After this week's reading I'd like for you to focus on at least two of the following elements when you blog:
1) Comment on the structure of this novel. How is it organized and how does the organization aid or guide the reader?
2) Comment on Amir. How do you feel about him now as opposed to earlier in the novel?
3) Comment on Hosseni's style of writing. What are elements of his word choice, sentence structure, tone that make his writing style unique? Perhaps choose a short passage that illustrates what you notice.
4) If you didn't in the last post, write a thematic statement that indicates what Hosseni is tr
ying to say about one of the subjects I listed.
Remember that themes are universal statements that comment on the human condition. For instance, you wouldn't want to write on the AP exam that the theme of a passage is guilt. That is a subject, not a theme. A theme could be that guilt has the power to consume and destroy. That is a universal idea that relays what the author is trying to say about guilt. Or how about love?? That is a subject, but what is the author trying to say about love?Love is a double-edged sword; with the joy of love comes an equal amount of pain. People exhibit love in many ways; some through kindness and tenderness, some through jealousy, some through obsession.See how these are complete sentences that actually pinpoint what the author is trying to say about a particular subject???? Writing thematic statements will be a focus for us in class because you will be expected to identify them and compose them on the AP exam. Do the best you can.
We will go back to Foster's ideas next week, so keep noting elements of the novel that you recognize as important to meaning. Many of you have done a great job with symbols, allusions and irony!!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Structure/Organization
ReplyDeleteThe end of each chapter leaves the reader hanging, ready for more of Amir's story. One chapter introduces a new point of view, from Rahim Khan, to avoid continuing quotations for his tale and so one may read all that was said in the monolouge. If the beginning of a chapter is accompanied by a date, this indicates a lengthy lapse of time has passed. Extra blank lines between paragraphs can also indicate a a short lapse of time, or a slight change in subject. They also reduce chances of confusion for the reader in changes of subject, as experienced in The Scarlet Letter. After such occurances, the next section begins with several words in small caps that catch the readers' eyes to find their place and keep their attention with a quick change in font. The occasional three centered dots show an abrupt change in subject. Rather than going into detail about matters (i.e. wedding night, crying, or a doctor's visit), Hosseini chooses to proceed to the next topic. When an entire paragraph is indented, it shows that something is not original. It is either a written note or letter, or a song. Italics indicate foreign words, so the reader can expect a translation to soon follow. And finally, an italicized paragraph or full sentence encompasses a dream or private thoughts.
Mostly reading through the novel Amir hasn't really changed all the much from the previous post. One sees that Amir was a great friend to Hassan up until his raping. This indeed that changed the level of liking towards Amir. Though, one must realize that this is a coming of age novel. Mainly progressing Amir is growing up, these experiences he has helps him grow as a person in the future. By the author's structure of writing in the beginning the reader and see that the author mainly starts the novel to the present day, then has flashbacks throughout his life. Mainly all novels are kind of a flashback in one's life. At least one recap would be shown as a build-up to why a character is made a certain. Without flashbacks like these the reader wouldn't help but ponder these questions, "Why is this character acting a certain way?" or "Why is this so important to the other characters to cause change?" All questions such as this are highly important in order to furtherly help the reader understand what is going on throughout the book. So by these flashbacks different likings or dislikings of Amir all depend on his past, and then his future choices. Mainly the author has put the novel as a build-up to see how Amir's life was changing throughout the occuring events in his homeland.
ReplyDeleteEarlier in the novel, I felt horrible about what Amir did in regards to helping Hassan. That was his best friend and he just stood there while Hassan was being abused. But as I look at the situation, I begin to relate to Amir because he failed. We all come to points like that in life where we can either do what is right or look after ourselves and not risk getting involved in what might hurt ourselves or our ego. Through the novel we see Amir go through a struggle inside him with things that relate to Hassan. On page 221 Rahim Khan and Amir are arguing about the potential of Amir going to get Sohrab to a safe home. Amir says at some point during that conversation, “I have a wife in America, a home, a career, and a family. Kabul is a dangerous place, you know that, and you’d have me risk everything for…”. There is Amir battling with himself. In the reader’s mind, we are cheering him on to go get the boy and bring him to safety and we would criticize him if he didn’t. But do we have the courage to stand up against our own pride in everyday situations. On many days I don’t, and I suffer for it. So I don’t like the way he handled the situation in which Hassan was abused, but I’m not allowed to judge him because would I risk myself for my best friend or would I give in to pride and protect myself? The only way to know that would be for me to be in that situation.
