The Kite Runner. My final thoughts.

In The Kite Runner, a historical fiction novel written by Khaled Hosseini about a man that struggles through life to obtain salvation from what had happened in his childhood years. His best friend, brother, role-model Hassan a mere Hazara, stays with Amir throughout his childhood journey. When one day Hassan faces a struggle between friendship and his life, he chooses his loyalty over everything for Amir. Amir maintains a stable lifestyle in America when he receives a message notifying him about what had happened with Hassan and his son and most importantly the spacious Kabul, his hometown. In this novel, Amir struggles to create balance from his past and present. This book tells the story of the mind set of a young man racing to make things right with his best friend. Along the way, he faces many obstacles that could only be passed by with perserverence and his will for a better life in the end.

Throughout The Kite Runner, Hassan and Amir’s friendship is greatly expressed. Their friendship can be closely relaated to a rollercoaster. At times Hassan and Amir can act as if they are brothers. Other times, when the rollercoaster dips down, they can face many awkward moments.

“The words I’d carved on the tree trunk with Ali’s kitchen knife, Amir and Hassan: The Sultans of Kabul... I couldn’t stand looking at them now.” (PG. 89)

Amir can’t bear to look at the pomegranate tree after noticing the words engraved in it. Would they ever be friends again? After what had happened at the kite running tournament, Amir carries a load of guilt and regret with him when he watches Hassan get sexually harassed by Assef. The guilt is too much to bare and feels that Hassan is too loyal to Amir, every day is filled with another sweep of heart ache and Amir can no longer stay Hassan’s friend. Amir constantly tries to test Hassan’s loyalty because he wonders how far Hassan would go before finally saying no to Amir. Also if Hassan finally figured out that he was a back up friend that Amir was ashamed about, would he still feel the need to be friends with Amir? When Amir takes Hassan to their pomegranate tree after the incident, he begins to test Hassan’s loyalty by seeing if he would react to the pomegranates that Amir threw at him.

“I don’t know how many times I hit him...I fell to my knees, tired, spent, frustrated. Then Hassan did pick up a pomegranate. He walked toward me. He opened it and crushed it against his own forehead.”(PG.93)

When Amir hits Hassan, his only intentions were to ease the guilt that was piled on him from betraying Hassan when he needed Amir most. Although Hassan knew that Amir saw him getting harassed, he still did no feel the need to be angered with Amir. Hassan proves that he does not need the affection of Amir to make him happy, it’s the other way around.

“...he croaked, red dripping down his face like blood. ‘Are you satisfied? Do you feel better?’ I let the tears break free, rocked back and forth on my knees. ‘What am I going to do with you Hassan?’...I knew the answer to that question.” (PG.93)

Here Amir feels the guilt finally break him, Hassan does not need Amir. Amir needs Hassan.
Amir is afraid to be Hassan’s true friend because of their religious and social backgrounds. Hassan, a Hazara followed the faith of Shi’a. While the Pashtuns were Sunni Muslims. Amir is ashamed for people to know that Hassan is his friend because of these circumstances.

“The book said that my people had killed the Hazaras, driven them from their lands, burned their homes, and sold their women. The book said part of the reason Pashtuns had oppressed the Hazaras was that Pashtuns were Sunni Muslims, while Hazaras were Shi’a...people called Hazaras mice-eating, flat-nosed, load-carrying donkeys. I...heard some... kids...yell those names to Hassan.” (PG.9)

Amir is very ashamed because of this prejudice that overwhelms many unaware Pashtuns. When Assef threatens to hurt Amir with his brass knuckles, Assef begins with despising Hassan and Amir’s friendship, disgusted by the fact that a Hazara and a Pashtun could ever be friends.
“

But he’s not my friend! I almost blurted. He’s my servant!...I treated Hassan well, just like a friend, better even, more like a brother. But if so, then why, when Baba’s friends came to visit with their kids, didn’t I ever include Hassan in our games? Why did I play with Hassan only when no one else was around?” (PG.41)

Here Amir reveals his feelings towards his friendship with Hassan. He refers to Hassan as his servant around other people, but on the inside he treats Hassan as if he were one of his brothers. Later on, Hassan stands up for Amir with his slingshot pointed directly in front of Assef’s left eye. He threatens Assef that if he tries to hurt one of them, Assef would lose on of his eyes. Hassan stands with the slingshot carrying the essence of courage, bravery, loyalty and honor with him. Throughout the book, Hassan can be found standing up for Amir yet Amir struggles to do the same for Hassan. Why is that? Does Amir need Hassan more than Hassan needs Amir?

