Skip to main content

Who is Amir's biological dad is The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, Baba or Ali? If Baba, then why does Amir refer to Ali as father?

I think you mean to ask whether Hassan's biological father is Ali or Hassan. Amir's paternity is never in question. However, Baba does tell Rahim Khan once that he wouldn't believe Amir was his son if he hadn't seen Amir pulled from his wife's body when she gave birth. Baba says this because he thinks that Amir and he have nothing in common; Baba is the legend who supposedly wrestled a bear, and Amir is a sensitive, introspective writer who cannot defend himself or Hassan. Despite this comment, we know that Baba is Amir's biological father.


Hassan's paternity, on the other hand, comes into question later in the novel, when Amir returns to the Middle East as an adult at Rahim Khan's request. Rahim Khan is dying and wants to give Amir the opportunity to redeem himself ("There is a way to be good again."). During this conversation in Chapters 16 and 17, Rahim Khan reveals that both Ali and Hassan are now dead, but that Hassan's son Sohrab is in an orphanage and needs Amir's help. In order to motivate Amir to go to Kabul to save Sohrab, and thus, to amend for the wrongs committed against Hassan when he and Amir were children, Rahim Khan reveals that Ali was sterile and Baba is Hassan's biological father. Rahim Khan tells Amir that Ali was married once before and after his wife left him, she had three children with another man; Ali was not able to conceive a child. Amir struggles to understand but finally does infer that Baba was indeed Hassan's father. Amir is furious that his father and Rahim Khan kept the truth from him and from Hassan, who can now never know the truth; Amir accuses his father of committing the sin Baba had told Amir was the worst of all: theft. Baba stole their right to the truth and stole Ali's honor by sleeping with his wife. Rahim Khan explains that it wouldn't have been possible given the social norms to have Hassan's paternity become common knowledge. Amir is now able to look back on Baba's treatment of Hassan -- his always wanting to bring Hassan along when he and Amir were going to spend time together, his buying Hassan expensive birthday presents like the harelip surgery, his grief when Hassan and Ali left the house after Amir framed Hassan for stealing -- and understand why Baba went above and beyond what a master would normally do for a servant in his treatment of Hassan, his biological son. 


Ali raised Hassan as his own, and though it is never explicitly stated that he knew that the boy was not his biological son, it is implied in the novel that he must have known he was sterile. After discovering that Hassan is his half-brother, Amir's guilt at what he did as a child is amplified, as he now feels he is responsible for his brother's death, too. This gives Amir the motivation to rescue Sohrab, despite the many obstacles and hardships they both must endure, and eventually adopt him and bring him to California at the end of the novel. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

etymology - Origin of the greeting "Sweet dreams".

Does anybody know the etymology of the phrase "sweet dreams"? I tried googling but did not find anything satisfying. Is this a relatively new phrase of the modern world or has this been in use for some time? I think it's the latter one. Answer The OED has the interjection as "a farewell to someone going to bed" from the 20th century: 1908 Sears Roebuck Catal. 198/1 Tenor Solos..Good Bye, Sweet Dreams, Good Bye. But it goes back until at least the 19th and possibly 18th centuries. John Wolcot, writing under the pseudonym of Peter Pindar, used it in his poem "Orson and Ellen; A Legendary Tale" published in 1801: Also from 1801 in The infernal Quixote (Page 287) by Charles Lucas: In the March 1776 of The Universal Magazine was published "The Serenade. A Pastoral Tale. From the German of Gesner" , where the shepherd Daphnis watches over his beloved as she sleeps and sings: The same tale appears in 1776's as Idyl XI, " Daphnis ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Is there a word/phrase for "unperformant"?

As a software engineer, I need to sometimes describe a piece of code as something that lacks performance or was not written with performance in mind. Example: This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. Based on my Google searches, this isn't a real word. What is the correct way to describe this? EDIT My usage of "performance" here is in regard to speed and efficiency. For example, the better the performance of code the faster the application runs. My question and example target the negative definition, which is in reference to preventing inefficient coding practices. Answer This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. In my opinion, reads more easily as: This coding style leads to unmaintainable and poorly performing code. The key to well-written documentation and reports lies in ease of understanding. Adding poorly understood words such as performant decreases that ease. In addressing the use of such a poorly ...
Post a Comment
Read more

What are the similarities between the relationships of the characters in The Outsiders and Romeo and Juliet?

At first glance, it might appear as if the characters in  The Outsiders  by S. E. Hinton and  Romeo and Juliet  by William Shakespeare do not have much in common; however, when one isolates the core of the conflicts, it becomes clear that the relationships in both stories are rooted in rivalry and secrecy.  In both  The Outsiders  and  Romeo and Juliet , an overarching theme is rivalry. While   socioeconomic status separates the greasers from the Socs in The Outsiders , last names separates the Montagues from the Capulets, who appear to be relatively equal in terms of socioeconomic status. Due to these rivalries, there are instances of deadly interactions in both stories. In  The Outsiders , Johnny kills Bob (whether his actions were justified or not is debatable). In  Romeo and Juliet , Romeo kills Tybalt and Paris, and Tybalt kills Mercutio. These deaths have profound effects on the main characters. In Ponyboy's case, the Johnny's death and other events in the novel inspire h...
Post a Comment
Read more