A STUDY OF AMIR’S DISLOYALTY TO FRIENDSHIP WITH HASSAN AS SEEN IN KHALED HOSSEINI’S
THE KITE RUNNER
A THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By
Robertus Vembry Mahartantyo 061214157
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
A STUDY OF AMIR’S DISLOYALTY TO FRIENDSHIP WITH HASSAN AS SEEN IN KHALED HOSSEINI’S
THE KITE RUNNER
A THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By
Robertus Vembry Mahartantyo 061214157
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN
PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswi Universitas Sanata Dharma: nama : Robertus Vembry Mahartantyo
Nomor Induk Mahasiswa : 061214157
demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul
A STUDY OF AMIR’S DISLOYALTY TO FRIENDSHIP WITH HASSAN AS SEEN IN KHALED HOSSEINI’S
THE KITE RUNNER
beserta perangkat yang diperlukan. Dengan demikian, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data,
mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta izin dari saya maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.
Demikian pernyataan ini saya buat dengan sebenarnya.
Yogyakarta, 30 September 200 Yang menyatakan,
“Everytime I get into silence, I am
transforming into a new shape ready to
move on”
Dedicated to: The Air I breathe everyday The Sunshine I feel every morning
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to express thanks to my only Lord Jesus Christ for having been good to me. I thank Him for His blessings during many moments I have been passing until today. Without His given silences, I will not make my life.
Firstly, I would like to thank Drs. Bambang Hendarto, M.Hum. who has mostly guided me in composing this thesis. I would like to thank him for giving me supports. I would not get this thesis done well both in the content and the language without his assistance. My gratitude also goes to Bapak Sasmoyo Hermawan, S.Pd. I would not know my grammatical mistakes without his help. Also, this deep gratitude is for all PBI Lectures and Staffs who have been part of my life for the past four years as a student of Sanata Dharma University. I have been having a great life as Sanata Dharma University family member.
Secondly, I would like to say thanks to my parents. They have been so patient waiting for my progress in doing this thesis even though sometimes the progress was not good to hear.
me in a form of this thesis. They are such irreplaceable heroes of this university, indeed.
Last but not least, I would like to thank everyone that has prayed for me regarding both for my thesis progress and life. I can feel that they have been sincerely good by praying for me. May God bless them all.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE ……… i
PAGES OF APPROVAL ……….. ii
STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY ……….. iv
PAGE OF DEDICATION ………... v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ………. vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS ………. viii
ABSTRACT ……….. xii
ABSTRAK ……….. xiii
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ………. 1
1. 1 Background of the Study ……….. 1
1. 2 Problem Formulation ………... 4
1. 3 Objectives of the Study ……… 4
1. 4 Benefits of the Study ……… 4
1. 5 Definition of Terms ………... 5
CHAPTER 2 REVIEW ON RELATED LITERATURE ……… 7
2.1 Review of Related Theories ……… 7
2.1.1 Critical Approaches ………... 7
2.1.2 Character ……… 8
2.1.4 Motivation ……….. 12
2.1.5 Friendship ……….. 12
2.1.6 Family ………. 15
2.1.7 Children ………16
2.1.8 Historical Background of Afghanistan ……….. 18
2.1.8.1 The People ……… 18
2.1.8.1.1 The Pashtuns (The real Afghans).. 19
2.1.8.1.2 The Hazaras ……… 20
2.1.8.1.3 Sunni and Shia in Afghanistan 22 2.1.8.1.4 Situation between Pashtuns and Hazaras in Afghanistan…………. 24
2.2 Theoretical Framework ……….. 25
CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY ……….. 27
3.1 Object of the Study ……… 27
3.2 Approaches ……… 28
3.3 Methodology ………. 29
CHAPTER 4 ANALYSIS ……… 32
4.1 Description of Relationship between Amir and Hassan..……….. 32
4.1.1 The Relationship between a Master and a Servant….. 33
4.2.1 Family factor ………..……… 44 4.2.1.1 Hassan’s true position in Amir’s family ….. 46 4.2.1.2 Baba’s treatment to both ……….. 49 4.2.2 Social factor ………..……… 53
4.2.2.1 The Pashtuns and The Hazaras in
Afghanistan ………... 54 4.2.2.1.1 The General Trait of The Pashtuns
and The Hazaras……….. 54 4.2.2.1.2 Sunni and Shia in
Afghanistan ………. 59 4.2.2.1.3 The Socialization among the Pashtuns
and the Hazaras in
Afghanistan ………. 60
CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS …..………….. 65 5.1 Conclusions ………..…... 65 5.2 Suggestions ………..……….. 68 5.2.1 Suggestion for Future Researchers ……….. 68 5.2.2 Suggestions for the Implementation of Teaching
Learning Process ……….. 68 5.2.3 The Implementation of Teaching Prose II Using
Literary Work ………. 70
ABSTRACT
Mahartantyo, Robertus Vembry. 2010. A Study of Amir’s Disloyalty to Friendship with Hassan as seen in Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner.
Yogyakarta: English Language Education Study Program, Department of Language and Arts Education, Faculty of Teachers Training and Education, Sanata Dharma University.
Friendship is built when some people realize that they can find joy and happiness in a relationship. However, friendship can also go unwell. Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner tells about a friendship between two main characters, Amir and Hassan. The friendship is broken because Amir acts disloyally to Hassan when Hassan is in need of his assistance. Amir’s disloyalty is quite severe.
This thesis is aimed to answer the two problems formulated, namely: (1) how is the relationship between Amir and Hassan described? and (2) how could family and social factors influence Amir’s disloyalty to Hassan?
This study used library reasearch. There are two sources of data used in this study namely the main sources and the secondary sources. The main source is Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner. The secondary sources are psychological books, historical books, and some related articles from the internet. This study used psychological approach and the sociocultural-historical approach because they deal with Amir’s disloyalty which is related to the psychological concepts and sociocultural-historical background.
Based on the analysis, it can be concluded that the relationship among Amir and Hassan can be categorized into three types. They are relationship between a master and a servant, a Pashtun and a Hazara, and friends. These three types of relationship do not work well among them. There are factors which trigger Amir to be disloyal. Those are family and social factors. The family factors reveal Hassan’s true position in Amir’s family and Baba’s treatment to Amir and Hassan. The social factors discuss how the general traits of the Pashtuns and the Hazaras are, how Sunni and Shia in Afghanistan like, and how the socialization among the Pashtuns and the Hazaras happen.
ABSTRAK
Mahartantyo, Robertus Vembry. 2010. A Study of Amir’s Disloyalty to Friendship with Hassan as seen in Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner.
Yogyakarta: Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Jurusan Pendidikan Bahasa dan Seni, Fakultas Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan, Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Persahabatan terjalin ketika orang – orang menyadari bahwa mereka dapat menemukan kegembiraan dan kebahagiaan dalam sebuah hubungan. Namun begitu, persahabatan juga dapat berjalan dengan tidak baik. Novel The Kite Runner menceritakan sebuah persahabatan antara dua karakter utama, Amir dan Hassan. Persahabatan tersebut hancur karena Amir berlaku tidak setia pada Hassan ketika Hassan memerlukan bantuannya. Ketidaksetiaan Amir tergolong parah.
