Kite Runner, Reflection Five.

“But all I could manage was to whisper, “No. No. No” over and over again. (219). This was Amir’s reaction to Hassan’s brutal death. This quote was significant in the progression of Kite Runner because it appears that Amir is really trying very hard to right his wrongs. From were I left off in my reading Amir has begun his journey to find Hassan’s son; this is also where I am introduced to Amirs driver Farid. The reason I bring Farid's name up is because he brings up a very common stereotype about Americans that still exists. This came about when Farid stated, “Why are you coming back here anyway? Sell off your Baba’s land? Pocket the money and run back to your mother in America?" (233). I feel that this shows how third world countries or just other countries in general view America. Although this is a vary big misconception about America, it can be proven that we do seem to screw over other nations for our own good time to time. This same message also made me think about the relationship between Amir and Hassan back when they were children. The reason for this is that Hassan was a loyal servent and friend to Amir but Amir screwed him the first chance he got. I am starting to see a pattern that Khaled Hosseini put into Kite Runner, the message being that people are filled with greed and selfishness. In the book alown we see it through the Taliban, Amir, his father Baba, and the list goes on.

Kite Runner, Reflection Four

From the point that I was at in my reading it appeared that the book was winding down because Amir has a good job as a writer, a wife, and a nice house. As I continued reading on I noticed how wrong I was when Amir’s past comes back to haunt him when he received a call from Rahim Khan telling Amir that he was dying and he wanted Amir to return to Afghanistan to see him before he died. By this time Amir was 38 years old yet going back to Afghanistan was haunting to Amir because Rahim Khan was such a big part in the childhood that Amir wanted to forget. This section in the book reminded me of how we can never escape our past no matter how hard we try to. After this section Amir go’s to Rahim Khan’s house where Rahim Khan informs Amir that Hassan was actually his brother and he has a son that he wants Amir to go get. This is because Hassans wife and him were killed. The message that I took from this is that even though you may have physically escaped from your problems eventually you will need to go back to make them right. This exact message was told to Amir earlier in the book even though he didn’t understand it. This came from Rahim Khan when he stated to to Amir, “Come. There is a way to be good again”. (192)

Kite Runner, Reflection Number Three.

From what I have been noticing in my progression in Kite Runner is that Khaled Hosseini tries to illustrate the point that someone who appears to be your friend will stab you in the back for his own good. From where I left off in Kite Runner last week this is exactly what happens from Amir to his servant Hassan. As the jealously continues to build I noticed how extreme Amir’s jealousy of Hassan really was when he asked his father, “Baba, have you ever considered getting new servants?” (89). This continuation of deception from Amir to Hassan contenues to the point when Ali and Hassan move out of Baba’s house. After Hassan and Ali move out the world that Amir knew started to crumble. In some way I believe there was a point being shown. This was that you don’t really know what you got until it’s gone”. From this point the war breaks out and Baba and Amir move to America where Baba is forced to work at a gas station to make ends meet. This made me consider how some Americans take there life for granted and look down on other ethnicities from foreign countries because of the jobs they have or where they live. What we need to understand is that they may have once had great jobs but are forced by war or other problems to change there life completely.

Kite Runner 2nd Reflection

As I continued reading Kite Runner this week I noticed a progression in selfishness and betrayal from Amir towards his servant and loyal friend Hassan. This all seemed to happen because Amir felt his father did not love him more or even as much as his servant Hassan. A quote that stuck out to me this week stated, “The chill between Baba and me thawed a little, And the reason for that was the kites. Baba and I lived in the same house but in different spheres of existence. Kites were the one paper thin slice of intersection between those spheres.” (49). Not only did this quote help set the stage for the rest of this book but it also explained the title “Kite Runner” to me. Amir felt this was his chance to make his dad proud and break the “sphere” in between them. As the book went on Amir ended up winning the kite flying contest, but he also viewed his friend Hassan get beat up and raped and didn’t defend him. This was one of biggest events I feel has happened in the book so far because I feel that it illustrates how everyone wants to be a perfect friend, or just generally a perfect person and they get angry when they figure out they can’t. Well in Kite Runner Hassan is the perfect friend and Amir gets angry he cannot be thus resulting in Amir gradually pushing Hassan out of his life resulting in Hassan and his father moving out of Amir and Baba’s house.

Just Not Good Enough. Kite Runner

“A boy who can’t stand up for himself becomes a man who can’t stand up to anything”. (22). This quote from Amir’s father in “Kite Runner” begins to show the gradually developing difference between Amir and his father Baba. This quote is significant to the first chapters of “Kite Runner” because it shows that Amir may never live up to his fathers reputation of a big, strong, businessman. This passage symbolizes more then just the fact that Amir cannot defend himself against bullies. It also helps the reader further understand the separation between Amir and his father Baba. Amir describes another difference from him father and him by stating, “Baba sensed my lack of genuine interest and resigned himself to the bleak fact that his son was never going to either play or watch soccer.“ (20). This illustrates that even though Amir tries to please his father by acting interested in what his father is interested in it just seems to make the bond from father to son that much wider. Amir appears to try to gain his fathers approval by excelling in academics and general optimism to everything around him. Despite this Amir seems to have a speck of hatred towards his father because of the fact that Amir never feels fully accepted by Baba. These first two chapters in Kite Runner seems to have the effect to make a reader question to themselves what it would feel like to never be good enough to meet another persons standards.

Kite Runner

I chose Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. The reason I picked this book is because there has been a ton of positive feedback from the media about this book. Also I heard the storyline of the book was a challenge to follow along with so I wanted to check it out. Realistically Jordan told me to read this book. So if it sucks, its on him.

Overcoming it all

I just read an article about Jackie Robinson on the official Jackie Robinson website. Jackie Robinson overcame racism and segregation, when Jackie was born he was the only white kid on the block so he was constantly picked on. Despite this he was a great athlete and in his high school career he lettered in 4 sports. From high school Jackie went to collage but was forced to drop out because he couldn’t afford it. After that he joined a “negro baseball league”. He got his big break in 1947 when “Brooklyn Dodgers president Branch Rickey approached Jackie about joining the Brooklyn Dodgers”. At the time Jackie Robinson joined the team segregation was at its peak. Jackie overcame segregation and racism in a professional sport which motivated other African Americans to speak up eventually ended segregation altogether.

To read this article go to http://www.jackierobinson.com/about/bio.html