Like Natalie, I was conflicted on how to feel about Amir as there are many factors that play into his character. While I don’t think Amir has never loved Hassan, I do believe Amir’s attitude leaves much to be desired. When they are alone and not competing for anyone’s approval, Amir seems to genuinely consider Hassan a friend; he promises to buy Hassan a TV and upon winning the kite tournament, joyously returns a “We won!” to Hassan’s “You won!”. For this reason, I was initially torn about the manipulative things he does to Hassan because I understand that all his actions stem from his jealousy of not having Baba’s love the way Hassan has both Ali’s love and Baba’s approval. Yet after Amir left the rape scene, I agree with Natalie as I began to realize Amir was quite selfish. He does seem genuinely concerned for Hassan as he tries to find him in the streets, yet the fact that he is too scared to stand up for Hassan in the face of Assef just proves how much he values Hassan over himself, and is not willing to stand up to the wide-spread prejudices.
I also liked how Natalie connected the sheep back to Hassan and the incident with ‘eating dirt’. As she says, Amir knows that Hassan is sacrificing himself for Amir. I thought the worst part was that Amir does not even appreciate this sacrifice; he even thinks, “He was just a Hazara, wasn’t he?” It was cruel how Amir does not even acknowledge this incident and plays it off; he even mentions being glad that the evening covers the shame on his face so Hassan will never know Amir knew.
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