Hassan and his father, Ali, are both fiercely loyal to Amir and Baba. Ali and Baba grew up together as master and servant, so to speak. This relationship continues through Amir and Hassan. Many times throughout the book, Amir grows impatient and/or disgusted with the amount of loyalty Hassan shows him. The main reason for this is because Amir knows he doesn't deserve such loyalty.
Amir also resents Hassan because of how much smarter he seems to be; with regards to solving riddles and such, though Hassan is illiterate. He relies on Amir for story-telling and blindly trusts his interpretations. That in itself shows how trusting, loyal, and naive Hassan is. As Amir remarks, "Hassan [was] so pure."
In regards to products/marketing, there are 4 levels of loyalty: Not yet Purchased, Trialist, Repeat Purchase, and Brand Insistence. When it comes to relationships, the four levels described above can be translated to different types/levels of personal loyalty.
The first step is equivalent to meeting that person and getting to know them in the most basic of ways; step 2, you are willing to be friends with that person, but are still cautious as to their character and scruples; step 3, you are now friends with that person and will stick up for them, but only in certain situations (i.e. minor disagreements); step 4, unwavering loyalty and a constant effort to strengthen the relationship and build trust.
"Why did I only play with Hassan when no one else was around?" Amir questions his friendship with Hassan and whether or not he is ashamed to be seen with Hassan.
"And that's the thing about people who mean everything they say. They think everyone else does, too." Hassan's truthful nature and his belief that no one would lie to him allows Amir to take advantage of their friendship.
The mere fact that Hassan does not tell anyone about what happened to him in the alley on that cold December day, and that he didn't confront Amir about being there when it happened and not taking action, proves how loyal, forgiving, and humble Hassan is. Amir stashes money and his new watch under Hassan's mattress, in order to drive Ali and Hassan out of the house for he cannot deal with the guilt and self-loathing that he's been enduring since he betrayed Hassan; when push comes to shove, Hassan does not tell Baba the truth, but accepts the consequences.
"I'll never really know why, but I could imagine the two of them in that dim little hut, weeping. Hassan pleading him not to give me away. But I couldn't imagine the restraint it must have taken Ali to keep that promise." Hassan finally tells his father about what happened, and they both decide that the only way to resolve the situation is for them to leave Baba's service.
Amir knew, deep down, that he never deserved Hassan and Ali's loyalty.
Towards the end of the book, we see that Sohrab, Hassan's son, has inherited his father's loyalty. When Amir goes to visit the Talib, it turns out that Assef, an old childhood bully, is their leader. As payback for a past grievance, Assef beats Amir within an inch of his life and would've killed him had not Sohrab interceded.
"[Sohrab's] hand was cocked over his shoulder, holding the cup of the slingshot at the end of the elastic band which was pulled all the way back. There was something in the cup, something shiny and yellow. I blinked the blood from my eyes and saw it was one of the brass balls from the ring in the table base. Sohrab had the slingshot pointed at Assef's face...The slingshot made a thwiiiiiit sound when Sohrab released the cup. Then Assef was screaming. He put his hand where his left eye had been just a moment ago. Blood oozed between his fingers."
This act of Sohrab mirrors what his father did some 20 years ago. He was protecting Amir from Assef and his two cohorts. "In the cup was a rock the size of a walnut. Hassan held the slingshot pointed directly at Assef's face. His hands trembled with the strain of the pulled elastic band and beads of sweat had erupted on his brow."
As will be discussed in my next blog post about Betrayal, Amir does nothing throughout his pre-teen years to adult years that earns the trust of either of the boys. After a haunting experience of betrayal on Amir's part, Sohrab is given the loyalty of Amir with the simple line:
"'For you, a thousand times over,' I heard myself say."
No comments:
Post a Comment