The Kite Runner/Life of Pi: the Foil

The increase Runner/Life of Pi The Foil In some(prenominal) The Kite Runner and Life of Pi, the relationship between the major caliber and a minor characterthe foilhelp to highlight the main characters qualities, illuminating his traits to be seen in an extraordinary, nonstandard way. In The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini creates Hassan as the foil for emeer. Hassans character, as perfect as he is, causes Amir to pale in comparison, something that Amir channels through turn out his life, governing his actions.Similarly, Yann Martel employs Richard Parker as the foil for Pi in Life of Pi. The strength and ferocity of the tiger emphasizes Pis hopelessness and fear. Pi utilizes these emotions to fight and continue living. In both news, the foil character underlines the main garters characteristics and provokes certain feelings that ultimately determine his fate. In The Kite Runner, Hassan is Amirs half-brother, best friend, and servant. His character is nigh perfectloyal, courageou s, caring, kind, and selfless. He has no evil qualities.When compared to Hassan, Amirs value and positive qualities fall flat and are seen as insignificant and mediocre. Even more, his drab features are amplified and made more prominent. Amir can non live up to Hassans goodness. This inadequateness is put into words and exemplified through Baba, who declares that, If I hadnt seen the doctor lead Amir out of my wife with my own eyes, Id never believe hes my son (Hosseini 23). Baba often treated Amir and Hassan equally, which was unusual because the Hazara was essentially their servant.If Amir asked for a big and fancy increase, Baba would buy it for himbut then he would buy it for Hassan as well (Hosseini 51). These displays of affection were later explained in that Baba was in reality Hassans real father, but the effect they had had on Amir stuck. Amir was always desperately vying for his fathers love and approval. The fondness Baba treated Hassan with nettle and aggravated hi m. Without the knowledge of Hassans true parentage, Amir felt many flashes of jealousy and frustrationemotions that, compared with his own brothers understanding and humility, projects him as criminal.The about prominent situation that highlights Amirs character is when he witnesses Hassan being raped. The event leading up to the incident is of Hassan running after the final kitejust for Amir. He finds it, only to be cornered by Assef who demands the kite as retribution for the rude manners he showed him during and earlier incident (Hosseini 71). Hassan refuses, retorting back, Amir agha won the tournament and I ran this kite for him. I ran it fairly. This is his kite (Hosseini 72). He is assaulted in reply.Here, Hassans traits of extraordinary loyalty and courageousness are displayed however, switch the area to Amir and the qualities revealed are the exact opposite. Amir witnessed the raping of his best friend and did nothing. He was afraid of getting hurt, afraid of losing Babas newly earned affections and simply ran onward (Hosseini 77). When compared to Hassan, Amirs qualities of selfishness and cowardice are highlighted and intensified. From the presence of Hassan, Amirs selfishness and cowardice, in addition to his desire to be good enough, are not only emphasized, but acknowledged by Amir himself.These are the traits that ultimately drive him throughout his life. The recognition of the evil in himself coupled with his will to do good lead him to search for redemptionone of the main themes of the novel. With the immense guilt over Hassans rape pushing him forward, Amir lives his life bang until taking the move to America where he starts a new morally upright life, where he helps his father and marries a good woman, and then finally all redeeming himself through returning to Afghanistan and saving Sohrab from Assef.By establishing Hassan as a foil character for Amir, Hosseini creates a domino effect in which his main character discovers himself, real izes he dislikes what he finds, and fights his way towards the way to be good againredemption. In Life of Pi, Pis fellow passenger throughout most of his cadence at sea is Richard Parker, a 450-pound Royal Bengal tiger. The wild, aggressive tiger initially places the sensitive, intelligent Pi in an immense state of fear. Pi is overwhelmed by scare over an animal known for its ferocity and power, an animal hes seen viciously attack and devour a live goat (Martel 35).Richard Parker scares him witless. His main focus, then, is to endure this creature. Richard Parkers intimidating nature at first reveals Pis initial sense of surrender and loss of faith and general humanity. With a tiger on board, my life was over (Martel 135). As he accepts the presence of the tiger, however, he becomes determined. Richard Parkers animalistic nature rubbed off on Pi. In place of his fine loss of humanity arises a sense of instinctual will to live. I will not die. I refuse it.I will make it through t his nightmare (Martel 148). He hatches several plans to get rid of Richard Parker and ultimately decides to tame him (Martel 157). The decision gives Pi a sense of purpose, a distraction from the hopelessness of his situationstranded in the middle of ocean, completely and utterly alone. If he killed Richard Parker, Pi acknowledges that he would be left alone with despair, a foe even more formidable than a tiger (Martel 164). He declares, It was Richard Parker who calmed me down.It is the irony of this story that the one who scared me witless to start with was the very same who brought me peace, purpose, I dare say even haleness (Martel 162). In the end, Pi was able to survive because of Richard Parker. He kept Pi from thinking too much about his family and his tragic circumstances. He pushed him to go on living (Martel 164). Richard Parkers role as the foil character to Pi is characterized by the fear and determination that the tiger incites in Pi. Compared to the magnificent anima l, Pi becomes a defenseless, hopeless human.But, motivated by the feeling of weakness, Pis inner animalistic nature reveals itself. Through the daunting presence of Richard Parker, Pi discovered indoors himself that he had a fierce will to live (Martel 148). Richard Parkers, the foil characters, relationship with Pi personifies one of the major themes of the novel the will to live. The entire novel is centered on Pis struggle to survive in this seemingly impossible, dangerous, and depressing situation. Pis instinct to survive is represented by the tiger itself. The qualities of Richard Parker, of the animalistic characteristics, were crucial to his survival.Despite some hesitation, Pi ultimately learns to embrace Richard Parker. He learns to embrace that fierce will to live, learns to fight for survival and, in the end, makes it out alive. The Kite Runner and Life of Pi were both written with a foil character. In both novels, the character motivated and provoked the main protagonis t into discovering himself. The fates of both main characters were determined by the ways their foil affected them. This relation between two characters not only significantly establishes the characters themselves, but illuminates the heart and soul of the work.