ReplyDeleteOne key characteristic of this book is the way that it is structured. Hosseini uses common vocabulary, peculiar sentence structure, and tone that capture the audience’s attention. This book is not hard to understand, but yet it maintains a certain aspect of elegance. He writes like we are in his mind so the story seems authentic and real. His sentence structure for example conveys this point very well. Here is a passage that illustrates my point.
“Rahim Khan said I’d always been too hard on myself. But I wondered. True, I hadn’t made Ali step on a land mine, and I hadn’t brought the Taliban to the house to shoot Hassan. But I had driven Hassan and Ali out of the house. Was it too far-fetched to imagine that things might have turned out differently if I hadn’t? Maybe Baba would have brought them along to America. Maybe Hassan would have had a home of his own now, a job, a family, a life in a country where no one cared that he was a Hazara, where most people didn’t even know what a Hazara was. Maybe not. But maybe so.”
To prove the first part of my point, the vocabulary used is very common and easy to understand. Second, it feels as though we are in Amir’s brain, for example, the last two sentences are very short. These sentences resemble a thought process. By using this type of sentence structure, the reader feels that he is a bystander in the story and he feels like he is inside Amir’s brain. Third, the tone used in this paragraph makes the reader sympathize with Amir and feel his pain. The vocabulary and the sentence structure help bring about the tone which makes the read more enjoyable and real because as the reader I feel the emotion in the story. These three aspects of his writing are crucial in this book being such a great read.
Amir
ReplyDeleteAfter witnessing terrible events and settling in America for a few years, Amir has matured mentally in that he is less selfish and cares for his father. However, because of his experiences with Hassan, Amir carries his guilt with him through school and marriage. Amir has accomplished publishing his writings, and therefore he has more confidence in charity, like when he gave away his watch and extra money. He is humbled when he sees Baba and Rahim Khan weak and ill, and even more so when he sees the remainder of Afghanistan, the part he never saw growing up. On the quest of redemption, Amir is already gaining the strength and understanding of a wise man nearly thirty years later than he could have, should have, in that one instance that determined his moral fate.
I am pleased with the changes Amir has in himself thusfar, but they were long overdue from my standpoint. Fear kept the boy from doing the right thing on several occasions, and rescuing his nephew may be just the right saving grace; a baptism, if you will. It's high time that Amir makes his amends with Hassan and with God, "Allah", for his sake and Baba's.
Amir Jan:
ReplyDeleteObviously, Amir has grown up throughout this novel. I feel that his morals have improved tremendously, as oppossed to when he would torment his neighbors and get Hassan in trouble. It's like, as Amir was growing up he would do so many bad deeds and now that he is older he is paying the consequences. I honestly pity Amir because it seems like he can't catch a break at all. His father dies, he can't have children, his first adult friend is dying, he finds out that his childhood friend died, and then that his childhood friend was really his brother. This book is very depressing.
I also feel that Amir is realising that no one is perfect. His father who was this perfect character, he was strong willed, brave, I mean this man wrestled a bear once; but he has sins of his own and Amir is not alone. Amir witnessed a terrible thing as a child and didn't know how to deal with it, I feel that he is alot like Dimmesdale in 'The Scarlett Letter' because his guilt is tearing him apart. All these years Amir has never moved past the kite incident, every bad deed that happens to him he believes is Karma getting back at him. Every bad deed that happens to Hassan, Amir blames himself for. I feel that Amir doesn't deserve all that, but all of this is making him a stronger individual. He is going to a dangerous place to rescue his nephew which proves that he isn't the terrible person he thinks himself to be. I feel Amir is a good man, and needs to forgive himself because obviously Hassan has moved on.
