments that occurred in The Kite Runner would not have happened how they did.