“‘You are right, Agha. But perhaps you didn’t notice that I’m the one holding the slingshot. If you make a move, they’ll have to change your nickname from Assef ‘the Ear Eater’ to ‘One-Eyed Assef’ because I have this rock pointed at you left eye.”...[Assef replies] ‘Your Hazara made a big mistake today, Amir,’ (PG.43)

After reading The Kite Runner, I noticed that the main message in the book was that Amir faces many tragedies when trying to make things right with his friendship with Hassan. Along the way he has to overcome many obstacles that overwhelm him. He manages to fight his fears and gain the courage that he never had in the end. Khaled Hosseini’s work is admirable and I enjoyed reading The Kite Runner very much.

[Question came from back of book #2]

Book Review #3- The Kite Runner.

After finally finishing the last section of, The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, a historical fiction novel telling the story of a man making sacrifices to payback his best friend/ half brother Hassan, a Hazara. In the beginning of the story, we see Hassan and Amir playing together throughout their childhood. Yet, when in public, Amir feels ashamed of Hassan being a Hazara, as a result, he takes advantage of Hassan and treats him like the servant he is supposed to be. Amir frequently liked to tease Hassan for not understanding certain things such as what a certain word means. Although Amir feels this way at times, he also knows that Hassan is and will always be his best friend.

Later on, after winnning the kite tournament, Hassan chases after the second place kite in honor of Amir. In doing so, he gets raped. Amir goes out to look for him and finally sees the eyes of a sheep pleading for help, Hassan. It was a matter of loyalty and fear. Fear had overcome him and Amir left.

Years later, Amir finds out that Hassan has died yet his son, Sohrab is in Kabul at an orphanage waiting to be rescued. To earn Hassan's forgiveness, he chooses to find Sohrab and return him safely to new parents. Amir faces different obstacles that he must overcome to find the suffering child. By the end, Amir becomes fond of the kid and feels that it would be right to bring him back to America with him.

Amir killed Hassan. Not directly but theoretically yes. If Amir had helped Hassan the day he was getting the kite for him, Hassan would not have had to leave Baba and Amir. Amir's fear overcame him. Now, Amir promises Sohrab that he will never be put in an orphanage again. He has failed him also. Sohrab attempts to commit suicide but is saved by doctors. Amir almost caused the death of Sohrab by breaking the promise.

Back in America, Amir flies a kite with the mute Sohrab. After their victory, Amir asks Sohrab if he would like the losing kite. He shook his head. Amir chases after it saying, "For you a thousand times over."

Throughout Amir's life he has always been pampered. Everybody doing things for him. Especially Hassan. Every time Amir would need something important, Hassan would reply, "For you a thousand times over." Later on Farid says the same quote. By the end of the story, it is now Amir's turn to do favors for Hassan's son. This is his repayment to Hassan. The only thing that could revive their lost friendship. Doing the thing that Hassan did all his life. Now it was Amir's turn to return the favor.

This book has left me speechless and I was very upset when I finished it. I look forward to reading A Thousand Splendid Suns on my own, another novel by Khaled Hosseini.

My Arizona Trip At The Airport

Today, I went to Arizona for a soccer tournament. I left school early to pack my soccer stuff and went on my way to the Oakland International Airport. When I arrived, my father saw his good friend Bruce that worked as a security guard at the airport. We talked for a while about vacations and headed on inside to the security check in. I rolled my grey suitcase through the crowed at ease, while clamping onto my gigantic soccer bag. My father followed as he carried the flight tickets. We went through security taking off our shoes, jackets and cellular devices. I also had to take out my laptop of course. It made me scared when I went through the big machine thing because I was apprehensive about metal being on me.
We finally met my teammates at gate number twelve. When we finally got the chance to board the plane I struggled to put down the book, The Kite Runner. I got to my seat, 11F luckily the window seat, while an elderly woman sat on the aisle seat. My father followed and sat in between the woman and me. Before the plane took off on our journey to Arizona, my father and the woman began to converse a lot.
Throughout the flight I heard the sounds of my dad bragging about his life, as the woman did the same. I sat next to the window gleaming out at the beautiful scenery; mountains, rivers, plains and city lights. I was enthralled in the book The Kite Runner the entire flight. It was a span of three hours which I took the time to read the amazing novel by Khaled Hosseini. I was proud of myself since I took the time to actually annotate the book. The elder woman saw The Kite Runner and enthusiastically rambled on about her amusement with the novel. She explained to my father what it was about and he began to look interested in what she was saying.
They talked for the entire flight; non-stop. Mostly about their lives and kids. As the flight came to an end, the lady finally introduced herself as Sandy. When we got off of the plane my father finally told me, “Dang, I wanted to go to sleep, but she kept talking to me!” I laughed at what he said and continued on to the rest of my journey in Arizona.

