Juxtaposition

Selfishness and Loyalty

“I had one last chance to make a decision. One final opportunity to decide who I was going to be. I could step into that alley, stand up for Hassan – the way he’d stood up for me all those times in the past – and accept whatever would happen to me. Or I could run. In the end, I ran.” – Khaled Hosseini

          A major juxtaposition in “The Kite Runner” is selfishness and loyalty. Hassan is truly loyal to Amir while Amir is selfish and would betray those that love him for himself.  Hassan is born more unfortunate than Amir, being a Hazara who is uneducated and a servant. He also has a harelip that distinguishes from others even more. Despite his misfortune, Hassan stays truly loyal to Amir and would even “eat dirt” if Amir asks him to. Unfortunately, Amir treats Hassan differently. He does not admit that Hassan is his friend in order to protect himself when Hassan continuously risks himself for Amir. He mistreats Hassan and looks down on him. Moreover, in order to win Baba’s affections, Amir was unsure of whether he should help Hassan in the ally or not, but “[he] ran” in the end due to his selfishness. However, although they are vastly different, there is still a deep relationship between the two and Amir managed to redeem himself to the loyal Hassan by saving his son, Sohrab.

America and Afghanistan 

“      Long before the roussi army marched into Afghanistan, long before mines were planted like seeds of death and children buried in rock-piled graves, Kabul had become a city of ghosts for me. A city of harelipped ghosts.

America was different. America was a river, roaring along unmindful of the past. I could wade into this river, let my sins drown to the bottom, let the waters carry me someplace far. Someplace with no ghosts, no memories, and no sins.” – Khaled Hosseini

        While Afghanistan becomes a war ridden country, America is a place of peace. Although Baba “loved the idea of America”, he is unable to let go of the prewar Afghanistan, where he grew up in and loved. However, to Amir, Afghanistan becomes a place where he suffers pain and guilt, just like how the cruelties of war take over Afghanistan. America gave Amir a chance to forget his past and to live happier days with Baba. Even before Afghanistan was struck by war, it had been a place with clear social statuses and religious conflicts. Amir lived cowardly and full of fear and doubt in Afghanistan, but in America, he was able to change. America gave Amir a more relaxing way of life and he was able to hide his guilt in this country. However, as soon as he sets foot back in Afghanistan, all his guilt and wrong doings are spilled once again.

Master and Servant

“But we were kids who had learned to crawl together, and no history, ethnicity, society, or religion was going to change that either.” – Khaled Hosseini

        The contrast between master (Amir, Baba), and servant (Hassan, Ali) is very great. Although we find out later in the story that Amir and Hassan are half brothers, the two are very different in terms of everything from the way they live and their ethnicity. Indeed, although both boys live in the same household, Amir lives in the mansion with Baba, and Hassan lives in a hut with Ali. Hassan is not able to obtain an education unlike Amir and remains illiterate. He is someone that is honest and strong who a stand up for what is right while Amir is unable to stand up for himself and is selfish. Furthermore, even though Ali has lived with Baba for all his life, he and Hassan are still Hazaras who live under the Pashtuns. The close relationship between the four characters is not seen by society; hence, Ali and Hassan are still servants to Baba and Hassan. However, despite their differences, their similarities are powering as well. Both Amir and Hassan fed from the same breasts, sharing a brotherhood, like Ali believed, while in fact, they are half brothers that shared a happy childhood together. Amir, Hassan, Baba, and Ali may be very different people but this does not stop their close, family like relationship as they embrace each other with different heart. Unfortunately, this also causes their break in relationship.