Transcript Baba’s Influence on Amir

Baba’s Influence on
Amir
{
Carolyn, Abbey, Lauren and Alejandra
Context

Amir and Baba are at the opening ceremony of
the orphanage that Baba built. During a big
gust of wind, Baba's hat flew off and Baba gave
permission for Amir to hold it for him. This
triggered Amir to feel as though Baba was
proud to let everyone know he was his son.
IDENTITY:
“He motioned to me to hold his hat for him and I
was glad to, because then everyone would see that
he was my father, my Baba”(Page 14 , Chapter 3)

The use of the italics in ‘my’ suggests that Amir has a
strong desire to be associated with Baba; this is amplified
by possessive tone of Amir, which captures Amir’s longing
to be a single entity with his father.
Context

Amir admires his Baba and dreams to be the son
his father had always envisioned. However at
times, Amir becomes so obsessed with obtaining
these attitudes that his father possesses, that he
begins to convey his jealous nature - a character
trait only visible through his internal dialogue.
ATTITUDES:
“I already hated all the kids he was building the
orphanage for; sometimes I wished they’d all
died along with their parents.” (Page 17, Chapter
3)

The strong emphatic tone clearly underpins Amir’s underlying
hatred and jealousy towards the other children. It suggests
that Amir has deep desire for his father’s time and attention.
Furthermore, the verb “hated” reinforces the idea that Amir is
envious of the children for whom his father was building the
orphanage for.
Context:
Amir witnesses the rape of Hassan after the kite
tournament, but first and foremost Amir wants the kite to
bring back to Baba. Amir cannot separate kite fighting and
running from his own betrayal, selfishness and cowardice.
Hence, Hassan is his sacrifice in order to receive Baba’s
appreciation and proudness that he has craved for.
VALUES:
“Nothing was free in this world. Maybe Hassan
was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay,
to win Baba” (Page 73, Chapter 7)

The use of the juxtaposition of ‘slay‘ and ‘win’ clearly
demonstrates how controversial Amir’s values are, it creates the
idea that in order to gain, something must be lost. This
underlines how Amir’s values shift and captures how he values
the affection and praise of his father, more than Hassan’s
wellbeing and their friendship.