Tujuan dari skripsi ini adalah untuk menjawab dua pertanyaan, yaitu: (1) Bagaimana hubungan antara Amir dan Hassan digambarkan? (2) Bagaimana faktor keluarga dan sosial dapat mempengaruhi ketidaksetiaan Amir terhadap Hassan?
Skripsi ini menggunakan metode studi pustaka. Ada dua sumber data yang digunakan dalam skripsi ini, yaitu sumber utama dan sumber lain tambahan. Sumber utama dari skripsi ini adalah nove The Kite Runner. Sumber – sumber tambahan lain adalah buku – buku psikologi, buku – buku sejarah, dan beberapa artikel dari internet yang berkaitan. Skripsi ini menggunakan pendekatan psikologis dan sosial budaya dan sejarah karena keduanya berkenaan pada ketidaksetiaan Amir yang mempunyai hubungan dengan konsep psikologis dan latarbelakan sosial budaya dan sejarah.
Berdasarkan analisis, dapat disimpulkan bahwa hubungan antara Amir dan Hassan dapat simpulkan bahwa hubungan antara Amir dan Hassan dapat dikategorikan kedalam tiga jenis. Mereka adalah hubungan antara seorang majikan dan seorang hamba, seorang Pashtun dan seorang Hazara, dan antar teman. Ketiga jenis hubungan ini tidak berjalan dengan baik di antara mereka. Terdapat faktor – faktor yang memicu Amir untuk menjadi tidak setia. Mereka adalah faktor keluarga dan sosial. Faktor keluarga mengungkap kebenaran akan posisi Hassan yang sebenarnya dalam keluarga Amir serta perlakuan Baba terhadap Amir dan Hassan. Faktor sosial membicarakan hal – hal berupa seperti apakah watak orang – orang Pashtun dan Hazara pada umumnya, seperti apakah Sunni dan Shia di Afghanistan, dan seperti apakah pergaulan antara orang – orang Pashtun dan Hazara terjadi.
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
This chapter consists of background of the study, objectives of the study, problem formulation, and definition of terms. The background of the study provides information of the topic of the study and the reasons for choosing the topic. The objectives of the study state the focus of the study. The problem formulation describes the problems formulated to make this study more directed. The last is definition of terms. It defines some crucial terms in order to avoid misunderstanding.
1.1 Background of the study
In a nation, there are obviously several ethnics which live within. Nowadays, ethnicity is a tool used by most people to decide how they should behave to others. The problem occurs when people from one big ascendant tribe perceive themselves living a higher status than other minor tribes. An ethnic can oppress and torture minor ethnics in a form of slavery because its members are bigger in numbers and power.
what happens in Afghanistan. Some historical books say that the Hazaras mostly become servants of Pashtun families. They are employed by the Pashtuns and taught to be loyal and silent. In the novel entitled The Kite Runner, it is portrayed that the Hazaras live a low social class status which makes them suffer from many Pashtuns’ inhuman treatment. By looking at the background of the tribes’ relationship fact, it becomes clear that there are somehow invisible walls blocking them to live a kinship wholeheartedly. The Pashtuns have presecuted and oppressed the Hazaras because they are both Shia Muslims and Mogul descendants (Hosseini 8-9). Hence, the Pashtuns could possibly think to break their social relationship with the Hazaras by behaving rudely to the minority.
The Kite Runner reflects a bitter life reality in which people are admitted
by the society only if they come from the massive and powerful tribe. According to Milligan (3-4), a work of literature is close to reality in life hence it can portray such an ethnical issue. It can assist a reader to reflect numbers of things as they really are. Readers can find many similar events to their real private experiences when reading. By writing a novel, an author is attempting to speak up his way of thinking, opinions, expressions, even experiences in life. Ultimately, a work of literature like novel can provide its readers the lesson about life and how the characters within the story solve the trouble using their reflection of feeling and rationale.
remains stable until Amir accidentally knows that his father, Baba, does not seem to fully accept him as a son because of Amir’s unusual character as a boy. However, Baba is really attracted to their low servant, Hassan. Amir directly feels threatened by Hassan even though actually he is glad of Hassan’s loyal personality and his outstanding self-sacrifice to him. One day, Hassan is blocked by a group of Pashtun boys urging to ask for a precious kite Hassan dedicates to Amir. Hassan meekly gets sodomized merely because of his persistence in keeping the kite. Amir is actually there at the moment, but he does not have any courage to act. Since that day, Amir does not want Baba to know that Hassan is so brave to defend his kite because Baba’s love to Hassan will grow even more if he does. Hence he plants a watch and money to allege Hassan a robber. Hassan, then, leaves with Ali (Hassan’s foster father). Since then, Amir gains all of Baba’s heed but cannot escape from Hassan’s figure shadowing and recalling him to the guilty he has made viciously.
The Kite Runner is interesting to discuss because Amir, as one of the main
1.2 Problem Formulation
Based on the previous description, there are two problems that can be formulated as follows.
1.2.1 How is the relationship between Amir and Hassan described?
1.2.2 How can family and social factors influence Amir’s disloyalty to Hassan?
1.3 Objectives of the study
The first objective of this study is to analyze the relationship between Amir and Hassan in The Kite Runner. The second objective is to explain how Amir’s family situation and social condition around him can trigger his disloyalty to Hassan.
1.4 Benefits of the study
The benefit of this study is firstly on the writer’s self. The writer can gain an important value of life which is called disloyalty. The writer can explore more on how a disloyalty occurs and what can become the factors of someone betraying his closest friend. By knowing these factors, the writer can learn to be careful while engaging in a friendship to avoid disloyalty.
relationship among Afghan’s ethnic groups is developed, as additional information.
1.5 Definition of terms
There are some terms in this study that need some clarification to avoid misunderstanding. They are defined as follows.
1.5.1 Character
Character is the person, in a dramatic or narrative work, endowed with moral and dispositional qualities that are expressed in what they say-the dialogue-and what they do-the action (Abrams 20). Throughout one’s actions dialogue-and speeches in the novel, it can be discovered how profound his personal quality is. The process of knowing the personal quality will become so much help of finding personal description of a character.
1.5.2 Characterization
Henkel defines characterization as central to the fictional experience. The principle objective of the creation of the characters in novels is to enable the reader to understand and experience people (86). Thus in this study, characterization means the way the author presents the character.
1.5.3 Motive
Worchel and Shebilske define motive in their book Psychology Principles and Applications as the condition that energizes and directs the behavior of an
1.5.4 Friendship
In The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social Psychology, friendship is defined as a special, familiar and highly valued type of human social relationship (Manstead and Hewstone 250).
