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How would modern readers of The Kite Runner react to Amir's treatment of Hassan?

Many readers find it difficult to sympathize with Amir during the portions of the narrative where he recounts his childhood. Amir mistreats his servant and friend (and he will later find out, his half-brother, as well), Hassan. The pivotal moment in the novel and in the relationship between Hassan and Amir is when Amir witnesses Hassan being sexually assaulted by Assef in an alley after the kite fighting tournament; Amir is shocked and afraid and does nothing to help his friend or stop the assault. In fact, Amir tells us that he ran. Amir tries to justify his actions to himself by thinking of Hassan as a sacrificial lamb and his assault as necessary for Amir to secure Baba's affections (by bringing home the winning kite that Hassan runs and then is trying to protect when he is assaulted). Amir also feels superior to Hassan and tries to reason that he should not feel guilty that his Hazara servant has been harmed because according to Afghan culture, Hassan's life is not worth as much as Amir's is. While readers can understand that Amir was only a child and a meek one, at that, it is difficult to support Amir's decision to do nothing at all for Hassan under the dire circumstances. 


After this incident, Amir and Hassan do not spend as much time together, but there is a crucial scene in which Amir throws pomegranates at Hassan and begs him to throw them back, in an attempt to assuage his own guilt. Hassan smashes a pomegranate on his own head and asks Amir if he is satisfied. The irony is that Hassan is the one who physically suffered and yet the burden seems to weigh on Amir so much so that he is the one who seeks catharsis. The final interaction between Amir and Hassan comes after Amir plants money and a watch he had received as birthday gifts in Hassan's bed to frame him for theft. Even though Hassan takes the fall to protect Amir, Baba forgives Hassan and begs he and Ali to stay in the house. However, the servants leave and Amir and Baba never see them again. Throughout all of these scenes, Hassan is painted by Hosseini as a genuinely good, pure character who would never wrong Amir in the way Amir has wronged him. This makes it even more difficult to sympathize with Amir. 


Not long after, Amir and Baba escape to Pakistan and then to California amid the violence and turmoil in Afghanistan. Amir thinks he can escape his past, but he repeatedly thinks about Hassan and feels guilty for the things he did as a child. The reader can begin to empathize with Amir as he grows up because it is obvious that he feels terrible about his childhood actions and wishes he could make up for them. Eventually, Amir does just that, as he returns to Kabul to rescue and adopt Hassan's son, Sohrab. By this time in the novel, the reader is hoping for Amir to achieve the redemption he has sought for so long. However, this comes with a feeling of regret and loss, as Hassan has been killed by the Taliban and he and Amir will never be able to directly repair their relationship. 


Much of the reader's reaction to Amir has to do with the way each character is described by Hosseini, and also with the fact that Amir is the narrator. As we can see how much Amir struggles with his  past mistakes, we can understand why his redemption journey is so important. 

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