Hassan's perspective from the The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini's - Book Report/Review Example

I suppose it all started another encounter with Assef. This isn’t anything new to me, not at all. I know how Assef and his friends feel about me. They think of me as a lowly servant. They feel I’m not even worthy of being in Amir’s presence, all because of foolish matters of social class. I understand that I am nothing but Baba’s servant’s son. I am unworthy of the name I have, let alone to have a friend like Amir. I have dealt with this before in many different ways. I have felt shame and I have stood up for myself.

I don’t think I am deserving of all the judgment they place upon me and yet, I can only do so much to defend myself to it. Up until this point, I’ve done all I can. Tonight, I lost the battle. The events of tonight have only solidified for me that I can only do so much. I was running for Amir’s kite. I take pride in my ability to spot the kite without fail. It is one of the small victories I get to experience every once in so often, and I believe in taking pride in abilities no matter how big or small they may be.

I was on top of the world after running the last cut kite. I felt pride in my own abilities and of course, pride in the abilities of Amir. I couldn’t wait to bring the kite back to him, to celebrate and see the pride in Baba’s eyes, the pride Amir tries so hard to attain. . It was on the way back to Amir that I ran into Assef and his friends. I was not scared. As I said, I am used to Assef’s views of me. His disdain for my being a Hazara can’t be masked by anything. I believe with my whole heart that if he could, he would bring me to Hazarajat himself without a second thought.

Still, no one deserves to be shamed as I’ve been shamed. No one deserves this sort of thing to happen to them. I really believed he was going to give me the kite back and let me get away with only a beating. I believed they would hold me down and beat me until I could barely grasp my whereabouts and then leave me to deal with it. That would have left me with it’s own shame, but a shame I could recover from. Instead, he told me to keep the kite as a reminder. He wanted the kite, the glorious moment I was looking so forward to celebrating with my closest friend, to remind me of how he was forever changing my life.

His friends’ reluctance told me that I wasn’t the only one that thought what Assef was doing to me was terrible, disgusting, and wrong. Yet neither of these cowards stopped him as he forced himself into me. Despite the cries for help I made, no one saved me. In fact, I’m not sure if the cries even made it out of my mouth. Perhaps they only remained in my mind, trying to get out but stopped by my own cowardice, which is evident by the fact I was unable to escape this situation. Never in my life, despite all the judgment made against me, have I wanted to die.

Not until that moment have I wanted the life to be sucked out of me, to be no more. Never have I wished I wasn’t what I am, but now I do. Assef used this to his advantage, knowing this is a shame I will carry with me forever, until the day I