1.5.5 Disloyalty
In The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social Psychology, disloyalty is defined as the condition or an instance of being unfaithful or violation of allegiance or duty, as to a government (Manstead and Hewstone 250).
1.5. 6 The Pashtuns
The Pashtuns are people living in Afghanistan and Pakistan numbering an estimated 13 million. In Afghanistan they inhabit an area extending from north of Jalalabad to Qandahar and westward to Sabzawar. They believe in Sunni Mulisms and speak the Pashto language belongs to the eastern subgroup of the Iranian branch of the Indo-European family (Musawi 3).
1.5.7 The Hazaras
CHAPTER 2
REVIEW ON RELATED LITERATURE
The discussion is divided into two parts namely review of related theories and theoretical framework. Review of the related theories gives brief explanation of the theories of critical approaches and the theories of literature such as theory of character, theory of characterization, theory of friendship and disloyalty, and historical background of Afghanistan. Theoretical framework provides an explanation of how those theories are applied in analysis.
2.1 Review of Related Theories
This part presents the theoretical review which contains critical approach, theories of character, theories of characterization, theories of motivation and theories of friendship.
2.1.1 Critical Approaches
Fourth is the mysthopoeic approach that uses myth beyond the work of art as the reference. Fifth is the psychological approach works which is based on the psychological theories. The psychological approach explores a work of art by using some psychological theories as the framework.
The psychological and sociocultural-historical approaches are chosen as tools applied in this study, particularly in revealing the factors why Amir can turn into someone disloyal to his best friend.
2.1.2 Character
In order to understand how a character in literary work is described, we need to understand the theories of character. Through these theories we will get the understanding about the character which is portrayed in a work of literature.
Characters experience many things that could influence their thoughts, ideas, judgments about life and society (Abrams 20). They seem to have the same dynamic emotion which can be seen through their speech and action. Abram adds that characters have some characteristics which are similar with human beings’. Sometime it comes to them to get angry, and to show some moral and social values that ultimately become their motivation in saying and doing something.
way (Forster 54). A character can change his personality description by acting and saying something crucial.
According to Henkle (88 – 97), characters can mainly be categorized as
major and minor characters. He states that major character is created to carry out
ideas or messages in a story to readers through the character’s feelings, thoughts,
actions, and reactions. In the other side, minor or secondary characters are those
who only appear in a certain setting to support the major characters. Henkle says
that it is necessary for us to pay a heed to the major characters in order to
understand the novel profoundly. As an addition, he says that we build
expectations and desires upon them to establish our values and to present
convincing dramatizations of the human issues of the book.
Once again, these theories of characters are used in this study on a purpose
to interpret real human life characters which are used by an author in his own
novel. We use them by logically and possibly analyzing the novel’s characters
with our skills of personal interpretation.
2.1.3 Characterization
Rhorberger and Wood Jr. in Reading and Writing about Novel (20) define
characterization as the process by which an author creates character, it is the
devices that he makes the readers to believe a character in the particular type of
person he is. An author does this way to make a stereotype of someone existing in
According to Murphy (161 -173), there are nine methods by which the
readers can understand the character. They are:
2.1.3.1 Personal Description
The author describes the appearance of a character in details such as the
face, the skin color, the hair, etc.
2.1.3.2 Character as seen by others
The author describes the character of the person through the other’s eyes
and opinion. There the opinion may come from people around the person about
his personality which can also determine his characteristics.
2.1.3.3 Speech
The author gives the readers some clue about the character through what
the character says.
2.1.3.4 Past Life
In certain events of the character’s past life, the readers will know the
characteristic of him/her. Here we learn that a character’s past experiences,
particularly those which are really meaningful can cause several effects to the
person’s future life even may change his character.
2.1.3.5 Conversation of others
Through the conversations done by other people, the readers will know
2.1.3.6 Reactions
The readers will know what kind of person the character is by seeing how
he/she reacts to various situations in the story. The readers here can conclude if a
person is temperamental or patient and etc.
2.1.3.7 Direct Comment
The author gives direct comment to the character. However, the author will not give lots of direct comment otherwise the novel will be uninteresting to deeply read.
2.1.3.8 Thoughts
The author directly gives what a person is thinking about. By knowing what in the character’s mind, the reaers will know his characteristic.
2.1.3.9 Mannerism
The author creates the character’s behaviors where each and every one of the behaviors will show the characteristic of the character. A person’s habits of idiosyncrasies may also tell us something about someone’s characteristic.
Murphy (161) also adds that characterization is the presentation of the characters’ personalities including their attitudes, appearance, motives, and actions, which are created to be life like. This is in order that the ideas of what kind of people they are in the story are conveyed to the readers.
have some differences. It means that we use these theories by trying to know how the author characterizes his characters’ personalities and characteristics.
2.1.4 Motivation
Beck explains that motivation is a factor that causes a person to do something continually toward the goal to achieve. “Motivation is broadly concerned with the temporary determinants of choice (direction), persistence, and vigor of goal-directed behavior (Beck 24). Then it is clear that motivation always appears when people want to fulfill their desire, for instance, having parents’ attention.
Motivation itself is divided into two types i.e. specific motivation and basic motivation (Stanton17). Specific motivation is merely a spontaneous one and basic motivation is a more profound motivation which is a compilation of several specific motivations. The role of specific motivation is to support the basic, which shows a deeper influence on the person to act.
These motivation theories are relevant to the topic of disloyalty because it is related to a character named Baba in the story of The Kite Runner. Baba’s motivation in treating his children unfairly gives Amir a strong influence to be disloyal to Hassan.
2.1.5 Friendship
Friendship based on utility is considered the worst one. If people base their relationship on utility, it is doubted that the relationship will last forever or even in a long period. Utility always changes based on our own circumstances. The poorest thing is if we realize the utility is gone, then we will logically end the relationship because we find no reason to continue it any longer.
The other form of friendship is the one which is based on pleasure.
Sometimes when someone meets someone else having the same hobby, they will
excitingly become friends because they find that the pleasure always give them a
time or chance to see each other either frequently or seldom. Most of people who
are included in this kind of friendship are those who are still at a young age. Most
of youth’s behavior and thoughts are controlled by feelings and their main interest
is how to get some pleasure. However, as they are getting older, they find that
experiences they have in life are various and suddenly they feel that there is no
other reason to meet their friends anymore. If the interest of pleasure is changed,
the friendship will also be broken down.
A perfect friendship is then based on goodness. Only the friendship of those who are good is perfect. A true friend loves the other for what he is and not for any incidental value. This kind of friendship is permanent because in that kind of friendship all the qualities that friends ought to possess are united.
According to him, the first characteristic concerns honesty and trust. These are two important things which tend to appear among two friends relationship. They are linked because sometimes we need to share confidential problems. A person will not become so easily to trust anyone except to somebody he knows very well. He will only tell about his personal problem to certain people close to him.
