Kite Runner Essay

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The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini Baba - Character Analysis Baba the Legend Rahim Khan gives Baba his "famous nickname, Toophan agha, or 'Mr. Hurricane'" (3.2). At times Baba seems untouchable – unreachable – because he towers over ordinary men. Needless to say, he also towers over ordinary children like Amir. This is the man who wrestled a bear, builds an orphanage, and makes pronouncements like "there is only one sin, only one" (3.29). His physical presence is matched only by his moral severity. (Baba drinks and seems to generally enjoy life, but he also believes deeply in principles like nang and namoos, which, for those of you without your Dari dictionaries handy, are "honor" and "pride.") In America Baba has neither the financial clout nor the social standing he once had in Afghanistan. Still, he does larger than life things. For example, he refuses food stamps and treatment for cancer. His graciousness is also still intact. We see this when he spends his life savings on Amir's wedding. There's a folkloric quality to this guy and he crashes through the pages like a bear in the underbrush. That said, Baba doesn't offer Amir much in the way of a parent. If you're aloof and A Big Deal, how are you supposed to have an intimate, caring relationship with your son? The answer is – you don't. Baba's distance really affects Amir and is one of the major motivations for Amir's betrayal of Hassan. That's right: the old "I blame my father" defense. Baba the Man As the novel progresses, Baba comes to seem more and more human. One the novel's major revelations forces Amir to revise his memories of Baba. Rahim Khan tells Amir that Baba slept with Sanaubar, Ali's wife. Baba fathered Hassan and never told Amir or Hassan they were brothers. What about all those talks when Baba said there is only one sin? Baba, in Amir's eyes, is no longer a god making
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