Final Post

Final Post

Upon completing this novel I felt this fictional story was making a sort of commentary on the true contrast between fiction and the actual nature of life. The end leaves Amir hardly redeemed, his friend to whom he owes a debt is dead, and the son who Amir saved, Sohrab, was suicidal after Amir told him he may not be able to keep him from another orphanage. This led to a whole other fountain of guilt for Amir. Despite all of this, the end leaves the reader with a little hope, in the form of an injured, fragile, slight smile on the face of the battered Sohrab. The book is conveying how while many fictitious tales end with the protagonist tying up every loose end neatly, and resolving every conflict, real life is not so forgiving, and that most problems will go unresolved and all we can do is our best to move on and heal.“That was a long time ago, but it’s wrong what they say about the past, I’ve learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out. Looking back now, I realize I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years.” (P.4) This is a problem that Amir had to deal with throughout the entire book in several forms. Not being able to escape his guilt incites nearly every conflict and is its own form of conflict. As the Novel progresses, we see Amir growing in to a man, and with this we see his ability to face this conflict growing as well. He realizes that instead of being consumed by his guilt he needs to fight for himself, and reclaim his life from this emptiness he feels inside, which is what makes him take Rahim's offer to return to Kabul and find Sohrab. I can draw parallels to my own life, I myself am slowly progressing from the innocence of childhood, through the awkwardness of adolescence, and learning to become a man. I acknowledge that I have a very long road ahead of me to even understand what it means to be a man, but I also understand that to begin this journey I must accept the necessity of facing my problems, much like Amir does. Also not unlike in the story, my problems will not always be resolved even though I have faced them honestly. Perhaps accepting this fact, yet still putting forth every ounce of effort one has, is what it truly means to be a man. 

Now that I have read this novel to completion I can confidently say that I would recommend it to another person, given that they are comfortable with reading about mature themes like murder, racism, abuse, and rape. The story Which is told is one with very complex and lifelike characters, a setting which only stands to enhance every aspect of the story, and main character which is very easy to relate to. His conflict is one which everyone faces (to varying degrees) and thus we can sympathize with Amir, making it a more intimate read. We want Amir to succeed, not only because he is our protagonist and that is the way it should be, but because we see ourselves in Amir, a person struggling to come to terms with themselves, as most people are.

Half-Way Post

Half-Way Post

So far the Kite Runner has been a very intriguing read, full of conflict and genuinely interesting characters with complex emotions. Perhaps most notable is the complexity of the relationships between all the characters, how our main character, a privileged, reserved, Pashtun boy hailing from a powerful and wealthy family, is best friends with an unfortunate, poor Hazara boy hailing from a family which works for our main character. This stark contrast being so close together offers a very interesting dynamic between the two. Not only that, but both of them have lost their mothers, and depend on one another, posing as sort of replacement parents for each other. These similarities again make for an interesting dynamic between the two, and really drives the point home that they are best friends.

 The story's setting is in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, at the very beginning of the coup of the monarchy. This setting is extremely important to the story and is the reason for many of the events which occur. One of the main reasons for that is the racial divide that existed in Kabul at the time, the divide between the Pashtun and the Hazara. More interestingly, Amir is a Pashtun, and Hassan is a Hazara, the Pashtuns normally would discriminate against the Hazara, so having the main character and his best friend be of these two opposite parties, only has effect thanks to the setting of a racially divided place like Kabul during that period. The fact that the setting has the characters in a period where Kabul was about to endure a coup, becomes relevant around the fifth chapter: “Huddled together in the dining room and waiting for the sun to rise, none of us had any notion that a way of life had ended.” (p. 36)  In this quote, Amir, Hassan and Ali are hiding from the gunfire they can hear outside, the quote signifies the beginning of the coup of the monarchy, and the end of life as Amir knew it in Kabul, everything would change from that point on and he knew it. This event is what causes Amir and Baba to flee to America.

While reading through this portion of the book, one central theme became rather apparent, and that theme is the desire for redemption, mainly from the main character. He feels guilt for many things that he wishes to fix. His mother died giving birth to him, and he feels at fault for killing her, He left Hassan and didn't help him in the alleyway “That was a long time ago, but it’s wrong what they say about the past, I’ve learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out. Looking back now, I realize I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years.” He even feels as though he needs to redeem himself in his fathers eyes, that was the reason he started Kite Flying. Perhaps a rather radical connection, is one to my favorite film; "Rocky". The central theme of the film is Rocky proving to everyone and most importantly to himself that he can redeem himself and "go the distance" with the champion Apollo Creed. This desire for validation is what drives Rocky to fight the World Heavyweight Champion, despite being barely a pro boxer himself. There is a powerful scene where Rocky comes home to Adrian (his girlfriend) seemingly having given up saying "I cant beat him". But it is shortly revealed that his conviction is strong as ever, that his dream of self respect, of self redemption, is still very much alive and prominent"If I can go that distance as soon as that bell rings and I'm still standing, I'm gonna know for the first time in my life you see, that I wasn't just another bum from the neighborhood".

Introductory Post.

This book, "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini, is the story of a young boy (Amir) who grew up in Kabul, Afghanistan, then moved out to California, then returns to Kabul. in 372 pages, we follow this boy through an entire gauntlet of conflicts for example (from the cover) "Afghanistan, 1975; Twelve year old Amir is desperate to win the local kite flying tournament and his loyal friend Hassan promises to help him. But neither of the boys can foresee what will happen to Hassan that afternoon, an event that is to shatter their lives".

The first copyright date of "The Kite Runner" was May 29, 2003, Published by "Riverhead Books"

This book was met with critical acclaim, as it offers a very unique viewpoint on the already tender at the time situation in Afghanistan (2003 was during the Afghanistan war). To get a perspective from within the country that was made very taboo to the western world made for a very interesting book and it sold very well internationally. 

Here is a review on the book:https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2014/jul/30/review-khaled-hosseini-the-kite-runner