The Kite Runner Essay

Colin Forbes

Mr. Sutherland

English, period 2

November 23, 2010

The Kite Runner

The Kite Runner, written by Khaled Hosseini, details the life of a young boy named Amir growing up in Afghanistan  during the Soviet Invasion. As a child, Amir has a strong friendship with his servant Hassan and spends his time playing with him as a boy. One day, during the Kite fighting championship, Amir wins and Hassan decides to run the kite for him. Hassan retrieves the kite but the bullies want it. Being loyal to Amir, Hassan refuses to give up his kite and instead gets raped by Assef. Amir sees the whole thing with his own eyes and does not do anything. Amir moves to America in the 1980’s and spends his life looking for redemption.

Throughout the book, Amir and Hassan’s relationship interested me. They were the best of friends during their childhood. After the rape, Amir and Hassan both begin to drift away emotionally. Amir wants Hassan to leave because of the guilt building up in him. In the back of his mind, he wants Hassan to stay because he is his best childhood friend. I think that the Author's purpose in this section of the story is to show the importance of friendship. For Amir, his friendship with Hassan has been necessary for him in his youth. Amir has trouble making friends because he is not good at many things. His father has tried many times to get him interested in Soccer and sports, but he is just not athletic, which is why he has Hassan. Hassan is illiterate but good at sports. Amir is the opposite. In this case, opposites attract. Amir is from a wealthy family and Hassan is not. They each have each other to entertain each other.

Amir frames Hassan for stealing his money and watch and tries to get him to leave because all the guilt has built up and since Hassan has been such a good friend, it is hard to live with him. Baba asks Hassan if he stole Amir’s watch.

“Yes”, Hassan says. I flinched like I had been slapped. My heart sank and I almost blurted out the truth. Then I understood: This was Hassan’s final sacrifice for me.” (105)

In this quote, Amir feels full of regret for what he did. In his heart, he does not want Hassan to leave, yet at that moment he felt it was the best for both of them.

Amir finds out later in the book that Hassan is his brother and his father lied to him for his whole life. In our literature discussion, we discussed Amir's responsibility for Hassan's actions such as leaving and admitting to stealing the watch.

“I think that he is partly responsible because he hid the money in Hassan's room and framed him for something he did not do. Baba did not want to get rid of Ali and Hassan because Hassan was his son and Ali was like a brother to him. I think by now, Hassan has had enough of Amir not doing anything and feels he will have a better life away from him, however, he still feels loyal to Amir and misses him and they do not get to see each other again. Referring back to the part where Amir frames Hassan, i think this plays a part in leading to his death. If he had stayed with them, he would have probably lived a lot longer under the care of Baba and Amir.”

After the rape, Amir looked for redemption in many places. There were two things that fully redeemed him in his eyes. First, he saved Hassan’s son Sohrab from the Taliban and brought him to safety. Secondly, he got badly beat up by Assef. Since Hassan was raped by Assef in the childhood, Amir felt he deserved to be beat up.

In writing this book, Khaled Hosseini had a specific purpose. He wanted to show Afghan culture and the horrors of the Taliban. He says in an interview in 2007 when speaking about the Taliban that, “ In Afghanistan, under the Taliban, women were denied education, right to work, move freely, or access adequate healthcare.”

Here, he shows that women are treated horribly and he shows that in the book. He also mentioned that change needs to come from within

I think that he symbolizes the Taliban in the beginning as them being like the bullies. They are injecting fear in to society to keep certain people oppressed, just like Assef, Wali, and Kamal. They bully Hassan and Amir because they are different.

“He tipped his chin to Hassan. “Hey, flat-nose,” he said. “How is Babalu? Have you heard the news, boys, the king is gone. Good riddance.” (39)

Here he  points out differences that they have and why he his bullying them. Hassan is a Hazara and he is being made fun of for his stereotypical features. Hazaras are minorities in Afghanistan and therefore not treated as well as the majority of people. He is also ridiculed because his eyes are a little different.

He also wanted to show Afghan culture in the story. He shows that in Afghanistan and many countries, they still have some traditions that might never end.

“I want you to go khastegari. I want you to ask General Taheri for his daughter’s hand.”

Baba’s dry lips stretched into a smile. “Are you sure?”

This quote shows the traditions they have in Afghanistan. In the book, Amir has his father ask Soraya’s father for Soraya’s hand in marriage. They do not let the woman choose who she wants to marry. In Afghan culture, they have the father decide who his daughter will marry.

The evolution of Amir and Hassan’ friendship forms the core of The Kite Runner. Their closeness or distance from each other is where Hosseini delivers his most powerful messages. We also see the relationship between the bullies and the later emergence of the Taliban; it’s through these characters that Hosseini paints the backdrop of Afghani political culture. Afghan traditionas and culture are in fact on display throughout the novel, which shows us Hosseini’s true purpose: to portray his country through its struggles.

