Friendship: What would you do for your friends?

Friendship: What would you do for your friends?

    Many people say they would take a bullet for their family members and close friends, but is this true? Just how far would you be willing to go for a friend? In the early parts of the novel Amir see's Hassan being raped by Assef, all Amir can do is watch and not intervene. One reason why Amir might not have intervened and stood up for his longtime friend is because of his religion. Hassan is Hazara and a combination of that and fear ultimately took Amir over and left him watching his friend. Amir said when he was young that him and Hassan were not best friends because Amir did not want to be seen by the public and best friends with Hassan because of his religion. But Amir saying he is not best friends with Hassan is ridiculous, they are as close as friends can get. So the real question is, did Amir betray  Hassan and let him down by not helping him in on that day that he was raped by Assef?

There are two possible answers to this question. The first answer is yes, Amir betrayed his best friend by not helping him and it was terrible of him not to intervene. Anyone that has this opinion has a valid point, Amir let his friend get hurt and he could have stopped it. He thinks because he is a Pashtun and Hassan is a Hazara that Amir is better than him and he didn't have to do anything. I know me personally if one of my best friends is in danger or is in a bad situation, there is no way I would watch from a far and see how it unfolds, I would be the first person by their side helping them. And we don't see this from Amir and maybe it is just because he is young or it is the message that has been told to him by the public that he is better than Hazara people and he doesn't have to help them. Amir realizes later that he should have been there to help and the guilt builds on him as the story progresses. 

The other answer to the question is no Amir is not a coward and did not betray Hassan, he did the safe thing. A common expression that has been said by many people is "don't be a hero". Meaning don't put yourself in danger to help others. Would the average person really have the courage to do anything different than what Amir did. If you look at it this way, Amir would have just got himself hurt if he stood up for Hassan and they both would be in the same situation. This don't be a hero rule is popular and is best for protecting yourself. It is used in a movie I really enjoyed, Zombieland where the main character is going over a set of rules that are essential in survival in a zombie apocalypse and I believe in some cases this rule does apply to real life.

In my opinion it was wrong of Amir not to stand up and intervene and protect his friend, even if it meant putting himself in danger. One reason why I might think this, is my sports background, the amount of time I spend with my best friends playing hockey creates a really close bond between one another and I find it very hard to see myself not standing up for my friends. Amir did make up for it by going back years later to adopt Hassan's orphan son and took him in as his own. This is a perfect representation of the character growth of Amir over the course of the novel.