Monday, October 1, 2007

The Kite Runner - Discussion 2

Discuss the relationship between Baba and Amir. Use examples.

9 comments:

Safa said...

Baba is a little cold towards his son Amir. this is shown in the maltiple times baba brushes off amir. in how is always refusing to accept who amir is without tring to change him. in one part of the book, amir writes a short story yet baba does not congragulate amir or even ask to read it like his friend does. Amir sees this in how every time he asks for something even though his father buys it for him he also buys one for Hassan.
Amir admires his father. he would do anything if it guaranteed the affection of Baba. a good example would be when Baba comments on the possibility of amir winning the kite running tournamemt and the fact that amir would be able to win it that year. at that moment winning becomes a top priority to amir. amir starts to dream of all the love and affection his father will show once he wins and brings home the last kite.

martha said...

As Safa mentioned in her blog, Baba acts cold towards Amir. I think it may have to do with the fact that Amir's mother died when he was born. Baba might be putting some guilt on his own son for her death. It is also portrayed in the earlier chapters when Baba brought Amir to soccer games and Baba noticed that he was not really interested in it, even though Amir
tried his best to seem somewhat interested in it so his father would be happy. Amir is always longing to create a conversation with his father because he admires him for all that he has accomplished.
Also as Safa mentioned, Baba tends to brush off Amir many times. Baba is not very affectionate towards his son and is not very much interested with what he does. When Amir became inspired to write a story one time because one day he was pretending to read a story to Hassan, but he was really making the whole thing up. Amir tried to hint to Baba to read it, but instead Rahim Khan took the liberty to read it himself and comment on it. In return, Rahim Khan gave Amir a letter telling him that he was an excellent writer and he should continue to do what he does. I'm glad that Rahim Khan encourages Amir to build on his talents of writing.
Also as Safa talks about the time when the kite competition was coming up, and Baba was buying them their kites. Amir wanted to get a better one than Hassan, but Baba treats them equally and gets Hassan the same thing as Amir. Amir wants to feel a little more superior to Hassan becasue Baba is his father. Amir wants to be able to sit on his father's lap and talk to him for awhile one on one.
Another example, during the time they heard all the gun shots going on and Baba came running to the house and held Amir and Hassan both close, Amir wished that it was only him and not Hassan.
In Chapter 6, Baba and Amir began to get somewhat close because they were talking in his office and Baba mentioned to Amir that he may have a good chance of winning the kite competition this year. And as Safa described, this helped to bring them a little bit closer. And gave some hope to Amir that maybe if he did when his father would like him more.

Drilona said...

In this book the kite runner Baba is a complex character. Sometimes he is introduced as a lovely father who shows sings of love and care towards his son, Amir. He wants him to be educated but also wants him to get involved in other activities as well. He wants Amir to watch soccer with him .At the begging of the kite competition, baba bought Amir a kite and told him that he would really want Amir to bring a trophy at home. This motivates Amir to try hard to win the competition.
On the other hand Baba is kind of cold towards Amir. When Amir ran to the room, where Baba and his friend where sitting to show him his first story, he didn’t really pay attention to Amir. He refused to read it and left the room .Another thing that makes Amir feel less loved by his father is that every time Amir gets something Hassan has to get it to. Or whenever Baba and amir go somewhere Hassan goes with them as well. When parents don’t offer enough love, care and support to their children, especially when they are little they will develop the idea of insecurity

Dave DeLuca said...

I feel that Baba almost forgets about his son sometimes. He kind of plays him off alot. Esp. when he is in his office. Amir will come in and try to talk to him and his father kind of just gives him quick responses so that he can just leave him alone, and he can go back to what he was doing. In one of the last reading assigments, Amir starts to write shorts stories because hassan believes that he has talent. so amir goes to his room to start mapping out his first short story, and he was proud of himself when he was done. he was so proud that he wanted to show his father. his father kind of said no to reading it without saying no. rahim was intrested in reading his story. after he had read it, he wrote him a note about how he has talent and that he would always be there to read his stories. i thought that this was good for amir now he has someone there to back him.

near the end of our reading, the kite runner comp was going to be coming up soon. amir and his father were having a talk and his father told him that he believes he will win this year. after amir heard that he was dedicated to win the comp. he believed that if he won that he would earn his fathers respect, and that he wouldnt treat him like hes not there sometimes. i think that the relationship is rather cold but the book is still young and i believe there is a chance that the relationship can grow more esp if he wins the kite running comp

Oleg said...

Baba and Amir's relationship is not so good. Amir believes that Baba holds a grudge against him, because his mother died while giving birth. Amir overheard Babas conversation with Rahim Khan, where Baba said that if he didn't see Amir coming out of his mother, he would have never believed that he is his son. Baba refuses to read or listen Amir's tales, he wants him to be a soccer fan, but Amir has no interest in it.
Baba notices that everytime someone picks on Amir, Hasan is the one to stand up for him. Baba says that he was different when he was his age, and that he thinks there is something wrong with Amir. Baba is not happy about Amir collecting the books, he wants him to be more agressive. Sometimes Amir feels jealous of Baba buying Hassan the same presents as him.

Prof Riotto said...

Why do you think Baba is cold to Amir? Doesn't he like him?

Unknown said...

I think Oleg just forogt to mention that Baba is cold toward Amir partly becouse of the death of Amir's mother when Amir was born. Also, i belive that Baba is just cold to Amir becouse that is just the way he is. Not all parents are just cheery and happy people. Some parents are just seem cold but actually love their children very much. I belive this case to be no different.

Amir also tends to get jelouse too much. Since this book was writting in his point of view how Baba treated Amir could be a bit exeggerated and a bit bias. Amir was a bit of a brat-ty child and spoiled as well. For example at one point of the book Amir got jelous for something very small like Hassan getting the same kite as him.

Safa said...

I believe Baba is cold toward Amir because he partly blames him for the death of his beloved wife which he called at the begining of the book "my little Princess" which shows how much he loves her.

Denise Persaud said...

Baba is cold to Amir because he is not at all what Baba used to be when he was a child. Baba used to play soccer and Amir likes to read and write stories. When Amir wins the kite running tournament, Baba feels pround of Amir because he did something that Baba would have done something like that when he was younger. After winning the tournament, Baba and Amir's relationship grows and they become something of friends. They go to the movies, and the zoo. Baba tells him stories and they really start to bond. Until things began to fall apart...