Kite Runner Final

8. Pick a character that interested you and write about them in depth. You can also analyze a relationship between two different characters.

After reading the book Kite Runner, I am completely captivated by Khaled Hosseini’s story. I liked how the story was told in Amir’s point of view and gave details on mostly everything, because I felt as if I was Amir and experiencing his life myself. Not only that, but what i found really interesting was the bond between the two characters Amir (son of baba), and Hassan (also son of Baba). Amir and Hassan’s fathers are connected with a 40 year relationship from when Baba’s father bought Ali and loved him like his own son till now as Baba’ friend/servant. Not only that but Hassan was believed to be born by Ali so he is also a servant to Baba and Amir. Hassan and Amir share an unbreakable bond, but Amir loses it after a fatal incident. I find this bond a wonderful subject to behold, for it is broken several times in the story, and the character Amir in this bond is one to never forget.

Throughout the childhood of Amir and Hassan’s life, they played together, read together, kite ran together, and did many other things together. Then on a beautiful winter day Amir and Hassan attended a Kite running contest, and won it with the help of Hassan. While Amir was celebrating his victory Hassan went to retrieve the blue kite that flew away from the runner ups hands. After Amir celebrated his victory he went to find Hassan, and saw him holding onto the blue kite with some mean kids they had encountered before, Assef and his lil’ gang. They threatened him to give him the blue kite, but Hassan refused holding the blue kite close to the body like a parent protecting their child. Because Hassan was not the same as them, he was a Hazara and they were the discriminated ones like Jews to German, was beat up and raped while Amir was in the corner watching the whole incident and stood their and trembled like a coward. Despite their whole friendship, and despite the fact that Hassan’s first word was Amir, Amir just stood their imagining that he’s helping Hassan in his head. In the end, after Assef and them left, Amir went to the beat up Hassan and mustered a “What happened?, I looked all over for you.”

   At the end of the rape numerous conflicts had erupted in Amir’s life. Their bond starts to break and Amir falls into darkness, feeling boundless regret for the nonetheless he had done while his friend was getting raped.
In the dialogue,

“I hit him with another pomegranate, in the shoulder this time. The juice splattered his face. “Hit me back!” I spat. “Hit me back, goddamn you!” I wished he would. I wished he’d give me the punishment I craved, so maybe I’d finally sleep at night. Maybe then things could return to how they used to be between us.” (92)

But Hassan did nothing as he pelted him again and again.

“You’re a coward!’ I said. “Nothing but a coward.” (92)

He even tries to regain himself by letting Hassan beat him up, but of course Hassan was to nice to do so. Is  ‘nothing but a coward’ really what Amir thinks? Amir has done nothing to help Hassan, but Hassan would risk his life for Amir’s safety. Also from this you can see how Hassan is loyal to Amir. He treats Amir as a true friends and tries to help Amir calm himself down. Hassan however does not stoop down to Amir’s level. He is not  fool who takes other people’s love for granted but the other way around. Hassan is a loving companion and a friend to Amir. Amir jan doesn’t deserve Hassan’s love.

After that Amir and Baba move away from Kabul and go to America and here their bond is completely broken. Amir finds himself graduating high school at the age of 18, and Baba finds himself a manager job at a local gas station. Over their life in America, Baba mentions Hassan’s name a few times over and Amir  immediately dismisses the idea of a conversation about him. After a few day/months, Baba passes away peacefully in bed after he bestows his last kiss on Amir. Amir then receives a call from Rahim Khan, a friend of his and Baba’s, asking him to meet with him in Pakistan. Amir accepts Khan’s greeting and flies to Pakistan to meet with Rahim Khan. In Pakistan Rahim Khan tells Amir the life Hassan has lived after he left with Ali. He then asks Amir to save Hassan’s son Sohrab.

Then Amir goes senile. He rejects Rahim Khan’s saving Sohrab proposal and his true nature awakens.
It is shown in the dialogue:

“Rahim Khan , I don’t want to go to Kabul. I can’t!’ I said.....

“Why me? Why can’t you pay someone here to go? I’ll pay for it if it’s a matter of money.”

“It isn’t a matter of money, Amir!”  Rahim Khan roared. “I'm a dying man and i will not be insulted! It has never been about money with me, you know that. And why you? I think we both know why it has to be you, don’t we?” (221)

In the quote Amir goes to his selfish side. After all that Hassan has done for him, Amir still shows resistance to help him back,  how pathetic can he get?  Amir is nothing but a coward. Rahim Khan is giving him a generous offer to redeem himself. but he refuses. He dosen’t deserve Hassan’s friendship nor Rahim Khan’s generosity.

