The Kite Runner
Khaled Hosseini
Historical Fiction/Realistic Fiction
Just Right
p. 207
1. Right now, the main character, Amir, is talking with one of his father's former friends, a man named Rahim Khan. He has not seen him for many years. Some of the events that have occurred since he left are being unfolded by Rahim. Amir finds out that his former best friend, and servant, Hassan, moved to Hazarajat after a disagreement between Amir and Hassan turned much more serious back when Amir was 13. When Rahim visited Hassan, he found out that he had a wife, and that they were expecting a child. But, sadly, Hassan's father, and another man were killed before by a land mine. Rahim asked Amir, "Is there any more Afghan way of dying?" (206). This was in reference to the land mine that killed Hassan's father, Ali, who also served Amir and Baba when they lived in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. Amir is also now married to a woman in America, named Soraya. After leaving much of his former life back in Afghanistan, and Pakistan, Amir is beginning to find out what came to be of all the people that were in his life, and much of it is not happy. Death and tragedy fill Amir's life, from the loss of Hassan and Ali, to his father's death, and their departure from Afghanistan.
2. This book is very good so far. It's written very well and in good detail, like Hosseini's other book, A Thousand Splendid Suns, which I have also read. He provides a lot of detail about what life is and was like in Afghanistan. He tells a story filled with emotion, enough happiness to bring you back, but enough sadness to affect your thoughts. He leaves you with many lasting images about how different life is in Afghanistan. The way that the people there treated Hassan, is atrocious, like he was of a completely different species, and not even human. Solely for the reason that he is Hazara, a different ethnicity than Pashtun, which makes up the majority of Afghanistan, he was bullied when living in Kabul. On a happier note, I like how he uses some words from Afghanistan in his work, but lets you know what they are so they're not really a foreign language. He's an incredible writer who has done an amazing job painting a vivid and eye-opening picture of life in America and life in Afghanistan.
3. A theme I've noticed in the book is dishonesty. This theme was very present in the beginning of the novel when they were still living in Kabul, but it remains with you throughout the book because some of the events are consequences of what happened. One day, after Amir had won the kite-flying competition, a prestigious honor in Kabul, Hassan had caught the kite and was running through the streets. A bully named Assef, and two of his friends, had tried to coerce him into giving them the kite, but he wouldn't. They then took advantage of him as a punishment for what he'd done to them in the past, and Amir stood there and did nothing. When he came back home, Amir told a series of lies to cover up what had happened. He and Hassan never had the same relationship in the end, and that was what ultimately caused them to leave Kabul. Amir became very dishonest here, because he didn't want to own up to the fact that he didn't do anything while terrible things happened to Hassan. But, in the end, he shouldn't've done that, as his best friend was taken away from him.
4. My favorite character is Hassan. I like him because he has an extremely unique personality. He is willing to stand up for Amir even in times where he shouldn't. Amir tries to make him do bad things to him, but he just can't bring himself to do it. It's amazing what devotion he has to Amir, and how strong a character he is. Being a servant, he lived so much more modestly than Amir and his father did, and he just had to live being in a shack when he slept, rather than an elaborate house. He's an amazing character because he is so devoted to everyone around him, and he puts others before himself, even if sometimes he shouldn't. His morals are very good, and he deserves much better than he is given.
5. My least favorite character was Assef. When the characters were living in Kabul, Assef seemed to lurk in the background as a bully trying to beat up Amir and Hassan. Hassan got the better of him once, which was why he went to such disgusting lengths when Hassan had caught the kite. When he arrived at an elaborate and elegant birthday party for Amir when he turned 13, he seemed to be in control of his parents, physically taller, and talking more than they did. He's a classic bully character, but the things he did were so brutal that he seems not to have any judgment in regards to how other kids felt. It's sad to see this happen, but it's even worse to see Amir not do anything about it. Assef, being a mean character, and a bully to Amir and Hassan, is my least favorite character.
6. A prediction I have for the rest of the book is Amir and Hassan will finally meet again, this time in America, and they will forgive each other for the rotten end that became of them in Kabul.
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