I read "The Kite Runner" for my summer reading book. The theme of standing up for others is constantly reinforced throughout the book. The idea of standing up for others emerges in Chapter 3. Amir is always trying to get his father's attention and impress him. Amir's father, Baba, thinks Amir should be like him, but Amir is the exact opposite. In chapter 3, Amir cries because he sees a horsemen get killed, and he cries all the way home. Baba does not approve of Amir's behavior. "Mostly, I will never forget Baba's valiant efforts to conceal the disgusted look on his face as we drove in silence." (Hosseini 21) This then leads to the conversation Amir overhears between his father and a family friend, Rahim Khan. "'Sometimes I look out this window and I see Amir playing on the street with the neighborhood boys. I see how they push him around, take his toys from him, give him a shove here, a whack there. And, you know, he never fights back. Never. He just... drops his head... You know what happens when the neighborhood boys tease him? Hassan steps in and fend them off. I've seen it with my own eyes. And when they come home, I say to him, 'How did Hassan get that scrape on his face?' And he says, 'He fell down.' I'm telling you Rahim, there is something missing in that boy." (Hosseini 22) This is where the theme emerges. Hassan is standing up for Amir even though he might get hurt himself. I think it also shows that Amir is too afraid to stand up for himself. Amir is also afraid to back up Hassan.
The theme is shaped in Chapter 5. In Chapter 5, Assef, a boy who comes from the upper class, starts to bullying Hassan because Hassan is a servant. Amir does not stand up for Hassan he starts thinking things like, "But Hassan is not my friend! I almost blurted. He's my servant!" (Hosseini 41) When Assef tries to punch Amir, Hassan gets in the middle and stops Assef. At this point, the theme starts to shape into stand up for others, even though there is a risk.
In Chapter 7, Amir turns the corner to see Assef and his friends, threatening Hassan. Amir is scared of what Assef would do if he would stand up for Hassan. Assef starts to beat up Hassan. "I had one last chance to make a decision. One final opportunity to decide who I was going to be. I could step into that alley, stand up for Hassan- the way he'd stood up for me all those times in the past-and accept whatever happen to me. Or I could run."(Hosseini 77) This quote shows the theme and hard it is to stand up for people because it mean scarifying yourself in the process.
The theme from Chapter 5 is refined in Chapter 10. Amir and his father are trying to escape Afghanistan because the Russians are invading. They were in a back of a truck with a lot of other people, when a solider wanted to take a women from her family. Baba stands up for the women and says what the solider is doing is wrong and he wont let it take place. The solider threatens to kill Baba. Baba says, "Tell him I'll take a thousand of his bullets before I let this indecency takes place." (Hosseini 116) Baba knows he can get killed, but he knows the right thing to do is stand up for the women.
The theme in "The Kite Runner" is illustrated all through out the book. By doing so, Khaled Hosseini shows how important standing up for others and yourself is. He also shows that it's a hard thing to do. I, personally do not like to get in the middle of things, but after reading "The Kite Runner" I realized, in most situations you need to stand up and help that person out.