However, this refusal starts a new life for Amir. After he leaves Rahim Khan’s home and thinks about it for a while, he realizes that that he can’t escape his guilt. Hassan’s son is at stake and he couldn't leave him just like he had done to Hassan. It was not the proper nor right thing to do. Those thoughts in Amir begin in the quote:

“ I can’t go to Kabul, I said to Rahim Khan. I have a wife in America, a home, a career, and a family. But how could I pack up and go back home when my actions may have cost Hassan a chance at those very same things?” (226)

Here their bond starts to recover. In the quote, Amir convinces himself that his family is just as important to him as to Hassan and his son. Amir knows that if Hassan was in the same situation Amir was in he would not hesitate to save this boy. The guilt cycle surrounding Amir and Baba will end with this boy ,Hassan’s son, if Amir would save him. He knows that his boy is the only way for him to be good again. In the end Amir saves Hassan’s son and brings him to America with him. His bond with Hassan is fixed and he is free of guilt.
To wrap the bond up, Hassan finally recieves Amir’s love and Amir is finally able to let the past go. Their bond is recovered and so the story is complete.
Overall this story was a great one and everything that Hosseini has written about was clear. A great book to read with a ‘moving and unexpected’ twist to the plot. I would recommend this book to everyone who enjoys a good story.

3rd Book Response

The last section in Kite Runner was the most disappointing part of the book. In the beginning of the section Amir rescues Sohrab from Assef and ends up fainting after reaching Farid. He then awakes in the hospital, with serious injuries from his battle with Assef, and Farid explains to him that their is no couple by the names he mentioned. Amir then decides to take Sohrab with him to the land of change, America. He and Sohrab meet up with an immigrant agent and persuades him to allow Sohrab to immigrate to America. The immigrant agent denies his request, but leads him to a good lawyer who can help him with his case. Amir then meets with this lawyer, Omar (his past friend who gave him a fountain pen) and Omar gives Amir two options: live in Pakistan for two years and file a adoption file, or relinquish Sohrab to an orphanage and then adopt it from there with a filed orphan petition. Amir goes with number #2 and asks Sohrab to stay in an orphanage for a little while. Sohrab, unhappy with this decision, begs him to send him back to an orphanage, but Amir says it’s the only way and goes to bed. After a little while, Amir wakes up from a phone call with good news from his lawyer Omar. Through the phone, Omar tells him that he doesn't have to send Sohrab to a orphanage anymore and they can go to America legally. Amir then thanks Omar, and goes to tell Sohrab, but he screams instead. He finds Sohrab on the bathroom floor, his hands covered in blood.
One thing that I can’t get off my mind is Sohrab’s reaction to the orphanage idea. It dosen’t really seem like it was so bad to the extent where he would try to suicide/hurt himself. Amir was really trying hard to get Sohrab to start a new life and it looked like he was really interested in America too, the scenes of the golden gate bridge, the details about Soraya, all those stuff. All that went down the drain over one idea of returning back to the orphanage.
Another thing that I was not ready for was the ending. I was hoping for more from Sohrab and his change, but it ended with a smile. Not even a word came out of Sohrab’s mouth after he arrives in America, and most of what happened in America was like a field trip to the end of a block or something for Sohrab. When i reached the last page and the last word, I turned the page unaware that the last word i read was the last word in the story. It took me by surprise and for a few minutes I thought that i was missing some pages. In the end my opinion stays about how the last section was the worst out of the book, because the ending totally killed off all my respect for it.

Response to Ferman's Blog

I found an interesting subject on Ferman's blog post about death.

A guy that i knew, is no longer with us today. His name was Eric and he was shot and killed by nortno which is a dangerous gang in Oakland. Eric was a very cool, smart and atheletic teenage kid who enjoyed playing football and hang out with friends. He was not gang affileated. He was going to go to Chico State University because he was offered a chance to play in their football team. In March 28, 2010, he was shot and killed. He was celebrating his birthday when a drive by happened. Now, he is no longer with us today.

I can relate to Ferman's quote about Oakland because I also had a guy I knew and he was shot on the day of his birthday. This friend of mine lived three blocks away from me in East Oakland. He was celebrating his birthday at night with a noisy  birthday party when a guy obviously irritated by the noisiness walked across his street, pulled out a gun and shot him. He was a super nice guy and now he's dead.
Another thing that I've been told about is that during one night my friend heard a gunshot just outside the door, and heard dozens of feet running out of his backyard and down the hill. Then in the next day, when they walked out the door they saw a dead African man in their front yard. They did not know who this man was and why he was in their front yard, but he was holding a gun in one hand and a knife in the other. When they went to their backyard, they found dozens of footprints over lapping each other on the soil. My friend said that it was an experience that would haunt him for the rest of his life.
Overall, I think that Ferman has a good point in the dangers in Oakland, but that's common everywhere. The world is filled with the stench of death so if i were to be killed, like Ferman said, it is what it is.

