Progressing Through Life

Progressing in life could be one of the most difficult things that a person will have to face during their lifetime. The troubles and problems that they encounter helps them to develop as a person, but also puts them through extraordinary pain. Denis Waitley a man known globally for counselling some of the world's most famous athletes, said a quote that could relate back to developing in life. He said â€Å"Don't dwell on what went wrong. Instead, focus on what to do next. Spend your energies on moving forward toward finding the answer.†In the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, developing as a person is portrayed in several different ways through the main character Amir. As a child Amir faced conflict between his father and himself mostly because he was trying to find a way to learn and connect with his father to help him figure out how he wants to live. As he enters his teenage years he experiences evil in this world first hand, something some people will never see. Le arning to control himself and realize how to handle it is a major step for most people.Later when he enters adulthood he begins to take responsibility and puts others ahead of himself. Helping those who cannot help themselves is a considerate and remarkable thing to accomplish in life. During a human’s childhood they face a lot of self realization and this causes most kids to be confused as they are proceeding through the early stages of their lives. Amir's father makes it very challenging for Amir to develop as a child because he does not have very much respect for Amir and does not acknowledge him enough. â€Å"This is grown-ups time.Why don't you go read one of thosebooks of yours? † (Hosseini 3). This quote shows how Amir’s father ignored him like he did not exist. This caused Amir to get very frustrated with his father because all he ever wanted was to be accepted by him. Another point that relates back Baba not loving loving Amir as much as he should, is w hen Baba is talking to Rahim Kahn. They are talking about how Amir never sticks up for himself and Hassan has to do it for him. â€Å"Self defence has nothing to do with meanness. You know what always happens when the neighbourhood boys tease him?Hassan steps in and fends them off. I've seen it with my own eyes. And when they come home, I say to him, † How did Hassan get that scrape on his face? â€Å"†¦ † he fell down† I'm telling you, Rahim, there is something missing in that boy. â€Å"( Hosseini 18). This quote shows us how Baba has very little respect for Amir because he believes that he does not know how to stick up for himself and this causes Baba to ignore him more than he already does. This is not completely Amir’s fault because he has never been taught how to stand up for himself.This is Baba’s job, as a father and role model, to make sure he knows this. There is also a time when Baba tries to reach out to Amir and give him the chanc e to impress Baba but Amir fails to impress him. When Baba puts Amir into soccer, he is hoping that Amir will take an interest in it. Amir likes the idea so he tries it out, but when he does he finds out that he is not good at playing soccer and he cannot get through this athletic challenge. He is unable to keep up and his dad gets frustrated so he takes him out of it and tries to see if watching the soccer will be better for him.For the first few weeks Amir fakes being interested in it and his dad soon catches on that he has no interest in it and wants to give up on him. (Hosseini 15). Amir feels as if he has not inherited any athletic ability from Baba and this makes him feel even more discouraged than he already is. All Amir ever wanted was to get his father’s approval and he fails to do it in almost every situation as a child. As Amir entered his teenage years he faced the evil in the world first hand. Amir witnessed an event that could scar any person for their entire li fe.When Amir saw Hassan get sexually assaulted he did not engage in the situation to try and help his friend Hassan. Amir stood by and watched his best friend surrender to the boys who sexually assaulted him. This situation relates back to the first point in this paragraph because if Baba would have taught Amir how to stick up for himself and his friends, he could have tried to stop or prevent this horrible circumstance. This situation relates to the point because if Amir would have prevented the sexual assault then he would not have felt so guilty and lost his best friend.If this situation never happened it could have change his life completely. After Amir watched his best friend get sexually assaulted, this stalled his growth as a child because he was feeling very guilty and did not know what to do with himself. (Hosseini 61). This is demonstrated during the fight between Amir and Hassan at the pomegranate tree. Amir throws a pomegranate at Hassan trying to get him to throw one ba ck at him because he wants to feel like he is even with Hassan again but Hassan does not react.Instead Hassan smashes one on his forehead to show that he is loyal to Amir and does not want to hurt him like Amir hurt him. (Hosseini 78). These last two examples shows how Amir is developing and maturing as a person because he now knows what he should do in a situation like that if it ever happens again and it also teaches him how he should be loyal to every person you are close to in life. In Amir’s later teenager years his father decides to move to America to get away from all the evil that was starting to happen in Kabul.He thinks that this is a good choice for him and Amir because it will give them the chance to start a new life in a different country. ( Hosseini 93) This is a turning point in Amir's life because he gets a chance to live in a different environment and take all of the knowledge he has gained and apply it to his new life. When Amir enters his adulthood he conti nues to mature and starts to apply everything he has learned through his experiences while growing up as a child and teenager. After Amir finds out that Hassan has passed away, his first instinct is to go and save his son Sohrab.Amir returns back to Kabul and finds out that Sohrab is under the control of the Taliban. As Amir finally finds Sohrab he is faced with the leader of the Taliban which is the man who sexually assaulted Hassan as a child. Amir then sacrifices himself for Sohrab and takes a beating from the leader and escapes with Sohrab later on. (Hosseini 247). This is showing that Amir has figured out that he has to put others before himself sometimes in order to make them happy and do what is right. It is a major step for Amir because he has not done this before.After Amir rescues Sorhab from the Taliban he brings him to a hotel so they can stay together until he brings him back to America. The morning after they settle at the hotel, Sohrab runs away to a Mosque and Amir h ad no idea where he went. Amir then started to panic because he knew that Sohrab was now his responsibility. Amir then asks the man at the front desk several questions until he mentions the Mosque and Amir immediately ran there hoping to find Sohrab. He finds Sohrab there and has a huge weight lifted off of his shoulders because he has found him, and knows that he is okay. (Hosseini 271).As Amir stays with Sohrab he is trying to get the papers which allows him to enter America. When Amir first meets the man trying to help him get Sohrab into America he faces a major issue that becomes an obstacle. The man tells Amir that Sohrab will not be able to leave Kabul until Amir gets proof that he is the uncle of Sohrab. (Hosseini 290). This brave challenge would have been extremely difficult for Amir to handle previously but since he is now very responsible and mentally stronger, he now works hard and does what is necessary to make it possible for Sohrab to come back to America with Amir.Am ir has grown and developed significantly since his childhood and now realizes how he can have in impact on other people’s lives if he really puts his mind to it. Mary Engelbreit once said, â€Å"If you don’t like something change it; if you can’t change it, change the way you think about it. † Developing in life is a very difficult challenge for most people, but for some it is something that they can do overnight. In this novel it is close to impossible for Amir to develop in the main stages of his life because of the type of person he is.In his childhood he tries to get his fathers approval, but later finds out that it will be a lot more challenging than it may seem. As he enters his teenage years Amir exposed to the worlds evil first hand. He witness' an event that he could have changed but fails to do so because of his lack of knowledge. Then when Amir becomes an adult he finally starts to figure out how to take the responsibility for others and put ot hers in front of himself in order to make them happy. Amir finally develops in life and puts everything that he has learned to the test. Amir has come a long way and now can say that he is a fully developed man.