Race and the characters. Brett, Emily, Gabby

[gabby...@gmail.com]

How does the ethnicity of Hassan shape the way he was treated by Assef? How did it affect the relationship between Hassan and Amir? Be sure to provide specific evidence.

[David Ayers]

Hassan gets referred to as a Hazara, the lowest class in Afghanistan at the time. Because of this Assef feels that he has power over Hassan and can treat him however he feels. This can be seen by the kite running scene where Assef literally does as he pleases with the Hazara boy. The same can also be said for Amir, the relationship between them forms at a class level specially when Amir is pushing Hassan away. Amir thinks to himself that Hassan is only a Hazara servant and he then beats him with Pomegranates, Amir also only spends time or plays with Hassan when he wants to, and never in public and never with the rest of the children.

[Joseph Jarrell]

Hassan is a Hazara, the lower of the races in the hierarchy, as opposed to a Pashtun (What Amir and Assef are (I think)) which results in them being treated poorly. Due to that some Pashtuns feel they are superior to the Hazara race, just based upon the culture of Afghanistan. That is why Assef treats Hassan the way he does. Amir doesn't want to show people that he cares about he and Hassan's friendship, given that during the first confrontation with Assef, Amir wants to tell Assef "He's not my friend he's my servant!" due to the fact that Amir doesn't want people to see him as someone who is friends with a Hazara.

[Morgan Carnish]

The ethnicity of Hassan shaped the way he was treated by Assef because in Afghanistan they have a Caste System in which Hazara's are seen as the lower class. Because of the social class difference, (and Assef being a literal sociopath) Assef calls Hassan names such as "Hazara boy" and "donkey". He even calls Ali "Babalu" which means monster in Farsi. This doesn't affect Amir and Hassan's friendship greatly, but when it came to a few moments before Hassan's rape, Amir was questioning his loyalty to Hassan because of their differences. For example, Assef said to Hassan, " Do you ever wonder why he doesn't play with you around his other friends? DO you wonder why he only plays with you when no one else is around? He is embearrased of you"

[lillian Morales]

Hassan being a Hazaras played a significant role in the book. Because he was a different ethnicity than the others and he was one that was looked down on, this made Amir embarrassed to be his friend sometimes, this made Hassan almost like a toy just there for Amir to play with when he had no other friends around because when they would go out, the others would tease Hassan and call him names, "they called him "flat nose" because of Ali and Hassan's characteristic Hazara Mongoloid features". this shows even Amir's inner monologue had these thoughts toward Hassan but that wasn't necessarily all Amirs fault for thinking that way, that was what he grew up knowing "For years, that was all I knew about the Hazaras, that they were Mogul descendants...School text books barely mentioned them and referred to their ancestry only in passing." This made their friendship almost one sided, Amir cared for Hassan but he would never love Hassan the same way Hassan loved him. 

[fernandez...@gmail.com]

Hassan, being a Hazara, the lower class, is the primary reason that Assef treats him so poorly and even worse than Amir, even though Amir is physically weaker than Hassan. In regards to Hassan and Amir's relationship, Hassan being a Hazara causes Amir to not publicly play with Hassan, nor defend him, especially when Hassan is raped by Assef.