Baba the Bear

Several times in the novel, Baba is compared to a bear. The narrator tells a story about how his dad wrestled a bear. According to Cooper, a bear in some religions means power, bravery and strength. In some religions such as Christianity, suggests that a bear is The Devil and represents greed. This gives the reader insight on the character of Baba suggesting that perhaps he may be powerful and strong, but perhaps abuses his power or is two faced.

            After the death of Baba, Amir realizes how special Baba was in his life. Baba battled Amir’s battles and was his leader. The comparison of Baba to a bear is discussed again in the novel. Baba, like a bear, has great strength and courage. He lost his wife and raised a child by himself and left his homeland. All of which demonstrate great strength and courage. But a bear has another side. In the Christian religion, bears are cruel and greedy. This aspect of Baba is revealed after his death when Amir finds out the truth about his family. Baba, who despised dishonesty, proves to be a hypocrite. Earlier in the novel Baba said that lying is robbing someone of the truth. Baba never told Amir that Hassan was his half brother. Perhaps this information was kept from Amir because Baba didn’t want to be related to the Hazaras, a lower class Afghan citizen.

This comparison of Baba to the bear describes the challenge of the truth and the fact that all things have two sides to them. As discussed in class, accepting the mystery is sometimes the answer to your problems, and in this case Amir is going to have to accept the theme of confusion and come to terms with the fact that there will never be any explanation for why Baba never informed his son of his family history.