Response to Bianca's blog-Amir and Hassan's friendship

Bianca goes into detail about the confusing friendship of Hassan and Amir in The Kite Runner. In her blog, she tells us, when Amir forced Ali and Hassan to leave, it wasn't an act of selfishness it was an act of loyalty. In her blog she states,

Even though all of this happened, Amir was finally able to protect Hassan for the better of his future. Driving Hassan and Ali away seemed like a harsh attempt to rid Amir of the cause of his guilt, but underneath it all, it was a road to freedom, away from the harsh views of the neighboring people and of the bad memories. By forcing Hassan to admit that he stole something, Ali and Hassan were given an excuse to leave Amir's home and stay safe. Starting from here, Amir was finally able to see the true value of Hassan and what he truly means to him. In a way, Amir saves Hassan's life by setting him free from the wretched environment that he lived in.

When Bianca says that Amir saves Ali and Hassan by giving them an excuse to be free, she is saying that Amir was taking the initiative to help his friend. On Amir's birthday, he receives many gifts, Baba gave him a watch while others gave a variety of gifts one in particular being money. Previous to Amir's birthday, Hassan and him have a hard time communicating again after what had happened the day they won the kite tournament. To save Hassan from the constant bullying given to him by Assef, Amir makes a plan to make Hassan move out.
He takes the watch and money, and lays it under Hassan's pillow. The next morning Amir reported the items being stolen to his father. Baba has no choice but to make Ali and Hassan move out.
Amir's act was in no way to be mistaken as terrible. What he did saved Hassan's dignity and possibly life. If Amir had not done this Hassan would have continued to be harassed by Assef, Kamal and Wali.
I believe that Amir's action was loyal to his friend Hassan even though it was not the best way to solve their problem.

Book Review #2

In The Kite Runner, a historical fiction novel by Khaled Hosseini, the character Amir faces many difficult events in his life. In the second part of the book we see that he is still scarred by what he saw when he was younger. Also he was there when his acquaintance Kamal died. When his father died and heard that Hassan had also died. At the end of the book Amir is in his late thirties as he travels to Kabul to find the son of his half-brother/ best friend Hassan. The relationship between Hassan and Amir is bettered expressed in the first portion of the book, but hints of their relationship were shown in the second portion as well. Hassan and Amir were always very close. They enjoyed playing with each other everyday. But after the incident everything changed. Now in the second part of the book, Amir faces the hardship of finding out that his childhood friend was actually his half-brother, and that he was killed along with his wife. Amir feels that the only way to make it up to Hassan for what had happened in the past was to find his son, Sohrab, and take him back to Rahim Khan.

In the second part of The Kite Runner, many intense events happen that change the perspective of the book. Although readers still wish that Hassan and Amir were friends again, this can’t happen since Hassan past away. It gives me more questions as to what will happen later on in the book since it seems like not much more could be said. In each section of the book, there is a great amount of drama that takes place. After reading the second part, I am anxious to find out what will happen later on in the story. Will Amir be able to find baby Sohrab? Can Rahim Khan survive until the baby is brought back? Will Amir ever be able to have a child of his own? Many questions come to my mind as I think about the following events of the book. Hopefully the third section is accompanied by a longer series of dramatic events that adds on to the non-stop tragedies of Amir’s life.

Dangers of A Police Officer

Today the riots about Johannes Mesherle are about to occur. Although it doesn't affect me much right now I am worried for my dad. At this moment, he is part of the line of cops keeping the City of Oakland safe from harmful protestors. I feel bad for the family's of these police officers. Sitting at home watching the news and praying that their loved one would be okay. This is what I am doing right now. If everything goes well, I will be able to wake up in the morning and have breakfast with my father.

Last year, my father received a "blue code" call out. It was mandatory and he had to go to the crime scene as soon as possible. At the time, we were eating dinner. He quickly left the dinner table and put on his bullet proof vest. Instead of his usual work uniform he wore a shirt the was engraved with the word "NEGOTIATOR" on the back. A man was in his house, he was supposedly shooting at neighbors, my father served as the person who had to talk him out of the house. That night it was hard for me to go to sleep knowing that my dad was still out there.