Hosseini's Writing:
Hosseini's writing structure is similar to alot of other authors, but at the same time very different. He writes in English, but throws in Arabic words every now and again. This individualises him because it seems like he is putting his culture into his writing which is cool because its like his identity. He also doesn't hold back in his writing at all, for instance when he is angry you know it not just by exclamation points, Hosseini uses strong words and I'm not only talking about the cursing. For instance when Soraya is talking about her father she really cuts deep with her words, "At least I'm not like him, sitting around while other people fight the Shorawi, waiting for when the dust settles so he can move in and reclaim his posh little government position..." pg.182. That is powerful. Hosseini wouldn't need to say that Soraya hissed that, he wouldn't need to italicise anything, you can really hear a woman saying that, as you read along. His emotion is very clear in his writing.
Another aspect of Hosseini's writing is that he portrays Afghan life in a different light, that I have never seen. I have a bad image of Afghanistan due to the war, and how it seems on Modern Warfare, but Hosseini makes it sound beautiful and peaceful. He also makes the people sound so sensitive. No one ever really sees grown men cry, however in this novel they cry alot. Hosseini's writing has changed my outlook on Afghanistan and his work is amazing. He is definitly an individual in his writing.
Amir seems almost an entirely different person in these previous chapters compared to the first ten chapters. In the first ten chapters, Amir was a reserved, immature child. Amir mostly kept to himself with the exception of Hassan. Amir hardly enjoyed the company of other children from the town. He relied on Hassan for many things. For example, when Hassan and Amir were comfronted by Assef and his gang, Hassan stepped in and defended Amir. What Hassan did for Amir showed true friendship. Even though Amir called Hassan his best friend, he acted immaturely when Hassan was forced into something he did not want to do. Amir was immature because he did not step up and be a man, or to defend Hassan like he had for Amir, when Hassan truly needed him. No matter how immaturely or reserved Amir seemed or acted, he eventually grew into a honorable, mature man. Amir becomes honorable because he earns to take care of his half-brother, Sohrab, and wishes to return to Afghanistan to place Sohrab with an American couple in the country. Amir shows maturity on the way to Afghanistan. He stops at a couples house that he meets along the way. He realizes how needy the family is and chooses to place money under one of the mattresses before he leaves in the morning. In my opinion, Amir became more of a man than he ever thought that he could be, maybe even a man just as honorable and mature as his father.
ReplyDeleteStructure
ReplyDeleteThe Kite Runner is organized in such a manner so that the reader is constantly questioning. Whether it may be questioning what will happen next or what character will say what, the reader is always left wondering. For example, the reader is left wondering if Amir shall ever become a man and confess to watching Hassan's attack and not stepping up. I, as a reader, also was left wondering if Baba, Amir's father, would die and Amir would have to step up and become a man like his father. One final example is the possibility of Hassan's and Amir's relationship. Baba treated Hassan as if he was one of his own. Amir even becomes jealous of his father's attitued toward Hassan as if Hassan was his own brother. In conclusion, the author will eventually portray what he is trying to say but first will leave it up to the reader to decide before he reveals what he is actually saying.
The Kite Runner
ReplyDeleteClaire Wyse
Comment Amir...
I Believe it took too long for Amir to finally take up for himself and confront his past. I do though feel better about his character now opposed to earlier. Now that he has learned the truth he is more than willing to make up for his past.
Comment Author...
I like Hosseini's writing style. I have learned a few Arabic words that he mixes in with english to make the book interesting to me. He uses a lot of pauses (...) to make things more dramatic/ serious. He is very discriptive and he seems very passionate in some instances...Example: pg 65 "The tension in the air was as taunt as the glass string I was tugging with my bloody hands...People were stomping their feet, clapping, whistling, chanting...Music Blasted. The smell of steamed mantu and fried pakora drifted from rooftops and open doors." Now I don't know what pakora is but I would like to be their smelling it. Khaled Hosseini's word choice was not unclear, and was easy to follow. The sentence structure varied enough to were it wasn't overbearingly long or too short. I approve Hosseini's tone since it is not sympathetic towards Amir. It would drive me nuts if it was. Instead it was serious and casual at the same time making this book not a harsh read.
