Hassan's Relationship: Abusive?

[Lucas]

Hassan is Amir's servant, and also his "friend", whom he loves unconditionally. Is Amir worth it? Hassan goes through several horrors, including a rape, and being accused of theft, all for Amir. He knew Amir sawe him in the alleyway, and knew what Amir was doing when he rejected the fallen kite that had cost so much. What was Hassan thinking? Why would he suffer so much for a master who obviously sees him drastically different?

[James]

He does those things because he loves Amir, as you said, unconditionally. He loved Amir enough to move past those things that Amir did wrong, huge as they may have seemed to us. Why he loved Amir that much, who can know? But he did.

[Lucas]

I just think that this type of love seems unrealistic. Maybe Hassan would have still loved Amir, but there should have been some anger, too. A lot of anger. Maybe there was, but the author hasn't shown us any of it, making Hassan seem not s human.

[Jean]

They have that connection that they don't find out about until much later in life. (I think, it has been a very long time since I read this book but it is my favorite.)

[Hoda]

It is quite unfair for him, this whole weird friendship, and no it wasn't worth it. being loved isn't worth THAT much!!!

[Sean]

I read the first chunk of this book a few years back and hated the relationship between the two and the characters. I thought ofA Separate Peace while reading it, which I disliked immensely as well, and promptly stopped reading it.

[Julie]

I think Hassan was just one of those "good souls" that is put on the earth to teach someone like Amir how to love and how to eventually value the relationship he had with him. Amir made mistakes, yes, big ones, but in the end he was learning from them and that to me is a huge life lesson that we all can learn from.

[Stephanie]

It's a cruel friendship but think about it: who else does Hassan have? Amir is everything to him; his job and his personal life. Amir takes advantage of that because he's insecure about himself and about his relationship wiht his father. He knows that Hassan is like the dog he can kick as much as he wants to make himself feel better because it will always come back. I hated that and felt so sad for Hassan. But Hassan loved to see Amir happy and he did what Amir wanted because he wanted Amir to feel better about himself. To us, it may not have been worth it to love Amir because he was so cruel but to Hassan it was all he's ever known.

[Chami]

Yes. Amir doesn't worth such a faithful servant, or rather a honest friend like Hassan. I really don't like Amir's character. But i think in the end he understood that, and he'll regret being such a unfaithful master and unloving friend.

[Czarina]

It was more of a servant master relationship rather than a friendship. The word abusive is too harsh. He was an awful friend and in the end Amir realized that.

[John]

Hassan and Amir have an interesting relationship to say the least. Hassan cares for Amir even after the rape and being accused a thief. Amir put Hassan through so much and Hassan stayed loyal to Amir. You can relate Hassan and Amir's relationship to a disapproving father and a loving son, or a abusive relationship. You can relate their relationship to a disapproving father and a loving son because all Hassan tries to do is to make Amir happy but Amir always has a negative mindset about whatever Hassan does. You can also relate their relationship to a abusive relationship because Hassan only wants to please Amir but Amir hurts Hassan. He hurts Hassan in a way you just have to feel for Hassan but even after all of that he still remains loyal to Amir. It took Amir awhile to see, to understand what kind of person he was being to Hassan. In the end Amir finally woke up to see how unfriendly his actions to Hassan were.

[Mira]

Culturally, it is within Afghan custom to be sacrificial despite what seems logical to Western countries. It is a beautiful, yet painful thing to watch someone take advantage of this application of the sacred commitment of Hassan to being the best person he can be.

[Erin *Proud Book Hoarder*]

Lucas wrote: "Hassan is Amir's servant, and also his "friend", whom he loves unconditionally. Is Amir worth it? Hassan goes through several horrors, including a rape, and being accused of theft, all for Amir. He..."

No, it was unrealistic. I loved Hassan's character but he wasn't fully believable. I think Amir had a lot of flaws in his character, but was happy with some minor redemption at the end of the book.