The second characteristic includes emotion and feeling. Friendship will be a relationship which is colored with emotional respect namely love and care. A friend will offer a strong support felt differently by the other friend than a support from someone else he does not get close too much. Instead, a good friend will stay closer to us when nobody is near. We will gain so much understanding and receiving which lead us to a relief. Through receiving, friendship gives forth, in the sense of understanding of each character, ways of thinking, emotional atmosphere and behaviors.
The third characteristic concerns service and loyalty. A friend will do some helpful action when he sees his friend falling. The action can even be a little effort of helping such as being ready to listen to our friend when they need us. A helpful action will show how far we can understand our friend on what he needs. The loyalty here means that we always stick around someone no matter how badly people tell about him. If he is even really an annoying person, then what we are to do is to help him change for the better. As an addition, Beebe (439) states that friends are the sources of help and comfort in times of stress.
breach or violation on those characteristics, most especially on the third characteristic telling about loyalty and service. By acting disloyal, it can somehow hurt our friend’s feeling particularly when we do the disloyalty at the time when he needs us so badly.
These friendship theories are relevant to this study because the writer sees a disloyalty as a breach or violation of friendship’s characteristics. A breach of service and loyalty will be just the same as acting disloyal.
2.1.6 Family
Every person has been born in a family. This starts from a relationship and intercourse of two people namely a father and a mother. A father and a mother grow and educate their child using whatever life moral and emotional values they have in mind. Dr. Murray Bowen argues that a family is an emotional unit and uses systems thinking to describe the complex interactions in the unit (Bowen theory, web). His theory continues that it is the nature of the family that its
According to Moira Eastman in Family: The Vital Factor, families are one of the most valued aspects of life, and membership of a family is associated with personal happiness. It can be understood here that family is one of the factor having a big influence on its member’s personal happiness. The reason why it is the most valued aspect of life is that because a child’s personality and behavior are formed inside a family by the sufficiency of the happiness.
2.1.7 Children
According to Kagan in Child Development and Personality, interactive experiences with other children facilitate cooperate play later on (qtd. in Mussen et al 189). It means that children who like to meet each other and having communication will naturally determine their own play. Mussen et al adds that it is a play that brings children together and provides a setting for the formation and maintenance of social relationships, including friendships (426). It seems here that play time can bring a positive effect among children that they will find somebody else out to whom they can share time and enjoyment of thing.
Beside, Lewis and Saarni as quoted in Child Development and Personality suggest that thoughts and memories, and even previous emotional experiences, can also elicit feelings, particularly as children get older (408). Petti in the same book adds that depression is associated with family disruption and loss or unpredictability of important people in the child’s life (416).
relationship between two children and covers it with the description of culture and race. There are some opinions suggested by some authors regarding the relationship between children and races.
Bogardus as quoted in Milner’s Children and Race reasserts that the origins of racial prejudice lay in ‘direct’ and ‘derivative’ personal experiences (22). Direct experiences are explained to involve either physical repulsion due to appearance, smell, habits, living environment or social behavior. The derivative experiences are the second-hand experience and attitudes culled from friends, relations, public speakers, newspapers, and the like. Therefore, it can be seen now that rejection of someone else comes from two different ways. Bruno Lasker’s opinion in his book Race Attitudes in Children as quoted by Milner gives a reassertion that how the child is certain to have his mind canalized, even before he starts going to school, into habitual acceptance of the prevailing (racial) attitudes of the group within which he lives. Based on the study of development done by Lasker, the average child is made to notice outer differences and to accept them as signs of inner differences in value. Furthermore, he identifies the role of the parents in transmitting attitudes, by accident or design, and the importance of the school, and other social institutions in reinforcing the children (Milner 23).
may pre-dispose them to this kind of behavior; and (iv) the participants in the discrimination are often not known to each other, so there is no real social relationship to mitigate the discrimination (41).
Milner also explains that children inhabit social realities such as the home, the street, the school and the recreation ground with correspondingly few identities (65). Starting from the existence of those social realities, Milner continues that children absorb an idea of their standing in terms of qualities, that is, a rudimentary sense of identity.
Related to the culture of the Pashtuns in Afghanistan Paul Hockings (Ed) says that a Pashtun man tends to be indulgent toward their children culturally (Encyclopedia of World Cultures 232).
2.1.8 Historical Background of Afghanistan
2.1.8.1 The People
According to Jamalludin Ahmad (37) in his book entitled Afghanistan: A Brief Survey, the people of Afghanistan are mainly of the original Indo-European
stock that has absorbed various other racial elements. They are a fine, healthy, manly race of hardy, clean-living, abstemious mountaineers. The unending struggle with the forces of nature, the position, climate and nature of the country, the pastrol life and the historical influences have all tended to develop remarkable qualities of resistance endurance and self-confidence.
of ready obedience to those, whom they elect to place in authority over themselves, coupled with an intolerance of domineering. They may be led but never driven (Jamalludin Ahmad 38).
According to Tate in The Kingdom of Afghanistan: A Historical Sketch, Afghanistan population can be divided into three main big tribes namely the Pashtun (the real Afghan), the Hazara, and the Tajik (14). This thesis concerns only to the two first tribes of Afghanistan. The followings are their explanation. 2.1.8.1.1The Pashtuns (The real Afghans)
The Pashtuns, also called Pathans, are an Eastern Iranian ethno-linguistic group with population primarily in Afghanistan and in the North-West Frontier Province, Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Balochistan provinces of Pakistan. The Pashtun are typically characterized by their usage of the Pashto language and practice of Pashtunwali, which is an ancient traditional code of conduct and honor (Miller 1-2). The Afghans pride themselves on their nomadic proclivities, and on those qualities, which they complacently regard as military virtues, but which others may stigmatize, with good reason, as brutality (Tate 15).
population or 13.3 million people (Miller 3). Tytler suggests that chief among the peoples of Afghanistan are the Pathans or true Afghans, rulers of the country, and principal element in its diverse population (48). It means that the massive Pashtuns vote for themselves to be declared a leader of the people of Afghanistan. Even the kings of Afghanistan have not ever been chosen from other tribes beside Pashtun (Miller 1).
Tate explains that individuality has a greater field for its expression among Afghans than among other races (16). The Pashtun’s character seems to be thoroughly tough. It is a pride for them to take a success by their own hand. As can be observed from the story of The Kite Runner, Baba, as a Pashtun, is recognized and honored by many people in Kabul because he has made his own success (Hosseini 15).
The overwhelming majority of Pashtuns follow Sunni Islam, mainly the Hanafi School (One of the former schools in Afghanistan). A sizable minority population of Shi’a Muslim Pashtuns exists in eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan.
2.1.8.1.2 The Hazaras
the area and remaned there after the Mongol empire dissolved in the 13th century, converting to Islam and adopting local customs (Miller 24).