I'll admit I hated this book the first set of chapters, but this week it's grown on me and I didnt notice I read overboard?!?!? :D
Comment on Amir
ReplyDeleteWhile reading the latter chapters The Kite Runner, I, after realizing my own contempt for Amir after the events toward the beginning of the book, begin to change my outlook on Amir. After suffering with his mistakes in his friendship with Hassan, Amir begins to seek redemption in anyway Amir lovingly takes care of his father when he gets cancer, and when his wife tells him her darkest secret regarding her past, he reminisces about his own weakness and inability to confess his sins to anyone. During the beginning months of Amir’s marriage, He listens to his wife tell about how she taught a young child how to read, and he guiltily reflects on his merciless ridicule of Hassan. As the story progresses, we see several instances in which Amir reveals his inner torment caused by his guilt. The culmination of his quest for redemption is when he seizes the opportunity to, as Rahim Khan says, “be good again.” This desperate pursuit of freedom from his guilt prompts me to think better of him. Amir seems to have learned from his mistakes and truly desires to be different. His choice to go find and rescue Sohrab from the war torn city of Kabul demonstrates how he has changed. Before Amir would never have summoned the courage to take up such a task, but now that he knows what his lack of courage made him lose, he is more than willing to put himself in harms way to save his nephew. This change in character, despite Amir’s rising old habits of self preservation and selfishness, provides a new perspective on his originally despicable character traits. I am now more inclined to care for his plight now that he has made an effort to free himself of his past.
Thematic Statement
In the Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini deals with the subjects of guilt and redemption throughout the story of the novel. In the novel, he closely ties these subjects together in order to make a theme that saturates the story. According to his writing, Hosseini displays guilt as a torment or driving force that causes people to seek redemption. He shows that there is always a hope of redemption for those who seek it with passion and true repentance. He uses the character of Amir and the radical changes guilt causes in him in order to illustrate his ideas. Amir, in his tormented and guilty mind, while accompanying his father to America, begins to display a great change of character and an earnest longing for the possibility of redemption. This idea of the possibility of forgiveness for his past sins leads Amir to change his ways and put himself into danger in order to go back to Afghanistan. The simple action of leaving his wife for the slim chance of reconciliation bespeaks volumes about the radical changes he has made in his character. He now is attempting to be the friend that he never was to Hassan when they were younger. Overall, Hosseini uses guilt and the hope of redemption to motivate the majority of Amir’s choices in order to display the pain that guilt can cause and how we must seek to be free from it or it will never stop affecting our lives.
Many authors would shy away from some of the words that Hosseni, author of The Kite Runner, uses in his novel. As well as the usage of the many Afgan words that are present in order to illustrate the cultrue in which this book is set. Hosseni wrote this novel from the perspective of a boy who grew up in a peaceful Afganistan, this enabled him to show a truthful before and after of this nation, one that hasn't been at peace in almost thirty years.
ReplyDeleteOne thematic statement that appears in this novel is that one secret can have the power to destroy peoples' lives. Since 1975 Amir has kept the secret of what happened to Hassan that winter. Because of this and Amir's actions that shortly followed, Ali and Hassan felt that they had no other choice than to leave their home, the only home that Hassan had ever known. Later in the book Amir finds out that his father had also had a secret that he had hiden from everyone. This secret, that Hassan was actually Amir's half-brother, has changed Amir's entire outlook on his father's actions. Such as the surgery for Hassan's lip, the presents for his birthday, and his father's grief when they left. This secret being revealed also makes Amir feel a new sence of responsibility toward Hassan's son, now he is determined to set things right.
