Perspectives in Literature 2213 02 Seth Cartwright Briley March 24 2014 The Son and Father Relationship The relationship between a father and a son is a very unique relationship as is any relationship inside a family The greatest part about the relationship between a father and son though is that the father is the role model for the son to live up to for the rest of the son s life at least that s what the relationship is supposed to be yet not to a ridiculous level When the son strives to live up to his father he is fulfilling his role as a son but what happens when the father is not pleased with the son What happens when the son cannot live up to the standards the father expects In the book The Kite Runner Amir tries to please his father in several different ways but he never can because of how high his father has set the bar In today s society it is important for every child to have a father It is quite the upset to know that many children grow up without a father because the father has abandoned the family in most cases Even though it is important for every family to have a father it is not right for the son to be obsessively trying to please his father It is good for the father to guide the son but the son needs to be his own person and Amir cannot see that his own dignity should be placed over his father s approval 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 77 In this critical point in the book Amir has clouded his mind with visions of pleasing his father and has no mercy in thinking of other people over himself What has happened to Amir here It seems he has lost his senses and even dehumanized himself for acceptance It is interesting to note that it might even be because Amir is so different from his father that he will never be accepted by his father no matter how hard he tries This gives way to how Baba can be misleading Amir even though he is trying to guide him One aspect of demeanor in the relationship between Amir and his father is that his father has unrealistic expectations about Amir In a conversation between Baba and Rahim Khan Rahim explains to Baba the truth about raising his son Children aren t coloring books You don t get to fill them with your favorite colors 21 This is a good quote because it is so true and most parents don t get how kids will be kids and there isn t much you can do to make them do something if they really don t want to do it With Baba it seems like he expects Amir to live up to his standards It isn t vocally said all the time but the mental tension is there between them and when Amir fails to please Baba it only results in Amir s drop in self esteem Baba should be more accepting of who Amir is and not expect Amir to be exactly like him or at least not let Amir think this is what Baba wants from him This book is somewhat conflicting because of the relationship between Baba and Amir If Baba didn t come off as so unaccepting then Amir wouldn t feel so ashamed of himself and perhaps would be more confident This could have led to him saving Hassan instead of letting Hassan get abused by Assef A father son relationship should not be a demanding relationship and really shouldn t have too much pressure in the first place It s not like a father is supposed to be the son s best friend and vis versa with the son being the father s best friend The father and son should learn to respect each other and not give in to societal pressure