The Kite Runner

I just got finished with the Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini in the car on the way to South Dakota. The last hundred pages or so had me on a roller coaster of emotions. My family gave me several 'it's just a book, calm down' looks as I either yelled in horror at Amir's encounter with Assef or clapped as Sohrab and Amir flew the kite together.This book was one of the most incredible books that I have read, and I loved it. I thought that though there were some dry parts, for the most part it was well written. I annotated it by summarizing every chapter as I finished with it. This was perfect for me because some of the chapters flew right over my head and I needed to reflected upon them. This book took me a while to finish because I started reading on the first day of school and, well, let's just say that I haven't had very much free time. Summarizing all of the chapters was also a big help because if I didn't get a chance to read it for a couple of days, I could look back and quickly catch myself up on the story.

I didn't feel like the fact that Hassan was a Hazara and Amir was a Pashtun really made much of a difference in the story. Yes, Hassan was a slave while Amir was not but I think that their relationship was deeper. I think that Amir used the fact that Hassan was just a Hazara and slave as an excuse to treat him the way he did. Amir and Hassan were very close because they were best friends but like any friends they did have their fights. When they didn't get along and Amir treated Hassan like dirt it wasn't because he was a Hazara, but instead because he was jealous of him. I completely understand why Amir was jealous of Hassan, I would be too. I would not be as jealous as him or do the things that he did because of jealousy, but I would still feel jealous. Baba was Amir's father and Amir just wanted him to be proud of just him. He wanted to be the one to get a new kite without Hassan getting one as well. I bet it was confusing for Amir because, to him, Baba was HIS father not Hassan's and yet he did the same things for Hassan that he did for Amir. Shouldn't a father treat their son better than any other kid? When I say this, i'm talking about before Amir found out that he and Hassan were brothers. I'm not justifying any of the things that Amir did or saying that Hassan should have just been ignored, but after I finished the book I could see where Amir was coming from. I also love to make my parents proud, and I usually strive to make them proud. 

One of my favorite things about this book was that it was not super predictable. I never had any idea what tragedy would strike next. This was by far the saddest a book has ever made me feel. I have never been much of a crier, so even when the book tugged on my heart strings I didn't shed a tear. I did come close though, especially after Sohrab came into the story. To me, that little boy was the bread and butter of the book, and he wasn't even the main character. Sohrab symbolized forgiveness and redemption for Amir. Poor Amir carried so much guilt for so much of his life and when Rahim Khan told Amir the news about Hassan, it was devastating. Sohrab was a second chance for Amir because after the loss of Hassan, his only chance at righting his wrong was through Sohrab, Hassan's son.

 In the end, I feel like Amir did finally break free of his guilt and whatever else had been holding him back throughout his life. I found myself feeling happy for him because he had made it through a lot. I was so proud of him when he decided to take Sohrab home because I knew that that was what Amir needed, and i was right. It was very sad when their blossoming relationship came to a sudden halt just as Sohrab got to go back to America with Amir. They did start to make a little progress when they flew the kite together, but I just wish that I could keep reading to find out just how much Sohrab and Amir's relationship really got to become.