Changes in Amir
ReplyDeleteIn this section of chapters there is a vast change in who Amir is. To begin with Amir was just a kid who wanted to have fun and be accepted by his father. These objectives subsequently drive Amir to an unintentional path of destructiveness. The guilt of these decisions continues to haunt him. For example, when Soraya explains how she ran off with another man once, Amir is upset with her, but his guilt form his past completely overwhelms him. Soraya also talks of how she wanted to become a teacher because she had taught one to read and write and enjoyed it. Amir could only remind himself of how he never helped Amir with these things but instead abused him for his incompetence. Now Amir has grow to and age of maturity and has seen the world for what it really is outside of Baba’s love. He grows through the many experiences he has had like: moving to America, getting married, and his father’s death. Amir begins to accept that he will never be able to move on with his life if he doesn’t follow up and take the quest back home. Amir becomes more honorable by taking on the task of finding the children a good home. In my opinion, this is the least he can do.
Structure
I personally enjoyed this layout of plot and Hosseini’s style. Hosseini gives you a lot of foreshadowing that is somewhat hard to pick up on in almost every chapter. At the end of each chapter he makes the reader die to find out what happens next. Many flashbacks are given to emphasize the guilt Hassan is experiencing. The plot is nicely laid out to where the setting is given, conflicts our handed out, and are eventually resolved.
Thoughts on Amir
ReplyDeleteThroughout the novel I have developed a very strong dislike of Amir. In the beginning of the story Amir constantly let his “best friend” Hassan take the fall for things that he didn’t do which made me develop a strong distaste for him. As the story progressed, I figured that Amir would mature and I would like him better. So far, this has not happened. After Amir won the kite competition he watched Hassan get raped. This has nearly ruined the entire book for me. The disloyalty that Amir showed in that moment is appalling. Anytime something good happens to Amir it makes me angry because I feel like he doesn’t deserve to be happy. When I learned that he would not be able to have kids I felt like a little bit of justice was served for the things that he did. When Amir returns to the Middle East and learns of Hassan’s death, he begins to feel even more remorse for everything that he had done to Hassan over the years. I felt that not being able to apologize to Hassan was a fitting punishment for Amir. I think that Hosseini is trying to say that guilt is something that will stay with you forever
Writing Style
Hosseini’s writing style consists of short sentences with lots of breaks that I find make the book easy to read. The novel does not have a lot of long wordy sentences like in Hawthorne’s The Scarlett Letter that make the book difficult to read. I like the way that the novel is written very much. The way that it is written keeps the reader intrigued even when the story is not at a particularly exciting part. Hosseini does not spend too long on any part of the story, which keeps the novel interesting. Also, the story has a lot of imagery. The imagery really captivates the reader and makes them feel as if they are really there. Hosseini’s writing style makes the reader understand what the readers are really feeling about a subject better.
Khaed Hosseini structures and organizes his book perfectly in my opinion. He makes it easy to read by going through almost a timeline of events starting at the beginning letting the reader understand each character and telling you which events have shaped them. That makes it a lot easier to go through the book grasping why Amir was thinking about abandoning Hassan's son and going back to America. Hosseini doesn't skip sequences either to fill you in later He leaves you hanging in chapter 14 and answers in chapter 15 not in chapter 20 after skipping around.
ReplyDeleteAmir where to start? At first Amir is a nice boy who plays with Hassan and as I read the chapters I slowly began to strongly dislike Amir not just because he won’t admit Hassan is his friend, but the fact that he could stand by and let others hurt his true best friend while doing absolutely nothing. Amir just doesn't seem like the guy to get your back if you ever needed it. While I read these chapters Amir seemed to come out of his shell more I still didn’t like him, but when he can't have a child you feel bad for him. This followed by the fact that he was lied to by those closest to him. There was some sympathy for him. Overall he makes strides to redeem himself, but he can't make up the past. I'll have to wait till the end of the book to see if what I think of Amir Changes again.
