The book The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini describes how family and the people around you can greatly change you personally. The book's antagonist, Amir, has had many experiences where he has succeeded and failed, all due to the influence of friends and family. The people who influenced Amir the most throughout his life were his father Baba, Baba's close friend Rahim Khan, Ali their servant, his wife Soraya and Ali's son Hassan. At the beginning of the novel Amir is a thoughtful boy. Just like any growing child, Amir adapts to trust and friendship among others, but once Amir witnesses an unpleasant incident he becomes disloyal, dishonest and unreliable. Rahim Khan was the main person who influenced Amir to be a loving and caring person. Amir and Baba had some tension between them because Amir would not receive the amount of attention he wanted from Baba. Rahim was the man who gave Amir all the attention that Baba did not give him. Rahim was always there for Amir encouraging him to pursue his dream of writing stories and novels. Rahim was the only person Amir would ever show his stories to and in exchange for trust Rahim would leave little notes saying, “Amir Jan, I really liked your story. Mashallah, God has given you a special talent. Now it is your duty to hone that talent, because a person who wastes the talents God has given him is an ass. You wrote your story with good grammar and an interesting style. But the most impressive thing about your story is that it contains irony. You may not even know what that means… My door is and will always be open for you, Amir Jan. I will listen to any story you have to tell. Bravo. Your friend Rahim” (Hosseini 35). It's obvious that Amir has... half a card... which gave Amir the confidence he needed to grow up, start his own family, and support his family. Bottom line, the people around you are the people who influence you for better or worse. Even though Hassan didn't intentionally want to hurt Amir, Hassan always let Amir be jealous of him. Amir didn't think it was right that Hassan was just a servant but was treated the same as himself. Rahim, Soraya and Baba left a huge influence on Amir for the better, Rahim always boosted Amir's confidence and was always there for his father, Soraya always encouraged Amir and supported him in his dream of wanting to become an author , and Baba encouraged Amir to always be there for Sohrab and be like a father to him. All these characters in Amir's life have taught him life lessons and changed him to become a better, loving and caring person.