Kite runner #3

In our literature discussion, we discussed Amir's responsibility for Hassan's actions such as leaving. I think that he is partly responsible because he hid the money in Hassan's room and framed him for something he did not do. Baba did not want to get rid of Ali and Hassan because Hassan was his son and Ali was like a brother to him. I think by now, Hassan has had enough of Amir not doing anything and feels he will have a better life away from him, however, he still feels loyal to Amir and misses him and they do not get to see each other again.
Referring back to the part where Amir frames Hassan, i think this plays a part in leading to his death. If he had stayed with them, he would have probably lived a lot longer under the care of Baba and Amir.
After I finished the book, I thoughtof many questions. First of all; Does the Taliban symbolize the bullies Amir and Hassan had as kids and do their actions represent what they did earlier? For instance, they raped Hassan in his childhood and now they kill him. They beat Amir up in his childhood physically and emotionally and do te same later. I feel like everything in this book happens in twos. First, they kite run in the beginning and end of the book. Also, Amir gets bullied by Assef twice.
In this book, I noticed many attempts at redemption from Amir. First, he throws fruit at Hassan to get him to throw it at him. He has many other attempts such as finding Hassan's son but he is truly redeemed in his eyes when he is being beaten up by assef. He feels he is mostly redeemed because what was done to Hassan in Amir's eyes, equaled what happened with the Taliban and assef. Also, he is fully redeemed at the end of the story when he runs the kite for Sohrab. I enjoyed the ending because he ended it with everyone happy and Sohrab finally happy too. He shows that he doesn't care about anything more than his nephew Sohrab by running the kite.

response

The Wade Phillips era in Dallas is over.

The Cowboys fired Phillips as head coach Monday, FOXSports.com has confirmed. Phillips told people at Cowboys headquarters he was fired. He's owed at least $3 million for 2011."We are grateful to Wade and his contribution to the Cowboys, leading us," team owner Jerry Jones said at a Monday news conference. "We also clearly understand we are not where we want to be at this time, and that's an understatement. We share the responsibility — all of us."

Offensive coordinator Jason Garrett takes over as interim head coach. "He does have the opportunity to get the job long-term," Jones said. "I do believe Jason has the temperament and disposition to affect a culture change.

The season began with promise and high expectations, spurred by the fact Dallas is the site of Super Bowl XLV and  the Cowboys were hoping to become the first team to play in the Big Show in its home stadium. But instead of focusing in on "firsts," the Cowboys are suffering through a lot of worsts.

I chose to respond to this article because I agree with the cowboys decision to fire head coach Wade Philips. Even though he has done so well in the past , he only has a 1 and 7 record for this year. They had the chance to be in the superbowl in their own home stadium but they messed it up. I think they could have done this earlier and kept their chance at getting to the playoffs. I think that having an offensive coordinator as a head coach will benefit them because their offense is not very good and they will get more work if the head coach is an oc. I think the dallas coybows are going through the season like the 49ers. they are making stupid mistakes and not playing their best in the fourth quarter and throughout the whole game. Wade was a good coach before this season, 33-15 before this season, but he needs to prove he is a good coach to get his job back. please feel free to comment.

kite runner response #2

After reading the second section we were assigned, i know this is a chilling tale of modern Afghanistan. The Taliban have control and are making it place of genocide and hate.
I have just read that Amir is going to Kabul to get Hassan's orphaned son. When Rahim Khan first asks him to this, he refuses. In our literature circle discussion, we contemplated the idea that he was scared of Kabul, and all of the terrible things happening. Or, that he did not want to get Hassan's son because he did not want to have feelings of guilt. I believe that he refuses in the beginning for both reasons. He is scared of the Taliban and also  has feelings of guilt from watching Hassan's rape and now Hassan is dead. Since Hassan is dead, he can't get closure from him and there will always be a an emptiness inside of him. I think, initially, because he refused he is selfish. He only cares for himself and doesnt want to help Hassan's child because he fears for himself. Just because he is afraid of Kabul doesnt mean he should not help a friend.
In our discussion, we also talked about  how and why Baba did not tell Hassan and Amir about their relationship. We came up with a few responses. First, it might be that Baba let Ali adopt Hassan because he  was sterile, and he did not want their father-son relationship to be messed up. Second, it might be that he didnt want another son. We dismissed this idea quickly.
When i read, many questions come into my head. First of all, why does he always hesitate when people ask if Hassan is a friend? I do not think that it is about status now that he is older, rather resentment from not helping him. This time, he thinks Hassan might not think of him as a friend. My second question is why would Baba hide the fact that Hassan is his brother? Why was he selfish enough to hide the fact that Amir had a brother?
please comment or respond.

response to billy

  I chose to respond to Billy's post. Another on Justin Beiber. 

