Do you ever question why would Hassan stay friends with Amir after everything he does to him?? If you read as far as me you would absolutely hate Amir after everything he has done! What would you do if you had a friend like Amir?
Hassan is a shy Hazara (Religion) boy who is an outcast from the rest of the boys. His only friend is Amir, who he has grown up with from birth. He is Amir servant's son. Hassan has grown up poor without a mother and doesn't know how to read or write. He looks up to Amir to read to him and sees him has a bestfriend who he'd do anything for. One day while playing together Assef, the neighborhood bully approached Hassan and Amir. Assef questioned " How can you call him your 'friend'?" (Page 42). Amir expressed his thoughts of what he wanted to say "
But he's not my friend!" I almost blurted! "
He's my servant!" This proves how Amir really thought of him and minutes later Hassan approached Assef with a sling shot sticking up for Amir even though he knew it would cause a problem. (Page 43). This proves the loyalty Hassan has for his friend.
Even though he lives a worse life than the people around him, Hassan still remains happy. That is what I find special about Hassan; in the worst of times he remains happy. Not many people would be able to stay happy like Hassan. But his happiness has been taken away... and Amir, the only person who could have saved him.. who he was always 100% loyal too no matter what... betrayed him. Hassan was running to find Amir's new prized procession, the kite. Assef wanted the kite also and chased Hassan into an ally. He threatened him for the kite and Hassan refused to back down. He was loyal to Amir and never thought twice about giving into Assef because he knew how special the kite was. Hassan was then raped by Assef for not backing down to him. That shows extreme loyalty to one person. Hassan thought Amir would do the same but instead ran away like a coward and pretended he never seen what happened.
Amir feels guilty now and wants redemption... do you think that he deserves to relieve the guilt he feels? It is like a rapist feeling guilty for what he has down and wanting to get rid of it. No matter what the victim cannot forget the memories of that tragic day, it replays it their head and lives with them forever. It's not fair for the person who chose to do the wrong doing be able to relieve his mind of it. Hassan has to live his entire life with that memory nothing will every take that away.
Is that fair to Hassan who was betrayed by someone he remained loyal to?
