Preview

The Betrayal and Loyalty in Macbeth and Kite Runner

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2948 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Betrayal and Loyalty in Macbeth and Kite Runner
“A boy who won’t stand up for himself becomes a man who can’t stand up to anything.”
Baba says these words to Rahim Khan while he is talking about Amir at the end of Chapter 3, and the quotation reveals important traits in both Amir and Baba. With these words, Baba sums up one of Amir’s major character flaws—his cowardice—and Baba shows how much value he places in standing up for what is right. Baba is reluctant to praise Amir, largely because he feels Amir lacks the courage to even stand up for himself, leaving Amir constantly craving Baba’s approval. Amir’s desire for this approval as well as his cowardice later cause him to let Assef rape Hassan. The quotation also foreshadows the major test of Amir’s character that occurs when he must decide whether to return to Kabul to save Sohrab. As Amir searches for redemption, the question he struggles with is precisely what concerned Baba: does he have the courage and strength to stand up for what is right?

“I actually aspired to cowardice, because the alternative, the real reason I was running, was that Assef was right: Nothing was free in this world. Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba.”
When Amir says this, toward the end of Chapter 7, he has just watched Assef rape Hassan,and rather than intervene, he ran away. Amir says he aspired to cowardice because, in his estimation, what he did was worse than cowardice. If fear of being hurt by Assef were the main reason he ran, Amir suggests that at least would have been more justified. Instead, he allowed the rape to happen because he wanted the blue kite, which he thought would prove to Baba that he was a winner like him, earning him Baba’s love and approval. The price of the kite, as Amir says, was Hassan, and this is why Amir calls Hassan the lamb he had to slay. He draws a comparison between Hassan and the lamb sacrificed during the Muslim holiday of Eid Al-Adha to commemorate Abraham’s near sacrifice of his son to God. In

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    One of Baba's main concerns in The Kite Runner is Amir's attitude when facing crisis in his life. When he was a child, Baba had said about him in relation to neighbourhood bullying, “A boy who won't stand up for himself becomes a man who can't stand up to anything.” Having heard that statement, Amir stamped himself as a coward, often using it as an excuse. However, through the course of the novel Hosseini reveals that Amir was not such a weakling as viewed by his father. In spite of not being trained to do so, he had 'stood up' for himself, and for others, but in a more cautious and diplomatic way; in contrast to Baba's strong and heroic idea of 'standing up'.…

    • 1155 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Betrayal In Macbeth

    • 1347 Words
    • 6 Pages

    “Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it” George Santayana, The Life of Reason, 1905. The Tragedy of Macbeth, tells a story of a common occurrence in politics, a rise and fall of a once powerful leader. The Tragedy of Macbeth is a tragedy in which the main protagonist's flaws leads to their own collapse, which is seen time and time again modernly. Written by William Shakespeare, it tells more than just a tale, he tries to depict the political struggle throughout the Elizabethan and Jacobean era. Shakespeare's illustrates a kingsman named Macbeth will succumbing to absolute power and the lengths he will take to retain it, including the strong theme of betrayal. This situation, as told by George Santayana, can be related to many…

    • 1347 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    I deem Macbeth to be guiltier than Lady Macbeth. Factually, Macbeth is shown to be more sensitive than Lady Macbeth, because Lady Macbeth seems to be very inclined when proposing Macbeth to assassinate King Duncan; while Macbeth seems to be unsure and tensed about the idea. In addition, Macbeth’s reaction to assassinating King Duncan despite of his loyalty to him and his appreciation towards him for receiving so much honour from shows that he is sensitive to killing or causing any harm to people that he thinks are good people. In Act II Scene iii, when Macbeth returns home after assassinating King Duncan, he is shivering in an aggressive motion and stuttering while trying to talk to Lady Macbeth. Also, Macbeth’s expression is shocked and he…

    • 261 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Amir and Hassan were inseparable growing up. Minus the fact Hassan was Amir's servant, both loved and trusted one other. "For you a thousand times over," he said. Then he smiled his Hassan smile and disappeared around the corner." (67) Hassan was willing to do anything for Amir, a thousand times over, but was Amir willing to do the same? No, the following night he earned his father's redemption was the same night he betrayed his closest friend. Watching Hassan being raped and doing…

    • 511 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Shakespeare's play "Macbeth" is considered one of his great tragedies. In the play, Macbeth faces an internal conflict with his opposing decisions. On one hand, he has to decide of he is to assassinate the king in order to claim his throne. This would result in his death for treason if he is caught, and he would also have to kill his friend. On the other hand, if he is to not kill him, he may never realize his ambitious dreams of ruling Scotland. Another of his internal struggles is his desision of killing his friend Banquo. After hiring murderers to kill him, Macbeth begins to see Banquo's ghost which drives him crazy, possibly a result of his guilty conscience. Macbeth's external conflict is with Macduff and his forces trying to avenge the king and end Macbeth's reign over Scotland. One specific motif is considered the major theme, which represents the overall atmosphere throughout the play.…