What break? Justin Bieber will never give you a break, he will never stop signing his amazing songs with his amazing voice. You said that Sam and I...

 will both be very lonely if we keep trying to singing Justin Bieber's songs, because if you do then (one) you will be devastated and live a pessimistic life when he dies and (two) you'll probably want to sing his songs for a living or something, but you would barely get any money and end up as a hobo on the street.

     First, Justin Bieber is only like 2 years older than us, so by the time he is dead we are probably gonna have 2 more years to live. Anyways, by that time I would be over him and probably be obsessed with another teenage prodigy. If he dies I will be sad, but I will continue to sing his wonderful songs with joy. Second, I only sing his songs because I like them. I never said I wanted to be like him. If I did wanted to try to be like him and go on American Idol or something, I bet you I would already have a job. So I don't know what you are talking about some hobo on the streets, because that ain't gonna be me.

 In His response, Jesse said that Sam and you will be very lonely if you keep singing Justin BEiber songs. He took it a little to far with the hobo but i agree with this. Justin Beiber: http://www.worldbeardchampionships.com/category/compete/#
Justin beiber sings songs abut "true" love. I dont see the reason why boys are obsessed with him. Also girls. His voice is higher than most of the population and he doesn't even sing well. His voice is just pitch corrected. When Justin Beiber's voice changes, his career will  change it. Also, you say you would have a job if you were trying to be like him. i Don't get this. Also, don't forget to click on the link of Justin Beiber. Please comment with your thoughts.

response to Ivan 11/5

I responded to Ivans post

Not only could Facebook be harmful in ways of robbery of things, identity theft, and people getting stalked and searched and rape. Facebook could also get into someone’s mind and begging to addict them, making it a priority for people to get on a computer and start posting. With posting comes some consequences such as bullying and also people knowing the every movement that a person is taking where they live and are in the moment when they are alone, when they are in the bathroom, eating and everything else that they are doing.  People take advantage and now creepers don’t have to leave for little kids to chase they just hop on a computer! Does this give too much power to pedophiles???????? PLEASE RESPOND UR THOUGHTS ABOUT GIVING PEDOPHILES AN ADVANTAGE!

 I want to respond to this post because I agree with it. I think facebook needs to step up its privacy settings because in the modern age, anyone can search for you, find out where you live, and stare at pictures of you at one click. With facebook, I dont think bullying is a big issue but I think if someone is going to post something about another person, that person that it is about should approve it first. I think bullying comes more with formspring. On that, you can ask any anonymous question and the people can respond. This can lead to bullying, however, if you lack self esteem or confidence you may not want to create one. 

Also, ivan mentioned that creepers can look at your profile and stalk you. There are settings you can set to only let friends see your profile. If you add a pedophile, you can still remove them, even though I dont know anyone who would add a pedophile in the first place. In the end, I think facebook only gives pedophiles a small advantage, because they can stalk you on facebook. On the postive side though, the more time they are on facebook, the less time they may be looking for you in real life.

Please respond with your thoughts.

The Kite Runner 11/1/10

 When I read the Kite Runner, many questions come in to my mind. For instance, Why did Amir want Hassan to leave? Also, why did he not help Hassan? Everything would have turned out much better if he had tried to help or ran to get help. On  page 72, right before Hassan gets raped, Assef questions Hassan's loyalty to Amir. He says, " But before you sacrifice yourself for him, think about this:  would he do the same for you?" "We are friends," Hassan says. " don't fool yourself and think your something your not." Amir is listening to this whole conversation. For me, that would immediately make we want to help Hassan, not that I wouldn't anyway. I am surprised that this does not convince Amir to help his friend, whether he be his friend or not. 

I think that the Author's purpose in this section of the story is to show the importance of friendship. For Amir, his friendship with Hassan has been necessary for him in his youth. Amir has trouble making friends because he is not good at many things. His father has tried many times to get him interested in Soccer and sports, but he is just not athletic, which is why he has Hassan. Hassan is illiterate but good at sports. Amir is the opposite. In this case, opposites attract. amir is from a wealthy family and Hassan is not. They each have each other to entertain each other. 

For this author's style of writing, i like the way he describes critical moments in the  story in depth and uses a lot of diolauge. 

One question I forgot to mention in the first paragraph is How did Hassan feel after the rape. I think this question is a level two question because it can be answered by reading between the lines. The answer never presents itself in the text. I think Hassan felt depressed after the rape, however, I was surprised when he wanted to play with Amir again. I am not surprised when Amir did not want to play because he had just witnessed something terrible. I am surprised, however, when Amir wanted Hassan and his family to leave.