Change of Mind: Kite Runner

A prevalent idea I have noticed so far in the Kite Runner is Amir's desire to be good; of which the methods of achieving are unfortunately terribly skewed and distorted. Much of the distortion comes from the gap between himself and his father, Baba. Amir (at least in his childhood years) feels as though his father secretly hates him. One of the reasons for this, he believes, is because his mother died during childbirth. Therefore, he logically reasons, his father hates him because he killed his mother. Murder (although according to Baba is a variation of stealing) is a great sin. Naturally, Amir wants forgiveness from Baba, which he won't get until the gap between them is gone (if there is no gap anymore, that means Baba must have forgiven Amir). This drive trumps all of Amir's other moral obligations due to the intensity of the sin of murder. Therefore, I believe it is because of this that Amir feels jealousy, and is willing to be unfair towards Hassan if it means getting closer to his Baba.

Due to this understanding of Amir's logical reasoning, I have changed my mind on the nature of people, "evil" people in particular. People who we typically regard as "bad people" are often seen as wanting to simply do harm onto others. However, I have long ago established that from his/her point of view, they are trying to do the best as well. I also remember hearing somewhere (unfortunately I cannot remember where exactly) that all people have a desire to be good. So I reasoned that they must have faulty logic, that their reasoning was skewed. Hitler, being a famous example, wanted to purify the world by creating a u niversal race of Aryans. He wanted to do a "good thing" but the logic is strange. He would have to have been a smart man however, to be in the position he was in, but how could he been such a smart man if his logical reasoning was so distorted? This is where Kite Runner comes in.

Thanks to Amir, I realize that it isn't the LOGIC that is flawed, Amir's logic is sound. But the conclusion is twisted because his logic is based on a fundamentally wrong assumptions: that his father hates him because he killed his mother. Although to Amir it seems natural and obvious that this should be so because his mother DID die during HIS childbirth, there is not enough proof to be 100% sure. This in turn strengthens my belief in that major arguments could be solved by sitting down and having a philosophical debate (much like Aristotle's Philosopher Kings would do).