Change of Mind: Loyalty

A big theme in The Kite Runner is loyalty. As I read the book, I am amazed at the amount of loyalty (or lack thereof) the characters show. Hassan shows amazing amounts of loyalty towards Amir and his father, even through the roughest of times, while Amir couldn't care less about the boy he had grown up with. Previously, I perceived loyalty as an absolutely necessary character trait. But when I saw where Hassan's loyalty got him, it made me seriously evaluate my feelings. Hassan had unwavering loyalty towards the family who had provided everything for him and his father, and rightly so. But Amir, his supposed best friend, had absolutely no loyalty to Hassan. Amir's only loyalty was to himself (and in a more god-like sense, his father). When he watched his best friend (though he won't admit that they are best friends) get raped, his first instinct was to make sure his kite hadn't been damaged. Amir didn't take a second look when he met up with Hassan after, the only thing he could think of was getting home as fast as possible to show his father the kite that Hassan retrieved for him. Hassan's unwavering loyalty became its worst when Amir hid money and the watch in Hassan's bed to frame him and get his family kicked out. Amir didn't think twice about how they would get by without the steady job that Baba offers them, and he was really surprised when Baba forgave Hassan. Amir thought that Baba and Ali had the same relationship that he and Hassan did, but obviously they didn't. When Hassan left, Amir didn't even shed a tear, but Baba fought tooth and nail to get them to stay. Reading this really made me reevaluate loyalty. Obviously, it's a really important characteristic, because without loyalty you'll never gain anyone's trust. But this specific case shows us that the most innocent of people can be duped by someone claiming to have their best interests at heart. It's hard to think about your friends doing this to you, but it makes you want to think about your relationships with people. You don't just want to assume everyone's out to get you, but you also need to evaluate how you feel about people. The characters in the novel are over-exaggerated to make a point, but they also represent the deepest darkest parts of us, and their desires. To a point, I do identify with Amir, because when I was younger,  I was always the bossy best friend. But his lack of loyalty made me want to be physically ill when I was reading the novel, and it makes me sure to never get even close to that point with anyone.