According to History of Afghanistan: From The Earliest Period to The Outbreak of The War of 1878 written by Colonel G. B. Malleson, it is said that
The Hazaras are Tartars by decent, simple-hearted, and differ much from the the Pashtuns (44). Tytler in his book entitled Afghanistan: A Study of Political Developments in Central and Southern Asia reasserts that the Hazaras are honest,
courageous, good natured, and simple. He adds that the Hazaras make excellent servants, first rate soldiers and cheerful laborers (57). Furthermore, Malleson explains that the Hazaras are from whom the Afghan artillery is principally recruited (45). So, as the assumption of the Hazaras is taken, they are hardy, strongly built and industrious, and the ranks of servants and laborers throughout the country are recruited from them (Tate 15).
that the Hazaras could only increase their population number to 10 % after the last number in 2006 which was 9 % (Miller (Ed.) 29-30). According to Frederic P. Miller, a sizable Hazara communities can only be found in Pakistan, Quetta and as well as Iran (24).
Unlike most Afghans the Hazaras are Shias, who have often set them apart from their neighbors. The physical traits of the Hazaras have also rendered them easily distinguishable. They do not coalesce socially or politically with either the Tajiks or the Pashtuns. They are located to the west of the road from Kandahar to Kabul.
2.1.8.1.3 Sunni and Shia in Afghanistan
A book entitled Afghanistan of the Afghans explains that the State religion in Afghanistan is Islam. The Majority of the inhabitants belong to the Sunni sect, while the Afghans of Persian origin, the Hazaras, and the Afghan Turis of the Kurram border are Shiahs (Shah 210). In Modern Afghanistan, Shah adds that the State religion is Islam of the Hanafi School, but freedom of worship exists for all religions and sects (263). A paragraph of sufficient information about some religion regulation in Afghanistan is quoted as follow:
killed, for preaching the gospel of the Ahmedi sect. The whole really meant that there was no religious toleration in Afghanistan.” (Shah-b Modern Afghanistan 211-212)
Malleson explains that the women of Moghol (Mongol) origin (including the Hazara) go unveiled (44), which is one of the causes makes Sunni and Shia go different way. There is information which can be retrieved from the web showing that firstly Sunni and Shia differ in the point of religious belief. Shia Muslims believe that the Imam is sinless by nature, and that his authority is infallible as it comes directly from God. Therefore, Shia Muslims often venerate the Imams as saints and perform pilgrimages to their tombs and shrines in the hopes of divine intercession. Sunni Muslims counter that there is no basis in Islam for a hereditary privileged class of spiritual leaders, and certainly no basis for the veneration or intercession of saints. Sunni Muslims contend that leadership of the community is not a birthright, but a trust that is earned and which may be given or taken away by the people themselves (What’s the difference between Shia and Sunni Muslims, web by Huda).
Muslim through all over the world to the Battle of Siffin (Shi’a-Sunni relations, web).
To understand the separation among Sunni and Shia better, Pierre Tristam gives us an additional explanation. He thinks that, at heart, Sunnis and Shiites are like Catholics and Protestants in the commonality of some fundamental beliefs. But their differences, especially in nations where the Sunni-Shiite split is exacerbated by each other's proximity (as in Iraq and Lebanon), run so deep that intolerance and violence shadow the two groups, making coexistence difficult (The Difference between Sunnis and Shiites, web). Tristam’s statement is reasserted by Jeff Stein, the author of an article in the New York Times on October 17, 2006 who says that in a remotely similar discord between Catholic and Protestants but far more lethal vein, the 1,400-year Sunni-Shiite rivalry is playing out in the streets of Baghdad, raising the specter of a breakup of Iraq into antagonistic states, one backed by Shiite Iran and the other by Saudi Arabia and other Sunni states (Can you tell a Sunni from Shiite?, web).
Afghanistan has 84 % of Sunni followers comparing the 15 % of the Shiite. As how Catholic and Protestants cannot get along until now, Sunni (the Pastuns) and Shia (the Hazaras) experience the same situation because of doctrinal and historical differences (The Difference between Sunnis and Shiites, web).
2.1.8.1.4 Situation between the Pahstuns and the Hazaras in Afghanistan
between the two tribes is not pretty good and safe. Assef, one of the notorious characters in the story gives us small information of the situation between them. He says that Afghanistan is the land of Pashtun. It always has been, always will be. He asserts that he is the true Afghans, the pure Afghans, and not Hassan, a “Flat Nose”. Assef thinks that Hassan people pollute his watan (homeland). The Hazaras has dirtied the Pashtuns’ blood. In the end he states that Afghanistan is only for Pashtun. And that is his big vision (Hosseini 36).
The Hazaras are just casted away and forced to stay in a restricted area like Hazarajat (Hosseini 37-38). Tytler (57) explains clearer in his book about what has happened between the Pashtuns (the true Afghans) and the Hazaras during the history. He explains that the Hazaras differ radically from the Afghans, with whom they have been constantly at feud, and retain many of the traits of their Central Asian ancestors.
The Pashtuns have tortured the Hazaras until the fact now, like what the web says, Sunni Muslim gain 80 % of their population which far more enormous than Shi’a Muslim population 19 % (Afghanistan, web).
2.2 Theoretical Framework
In order to discuss the kinds of relationship Amir and Hassan have, the theories of character and characterization are needed. These theories first assist to determine how a character acts based on their personality and self-character. Further, kinds of the relationship Amir and Hassan can be possibly explained by knowing each character’s act and trait. These theories are asserted by some other theories namely theory of children, theory of friendship and theory of motivation which make the explanation on each kinds of relationship clearer.
CHAPTER 3
METHODOLOGY
Chapter three is divided into three sections. First is object of the study. The second section focuses on the chosen approaches which are used in this analysis. The third section concerns the steps taken in completing the study.
3.1 Object of the study
The object of the study is a novel by Khaled Hosseini entitled The Kite Runner. It was originally written in English and first published in Great Britain 2003. The novel has been translated into many languages like Indonesian. This study used the original English version which was published in 2004. The novel has 324 pages in 25 chapters.
children group in Kabul. Amir finds himself a complete figure of cowardice not able to stand for his best friend. He fully realizes that Hassan plunges into that situation for his best Pashtun friend alone. The kite which Amir has been longing for a long time is a key to his Baba's heart. Hassan has helped Amir a lot. However, not long after that, when his fear of losing Baba grows rapidly, he accuses Hassan for stealing his new high-priced watch by planting it in Hassan's room under his pillow. Hassan leaves the household because of the wrong allegation. Amir realizes later on that he has done a cruelty to Hassan. He finds himself not able to live peacefully until he becomes a mature one despite his strong effort to forget what he has done.
3.2 Approaches
In this study I will apply the psychological approach and the socio historical approach in the analysis to discuss the issues stated in the problem formulated. Rohrberger and Woods Jr. (12) in Reading and Writing about Literature state that the psychological approach tries to locate and demonstrate
certain recurrent patterns from the knowledge of psychology. As the main topic in this study is disloyalty that deals with emotion, motivation, personality and behavior are related to psychological aspects of human beings, the use of psychological approach is suitable in discussing the problem formulation.
has something to do with analyzing civilization, and it means that it concerns to the society including the condition of the society and historical background of the story. It encompasses the attitudes and actions of specific people that a work of literature takes as a subject matter. Therefore, it can help this thesis in finding the causes of disloyalty by the society and historical background themselves.