Thoughts Contnued.....

It was a hot summer day in America, the sun was shining to the most extreme way and there was barely any breeze that blew  around. Luckily for me I sat in a CRV holding a travel bag close to my chest, enjoyed the cool air conditioner and breezed along the golden gate bridge. Me, my sister, and my mom were driving to the San Fransisco airport to meet up with our airplane to go to China. it was my first trip outside the country, when it was my sister’s third and my mom’s fourth, so i was jumpy on this day. Well, I was jumping up and down on my seat humming  when my sister, seeing how she sat next to me, told me to shut up and sit my ass down. My mom didn’t do the honor of lecturing at her for saying ‘shut up,’ so i did it myself; cursed at her in Chinese and sat down my seat glaring at her through my glasses. She glared back and was about to sink her claws into my face, when my mom told me to apologize to her for cursing. I obeyed her commands and said sorry to my sister and thought, ‘“how does she put up with me with just a sorry.’ I never did get my answer. After another thirty minutes of driving, we arrived at the airport and got checked in and all that stuff. We then boarded our plane and were on a smooth journey to China.

I woke up to a slight bump on my back , and air rushed into my eair causing it to numb. I looked to the right and saw my sister and asked her what was going on. She told me that we were about to land, that were sinking down through clouds, and you can already see the mountains that lay north of Hong Kong. I sat up, pushed the button on my chair that allowed me straighten my back, and covered my ears in disgust of the numbness. My mom who sat next to me saw what i was doing and asked if she could help, but the only word i heard was ‘help.’ I looked around wondering where i heard it from and saw her grabbing my arms.

I shook her off oblivious of what she was trying to do, and yelled, “What!??” at her.

Then I felt the landing gear on the plane slightly touch the floor, which felt like a crash to us passengers, and the plane drove to its spot between a red tail tipped plane and a united airlines airplane because of its blue tipped tail. We had landed in Hong Kong.

Second Book Review On Kite Runner

In the next section of Kite Runner, Amir and Baba move away from Kabul and go to America. Amir finds himself graduating high school at the age of 18, and Baba finds himself a manager job at a local gas station. New characters, Soraya and her family, are also introduced and Amir falls in love with Soraya. One night, Baba starts coughing up blood so Amir drives Baba to a hospital for a x-ray exam. The doctors find a suspicious black spot which turns out to be a type of cancer on Baba’s lung. His life is then confirmed that it will end soon. As Baba’s last fatherly duty, he grants Amir his last wish, which is to ask General Sahib, father of Soraya, for his daughter’s hands. General Sahib agrees and Amir weds Soraya. Soraya then moves in with Amir and starts to take care of Baba.  After a few day/months, Baba passes away peacefully in bed after he bestows his last kiss on Amir and Soraya. Amir then recieves a call from Rahim Khan, a friend of his and Baba’s, asking him to meet with him in Pakistan. Amir accepts Khan’s greeting and flies to Pakistan to meet with Rahim Khan. In Pakistan Rahim Khan tells Amir the truth about how Hassan’s real dad is Baba. He then asks Amir to save Hassan’s son Sohrab.

One character i find truly interesting in Baba. His actions clearly do not show why he made Hassan with Sanuabar. Was it to save Ali from shame or was it out of his free will? It also didn’t state if Ali knew about Baba’s incident and how Sanuabar actually agreed to be with Baba. When I look t Bab’s character, a strong, caring, and wise man I can not find the answer to my question, “why did he do it?”  

In the story Baba said, “There is only one sin. And that is theflt... When you tell a lie, you steal someone’s right to the truth.” This quote shows how deeply Baba thought about lying, but even with his own saying he betrayed his son Amir, Hassan, and possibly Ali. How could Baba have lived allt hose years knowing that he had committed the greatest of all sins?

Response to Andy Ki

While I was reading along post from google reader I found an interesting kite runner blog post from Andy Li's blog:

Throughout the story of his childhood, Amir commits sins that could have easily been avoided. Amir is used to living the high life in a mansion; he's spoiled. He never had to go out into the world and try to find work and earn money before. He'd never lost a friend before, since Hassan was his only friend. This is what leads him to redeem his sins, which is probably what the rest of the novel will be about.

