Up to chapter 16 in Khaled Hosseini’s novel, The Kite Runner, Baba is portrayed as an admirable character with honor, a person who is willing to lay down his life for a stranger. A person who is determined to set up an orphanage from scratch. A person who has a son that reveres him. However, this all changes in chapter 17 when it is revealed that Baba actually slept with Sanaubar and gave birth to Hassan, which makes Amir and Hassan brothers. This is significant as it makes the reader question whether Baba was really such a good man after all.
Baba once told Amir that all sin is a variation of theft and that anyone who steals should not be forgiven. This is ironic because Baba was actually the biggest thief. He stole the truth away from Hassan and Amir. By hiding this truth, Baba single-handedly changed Amir and Hassan’s relationships. Perhaps Hassan would not have to go through so much suffering if Amir knew the truth. He might have stuck up for his half brother or at least have the courage to tell his Baba what happened. If Baba had been vulnerable to Amir and told him his biggest mistakes, then Amir would have done the same. As a result, some of the blame that was put on Amir is shifted to Baba. One may even ask themselves if the source of the whole issue was Baba himself. This incident also makes Baba seem like a failure as a dad to both Hassan and Amir. Not only did he not have a close relationship with Amir (and definitely not with Hassan) when he needed it most, he also hid the truth from them which as mentioned destroyed their brotherhood. Interestingly, such a shocking revelation may have been the push of motivation that Amir needed in order to decide to go back to Afghanistan to save Hassan’s son. Amir can redeem not only himself but also Baba, finally doing something meaningful for Baba.
Amir’s reaction to the news was with initial frustration and anger, and although he has made many mistakes in the past, I can not blame him for the negative reaction to such information. I would have done the same if I was in his shoes. For example, if I found out today that I was adopted, I would be in shock and would be pretty angry at my current parents for not telling me the truth. At the same time, if there was a good reason for it, I would understand. However, Baba’s reason was to preserve self-honor, which seems to be a more self-oriented decision. Therefore, Baba’s action of concealing the truth is inexcusable but hope still lives as Amir can redeem both himself and Baba.
Reflection: This essay was one of the easier ones to write because the revelation of Baba’s was so significant that it affected how I completely viewed the different characters in the book. Not only did I look at Baba in a worse light but for the first time, I was able to actually feel sorry for Amir. This is because before this news, Amir had only done wrong and had never done a right, making it hard to feel any sort of sympathy for his situation.
Samuel Kwan's Writing Portfolio 