The combination of the two approaches above are considered appropriate as this thesis attempts to find the relationship between the novel, the main figure’s character, and the society history reflects in the story.
3.3 Methodology
There were some steps in analyzing this novel. The first step was reading the novel for several times to understand carefully the whole story. At one chance of reading I put my attention on Amir and Hassan’s relationship and the factors which may cause Amir’s disloyalty to Hassan.
instead. I took some notes and some important points were highlighted. I used all information about Amir and Hassan in my analysis to answer the first problem formulation that was how Amir and Hassan’s relationship was described in the novel. Then, in the purpose of answering the second problem formulation, I made use of marks, notes, and highlighted parts which I made, concerning the characters’ dialog and narration, actions and thoughts.
Third, I continued to work on literary books that are related to my project. I went through some new fields new for me namely History, Psychology and Letter. I went to Mrican and Paingan Sanata Dharma library to find worthy input about psychological theory such as theory of children, motivation, family and character and characterization. I also went to Gajah Mada University Centre Library to look for several important books talking about Afghanistan’s historical background, most particularly in the Hatta Corner. Books about theory on the history of Afghanistan, its people, its state religion and important points about Sunni and Shia absorbed most of my attention a lot because they contain sort of sensitive interesting issue to discuss today. I needed to be careful of what I read and depended thoroughly on my mind to filter any misled information.
approaches to answer the second problem formulation. The basis of the psychological approach was Amir and Hassan’s relationship and the family factors. And the basis of the socio historical approach was the historical background of Afghanistan.
Fifth, I tried to compare my analysis to some points in the previous theories to ensure that it matched. Finally, I made a conclusion about the analysis and some suggestion for further research.
CHAPTER 4
ANALYSIS
This chapter discusses the analysis of Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner. It is divided into two sections. The first covers the description of Amir and Hassan, the major characters and the relationship. The second section discusses the factors which influence Amir to be disloyal to Hassan. It covers family and social factor which trigger Amir to be disloyal to Hassan.
4.1 The Description of the Relationship between Amir and Hassan
Every novel has always been written with the importance of characters in it. They have the important point that makes up the plot of the novel. Abrams says that characters are the persons who are life-like, portrayed in a story and interpretable by the reader from their speeches, dialogues and actions (20). In the novel of The Kite Runner we can see that Amir and Hassan are two major determining characters of the story. Murphy (121) says that a major character has a crucial role in shaping and making up the story. A touching relationship of the two Afghan kids forms the plot of The Kite Runner. This shows that both of the children are clearly the major characters.
loves him so much and ready to do anything as he wishes upon him. It is Amir’s feelings, thoughts, and actions changing which make him considered a round one. Hassan himself is a flat character because of his unchanged act of loving Amir as his dear friend during the story.
The relationship of Amir and Hassan can be observed from three main things. Those are between a master and a maid, a Pashtun and a Hazara, and the last is friends. This following explanation will encompass those three aspects of Amir and Hassan’s relationship.
4.1.1 The Relationship between a Master and a Servant
According to Murphy (161 -173), there are nine methods by which the readers can understand the character, one of them is by the character’s speech. Amir is a young boy who comes from a royal family in Kabul, Afghanistan. He is a son of Baba, a successful trader that owns some businesses. Baba is known as one of the richest merchant in Kabul. Baba and his close friend, Rahim Khan, build a massive carpet exporting business, two pharmacies and restaurants (Hosseini 13). It is said that Amir and Baba have the prettiest and huge house in Kabul.
“A broad entryway flanked by rosebushes led to the sprawling house of marble floors and wide windows. Intricate mosaic tiles, handpicked by Baba in Ishafan, covered the floors of the four bathrooms. Gold-stitched tapestries, which Baba had bought in Calcutta, lined the walls; a crystal chandelier hung from the vaulted ceiling”. (Hosseini 4)
sweeping the house and else. Baba has two servants who are in charge of such jobs. They are Ali and Hassan.
Hassan is indeed a maid in Amir’s family as it is generally described that he has to help Ali in taking care of Baba’s house. He prepares Amir’s needs every day and doing it as a maid daily. Hassan makes Amir’s bed, polishes his shoes, irons his outfit for the day, and packs his books and pencils (Hosseini 26).
As a servant, Hassan is loyal to his master, Amir. Amir once says: “Hassan, never wanted to, but if I asked, really asked, he wouldn’t deny me. Hassan never denied me anything” (Hosseini 4). Hence, it seems true that Hassan serves Amir more than just in his daily household tasks in Amir’s house. He serves Amir in many ways including to obey all that Amir asks him for. Once Amir asks Hassan to hit the one-eyed dog near their house, though he does not want to do it, merely because Amir asks him to, then Hassan does hit it. Each and every word which comes from Amir has always become Hassan’s command.
sacrifice his body to be raped by a notorious group of Pashtun children because he merely does not want to give in the blue kite (Hosseini 70-71).
As a Hazara servant, Hassan receives good treatment from Baba, who is also his master beside Amir. Baba never forgets to give him a birthday present like bringing him Dr. Kumar from New Delhi, a plastic surgeon to fix his hare lip (Hosseini 43). Thus, as a servant of Amir’s family, it is shameful not to do what his master asks. Automatically Hassan will do whatever it takes to keep his status and to show his thanks to his master. One way to show his gratitude is by carrying out his household duties diligently. He tries hard daily to begin his day by praying the morning namaz with Ali and continuing to have Amir’s breakfast neatly ready on the dining table (Hosseini 25).
Based on what we can see through the facts within the story of The Kite Runner above, it can be seen that Hassan is a very loyal and humble servant while
Amir is a bit superior with his dynamic emotion which is frequently hard to control. These traits of both show that the relationship between Amir and Hassan is between the superior and the inferior or more specifically, among a master and his servant. Amir has ever even said deep down in his heart that Hassan is just an illiterate Hazara. He thinks that Hassan will never be anything better but a cook. Amir even argues that Hassan should have not critized him (Hosseini 32).
These show that Amir tends to show that he has more power than Hassan because of his status as Hassan’s master, as well. Instead, Hassan, however, keeps showing to Amir his respect because it seems that he has other expectation i.e. to make Amir admitting him as a best friend as it is explained in other following subchapter.