I agree with Andy's point on how Amir commits sins that could be easily avoided. I feel like Amir doesn't think about his actions or doesn't even consider the thought of thinking when he commits sins. Throughout the childhood of Amir and Hassan’s life, they played together, read together, kite ran together, and did many other things together. Then on a beautiful winter day Amir and Hassan attended a Kite running contest, and won it with the help of Hassan. While Amir was celebrating his victory Hassan went to retrieve the blue kite that flew away from the runner ups hands. After Amir celebrated his victory he went to find Hassan, and saw him holding onto the blue kite with some mean kids they had encountered before, Assef and his lil’ gang. Amir stood their and didn't help Hassan as he was raped, and to me it is a sin to watch your friend get raped. He could have and should have helped Hassan instead of just standing there.

I also agree with Andy when predicts that the Amir sins lead to the story when he redeem his sins.
The sins of Amir do not dissapear so easily and must be replnished for the story to end. It also had a dialogue in the begining where Amir in America was talking to Rahim khan on the phone. 

Rahim Kan told him " it's the only way to make things right." 

It then starts the flashback when Amir starts to think about the his past friend Hassan.

Thoughts

Yes, it was a nice summer day. It was one in the afternoon and i had just woken up from a long night of slumber. I stood up, yawned, and plopped onto my office chair that was just to the side of my bed. I span half a circle and pushed my way to the door. Then I opened the door, and started to walk downstairs when i heard my mom. I stopped at the first step and i saw her furiously trotting towards the stairs like she wanted to smack me on my head like she usually does. Instead she calmed herself down and started to walk towards the table. She sat down and looked at me straight in the face, mumbled something and asked me why i woke up so late. I told her nonchantantly that i was up all night reading the ASTI summer reading packet. She laughed, pointed to the right and the table and froze. She looked stunned to see the reading packet not there, and started to mumble something in Chinese in which i heard the sarcastic term for bad boy. She then asked me what i wanted for brunch, and i replied with a nothing. I walked back in my room, sat down on my bed, reached for the reading packet and burst into laughter. I was glad took the packet from the table and actually read it last night. I leaned backwards onto the blankets and thought about the way I was back in my childhood, those unforgiving times of nagging bestowed upon by my mom and those other times where i would whimper when my mom brought the clothesline during our ‘conversations.’ I looked at the ceiling and thought about the intense pain i had given my parents in this house. Thought about the moments where I learned my lesson a thousand times over. I thought about the first summer that changed me forever.
When i was young I used to always be a bother to my parents. I treated them like them like people who i thought were unsuperior to me and I should be the one who taught them things and not the other way around. I was a mischievous little child causing may ham for them wherever they went and took everything for granted.  It was then in the trip to China during my 4th grade summer that changed everything.

Book Review On Kite runner

After reading a third of the book Kite Runner, I am completely captivated by Khaled Hosseini’s story. I liked how the story was told in Amir’s point of view and gave details on mostly everything, because i felt as if i was Amir and experiencing his life myself. Not only that, but what i found really interesting was the bond between the two characters Amir (son of baba), and Hassan (son of Ali?). Amir and Hassan’s fathers are connected with a 40 year relationship from when Baba’s father bought Ali and loved him like his own son till now as Baba’ friend/servant. After Amir and Hassan were born, Hassan’s spoke his first word ‘Amir,’ from here it’s a start of a new friendship.

Throughout the childhood of Amir and Hassan’s life, they played together, read together, kite ran together, and did many other things together. Then on a beautiful winter day Amir and Hassan attended a Kite running contest, and won it with the help of Hassan. While Amir was celebrating his victory Hassan went to retrieve the blue kite that flew away from the runner ups hands. After Amir celebrated his victory he went to find Hassan, and saw him holding onto the blue kite with some mean kids they had encountered before, Assef and his lil’ gang. They threatened him to give him the blue kite, but Hassan refused holding the blue kite close to the body like a parent protecting their child. Because Hassan was not the same as them, he was a Hazarra and they were the discriminated ones like jews to german, was beat up and raped while Amir was in the corner watching the whole incident and stood their trembling like a coward. Despite their whole friendship, and despite the fact that Hassan’s first word was Amir, Amir just stood their imagning that he’s helping Hassan in his head. In the end, after Assef and them left, Amir went to the beat up Hassan and mustered a “What happened?, I looked all over for you.”
At the end of the rape I saw numerous conflicts that could erupt from this very conflict of Hassan being a Hazarra, and Amir’s betrayal to Hassan. Questions like “What’s going to happen to them? Did Hassan know, or will he find out?” burrowed out of me and i just couldn't stop reading. Hosseini does a good job showing the strong bond between them as a for-shadow for what will happen next and I can’t wait to find out what happens in the next few chapters due to his for-shadowing.