Punishment for Baba or for Amir?

              In the novel The Kite Runner, Amir and Baba have both done terrible things and their life changed because of the decisions they made. When Baba was dying, Amir was in greif. He began to cry a lot and worry about what he would do when Baba died. Since Amir left Hassan to be a victim of Assef's and allowed him to be raped, this could be punishment for his sins. Baba dying and not being able to be with Amir could be part of what he deserves for what he did to Hassan. Amir didn't do anything to make up for what he did, except for sending him out of Kabul. But even that didn't help since the Taliban came and made things bad for Hazaras. Baba's death could have been the first punishment he gets for abandoning Hassan.
               Though Baba doesn't show it, he seems unprepared to die so soon. Possibly he too wants to make up for his sins and is not ready to die because he wants to do more. The only things that he really did to make up for them are to give the poor some money and give money to orphanages. He may also have wanted to live to see Amir's grandchildren or to see him be successful, or maybe the same for Hassan, but if he did, then he never showed it. On the other hand, it could also just be his time. Perhaps, as said in the paragraph above, that Baba's death could be punishment for Amir. Fate could have given Baba what he deserved. This could be when Hassan left and was out of Baba's life forever. That could be the last punishment for him.

Response to Sam's Response

I was looking at Google Reader to find some inspiration for a response, and I found this on Sam's Blog.

The reason Amir didn’t interact with Hassan after he was raped was that he was Jealous of Hassan.  Throughout the whole story Baba makes an effort to make sure that whenever he and Amir can have a moment alone Hassan is there or has been invited.  This leads Amir to believe that Baba loves the child of their servant as much, or possibly even more then his own child.  Also when Amir and Hassan were approached by Assef on the hill, Hassan had the courage to stand up to Assef and cause him to stop bullying Amir.  Amirs lack of this kind of courage is shown when he witnesses Hassan getting raped.  Although no one knows that Amir is watching the brutal act, he still chooses not to get help because he is a coward.    After, that is when Amir can’t talk to Hassan because he is angry at him for being stronger.  This situation gets even worse when Hassan is able to heal from the incident even faster then Amir.  They were no longer able to be friends because they were simply different.

        I highly disagree with what Sam says about Amir not talking to Hassan because he's angry. Amir is ashamed of what he did, which is why he always feels short of breath when Hassan is around. If you want evidence Sam, then there is a part in the Kite Runner where Rahim Khan says that he was in love with a Hazara, but they were separted and decided to not marry because she would have been treated badly by his family. This is symbolizing how Amir and Hassan are friends and want to stay with each other, but Assef is always taunting them and and even threatened to beat both of them up with brass knuckles. And another piece of evidence is where Amir is about to frame Hassan, he says that he remembers what Rahim had said to him about the Hazara he fell in love with, and it was for the best, otherwise she would have suffered. Amir takes this idea from Rahim and frames Hassan so that he and his father can be safe without being taunted for being a Hazara, and especially for being safe from Assef. Amir may have been jealous that Hassan got better treatment from his dad at some points, but that's not why he sent them away. He was doing it to protect them. He also pretended that he didn't see what happened, even in front of Hassan because if he didn't know and Amir told him, then they would never be friends, and he would never be forgiven.

Remorse

                    When Khaled Hosseni wrote the book The Kite Runner, he most likely intended it to show what remorse and regret really mean. This can be shown when Amir says,

" In the end I ran. I ran because I was a coward." (pg 77)

                     There are many other small parts in the book where Amir states that he is ashamed that he left Hassen to be tortured by Assef. Usually when we think of regret, we may think of regretting a decision, like wishing you hadn't made a bet, or wishing that you should have started your homework earlier. When we think of remorse, we think of small things, like not fighting with a younger sibling or feeling guilty that you lied and they easily believed you. Amir's constant feelings of regret and remorse are much bigger reasons than any other person may feel. Amir feels he betrayed Hassan, the brother he never had. Hassan had always stuck up for Amir and helped him whenever he needed it most, and during Hassan's greatest moment of need, Amir ran and pretended that he never saw what happened. Even when Amir saves him from any more harm from Assef, he still is haunted by his decision to run instead of trying to protect Hassan. He knows that he could never do anything to be able to forgive himself for what he did, even if Hassen did.
                     It is possible that something like this happened to Hosseni. Not all of this word for word, but maybe he did something small that he would never forgive himself for. Then he could have exaggerated greatly the amount of regret he felt and made it into a much bigger problem. Also, he may have based Amir on himself, maybe on the decisions he would have made as a kid: trying anything to please his father, being scared of bullies like Assef, and even making some decisions that may have seemed good at first, but later he realized that was the wrong choice. Then these may have affected his life. He may have even gone a long time in his life haunted by something he did, and every day wishing he could take it back.