4.1.2 The Relationship between a Pashtun and a Hazara
Amir is born as a boy from a pure Pahstun family. They live in a prosper environment and are respected by society of Kabul. From all people that have ever been in Amir’s house within the story, it seems that they are all Pashtuns excluding Hassan and his father, Ali.
the readers can understand the character. Two of them are how the character as seen by others and how the character’s past life is. Furthermore, we can imagine a figure of a Pashtun man according to Amir’s description of Baba:
“Lore has it my father once wrestled a black bear in Baluchistan with his bare hands… But no one ever doubted the veracity of any story about Baba. And if they did, well, Baba did have those three parallel scars coursing a jagged path down his back… I have imagined Baba’s wrestling match countless times, even dreamed about it. And in those dreams, I can never tell Baba from the bear” (Hosseini 12)
Aside from Amir’s admiration to Baba, what he describes is the right image of a Pashtun man. He is strong and full of bravery to whatever challenging them. Baba even dares to face a black wild bear without anything in his hands. Rahim Khan, who is Baba’s closest friend and colleague, refers to him as a Toophan agha which means Mr. Hurricane (Hosseini 12). Amir explains more
about Baba that he is a force nature, a towering Pashtun specimen with a thick beard, a wayward crop of curly brown hair as unruly as the man himself, hands that look capable of uprooting a willow tree and a black glare that would “drop the devil to his knees begging for mercy” (Hosseini 12-13). This description of Baba by Amir becomes really obvious if it is compared with what has been explained by Jamalludin Ahmad and M. Abdul Aziz that the Pashtuns are born soldiers and display a dash in battle and courage and an utter contempt for death that has become proverbial in the East (37-38).
so much in a bad temper when Baba compares him with Hassan who looks having more guts than him. In a conclusion, Amir can also turn into someone who is really mean, even to his closest friend, especially the one he hates. He can start to show his rudeness and bad tricks anytime he gets angry with someone as a characteristic of a Pashtun.
Further, Amir is also a Sunni Muslim because of his origin as a Pashtun. There is not much description talking about this issue in the novel but one explanation is quite enough to say how important this issue in Amir’s growing time, and i.e. perceiving other people around him. Bogardus as quoted in Milner’s Children and Race reasserts that the origins of racial prejudice lay in ‘direct’ and
‘derivative’ personal experiences (22). Direct experiences are explained to involve either physical repulsion due to appearance, smell, habits, living environment or social behavior. The derivative experiences are the second-hand experience and attitudes culled from friends, relations, public speakers, newspapers, and the like. Therefore, Amir can be categorized into a child having more derivative experiences because he gets most of his races behaviors from what he sees and learns in his surroundings. The surroundings can be the neighbor children around Amir namely Assef with other racist children, Amir’s school teacher and Amir’s late mother’s book.
of qualities, that is, a rudimentary sense of identity. In Amir’s case, the book that he has been reading will make him aware of his position and identity in Afghanistan society as a Pashtun. Therefore, regarding a Pashtun is superior in the society, it thus can be logically thought that Amir has a big reason and opportunity to abandon Hassan when Hassan is in need of his assistance.
One night, Amir and Hassan go through a military barrack to take their way from Amir’s house to Cinema Zainab that a soldier shouts to Hassan and calls him the Hazara (Hosseini 7). That moment does not only deliver the fact that people of Afghanistan perceive the Hazaras as a different separated people but also tell the readers that they are usually treated uncivilized. The Pashtuns behave very rude to the Hazaras. Tate explains that the ranks of servants and laborers throughout the country are recruited from the Hazaras (15).
Once, Amir and Hassan are enjoying their free time near a residential street and Assef, a son of other wealthy man in Kabul, with his gang come approaching them. At the moment, Assef says a bit expression which concerns who Hassan is. He says that Amir is bothering him very much. Assef questions that how can Amir talk to a Hazara, play with him, and let him touch Amir (Hosseini 38). Assef addresses Hassan with the term Hazara which means humiliating.
by their tribal status in the society and Amir’s appraisal as someone living in a higher status regarding the situation among the Pashtun and the Hazara (Hosseini 24).
4.1.3 The Relationship between Amir and Hassan as Friends
Amir and Hassan have been physically close since they are born. They have been living in the same town and place but merely under different roof. Hassan is born in a hut located inside Amir’s house in 1964 (Hosseini 5-6). Amir himself is born one year before. Because of this, they could find some similarities such as hobbies which make them seem very close more than just a friend. Murphy says that character as seen by others is one way to understand characters’ personality (161 -173) and also his self-background information.
“Then he would remind us that there was a brotherhood between people who had fed from the same breast, a kinship that not even time could break… Hassan and I fed from the same breasts. We took our first steps on the same lawn in the same yard. And, under the same roof, we spoke our first words.” (Hosseini 10)
Kagan says that interactive experiences with other children facilitate cooperate play later on (quoted in Mussen (et al) 189). Amir and Hassan have been like brothers. They love to play together and do several things together. Amir says that they are kids who learn to crawl together. Chasing each other between tangles of trees in Baba’s yard, playing hide and seek, cops and robbers, cowboys and Indians, insect torture, chasing Kochi and others are sorts of things that Amir and Hassan like to do in a long summer day (Hosseini 24).
times (Hosseini 25). It seems that Amir is satisfied with Hassan’s existence near him. He feels that Hassan accompanies him to do a thing which he likes, including reading story books and novels. Once Amir reads a story for Hassan, Amir is giggling because Hassan is very obliviously impressed. He likes the story and says that it is the best story that Amir has read for him in a long time (Hosseini 28). He feels happy when Hassan is around because everytime they play they like to share several communal joys like reading story and also curving names on a tree’s trunk. Mussen states that it is play that brings children together and provides a setting for the formation and maintenance of social relationships, including friendships ((et al) 426). This kind of friendship which is formed by pleasure of communal things is categorized as friendship based on pleasure (Becker 388). Amir, therefore, bases his friendship on the pleasure which is not a stable foundation.
On the other side, Hassan is a servant in Baba’s house. In Amir’s eyes, there is nothing to change the fact that they are different because of their origin and religion (Hosseini 24). Hassan is a Hazara, which is one of the obstacles preventing Amir to befriend with Hassan wholeheartedly. In the middle of the story, Amir does his last disloyalty to Hassan by planting some money and his new watch because if Baba knows the truth, Amir will lose his big chance to gain Baba’s pride on him for Amir has brought the blue kite home. On the other hand, it is the last Hassan’s scarification for Amir because Hassan wants Amir to be safe from the truth that Hassan is the one who runs for a blue kite after a kite competition. Hassan still befriends Amir even though Amir has betrayed him because it is Amir’s pure friend acceptation and love that Hassan has ever been longing for.
believes that Amir will not do something bad on him and let him fall in life (Hosseini 51). It is clear that Hassan has based his friendship with Amir on something good. Hassan loves Amir for what he is and not only for any incidental value. This kind of friendship is categorized as friendship based on goodness (Becker 388).
4.2 Factors Influencing Amir to be Disloyal to Hassan
It is acknowledged that the third key of a strong friendship includes
service and loyalty (Paul Peterson 1). Therefore, a trespassing of these crucial
things will break the friendship itself. This trespassing can be called as a betrayal
or disloyalty.
