Discuss Amir's relationship with Baba. How does it change after he wins the tournament? How does it change after they arrive in America? How does it change after Baba gets sick?
Before the tournament, Amir longed for Baba's approval. Amir believed that if he won the tournament, Baba would be proud of him. When he wins, Baba shows his pride for his son, which makes Amir happy, and barely alleviates the guilt Amir has for not standing up for Hassan. When they arrive in America, Baba and Amir have to work together to basically stay alive, and Baba is not as happy as he was when he was in his home country. When Baba gets sick, Amir and Baba's relationship gets extremely strong, since Amir has to take care of him. Their relationship also gets stronger when they share the moment of asking Soraya to marry Amir. It was a father-son bond that needed to happen and it made them both happy.
Amir is constantly trying to gain a certain love from Baba that Baba will never be able to give him. Amir is longing for a loving father figure that praises him and is proud of him yet only a few times such as when Amir won the kite tournament was Amir ever able to feel of only a hint of that love he longed for and it didn't last long. But finally Amir is able to find peace even if it is after Baba is dead. Even with the anger and sadness that comes with it, when Rhahim Khan tells Amir the truth, it finally all makes since to him. He finally understands why Baba could never truly love him b/c he was Baba's shame and guilt. Baba saw too much of himself in Amir. I can't find the quote but it was the one that talked about how Amir will always be the shame of Baba and talks about the love between him and Hassan. After Baba ges sick and they arrive in America, Amir and Baba's relationship seemed to be better b/c they were away from Hassan and that constant jealousy/ struggle for love.
Chelsea, I like how you brought in the fact that Baba never wanted to over-love either of the boys, especially when he was hiding the truth that they were related. It must have been hard for Baba to keep it a secret, and he must have felt guilt for keeping it from both of them. You are right, I think Baba could never give him full love because of Hassan, and Amir and Baba's relationship got better in time after Hassan parted.
Kara I agree with you when you say that after Amir wins the kite tournament that Baba shows pride but that pride doesn't last. It goes back to their old relationship so it doesn't really fix anything. I think through most of America though that their relationship was better than it was in Kabul.
Wow, Baba’s attitude towards Amir does a complete 180 after the tournament and for once he is proud of his son. What is disturbing about Amir’s feelings is that once Baba shows him love, Amir does not care about what he saw happen to Hassan, he only wants to think about himself and his relationship with Baba. When they came to America, Baba gave Amir even more attention because his other son, Hassan, wasn’t there to distract and make Baba feel guilty. As Baba gets lung cancer, he is childish and stubborn and Amir becomes the responsible one by making sure Baba takes his medicine and does not cause fights at the doctor’s office. In his last days, Amir was the sole focus of Baba’s life.
Amir's relationship with Baba while they were in Afghanistan was always very shaky. Amir continually attempted to win Baba's love, but he always thought of Hassan as a barrier that prevented Baba from truly loving Amir as a son. After the kite tournament, Amir was finally able to win Baba's affection, though this "love" did not last long. Amir's guilt about what he did to Hassan kept him from enjoying Baba's newfound affection toward him, which he had worked so hard to win. When they moved to America, and Hassan no longer was in the picture, Baba and Amir had a much closer relationship. For Baba, Hassan's absence meant he no longer had to split his affection between his "rightful" son, Amir, and his "true" son, Hassan. He no longer had Hassan to compare Amir to, and illustrate how cowardly Amir was. For Amir, Hassan's absence provided an opportunity for him to attempt to hide his past sins and forget everything that had happened. When Baba got sick, their relationship becomes even stronger, although it caused Amir and Baba to switch roles, with Amir as the caretaker watching after his father.
Grace- Amir did care about what happened to Hassan. If he didn't care, then he never would have even felt guilty about not helping Hassan in the first place. He would've been able to brush it off and never think about it or be troubled by it again. He carried the guilt with him essentially for the rest of his life until Sohrab came along, so I think he did really care about Hassan, he just seriously messed up. His guilt showed that he really did care and that he did actually have a conscience.
Amir's relationship with Baba wasn't a good one. Amir always wanted Baba to recognize him for the things he did, even though they weren't exactly what Baba wanted him to do. When Amir wins the tournament, he gets all of the attention, and he relishes in it. But, when they arrive in America it changes for the better, mostly because Hassan wasn't there. Amir and Baba get closer, and when Baba gets sick they aren't as close because Baba basically wants to die and not get treatments while Amir doesn't want him to leave him.
Emily, my evidence for saying that Amir initially DID NOT care about Hassan can be found in the last sentence of the chapter in which Hassan was raped. Amir, just like any desperate and foolish twelve year old boy, was only wrapped up with winning Baba's love. You say that Amir's guilt proves that he cared about Hassan, but that guilt that built up overtime was obviously not strong enough for Amir to tell anybody about what happened to Hassan. (well, he did tell about thirty years later, and that was just to clear his own conscience) And, if Amir really did care about Hassan, then why did he drive Hassan off with the whole stolen watch incident?
