“He knew I had betrayed him and
yet he was rescuing me once again, maybe for the last time…I wasn’t worthy of
his sacrifice; I was a liar, a cheat, and a thief. And I would have told,
except that a part of me was glad. Glad it would all be over with soon”
(Hosseini 111).
Amir has just framed Hassan for stealing his money and his watch, but instead
of rightfully accusing Amir, Hassan takes the blame and stands up for Amir once
again. It is here that Amir makes this very significant, personal realization: this
is his last time to decide what type of person he will be. Back in
chapter seven, in the alley scene, Amir makes the comment that “[He] had one
last chance to make a decision…[he] could stand up for Hassan…Or [he] could run”
(82). In hindsight, the adult Amir, the narrator, realizes he made the wrong
decision by running; it was not his last chance to decide what type of person
he would be, he still had two more chances to reconcile his friendship.
Unfortunately, he wastes both of these opportunities, and instead uses them to
betray Hassan further. The first of
these occasions is when Ali, Hassan’s father asks if something is wrong with
Hassan. Amir lies and says he does not know what is wrong with Hassan (86). He
betrays Hassan, lying out of the fear of the shame that would be brought upon
him if anyone knew how cowardly he had acted. When this quotation comes up, Amir
has one final opportunity to fix what he has done. But he does not; because of
this, he spends the next twenty-six years of his life living in guilt (1).
One
of the most significant elements of this quotation is the sheer depth of
character that is revealed. The young Amir written about in the novel is shown
to be very selfish and cowardly. He is too afraid to face his problems, and
would rather make Hassan suffer for him. Amir shows that he knows what the
right thing to do is, but does not do it. The worst part is that Amir realizes
Hassan’s sacrifice was almost pointless, as Amir’s objective was to gain Baba’s
love, and finally make him proud. Amir realizes that with Hassan around, he would
never have “Baba all to [himself]” (14), so he comes to the conclusion that “one
of [them] had to go” (108). With this in mind, Amir decides to betray Hassan
one last time, framing him, and hoping to get rid of him, so he could have
Baba’s love to himself. Hassan’s character is also shown in this quotation; he
is depicted as the loyal, loving friend; a friend who would do anything for
Amir, anything but betray him.
In
conclusion, this quotation is extremely significant. It provides insight into
Amir and Hassan’s characters, and acts as a turning point in the novel. As
well, it helps to provide a little insight into Amir’s journey to make things
good again (2).
I think you are spot on when you said that Amir wasted his chances at trying to right his wrong by instead betraying Hassan further. I think another example of this can be seen in the text when Amir is unable to be friends with Hassan after the rape. When Hassan needed Amir to be his friend Amir was unable to even manage a single trip to their tree because he couldn’t stand to be around Hassan (Hosseini 92). By neglecting Hassan, Amir continued to make him suffer. Hassan sacrificed himself so he could give Amir the blue kite, he doesn’t know what he did wrong. Hassan even asks Amir to tell him what he’s doing wrong so he can stop because all he wants is his friend in his time of need (Hosseini 93).
ReplyDeleteGreat post!
Really thoughtful post, Jonah.
ReplyDeleteYour insights into Amir's "chances" to do the right thing are indeed "spot on"...and let the reader know that one poor decision can begin the ripple on the surface of the pond---causing the rest of your life to "break bad".