In Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner there are people like Hassan, who seem inherently good, and people like Assef who seem inherently bad, the reason they behave this way is because of their background. The Kite Runner follows the story of two Afghan boys, Amir and Hassan, who may as well be brothers,except Hassan is a Shi'a and a Hazara while Amir is a wealthy Sunni. Hassan was raised as a servant of a wealthy family. He is the son of a cripple. Things such as this tend to be humbling. After befriending a girl named Oliviain preschool, I soon learned she was epileptic. She hasn't been to school in over five years so now she only has two or three friends her age. After being with her during some really terrible seizures and seing how far behind she is mentally it became almost unbearable to be with her. Then I realized how genuine she was, how sincere, and extrordinarlily kind she was. Every time I see her it is truly humbling. Things like this are some reasons why people like Hassan are inherently good. Then there are people like Assef. Assef is another Sunni boy who belileves he, and all of those like him, are superior. As a result of his beliefs he antagonizes Hassan and his father. He also taunts Amir for befriending a Hazara. These beliefs lead Assef to rape Hassan. Assef was raised in an environment that has taught him that he is superior. If he was born in Houston, Texas odds are he wouldn't feel so strongly about the Sunnis and Shi'a. It was his background and life experience that taught him his beliefs.  Just because you were taught that way doesn't mean that it is good or right. The question then becomes what really is good and bad? I believe that if it hurts someone in any way or would hurt them if they knew, then it is bad. If something would benefit people in some way then it is good. A good person is someone who does more good than bad. Something that is said in the movie is when Rhahim Khan, another good man, tells Amir that there is a way to be good again. I believe that all people have the potential to be good and the potential to be bad, we just have to decide which path we want to take and carefully weigh our decisions because they may end up costing us a lot more than we want.