Monday, November 19, 2007

The Kite Runner #9 - last one

Is Amir a hero? Why or why not? What characteristics must a person have to be considered a hero?

8 comments:

Denise Persaud said...

Hero, as described in the dictionary, says a hero is a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities. Amir displays his brave deeds when he sacrifices himself to Assef to save Sohrab in the fight. He saves Sohrab from the abuse that Assef was doing to him and brought him to America in hopes of giving him a better life. A hero is someone who does good for the sake of others. Putting Sohrab before himself shows qualities of a true hero. A hero doesn't have to be Superman or Batman but rather one who means and does well for the sake of others.

Safa said...

I believe in the definition denise gave for a hero, yet i disagree with her on whether amir is a hero or not. amir is not a hero because he does not defend hassan when he was in trouble, instead he hid so he would not be caught by assef. then later on in the book he sets up hassan to look like a theif in order to get rid of him by hiding money under hassans pillow.
at the end of the book amir tries to rescue sohrab not for sohrabs sake but to try and erase all the evil he did with hassan. a hero in my opinion should not acheive any personal gain which was the whole reason amir set out to find sohrab. if rahim khan did not call amir and lie to him about the family that was to adopt sohrab, amir wouldve probably abandoned the whole cause. Hassan was the real hero in this book, he was a faithful freind till the last minute of his life, he defended amir whenever he was in trouble and put up with all the bull amir put him through, yet at the end hassan was the one to write amir a letter and ask how he was donind even though any person in his place wouldv hated amir for all he did.

martha said...

I too agree with Denise's definition of hero. And I agree with Safa's opinion that Amir was not a true hero because from the beginning, he did not possess hero like qualities. It was only towards the middle and end of the book that Amir began to develop hero qualities after he learned about things from the past and present of his life.
As a child Amir was resentful towards Hassan and was never really appreciative of the things Hassan did for him. Hassan was always the one taking the blame or standing up for Amir. Hassan always tried to do what he knew was right. Amir on the other hand knew that the things he was doing were wrong, however, he still did them to try and win affection from his father.
As Safa mentioned in her blog, I think the true HERO is Hassan because of all the sacrifices he made during his childhood and he was never afraid to stand up for Amir. He was always loyal and respectful towards Amir despite the way Amir treated Hassan. Amir only started to develop and become a hero after Rahim Khan called him to come visit him in Pakistan. Then when Rahim Khan explained everything to him, Amir was shocked and felt that he was lied to. If it were not for Rahim Khan's persuasive techniques in telling Amir to find Sohrab, Amir probably would not have done it. And it was not until Amir was told that the foster parents Rahim Khan told him about never existed that Amir thought about adopting Sohrab into his family. It was not until the end where Amir learns the true meaning of a hero, as Denise mentioned that Amir started to think of Sohrab first instead of himself.
I believe the characteristics that a person should have to be considered a hero include loyalty, honesty, courage, empathy, persistance, and determination.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Drilona said...

Is amir a hero? I can’t really say that amir is a hero but I also can’t say that he is not hero. At the begging of the book amir is introduced as a little kid who was constantly fighting for his father’s love. He was basically fighting for attention. He was weak and never stood up for anyone. Most of the times that was the reason that baba used to criticize him. He didn’t show any sings of heroism.+at that point of the book hassan represented a tru hero especially when he fought with assef for amir and also when he didn’t give up the kite that he had promises him, even though that caused his dignity. Towards the end of the book amir shows sings of heroism. He stands up for his father offering him enough care and support in his last days of his life. He also has the characteristics of a hero when he decides to get sohrab in America to offer him a better life. Offer him a chance to be free, one thing that hassan never had the chance to have.

David P said...

Although everyone else seems to be talking about the definition of a hero I tend to think a bit informally. To me, a hero is is a character that stands up for the week and defends in the name of justice no matter what the cost (even if it hurts the hero themselves). In according to me definition; Amir is definetly not a hero.

As it might sound harsh Amir is a coward not a hero. He has ran away from a person in need. Even if this person is his best and loyal friend. This is not only not what a hero would do but it's also what cowards do. They hide and run in fear to stand up to do the right thing.

An argument to my previouse paragraph could be that "Amir did try to save Sohrab" however, if you read the Kite Runner closely Amir is someone who is always calculating and selfish. The only reason he tried to save Sohrab in for himself. It is clear int he book that Amir was haunted for what he has done to Hassan and seeked desperatly for redemption. To him he saw this as a chance for such redemption. This is a selfish act not a heroic act.

It is clear in this story that Amir (the person't view of the story) is a coward. In the book there are instances when Amir tries to justify himself but it is clear than even in his point of view he was a coward.

Oleg said...

I believe Amir is a hero, because he went back to Afghanistan and saved Sohrab. He had to fight Assef and spend a lot of time in order to find Sohrab.

People criticize Amir on this blog, I disagree with some of them. Other students say that Amir is not a hero, because he did not help Hassan, who was his best friend and servant, then. However Amir was just a young boy back then, he was a kid. He got scared of Assef and his friends, no wonder because he was around 13 years old.

I know that many people will say, oh yeah if I would be there I would jump in and help. Maybe you would now, but noone knows if you would back then. I am more than sure if that incident would happen years later, when amir was a grown up, he would jump in and help his friend. Also, noone ever told him that Hassan was his brother, and therefore he looked upon Hassan as his servant and friend, maybe if he knew Hassan was his brother he would have done differently.

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