Kite Runner Analysis!

This is from last year and this definitely helped me become better in writing. (Mr. Sutherland: I can't separate this paragraph into 2 because this is ONE paragraph.)

Childhood is an important stage during which children experience the first tastes of life; their gains and loses during this period teaches them how to lead their lives in the future. Amir and Hassan begin experiencing the many aspects of life together as children. The flying kite in the novel represents both the sweetness of friendship and the bitterness of betrayal between Hassan and Amir. Surprisingly, The activity of kite running settles the differences between Baba, Hassan, and Amir, ultimately bringing them together. Amir actually admires Hassan when he runs a kite instead of being jealous of him when Baba gives him greater attention. During these times when they fly a kite together, Hassan and Amir feel genuinely relaxed as if an invisible bond of trust is pulling them together. Amir says: “Not a word passes between us, not because we have nothing to say, but because we don't have to say anything- that's how it is between people who are each other's first memories, people who have fed from the same breast,” (122). The kite creates a brotherhood between the two friends. Even though they are not brothers by blood, Amir feels so comfortable with Hassan simply because they were fed from the same breast, not because they were born from the same wound. The happiness in their childhood is essentially what attracts them to one another. More importantly, Hassan and Amir feel freedom when accompanied by each other and this strengthens their relationship. Freedom and independence make these days significant and will always be remembered as precious memories. The kite represents all this- the journey of their childhood, all the hardship they went through to make the kite. When they are flying the kite, they sense the acceptance of each other in their hearts; they feel an ease to be themselves. It seems as if this feeling is the basis of their relationship but unfortunately, Amir eventually decreases the kite’s value to symbolizing an unspeakable betrayal. The day of the kite tournament, Amir and Hassan achieves victory Over the exploding sounds of cheering, Hassan gladly promises to run the last kite for Amir Pumped by the joy of their success, Amir views this as an opportunity to secure the relationship between himself and Baba: to finally demonstrate his aggression to Baba and to be the masculine son Baba had always wanted. After receiving the kite, as he had faithfully promised, Hassan is cornered by the bully, Assef, and his two friends, Kamal and Wali. Hassan refuses to give up the kite and accepts the consequence instead: getting raped. Amir, who had eventually found Hassan, witnessed this event while hiding behind a wall, too cowardly to make any move to save Hassan. Before the rape, Assef snickered a reminder that lingered in Amir's mind from that day on, “I'm letting you keep the kite, Hazara. I'll let you keep it so it will always remind you of what I'm about to do,” (73). Happiness and sadness both are entwined into the kite. Just as happiness bloomed from kite running, the hobby is stopped by the silence of betrayal. When the joy of the kite has faded, it becomes a symbol of the sin committed. The kite hides a message thatstrikes Amir harder than Hassan. As Hassan will always remember his loyalty to Amir during this experience, Amir will be constantly reminded by his own guilt of his betrayal to Hassan. Kite running releases the tensions of jealousy and humiliation Amir shows towards Hassan. However, Hassan’s loyalty towards Amir is the same throughout; it is Amir who causes the tensions and then experiences the guilt afterward. The kite can be seen as the object that unites the two, but in the end, Amir turns even that into another symbol of his sin.