Amir considers himself an immoral human being throughout the book, because of that day in Afghanistan, in that dingy the alley, where Amir had all the power to be the hero and save his friend Hassan from sexual assault, but instead chose to be the winner. From that day forward, Amir becomes a marked man, as his life turns towards a road of conflicted happiness and afflicting pain. However, it is not until Amir is a married man that he turns back to Afghanistan to meet with an old friend and set everything right again. Amir doesn't embark on a journey to save Hassan's son to be a hero; he does so out of human decency, which is what truly makes this novel relateable, even to the most ordinary person.
When Amir rescues Hassan's son, Sohrab, he slowly begins to transform into a new man, in subtle ways; in fact, Amir begins to embody Hassan and his responsibilities, in a way that Amir, and Sohrab, can help Hassan live out the life he was not destined to keep. Amir's first transformation begins as soon as he finishes a fight with the man who had kidnapped Sohrab in the first place; the doctors at the hospital Amir is admitted into tell him that "the impact (of the fight)" had cut (Amir's) upper lip into two... clean down the middle... Like a harelip" (297) Amir sustains a deep cut to his lip that is similar to the cleft lip Hassan had when the two were innocent, young childhood friends. This signifies that Amir had done something noble by saving Sohrab, and that this was something his late friend would have done. Beyond this, Amir starts to become fatherlike in his love for Sohrab, though he doesn't conciously notice this himself. It takes the comment of another father, who observes Amir's distress when he loses Sohrab at a hotel, for Amir to notice what role he had now taken: "I don't take your money (to drive you to wherever Sohrab is) ... I will drive you because I am a father like you" (315). Of course, we must take care to point out that Amir does not become the perfect father, and he rather makes a few grave mistakes with even graver consequences when Amir deals with Sohrab; nevertheless, it is Amir's efforts that make him a good human being, not his mistakes.
When Amir rescues Hassan's son, Sohrab, he slowly begins to transform into a new man, in subtle ways; in fact, Amir begins to embody Hassan and his responsibilities, in a way that Amir, and Sohrab, can help Hassan live out the life he was not destined to keep. Amir's first transformation begins as soon as he finishes a fight with the man who had kidnapped Sohrab in the first place; the doctors at the hospital Amir is admitted into tell him that "the impact (of the fight)" had cut (Amir's) upper lip into two... clean down the middle... Like a harelip" (297) Amir sustains a deep cut to his lip that is similar to the cleft lip Hassan had when the two were innocent, young childhood friends. This signifies that Amir had done something noble by saving Sohrab, and that this was something his late friend would have done. Beyond this, Amir starts to become fatherlike in his love for Sohrab, though he doesn't conciously notice this himself. It takes the comment of another father, who observes Amir's distress when he loses Sohrab at a hotel, for Amir to notice what role he had now taken: "I don't take your money (to drive you to wherever Sohrab is) ... I will drive you because I am a father like you" (315). Of course, we must take care to point out that Amir does not become the perfect father, and he rather makes a few grave mistakes with even graver consequences when Amir deals with Sohrab; nevertheless, it is Amir's efforts that make him a good human being, not his mistakes.