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Before the tournament, Amir longed for Baba's approval. Amir believed that if he won the tournament, Baba would be proud of him. When he wins, Baba shows his pride for his son, which makes Amir happy, and barely alleviates the guilt Amir has for not standing up for Hassan. When they arrive in America, Baba and Amir have to work together to basically stay alive, and Baba is not as happy as he was when he was in his home country. When Baba gets sick, Amir and Baba's relationship gets extremely strong, since Amir has to take care of him. Their relationship also gets stronger when they share the moment of asking Soraya to marry Amir. It was a father-son bond that needed to happen and it made them both happy.
Amir is constantly trying to gain a certain love from Baba that Baba will never be able to give him. Amir is longing for a loving father figure that praises him and is proud of him yet only a few times such as when Amir won the kite tournament was Amir ever able to feel of only a hint of that love he longed for and it didn't last long. But finally Amir is able to find peace even if it is after Baba is dead. Even with the anger and sadness that comes with it, when Rhahim Khan tells Amir the truth, it finally all makes since to him. He finally understands why Baba could never truly love him b/c he was Baba's shame and guilt. Baba saw too much of himself in Amir. I can't find the quote but it was the one that talked about how Amir will always be the shame of Baba and talks about the love between him and Hassan. After Baba ges sick and they arrive in America, Amir and Baba's relationship seemed to be better b/c they were away from Hassan and that constant jealousy/ struggle for love.
Chelsea, I like how you brought in the fact that Baba never wanted to over-love either of the boys, especially when he was hiding the truth that they were related. It must have been hard for Baba to keep it a secret, and he must have felt guilt for keeping it from both of them. You are right, I think Baba could never give him full love because of Hassan, and Amir and Baba's relationship got better in time after Hassan parted.
Kara I agree with you when you say that after Amir wins the kite tournament that Baba shows pride but that pride doesn't last. It goes back to their old relationship so it doesn't really fix anything. I think through most of America though that their relationship was better than it was in Kabul.
Wow, Baba’s attitude towards Amir does a complete 180 after the tournament and for once he is proud of his son. What is disturbing about Amir’s feelings is that once Baba shows him love, Amir does not care about what he saw happen to Hassan, he only wants to think about himself and his relationship with Baba. When they came to America, Baba gave Amir even more attention because his other son, Hassan, wasn’t there to distract and make Baba feel guilty. As Baba gets lung cancer, he is childish and stubborn and Amir becomes the responsible one by making sure Baba takes his medicine and does not cause fights at the doctor’s office. In his last days, Amir was the sole focus of Baba’s life.
Amir's relationship with Baba while they were in Afghanistan was always very shaky. Amir continually attempted to win Baba's love, but he always thought of Hassan as a barrier that prevented Baba from truly loving Amir as a son. After the kite tournament, Amir was finally able to win Baba's affection, though this "love" did not last long. Amir's guilt about what he did to Hassan kept him from enjoying Baba's newfound affection toward him, which he had worked so hard to win. When they moved to America, and Hassan no longer was in the picture, Baba and Amir had a much closer relationship. For Baba, Hassan's absence meant he no longer had to split his affection between his "rightful" son, Amir, and his "true" son, Hassan. He no longer had Hassan to compare Amir to, and illustrate how cowardly Amir was. For Amir, Hassan's absence provided an opportunity for him to attempt to hide his past sins and forget everything that had happened. When Baba got sick, their relationship becomes even stronger, although it caused Amir and Baba to switch roles, with Amir as the caretaker watching after his father.
Grace- Amir did care about what happened to Hassan. If he didn't care, then he never would have even felt guilty about not helping Hassan in the first place. He would've been able to brush it off and never think about it or be troubled by it again. He carried the guilt with him essentially for the rest of his life until Sohrab came along, so I think he did really care about Hassan, he just seriously messed up. His guilt showed that he really did care and that he did actually have a conscience.
Amir's relationship with Baba wasn't a good one. Amir always wanted Baba to recognize him for the things he did, even though they weren't exactly what Baba wanted him to do.
When Amir wins the tournament, he gets all of the attention, and he relishes in it. But, when they arrive in America it changes for the better, mostly because Hassan wasn't there. Amir and Baba get closer, and when Baba gets sick they aren't as close because Baba basically wants to die and not get treatments while Amir doesn't want him to leave him.
Emily, my evidence for saying that Amir initially DID NOT care about Hassan can be found in the last sentence of the chapter in which Hassan was raped. Amir, just like any desperate and foolish twelve year old boy, was only wrapped up with winning Baba's love. You say that Amir's guilt proves that he cared about Hassan, but that guilt that built up overtime was obviously not strong enough for Amir to tell anybody about what happened to Hassan. (well, he did tell about thirty years later, and that was just to clear his own conscience) And, if Amir really did care about Hassan, then why did he drive Hassan off with the whole stolen watch incident?
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