Best of Week: Assef Discussion

This week in class, we talked about Kite Runner in many ways, but none of the discussions we had were as interesting to me as the one about Assef. During that discussion, we tried to justify Amir's definition of Assef in the terms of a sociopath, but upon further review of the term, we saw that it did not fit Assef well enough.

The definition of Sociopath is as follows: A person with a social disorder. But to me, Assef seemed to enjoy the pain he inflicted on others and as a result of that, I disagree with Amir's labeling of Assef. Assef's problems seem to go much further than a lack of social skill. I think that Assef likes causing physical, social and mental discomfort.

Assef seemed to be making attempts to teach as well. When he raped Hassan, and when he beat Amir, he had intended both actions to mean something to the victim and all who watched. He tried to convey the message that he was not a force to be played with.

All of these ideas show me that Assef is socially insecure with himself, and that he asks for attention in the most horrible ways. The boy idolized Hitler, and as a man, he was much dirtier. I doubt that Assef could be labeled with a single word.