In the story of The Kite Runner, Amir and Hassan have been friends
because they are born and grown in one environment. They experience the same
daily life experience from their surroundings and they also encounter much of a
man’s caring and influence from Baba. During their childhood, Amir’s and
Hassan’s relationship is shaped and influenced by those things, however, a friend
can be disloyal.
The actions of Amir’s disloyalty start from the moment when he lets
Hassan being raped. He does not do some helpful action despite of his cowardice
personality. Later on, he feels that Hassan’s existence is threatening him from
gaining Baba’s attention. He feels so because he is afraid of Hassan’s being
honest to Baba. Hassan is, in fact, the one who runs for a cut blue kite after he and
Amir beat their last opponent in a kite tournament. In order to end his threatened
feeling, Amir decides to slander Hassan a thief by putting a new watch and some
money under Hassan’s pillow and report it to Baba. Amir has been so mean to
In this part, the discussion is about the factors which influence Amir to be
disloyal to Hassan. The analysis will be divided into two parts. Those are family
factors and social factors which trigger Amir to betray his loyal friend, Hassan.
4.2.1 Family Factors
Firstly, the reason why it is called a family factor is that because Amir’s disloyalty has been caused by a parent’s personal problem. Baba’s hidden personal problem by hiding the truth of brotherhood between Amir and Hassan has let Amir being a son jealous and rude to Hassan. It is totally a father’s mistake in living his role as a parent for his children within a family. Baba does not know how Amir is in need of his love. Amir has been becoming jealous because of Baba’s over care to Hassan. At heart, Baba does not know that Amir is in need of his love badly. He has been blinded of his need of a tough male descendant.
A single-parent is one of family type which exists in our society today. This type of family means that there is only one parent who cares for one or more children without the physical assistance of the other parent in home (Single-parent, web). One of the few possible reasons of how this sort of family can exist
sometimes find himself unaccepted because a single parent tends to decide what is best for the child and sometimes takes extreme measures to get it accomplished. Magnier also explains that neighborhood also plays an important role that sometimes it treats the children too cruelly.
Families are one of the most valued aspects of life, and membership of a family is associated with personal happiness (Eastman 4). Nevertheless, The Kite Runner is set on a sad family situation with a son named Amir, a father named
Baba, and a loyal maid named Hassan whom Baba does not recognize bluntly as his son. Further, we can see that the problems occur are clearly the family’s problems because Amir does not feel that he gets a wholeheartedly attention from his own father despite of what his maid, Hassan, receives. He starts to do mean things to Hassan because of his family’s unfair situation.
This part will discuss about Hassan’s true position in Amir’s family. And then, it will continue to the discussion of Baba’s treatment to Amir and Hassan.
4.2.1.1 Hassan’s true position in Amir’s Family
that express how deep their friendship is (Hosseini 26). It cannot be denied that Hassan is a very close friend of Amir.
Hassan is a kid with his strong obedience either to some older people or to those he recognizes deserve his honor. He is very obedient to his father, Ali (Hosseini 4). He is also very obedient to Amir. Hassan realizes that he is just no one but a servant with Hazara status which cannot be changed as long as he lives. This life situation has shaped his personality to become such a nice, innocent and strong kid in the story.
Hassan is exactly born in a small modest house abandoned and rejected by his own mother just behind Amir’s backyard (Hosseini 5-6). He has been living there together with Ali, the one he knows well as his father. Hassan is born in an unlucky family. Sanaubar, the name of his mother, refuses him once she notices that her first son is a cleft lips kid. She mocks Ali for what she has got in marrying him, a son with a physical imperfectness (Hosseini 10). Hassan has been covered by a grief fact of his life. However, despite Hassan’s unlucky life condition, Amir’s father Baba, loves him more than he loves Amir.
Neither Amir nor Hassan knows about the truth that Baba has ever had an intercourse with Sanaubar. Sanaubar is pregnant and gives birth to Hassan. This very crucial fact has been covered with lies during Amir and Hassan’s childhood by some important character in the story of The Kite Runner. The first one is Baba, of course, as how he wants to save his good reputation in the society of Kabul from the fact that he has a half Hazara son. Just because The Kite Runner is told through Amir, thus it is logical that the truth will never reveal because Amir himself does not know about it. Amir should know the truth that he has got someone else whom he can call brother, more than just a friend and a household maid. Amir just knows about it when he comes back to Afghanistan in order to visit his friendly uncle, Rahim Khan. Rahim Khan cannot hold anymore on keeping the secret because he thinks that the time for Amir to be familiar of the important fact has come. By Rahim Khan, Hassan is told born from Baba and Sanaubar’s intercourse (Hosseini 205).
Kabul. The dream that Hassan ever wants to come true is actually a reality which has been hidden away i.e not only to become Amir’s best friend, but more appropriately to be Amir’s brother, in fact.
In the beginning it only tells that Hassan is just a son of Ali, who is later on acknowledged included to those who hide Hassan real blood line history from his recognition. Hassan is truly a Hazara-Pashtun boy as we can conclude from the story. Socially, he has made a possibility of Afghan’s new historical tribal problem where a half Pashtun boy has ever been born. Through this half blood born, Hassan deserves his honor as one of the Pashtuns fairly. He deserves honor as one of Baba’s sons, as well. Truly, Hassan actually has his power of position needs to be considered by people around him.
In a conclusion, the truth of Hassan’s position in Amir’s family is that he is a son of Baba. Then it makes clear if Hassan is someone who deserves to be very precious for Baba because Hassan is his son, too. Naturally, Baba must love Hassan much as he should to Amir in spite of Amir’s lack of personality as a boy. It is shown from the fact that Baba never forgets about Hassan’s birthday. He buys Hassan various presents from year to year. Once, Baba surprises Hassan by giving him a Japanese toy truck, an electric locomotive and train track set (Hosseini 41). On the day when Ali and Hassan have taken a big hard decision to leave Baba’s house because of a rejection from Amir, Baba cries a lot and unwittingly shows how great he cares about Hassan and Ali.
For Amir, Baba is meaningful. As a parent, Baba is very tough, strict and strong that Amir really honors him. Amir is very proud of what Baba has become i.e. a wealthy reputable person in Kabul.
It is Baba’s love and care that Amir always longs for. Nevertheless, the situation is completely different from what Amir expects. Amir’s unfortunate condition is that he realizes that Baba does not really like him because in Amir’s opinion Baba thinks that Amir is the only one to be blamed of Baba’s wife’s death (Hosseini 18). Furthermore, Amir explains that he cannot be just like what Baba wants him to be and i.e. a man with his bravery, pride, prejudice and honor.
Amir is quite depressed by Baba’s behavior that treats Hassan gentler and kinder than how he treats him as his own son. Petti states that depression is associated with family disruption (416). Baba seems to be very impressed of how perfect Hassan is compared to Amir who has an imperfect personality as a boy. This is the reason why Amir is not treated quite well. Baba is the one who begins his own family disruption. He treats Amir with less attention without realizing that Amir already starts to feel sad and is jealous to Hassan.
