The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini #6 75-90

At the start of these 15 pages Amir finds Hassan cornered by Assef and his two friends. They want to steal the prized blue kite that Hassan has so thoughtfully ran down. This encounter is different from the last. Hassan is found defenseless without his slingshot. Even with out the needed protection, Hassan thinks of the promise that he made to Amir, doing anything to keep the kite in his possession even if it means harm. Hassan is forced to strip down his pants and submit to Assef. Little resistance is giving as Assef proceeds to rape Hassan. While this horrible act is happening, Amir watches in shock and horror. He debates on whether to save he so called “friend” that stood up for him so many times before or cower in the street corner. He judges in favor of him self to run away and not halt Assef. He recalls the look on Hassan’s face before Assef took control. Amir describes it as a sacrificial sheep submitting to the inevitable fate for a high cause. Amir believes that the higher cause is him self-gaining the kite in order to win over Baba. Later, Hassan and Amir meet up. Nothing is said. Amir returns home with the kite to a picture perfect ending or so he thought. The sacrifice of Hassan paid off for Amir. Baba was finally accepting him as his son and paying attention to his interests. But it only made things worse for Hassan and Amir. They stopped seeing each other. Hassan tries to end the bitterness but he is put down for Amir’s guilt is to great for them to talk. In the end, Amir and Baba begin to plant tulips in the garden because spring is about to begin. Amir asks Baba if he will get new servants. He is met by the anger of Baba. Baba is in rage because he thinks of Hassan and Amir as family, and would never throw them out.
In Kite Runner, Amir is portrayed as a selfish person. His acts are based on his
well-being and which would benefit him. This trait is well defined in this passage. When Assef confronts Hassan, Amir had a choice to save his friend or flee. He chose to run. He ran because he thought of him self first and he didn’t want Assef to hurt him as well. Amir describes when they had to sacrifice a sheep for a high cause. In this case the sheep is Hassan and high cause is Amir. He was also glad when Hassan didn’t hang around because it gave him more time to spend with Baba, which is what he always wanted.
There were a few words that needed defining. Periphery means the external boundary of any surface or area. Guileless means sincere; honest; straightforward; frank.