Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Amir's Tests- The Kite Runner

"But I was a man, and all I had risked was a bruised ego. Bruises healed. Reputations did not. Would she take my dare?" (pg. 147)
I found this quote interesting because it almost seems like Amir is doing the same thing to Soraya that he did to Hassan when they were kids. He never took the real risk in anything; he let others do it for him. In this quote, he was only risking his ego as a man because men had a lot more freedom when it came to morality. Soraya, however, had to deal with the double standards of women and her reputations would never heal. Without a good reputation, Soraya didn't have a chance at a good life. So instead of keeping her from a situation where she could have problems, he let her potentially take the fall because he wanted to know her better. Similarly, Amir "tested" Hassan in his childhood on page 54 when Hassan said that he would eat dirt for him and Amir said "you would do that?" This interaction was a test because Amir truly knew that Hassan would eat dirt for him, but I don't think Hassan or even Amir knew if hew would actually ask Hassan to. These tests show that Amir has had two good friends and he always tests them.

Flashbacks- The Kite Runner

Page 76 describes a memory of Amir's that is of great importance. Flashbacks or memories are important in stories like The Kite Runner. The memories hold the story in in this novel because the adult Amir telling the story has been keeping them back for so long that memories are only left. This memory is of a sheep sacrifice that Amir's family participated in. He remembers the look of complete acceptance on the sheep's face, the look of a higher purpose. This flashback was important because it was brought on by the look on Hassan's face. Amir drew a parallel between Hassan and the sheep and the things that were happening to them. This is important because it was a sacrifice for the sheep, but Hassan was not being sacrificed, but he was sacrificing himself for Amir. He didn't want to give up the kite, the key to Baba's love for Amir, so he let himself be hurt for Amir. Everything in this book leads to the sacrifices that Hassan made for Amir and the fact that Amir never did the same for Hassan. He ran instead of helping Hassan. The flashbacks are only one technique that the author uses to portray this theme.

The Author Likes to FORESHADOW- The Kite Runner

"Rahim Khan had been wrong about the mean streak thing," (pg. 23- end of Ch. 3)

"Because suddenly Afghanistan changed forever," (pg. 34- end of Ch. 4)

"Because that was the winter that Hassan stopped smiling," (pg. 47- end of Ch. 5)

I got tired of flipping to the end of the rest of the chapters, but the author, Khaled Hosseini, has a tendency to end his chapters with a foreshadowing sentence that is dramatic. The affect of these endings make the readers wonder and think and want to read more. However, I think that the real reason for these endings is that it makes the reader think. When I read this book, I tried to tie it into history or find connections and through these I started to understand the meaning of the whole work. I feel that life full of foreshadowing. He also foreshadows in a memory sequence on pgs. 73-74. The author tells of a memory that showed Hassan and Amir getting their fortunes told. Hassan went first and the teller actually gave him back his money which only happens when futures are bad. Amir was going to go, but he was scared, so he let Hassan face the bad future by himself. This foreshadows a potential bad future for Hassan. The foreshadowing is important because I think this is where I started to think that Hassan and Amir were not going to live happily ever after.

A World of Conflict: The Kite Runner

There are many types of conflict in this novel, so much, that I think that conflict is a theme. Amir is battling with the internal conflict raging in his head and the poor kid is dealing with external conflict as well. However, the conflict doesn't stop with Amir and himself and others, it goes on to include the Shi'a Muslims and Sunni Muslims, the Hazarras and the Pashtuns. The internal conflict is Amir battling with his feelings about his father. He desperately wants his father's love and respect and is jealous of Hassan, his servant-friend, when Hassan seems to be getting more attention. He struggles with the love for his father and the love of his friend, but over and over Hassan gets hurt because Amir chooses his father who never seems to care much. On page 13, Baba asks Amir if Hassan wanted to go on a trip with them, but "I lied and told him Hassan had the runs. I wanted Baba all to myself." Because Amir never got the attention he needed from his father, he was stuck in the middle of an internal battle. The external conflict also has to deal with Amir and Baba, but not Hassan. Amir wants the approval of his father more than anything in the world, but their personalities stand in the way. Baba was a sports star, who is strong and brave and believes his son should be like him. However, Amir inherited his mother's qualities and would rather read. This difference always led to the conflict between them because they could not enter into a happy medium. "I started spending my allowance on books. That was how I escaped my father's aloofness," (pg. 19). "Baba sensed my lack of genuine interest[in soccer] and resigned himself to the bleak fact that his son was never going to either play or watch soccer,"(20). Finally, there was the external conflict between the two muslim groups. The Pashtuns were the wealthy and the influential while the Hazarra's were the servants and the illiterate and there was no evidence that this would ever budge.

"For you, a thousand times over" The Kite Runner

"For you, a thousand times over." pg. 2 This quote is very important to the meaning of the book and the relationship between Hassan and Amir. It is first seen on page 2 of the novel, but is repeated throughout the entire book. The readers do not understand the meaning of the quote on page 2 as they will later on, but the significance of it is already noticed. I think that it is the epitome of loyalty and friendship and is a quote from Hassan that haunted Amir from the moment he said it all into his adult life. I see it as a surrender almost, a surrender where Hassan tells Amir that even though they are different types of Muslims, not family, and classes apart, he will always be there for him. Amir does not show this type of sacrifice towards Hassan at all. He lets Hassan take the blame for his mischievousness, lets Hassan stand up to the bullies that Amir would be far more equiped to handle due to his status, and never shows Hassan the love and friendship that Hassan showed him from birth... Hassan's first word was Amir while Amir's was Baba. "For you, a thousand times over" is a gift, a promise, and one that I think Hassan will never break and one that Amir has never appreciated. It alsmost has this haunted ring to it and I wonder how Amir will learn of the true power of this phase or if he ever will.