Amir:
ReplyDeleteAmir could be described from the beginning of the novel as selfish, arrogant, and jealous. After the event of the Russians invading Afghanistan, Amir and his father move to America. In America Amir takes care of his father and goes to college. He shows great responsibility in graduating from college and taking care of his father, since Baba’s health is failing. Amir came from a pampered life before living in America, and now he works for his living. The invasion caused Amir to grow up. He married a young woman, Soraya, and took care of his father until his death. Amir is calm and responsible in the later part of the novel. However, Rahim Khan called and Amir went to Pakistan. When he spoke to Rahim Khan he felt guilt about what he did to Hassan. His guilt was still there after twenty or more years. Rahim Khan told him “there is a way to be good again” on the telephone call, and gave Amir a mission that could end in death. Rahim Khan told Amir about Hassan’s son, who was still in Afghanistan. Hassan and his wife were dead, and Rahim Khan wanted a better life for Hassan’s son. Amir finds out Hassan was his half brother. At first he refuses the mission, but Rahim Khan mentions what Baba had said a long time ago “A boy who stands up for nothing will grow up to be a man who stands up for nothing.” This stuck with Amir, and he decided to go to Afghanistan and rescue his nephew. I feel that Amir has changed from a boy to a man. He has grown with reasonability and guilt, making him a strong man for what is yet to come.
Hosseni’s style of writing:
Hosseni writes in a simple manner that is not hard to read. He writes in mostly English and uses a few Afghani words. Also his word structure he describes Afghanistan traditions and cultural practices, informing the reader of a different culture and different lifestyle. His sentences are simple compared to the complex and flowery sentences in Wuthering Heights. In his short sentences, he balances it with descriptive adjectives to set the tone and setting. From analyzing his tone, it can be described as honest because he admits to horrible things in the novel. He is truthful in his writing which makes the story memorable. I thought this passage supported his style of writing:
“His hands are tied behind him with roughly woven rope cutting through the flesh of his wrists. He is blindfolded with black cloth. He is kneeling on the street, on the edge of a gutter filled with still water, his head drooping between his shoulders. His knees roll on the hard ground and bleed through his pants as he rocks in prayer. It is late afternoon and his long shadow sways back and forth on the gravel. He is muttering something under his breath. I step closer. A thousand times over, he mutters. For you a thousand times over. Back and forth he rocks. He lifts his face, I see a faint scar above his upper lip. We are not alone. I see the barrel first. Then the man standing behind him. He is tall, dressed in a herringbone vest and a black turban. He looks down at the blindfolded man before him with eyes that show nothing but a vast, cavernous emptiness. He takes a step back and raises the barrel. Places it on the back of the kneeling man’s head. For a moment, fading sunlight catches in the metal and twinkles. The rifle roars with a deafening crack. I follow the barrel on its upward arc. I see the face behind the plume of smoke swirling from the muzzle. I am the man in the herringbone vest.”
Again, good job this week. I enjoyed the two thematic statements; a few of you really seem to grasp what a thematic statement is and have illustrated that well. The comments about structure and style were very pertinent. You picked up on the local color and the although no one came out and called it so, you did pick up on the rather circular nature of the structure of the novel with the present, flashback, and return to present. I absolutely love the fact that you are connecting with the novel both personally (a lot of you connect personally with Amir) and with other works you've read (Scarlet Letter - Dimmsdale - that was interesting). That shows that you are reading closely.
ReplyDeleteHey All,
ReplyDeleteI thought this post was for this week... Oops. I have been infatuated with this novel, so I read through these chapters last week; I guess I'm caught up.
I focused on the Amir and how his Hosseini truly changes his image through redemption (theme). Hosseini grows Amir through Baba's death, his marriage, and the General. Before these events, Amir was a shy coward. However at Baba's funeral, Hosseini makes Amir focus on the record turnout there. Later on, Amir reflects on how open (except about his other son) Baba was, and that was why everyone loved him. Through Amir's marriage, he finds himself more open, but still remains reluctant to share his wrong-doings to Hassar, to Soraya. Throughout, Soraya is a foil-character in the sense that she was honest to Amir about his promiscuous ways in Virginia. Then that leads to the General, Soraya and her mom are shamed of the General's closed-mindedness. Their income situation with the welfare, because the General is simply to good for a less-admirable career. Furthermore, he moved his family to another coast, because his daughter shagged in Virginia with a heroine user. I would consider this as Amir's growing phase. Later on when they find out that Soraya is sterile, Amir shows his maturity through his support for Soraya. Meanwhile, the General's uneasiness of the possibly of adoption, shows Amir how much harm close-mindedness truly causes.
