A World of Conflict: The Kite Runner

There are many types of conflict in this novel, so much, that I think that conflict is a theme. Amir is battling with the internal conflict raging in his head and the poor kid is dealing with external conflict as well. However, the conflict doesn't stop with Amir and himself and others, it goes on to include the Shi'a Muslims and Sunni Muslims, the Hazarras and the Pashtuns. The internal conflict is Amir battling with his feelings about his father. He desperately wants his father's love and respect and is jealous of Hassan, his servant-friend, when Hassan seems to be getting more attention. He struggles with the love for his father and the love of his friend, but over and over Hassan gets hurt because Amir chooses his father who never seems to care much. On page 13, Baba asks Amir if Hassan wanted to go on a trip with them, but "I lied and told him Hassan had the runs. I wanted Baba all to myself." Because Amir never got the attention he needed from his father, he was stuck in the middle of an internal battle. The external conflict also has to deal with Amir and Baba, but not Hassan. Amir wants the approval of his father more than anything in the world, but their personalities stand in the way. Baba was a sports star, who is strong and brave and believes his son should be like him. However, Amir inherited his mother's qualities and would rather read. This difference always led to the conflict between them because they could not enter into a happy medium. "I started spending my allowance on books. That was how I escaped my father's aloofness," (pg. 19). "Baba sensed my lack of genuine interest[in soccer] and resigned himself to the bleak fact that his son was never going to either play or watch soccer,"(20). Finally, there was the external conflict between the two muslim groups. The Pashtuns were the wealthy and the influential while the Hazarra's were the servants and the illiterate and there was no evidence that this would ever budge.