Baba’s Influence on Amir Carolyn, Abbey, Lauren and Alejandra

Context Amir and Baba are at the opening ceremony of the orphanage that Baba built. During a big gust of wind, Baba's hat flew off and Baba gave permission for Amir to hold it for him. This triggered Amir to feel as though Baba was proud to let everyone know he was his son.

IDENTITY: “He motioned to me to hold his hat for him and I was glad to, because then everyone would see that he was my father, my Baba”(Page 14 , Chapter 3) The use of the italics in ‘my’ suggests that Amir has a strong desire to be associated with Baba; this is amplified by possessive tone of Amir, which captures Amir’s longing to be a single entity with his father.

Context Amir admires his Baba and dreams to be the son his father had always envisioned. However at times, Amir becomes so obsessed with obtaining these attitudes that his father possesses, that he begins to convey his jealous nature - a character trait only visible through his internal dialogue.

ATTITUDES: “I already hated all the kids he was building the orphanage for; sometimes I wished they’d all died along with their parents.” (Page 17, Chapter 3) The strong emphatic tone clearly underpins Amir’s underlying hatred and jealousy towards the other children. It suggests that Amir has deep desire for his father’s time and attention. Furthermore, the verb “hated” reinforces the idea that Amir is envious of the children for whom his father was building the orphanage for.

Context: Amir witnesses the rape of Hassan after the kite tournament, but first and foremost Amir wants the kite to bring back to Baba. Amir cannot separate kite fighting and running from his own betrayal, selfishness and cowardice. Hence, Hassan is his sacrifice in order to receive Baba’s appreciation and proudness that he has craved for.

VALUES: “Nothing was free in this world. Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba” (Page 73, Chapter 7) The use of the juxtaposition of ‘slay‘ and ‘win’ clearly demonstrates how controversial Amir’s values are, it creates the idea that in order to gain, something must be lost. This underlines how Amir’s values shift and captures how he values the affection and praise of his father, more than Hassan’s wellbeing and their friendship.