Secondly, Hosseini's equally peculiar and fascinating style is ever-more present in these chapters. While reading this section, Grapes of Wrath was on my mind for some reason. I thought of how Tom Joad grows through his family's quest to California, and I believe Amir's move to America was truly a quest, because it is not until America that Amir grows and steps out of his comfort zone (A Posh Mansion -> A Crappy, Bay-Area, One Bedroom). From a stylistic element, the quest is essentially the same, but the drama is played out so differently.
Tom Joad is walking down the dusty, Oklahoma road, and he said "I'll take this turtle to Ruthie." We know that the turtle was symbolic, because he was headed west for a "weird" reason. In the Kite Runner, Hosseini makes his symbols MUCH more dramatic like the pomegranate tree. In the Qu'ran, a pomegranate tree is grown in paradise, which it is funny that Amir lies to Hassan about Shahnamah. Afghan was paradise when most were illiterate, it was a oligarchy. Also the Qu'ran mentions that the pomegranate tree is one of the good things God created, like the clandestine brotherhood of Amir and Hassan. When Hassan's mother comes back, she is ugly and pitiful unlike where she tramped away with the circus. I believe, she is the ugly truth, because she finds her grand-son as one of the good things in life. In her final four years, she redeems herself and she is buried under (or next to)the pomegranate tree. Hosseini makes the symbols apart of the drama, and apart of the living plot, unlike Steinbeck with the turtle symbol, when they foreshadow the future of the plot (I still love Steinbeck).
As for writing, when Amir meets Rahim Khan and he reveals many secrets while on his deathbed, Amir has felt and seen the ultimate reasons to be open. Stylisticly, Hosseini builds that suspense just before Amir finds out the "lower-class" servant's son was indeed his blood-brother. In contrast, this style is unlike A Separate Peace", when Dr. Stanpole tells Gene Forrester "Your friend is dead", then he walks off. In conclusion, I love Hosseini's foreshadowing through tone and mood, just as I love Steinbeck's multiude of foreshadowing methods.
Thanks,
Alex Williams
P.S. I have been trying to think of a thematic statement, so hear I go. "It is through a man's guilt that he consumes and destroys, yet it is through that same man's redemption that he distributes and constructs for a better world." ~ Alex Williams
Amir: At the beginning of the novel I thought of Amir as a child looking for attention, and trying to grow up during a confusing time. His best friend was his servant and of a race looked down upon, and he had a difficult time determining what was right and what was wrong. I thought he made a lot of bad choices, and believe him to be a horrible friend. As Amir grew older I believed he started changing after his father died. He realized that he would have to fight his own battles, and was tested when Rahim Khan brought him back to his country. While reading through the comments I agreed with Austin, in the way he said Amir might have acted wrongly, and while reading the story the reader knows the right thing to do, but in the given situation no one knows really what they would do. I feel sorry for Amir when he learns of his brother and father, but then again he brought it upon himself. If Amir would have acted differently, he wouldn’t have to suffer the consequences, and in this case the consequences are many years later. I believe Amir has a grown a little because he’s looking for Hassan’s son, and I hope he grows in the last chapters of the book, that way at least he can say he’s matured after his incidents with Hassan.
ReplyDeleteStructure/Style: I enjoy the way the novel is organized. It’s straightforward and easy reading. There is not a lot of fluff in the story, and the author focuses on the most important time periods of Amir’s life. It helps the flow of the story, and makes things less confusing for the reader. Hosseini uses a lot unique style in his work. My favorite thing he uses is the way he writes Amir’s thoughts. When using his thoughts you can see what he’s really thinking, such as the guilt he always feels for picking on Hassan, or the pride he feels in being Baba’s son. It helps you to understand Amir as a character. For example when he sees Hassan with the blue kite after he was raped, he says the blue kite “was the first thing I saw. I can’t lie now and say my eyes didn’t scan it for any rips”. These kinds of comments help to develop Amir, because after reading this comment I thought he was a horrible friend and didn’t deserve Hassan or the kite. The comments all contribute to the matter of fact tone. While Amir is telling his story he tells it straight up and exactly what he thinks about the situation.
