Friendship In The Kite Runner

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Pages: 2

“Friends show their love in times of trouble, not in happiness.” (Euripides, the great Athenian playwright and poet). This quote introduces the idea of friendship. The oxford dictionary states that the definition of friendship is a person with whom one has a bond of mutual affection, typically one exclusive of sexual or family relations. In Khaled Hosseini’s national bestselling novel The Kite Runner, the protagonist Amir has a complicated relationship with his friend Hassan. Both boys live a similar life in Afghanistan however, Amir is a wealthy Pashtun and Hassan is his Hazara servant. Amir and Hassan’s relationship is not a good example of friendship because Hassan would do anything for Amir, whereas Amir does not treat Hassan equally and …show more content…
Amir constantly teases Hassan for his lack of knowledge. “My favourite part of reading to Hassan was when we came across a big word that he didn’t know. I’d tease him, expose his ignorance.” (Hosseini, 30). A good friend would help their friend learn and become more knowledgeable instead of taking advantage of his shortage of intelligence. In addition, Amir consistently regards Hassan as a Hazara. “A voice, cold and dark, suddenly whispered in my ear, What does he know, that illiterate Hazara? He’ll never be anything but a cook, How dare he criticize you?”(Hosseini, 37). A good friend would not view their friend as someone below them regardless of how everyone else views them. Amir has the mindset that although they are friends, he is better than Hassan because Hassan is a Hazara. Furthermore, Amir betrays Hassan when he sees Hassan being harassed and eventually raped by a group of bullies. This situation would have been avoided or stopped if Amir were to stick up for his friend. “I could step into that alley, stand up for Hassan--- the way he’d stood up for me all those times in the past--- and accept whatever would happen to me. Or I could