In spite of not being trained to do so, he had ‘stood up’ for himself, and for others, but in a more cautious and diplomatic way; in contrast to Baba’s strong and heroic idea of ‘standing up’. In the course of his childhood, Amir had not been given many chances to ‘stand up for himself’. He lived as a boy under the wing of his father’s fame and influence, gaining attention and respect as “Baba’s son”. The results are quite obvious – at school he was “spared the metal rod treatment”, and in Amir’s own words, it was also “the sole reason, I believe, Assef had mostly refrained from harassing me too much. In addition to that, he had Hassan backing him up in almost every other situation. In each nasty little crisis that Amir lands in, from minor bullying to the more serious threats, Hassan “steps in and fends them off. ” Having grown up with such sturdy protection, it would be quite reasonable to say that Amir ‘can’t stand up for himself’, rather than “won’t stand up for himself. ” Hosseini shows in his novel that Amir’s lack of experience in facing his own problems, in addition to his father’s negative view of himself, caused a rather serious inferiority complex within him, which continually reoccured in the course of his lifetime.
Many a time Amir would compare himself to Baba “I hadn’t turned out like him”, or to Hassan “I wasn’t just slower than Hassan but clumsier too”, and in every case he would negate himself. This pitiful mentality seeped into Amir’s way of thinking in relation to “standing up for himself”, as he accepted and submitted to Baba’s judgement of himself: a weakling and a coward. Because of this, when put in difficult situations, he would tell himself that “Baba was right” and use it as his cliche excuse: “You’re gutless. It’s how you were made. Nevertheless, Amir had also had his corageous moments. In spite of his disapproving environment, his father’s disappointment, and his own criticism, a tiny flame burnt within him from childhood all the way to adulthood. On the first occasion when they had confronted Assef’s gang, Amir said that “Hassan retreated behind me as the three older boys closed in. ” Amir admits that he is afraid, but despite that he manages to talk back to Assef, as bravely as he possibly can, as it is the only thing he is capable of doing.
The Essay on Hassan in The Kite Runner
A perfect friend could be described as someone who is honest and trustworthy, they make you laugh, someone you enjoy spending time with, and most of all they know how to have a good time and pick you up when you’re down. The novel The Kite Runner written by Khaled Hosseini depicts the setting of a great friendship in the best and most thoughtful way but the definition does not seem to match ...
Hosseini shows us many times in the novel that Amir is an intelligent person. That, together with his quiet and studious nature that he probably inherited from his mother, gives him a more calm and systematic approach to solving problems. Amir knows best about his own physical weaknesses, so his way of ‘standing up’ is not through violence. It could be said that he ‘stood up’ for his father in the conflict with the Nguyens, by resolving the problem diplomatically.
Another example was when he ‘stood up for himself’ in relation to his own interests; when he went against Baba’s hopes and expectations and chose to “make up stories” after graduating. An interesting point that Hosseini presents here is how Amir relates this decision to his betrayal of Hassan, “I didn’t want to sacrifice for Baba anymore. The last time I had done that, I had damned myself. ” This highlights the fact that the true reason behind Amir’s betrayal was not cowardice, but a gnawing desire to please Baba. Baba, on the other hand, was an extremely outgoing person.
He was a wealthy, powerful, well-known, confident and self-sufficient man. Over and over in the novel, Hosseni creates many situations where Baba does his ‘heroic’, and sometimes rather obstinate, deeds. Wrestling the bear, building the orphanage, running a successful businesses, defying the Russian soldier, attacking Karim, working in America, refusing food stamps, handling the Nguyen case, all the way up to his own medication. It seemed as if his whole life was revolved around “standing up for himself”, or for other people.
The Essay on Black Man Standing Media People Males
Black Man Standing: The Media's Portrayal of African-American Men By Erin Donovan Documentation Style: MLA Name and Description of Target Audience: Readers of the Chicago Tribune Guest Editorial Section Forum/Genre Paper Would Take in Target Publication: Guest Editorial in the Chicago Tribune Brief Description of Assignment and Instructor Expectations for Critical Thinking: 4 page paper with a 2 ...
Looking at it from Amir’s childhood view, it is certainly very heroic; but all his actions were based on his personal views, for “Baba saw the world in black and white. ” His strong personal beliefs, supported by his insane strength and wide-spread influence, drew him to do many risky actions that, if analysed carefully, could have led to devastating results. As Amir said, “The problem was, his nature was going to get us all killed. ” The stamp that Baba had placed on Amir was partly due to the visible difference between the two of them, and also due to what was expected of men in the Afghan culture at that time.
Amir had mentioned the double-standard which favoured men, and along with it came the extra expectations. Baba was greatly perplexed by what he possibly considered the womanly traits of his son, because “real men didn’t read poetry… real men – real boys – played soccer just as Baba had when he had been young. ” To Baba, ‘real men’ were those who were strong, tough, and stood up to everything, and he visualised ‘standing up’ in terms of fighting, challenging, and witholding justice.
If that was what average men were supposed to be like, then certainly his own son would have been the champion of the lot. Unfortunately, Air did not live up to his expectations. His ways of ‘standing up’ was different from his father; he took a more logical and careful approach. Baba’s ‘standing up’, on the other hand, may be heroic, but not always sensible. Baba had hoped that his son Amir would grow up to be a strong and determined fighter, so when Amir had turned out to be a quiet, peace-loving writer, it generated a huge amount of disappointment and regret within him.
Because of this, it can be concluded that Baba’s statement “A boy who won’t stand up for himself becomes a man who can’t stand up to anything” is slightly biased, as it is mainly based on his personal defenition of ‘standing up’, which can be quite extreme in Baba’s case. Ironically, the many cases where Amir did not “stand up for himself” were mainly caused by Baba; either it was his social influence that had always provided de facto protection, or his belittling remark that had haunted Amir till adulthood, or else his extremely high expectations that Amir could not possibly live up to.
The Essay on Of Mice and Men – Friendship
John Steinbeck shows how important a friendship is and how much two people can support each other to survive. Take this bond away and it will create a difficult and almost impossible journey for the two men in this novel. John Steinbeck portrays Lennie and George as having the greatest friendship in the world and while George claims to not need Lennie, he knows that he needs Lennie as much as ...
