The Kite Runner Baba and Amir Relationship Essay Example

Individuals never think about how people’s opinions of them affect them as a person, 

most do not even realize the large impact it can have on their development. In the book written by Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner, this message comes clearly across in Baba’s and Amir’s relationship. Though Baba starts by downgrading Amir and acts embarrassed to be his father, which negatively affects Amir. Baba’s opinion on Amir becomes more positive throughout the book and it all starts when Baba shows Amir a bit of appreciation after he wins the kite-running contest. Amir became the most confident and happy when Baba became at his highest of proudness with Amir for coming as far as he has in the US and gaining a successful life by getting a good career and marrying a woman. Amir’s father’s opinion of him changes dramatically throughout the book, affecting Amir’s development. 

Baba treats Amir poorly and downgrades him and acts embarrassed to be his father, he has no hope in him and makes Amir feel bad about his actions and his personality in general.  Baba states, “ A boy who can’t stand up for himself becomes a man who can’t stand up for anything” (24). This is relevant because it shows Baba has no hope in Amir, meaning he believes Amir will not succeed in the future because of who he has developed into as a person. This affects Amir by making him feel non-confident and an example of him feeling like this was when he did not attempt to save Hassan from getting raped. During this event, Amir states, “ The rest of my life might have turned out differently if I had. But I didn’t. I just watched. Paralyzed”. (78) This example shows that Amir’s father’s opinion of him makes Amir feel as if he was not strong enough to save Hassan in this life-changing event that is considered one of the main events in the book. In conclusion, these quotations clearly illustrate that Baba shows Amir poor treatment and it negatively affects Amir’s development as a character, though this treatment improves throughout the book.      

Baba shows Amir appreciation after he wins the Kite-running competition, which makes Amir grow in confidence. Amir’s father finds the kite-running competition a huge deal because it’s an important event in town that’s been going on for years. Baba finally feels as if he had something to be proud of for Amir after he wins. This affects Amir positively and the book illustrates,  “He was standing on the edge, pumping both of his fists. Hollering and clapping”. (71) This shows how proud Baba is of Amir and he even decides to throw Amir an after-party for them to celebrate his victory and he invites nearly the whole town, which makes Amir feel proud of himself because he feels as if he won over his father’s approval. Amir comments, “ And that right there was the single greatest moment of my twelve years of life, seeing Baba on that roof proud of me at last”.(71) This shows how important his father’s approval is to him. Therefore, this illustrates that Baba’s opinion of Amir grew positively because of this event and Amir is proud of himself for it and his confidence built up from this.                                                                                

Baba is proud of Amir for coming far as he has in the US and gaining a successful life and this approval and proudness from Baba impacts Amir positively into a stronger individual.  When Amir and Baba move to America because of war, Amir becomes more dependent and learns to manage his life by himself and make important decisions. Amir makes the decision to marry a girl and it was all due to him having the confidence to ask Baba for a huge favour, which shows his character development. Amir says to Baba, “ I want you to go khastegari. I want you to ask General Taheri for his daughter’s hand”. (170) Prior to that, when Amir was younger he had been scared to ask his father for favours and would feel like he had always had to earn things by doing work, which is why him asking for this favour is a huge deal because it shows Amir has grown more comfortable and confident with his father. Another example of Amir being more confident is when his father dies and Rahim Khan asks him to go to Amir’s hometown that was destroyed from war to take care of him. Amir tells his wife, “ Nay, I’d rather be alone”. (201) Which shows he has become confident by himself and it also shows mental strength because he is willing to look at his hometown after the war and possibly hear who may have died. In conclusion, this shows Amir has become successful in his life in the US and Baba is proud of him and his proudness and happiness shown to Amir made Amir develop into a fearless individual. 

Therefore, Amir’s father’s opinion of him impacts Amir to develop into the way he is now. There was a rough start and Baba starts impacting Amir negatively by treating him in a non-positive way. But after Amir wins the significant kite running competition and Baba’s treatment towards Amir improves due to the proudness he shows, Amir grows stronger. Overall, near the end, Baba’s extremely proud of Amir because of how successful Amir’s life became in the US and Amir grows into a confident, strong individual especially because he gained Baba’s full approval which is extremely important to him. In conclusion,  individuals should never forget to pay attention to how they are affected by others’ opinions on them.