Amir is the protagonist of the novel The Kite Runner. Amir's life took a dramatic turn when he failed to rush to the aid of his servant/friend, Hassan, when he was raped by the bully Assef. Instead, he timidly hid behind a fence and watched the event unfold; later, he pretended to know nothing about the act. This traumatic event combined with his cowardice hung over Amir for the rest of his life. At one point in the novel, Amir reflects on how the past can still haunt a person into the present:

I became what I am today at the age of twelve, on a frigid overcast day in the winter of 1975. I remember the precise moment, crouching behind a crumbling mud wall, peeking into the alley near the frozen creek. That was a long time ago, but it's wrong what they say about the past, I've learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out. Looking back now, I realize I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years.