Amir's early sense of privilege is lost, but he is also haunted by the way he behaved to a lower-class boy, Hassan, the son of his father's servant. Amir abandoned his kite runner and left the boy viciously attacked. This sense of cowardice in the face of evil creates a negative self-image that Amir internalizes and adopts as a part of his adult sense of self. "I became what I am today at the age of twelve," he says, brooding upon what he sees as his inherently fallen character (Hosseini 1).

Unlike his father, who turns his anger outward towards the Taliban regime, Hassan's adolescent experiences make him ambivalent about his lost, high-class status because of the political revolution in his homeland. On some level, Amir feels it was deserved and a just punishment of his character. Amir comes of age with a sense of loss, or one could say...
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