When the four Oakland police officers were shot at, I was in Sacramento with my father at my basketball tournament. He got the call from one of his colleagues saying that his inspiration and role-model Erv Romans was one of the cops that was shot at. My dad left right away. My sister and I sat in our hotel room searching the news on the internet. We later found out what had happened. In honor of Officer Romans, my father with other police men, went to Michigan to bury his body where he was from.

Another disappointing event that happened was when my Uncle Will died on his way home from work. He was one of my dad's closest friends and was very important to me as well. Uncle Will was on his way home on the freeway swerving through lanes to get home quickly when a big truck hit him. He lost his balance and fell to the floor of the freeway, his motorcycle following, one of the handlebars landed on his chest with a strong force. By the time he reached the hospital, he was dead. I felt bad for his family, they were expecting him to be home until they got the call that he got into an accident.

When my father called my sister one day, I found out he was in the hospital. He tried to stop a drunk teenager that was leaving the Raiders game and ended up fracturing his shoulder. I didn't know what happened to my dad, all I heard was the he was in the hospital but he was going to be okay. My fear overwhelmed me and I couldn't help but cry all night. I was glad to hear that he was okay.

Hopefully tonight my father will come home safely.

Response to Bany's blog- Middle School.

After reading Bany’s blog, I realized how much I too missed school. In her blog she states,

I remembered the times I had with friends at middle school. I remember always hanging out, not really doing work. I never studied for test and I did my homework about five minutes before class, I never really needed to do anything because middle school was so easy. I would just talk in class and then go home and hang out again. we would have so much fun at lunch, going out to the yard and just talking all day! our classes were much shorter and we did fun things in class. We would have a better way of doing class work, by going outside to do work and having group projects. I also LOVED the events we had at our school. We had a bunch of spirit weeks and dances and parties.

After leaving middle school and entering high school I realized many things. First, I should have taken advantage of the free dress code in middle school. Second, middle school is way easier than high school. Lastly, drama in middle school compares nothing to drama in high school. At ASTI, the level of education rose. Science used to be a subject that I enjoyed very much, now I struggle to do my labs correctly. In seventh grade, I felt that I was prepared to conquer my struggles in science labs since I did so many. Now all of my work feels like it’s never enough. Another change in education level is the rate at which essays are graded. In middle school, essays were usually easy to compose, with a free writing structure my words came easy to me. At ASTI, I have to try harder to make my essays more complex. I enjoy the more advanced level of education but at the same time, it is sometimes hard to overcome.

Another reason for why I miss middle school is because we had more spirit days and dances. Spirit days were always really fun, everybody dressed up and tried to look the best! Also since I helped plan most of our dances, I knew what was coming and how fun it would be. Everybody came to the dances and the gym was always full of students having fun!

I miss my days at Linoln Middle School because there was no drama, spirit days came often, dances were always fun, and the level of education was way easier. Although ASTI is different from middle school in many ways, I feel lucky to be able to be at this school.

Kite Runner- Book Review

After reading the first section of The Kite Runner, I am now inspired by the ways that Khaled Hosseini worded his novel, he brings a new essence to his characters in The Kite Runner. Khaled Hosseini's style of writing is a mixture of a narrative but has bits of many flashbacks and flashforwards as well. An example of this is when he writes,

"The swelling subsided, and the wound healed with time. Soon, it was just a pink jagged line running up from his lip. By the following winter, it was only a faint scar. Which was ironic. Because that was the winter that Hassan stopped smiling."

When Hosseini explains Hassan's new surgery, he adds flashforwards when he says "By the following winter, it was only a faint scar." This represents a flashforward because at the time, Amir is talking about Hassan's lip subsiding. Then he jumps forward to what happens in winter. Hosseini's book is a narrative, in that, Amir is the character talking about his life story with Hassan. Though Hosseini is not the character that Amir is based off of, he still creates the atmosphere of Amir being a real person. I enjoy reading the Kite Runner a lot, and I am looking forward to see what happens later on with Hassan and Amir.

Another aspect of the story that struck me was the genre. In this case, The Kite Runner is a historical fiction novel. Compared to another historical fiction book that I have read, The Golden Goblet, I very much enjoy this novel better. In The Golden Goblet, the author does a great job in composing the book, but I feel that Hosseini has taken historical fiction to another level. The Golden Goblet is based off of the events that happened in Ancient Egypt. In this story, it is a tale about a young boy discovering new things in his life. While in The Kite Runner, it is a story about a young boy explaining the events going on in his life as well. The reason why I enjoy reading the Kite Runner more is because it is more realistic and I can relate to it easily. Although I enjoyed reading The Golden Goblet, The Kite Runner has become on of my most favorite books and I haven't finished reading it yet.