"For you, a thousand times over! He promised"
The Value of True Friendship
The Kite Runner is an excellent portrayal of two boys who experience, and attempt to overcome, daily internal struggles just to remain friends. During the novel their friendship flourishes, but is also tested. They remain friends, but not without lasting guilt, resent, and a test of loyalty.
The boys were brought up in completely different social classes. Amir comes from a very wealthy and respected household, while Hassan is a poverty-stricken Hazara who is the son of Ali, a servant in Amir and his father's house. Because of this, Amir and Hassan grew up together. If this was not the case, it is highly doubtful that the two boys would even talk to each other. A person from the upper class would usually be ridiculed by his peers for having any relationship with someone not from their own class. This is the main reason why it is so hard for Amir to be Hassan's true friend. He is afraid to make their friendship more public because being friends with the son of a servent makes him look bad amongst his peers. Amir also tends to test Hassan's loyalty quite occasionally. This is because Amir has no confidence in himself. He finds it difficult to trust people, especially Hassan, due to this lack of confidence. Finally, Amir resents Hassan because he is very jealous of him. Hassan is a natural athlete and pure of heart. Even Amir's father admires how talented Hassan is, and treats him practically as his own son. The fact that Amir works so hard to try and please and impress his father, while Amir does the simplest thing that his father always praises, makes Amir extremely envious.
In my personal experience, it doesn't and shouldn't matter who you're friends with and who you're not friends with. Class, race, gender...that all shouldn't make a difference either. Though I have many friends who come from wealthy families, I also have friends who are not from families that are particularly...