In the structure of this narrative, the reader is engaged in a vivid memory-like recount of Amir's. As Amir tells us the story of his past, he would sometimes make comments. He looks back at events and sees them in different ways. Like when he had asked Hassan the questions about reading that he know Hassan didn’t know. He said that he would do that to fool him. And afterwards he kind of felt bad about it. The structure of this novel lets us as the reader know and fill in the gaps. But, sometimes Amir doesn’t tell us some things. Like at first we don’t know why Rahim Khan had called him to go to Afghanistan. Then later on in the novel we find out. The way Baba treated Hass planted a seed in our thought process that there may be something behind that, but Amir never lets it slip until he actually learns in the story. Also, this story gets to the point, (unlike some others... cough cough…), and explains all of the important events of Amir's life. The narrative skips over some years to get to the parts that hold meaning.
ReplyDeleteThis novel uses many words that are foreign. I believe that they are of the language of Afghanistan, which is Farsi. In many circumstances these words are used. They help keep the reader engaged and open our eyes up to the culture. We are brought to Afghanistan through the words and descriptions made by Hosseni. The Farsi word, "bas", is used in Chapter 22 to help accentuate the trepidation and heartfelt plea of little Sohrab as Assef is beating up Amir. "He raised his fist higher, raised it for another blow. Then: "Bas." A thin voice. We both looked. "Please no more."".(Chapter 22 Page 289-290) Like this time and every other time that Hosseni uses a Farsi word, he lets us know the meaning or we draw a meaning from it that would make sense. Then, later on, he can use that word and we kind of, or should, remember the meaning. In this case, we can assume that Sohrab is saying "stop" or "enough", as "bas" does mean "enough" in Farsi.
Comment on Amir. In the beginning of the story, Amir was a very selfish and too weak to fight for what is right. Whenever the opportunity came for him to prove otherwise, he always turned it down, thinking too much of his own safety and wellbeing. When Hassan was getting raped, he clearly saw this as an opportunity to do what is right, but his selfishness led him to just watch it all happen. He was only able to care about the prize he would get in the end, after Hassan’s abuse: the second place kite. But this comes to haunt Amir throughout much of the rest of his life. To get rid of his constant reminders of the incident, he “sends” Hassan and Ali away from their home, and he moves away from Afghanistan to live in America. To him, America was another way to forget and get as far away from his past as possible. But even so, the extreme guilt in his heart always tormented him. When he gets the call from Rahim Khan, he knows that he must go to Pakistan to ever be able to have any kind of peace at heart. He sees this as an opportunity to set things right again. But the news of Hassan’s death strikes him very unexpectedly, and he loses some of his initial hope for righteousness. Now, seeing the life of Sohrab as his final and only chance at redemption, he steers his mind into doing the right thing at least once in his life. From this great decision, we come to respect Amir much more than we did in the beginning of the story, and we are able to connect with him a lot more than we were able to. I also begin to see my own faults in life, and the chances I seize to make things right again. As Amir has finally become an adult, his thought process has also matured, making him a much better person than he ever was before. Now, we can only hope that his adventure in saving Sohrab ends in success.
ReplyDeleteThemes: Descrimination and prejudice divide people into groups that are very poorly “chosen”: even though the rich (Pashtuns) earn more respect, they really don’t deserve any (based on their actions), while some of the minority (Hazaras) deserve much more respect than they will ever be able to get (also based on their actions). Both Baba and Amir have betrayed their dearest friends, but both remain in “high places” for the rest of their lives. Their mistakes are easily overlooked just because they are of the Pashtuns. Ali and Hassan, on the other hand, both remain very loyal to their friends, despite the betrayal they have had to suffer. I think that Hosseni, was trying to point out to the readers that just because many of us are divided by social class boundaries, this doesn’t mean that the rich are better than the poor (or majority versus minority). Many times, it turns out to be the exact opposite: the poor are the ones that show us how to make the right choices in life, but are never recognized for it.