    • 773 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Kite Runner

    • 560 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Bitter truths, soothing lies and carefully kept secrets are found throughout Khaled Hosseini’s novel, The Kite Runner, as many of the characters face one or the other at some point. Through their actions, Hosseini attempts to show the reader that despite the initial comfort a lie can bring, the harsh truth is often less soul destroying. This point is evident with Baba’s secret, which forces him to deceive his sons and brings awful consequences. Hassan’s noble show of loyalty to Amir in falsely admitting to the act of thievery is done with best intentions, yet no doubt the truth would have given Amir more freedom and joy in time. It is also emphasized that revealing the truth outweighs the lies as Soraya admits her shady past to Amir, and that he too can be honest with himself and admit the truth about his cowardice.…

    • 560 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Irony In The Kite Runner

    • 966 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Baba is always the wise parent giving his son, Amir, a slice of life now and then. One of the times that Baba gave his son a slice of life is when Amir was in Baba’s study room. Amir was talking to Baba about his…

    • 966 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Although Macbeth possesses admirable valor and honorable loyalty in the beginning of the play, his greatest asset—his ambition—contaminates his judgment and causes him to drive the dagger into King Duncan. Ambition is a double-edged sword which eventually slices Macbeth and stabs the beloved king. Macbeth’s ambition assists him in gaining the Thane of Cawdor and the Thane of Glamis titles, but even these superior positions did not fulfill his hunger for power. Even though King Duncan believes Macbeth was the most trustworthy solider in all of Scotland, Macbeth’s ulterior motives reveal he is simply focused on power. Macbeth’s “thriftless ambition” and fixation on gaining more authority is “'[against] nature” as it causes him to commit heinous…

    • 281 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Kite Runner '

    • 522 Words
    • 3 Pages

    So Hassan got raped by assef so that he could get back Amir’s kite that assef didn’t want to give Hassan. Hassan was Amir’s sacrifice to he key to babasa heart (the kite). A quote by Amir in chapter 7” maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win baba. Was it a fair price?” However, in the film, Ali didn’t ask Amir about why hassan was bleeding after he rape.…

    • 522 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the novel, Macbeth by William Shakespeare, many scenes depict betrayal through the benefit of trying to get ahead or gain from betraying the ones they love. These scenes appear more often between Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth, who tries to push him to kill the king for their own personal gain as being queen and king. In the scenes, one can see the shift between the characters and the treatment of each other reveals just how little they think of one another, with a hint of underlying hate. This value of benefiting in the society adds to the meaning of the work as a whole in dealing with human…

    • 112 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The story of Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a tragic one indeed. Full of betrayal and paranoia, this play ranks high on Shakespeare’s list of plays. Macbeth tells the story of the Thane of Glamis, Macbeth. He learns prophecies from three witches and seeks to fulfill them. In this quest, he gets what he wants, but loses what he had before. Macbeth’s main reason for committing the heinous act against Duncan in act II is his vivid imagination. The definition of imagination is the faculty or action of forming new ideas, or images or concepts of external objects not present to the senses. Macbeth’s imagination both hinders his ability to kill and enables it, because he hallucinates, is ambitious, and thinks of failure.…

    • 454 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “ The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and confidence, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy”…

    • 975 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The story Macbeth is written by William Shakespeare. The character Lady Macbeth is very headstrong. When she finds out there have been witches prophesying that Macbeth will become the Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor, and king hereafter, she will do everything in her power to make sure that will happen. Lady Macbeth will not let anything get in her way even though “Yet do I fear thy nature, it is too full o’ the milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way” (1.5.15). She feels that her husband deserves to be king, but he alone will not be able to kill for the crown. She knows this because Macbeth is so noble and kind. The manipulative Lady Macbeth influences how great the Macbeths could have been.…

    • 359 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “It takes a great deal of courage to stand alone even if you believe in something very strongly”…

    • 940 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the play Othello, originally written by William Shakespeare but reproduced by Michael Lynch and James Beggs, the overall entertainment value differed tremendously amongst its viewers. To determine the entertainment value, one must look at the theme, subject, individuality, and the verisimilitude of the play. I think the theme of Othello is that love is a powerful feeling that can easily be deceitful. In Othello, Desdemona and Othello both share a love for each other in which seems unbreakable, yet when others begin to feel jealous the feeling of love amongst others in the play becomes a lie.…

    • 1082 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays