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In The Kite Runner, is Baba a hero or a hypocrite?

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One could argue that Baba is both a hero and a hypocrite. Baba is a successful Afghan businessman who is charitable and relatively selfless. At the beginning of the story, Amir recalls how Baba constructed and opened up an orphanage in Kabul for needy children. Baba treats Ali and Hassan like family and even has a surgeon repair Hassan's upper lip. Baba is also depicted as a hero while he is fleeing Afghanistan. When a Russian soldier attempts to rape an Afghan woman at a checkpoint, Baba intervenes and risks his life by challenging the Russian soldier. Baba tells the soldier,

"Tell him I'll take a thousand of his bullets before I let this indecency take place" (Hosseini, 97).

Fortunately, a second Russian soldier intervenes, and nobody is hurt. Baba could also be considered heroic for leaving his affluent life in Kabul behind in order to give his son a new start at life by immigrating to America.

Despite Baba's heroics, he is also depicted as a hypocrite. Later in life, Amir learns that Baba was Hassan's biological father but refused to acknowledge Hassan as his son because Hassan was a Hazara. The fact that Baba was supposed to be Ali's close friend makes his actions that much worse. Baba essentially had an affair with Ali's wife, then neglected to acknowledge Hassan as his son.

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