2. Given Argument:
Amir’s personality traits as a person cause him to do nothing to
help Hassan.
Amir’s disloyalty to Hassan and his cowardice cause him to
remain neutral while Hassan is sodomized by Assef.
Team’s Revised Argument
3. Best Textual Support # 1:
Foreshadowing, Characterization
“A boy who won’t stand up for himself becomes a man who
can’t stand up to anything.”
Literary Elements
● Through Baba’s words, there is an
indirect characterization of Amir being
a coward. If his own father can see
that Amir is weak, others can too, so
they can target his beloved ones to
exploit his cowardice.
4. Best Textual Support #2:
Internal Conflict: Amir vs. Himself, Motif: Betrayal
● His cowardice becomes definite when Amir has the chance to stand up for
Hassan “the way he’d stood up for [him] all those times in the past”, but in
the end, “[Amir] ran. [He] ran because [he] was a coward”(77).
Literary Elements
● We see Amir’s internal
conflict versus himself and
his guilt develop in this
section.
● The motif of betrayal and
cowardice foreshadowed
before finally shows in this
section through Amir’s
inactions.
5. Best Textual Support #3:
Motif:Loyalty
Amir’s guilt grew as Hassan remained loyal, so he lashed out at Hassan
yelling, “Hit me back, goddamn you! I wished he would. I wished he’d give
me the punishment i craved” (92).
Literary Elements
● The motif of loyalty remains
persistent through Hassans
during his hardship and internal
suffering. Amir sees this and
tries to break it by forcing
Hassan to hit him back with a
pomegranate.
6. Best Textual Support #4:
Character Development
When Assef is beating him up, “[Amir] laughs”, because psychologically “[He]
felt healed. Healed at last” from the torture of guilt, and the sweet taste of
the punishment he deserved.
Literary Element
● We see the character of
Amir developing as he
faces his fears and even
finds a sort of peace
while doing so.
