Essay: The Kite Runner

Author Khaled Hosseini  wrote a famous novella called The Kite Runner, which is about a man who has to risk his life in order to make up for the unspeakable mistake he made when he was a child. This man’s name is Amir. Amir experiences a lot during his childhood. He often had a feeling that his own father is ashamed of him and does not love him. His father’s name is Baba. He feels that Baba is more affectionate towards their servant’s son, Hassan. Hassan and Amir are not enemies because of this, well, at least he doesn’t show it. Amir and Hassan were best friends when they were kids; they did pretty much everything together. It was probably because they were best friends that Amir felt so jealous of him. He wanted his father to care for his son more than his servants. One of the most tragic events happened in Amir’s childhood. It created so much damage in his life as well as in the ones around him. In this particular event, he made the mistake of his life - the error that permanently destroyed everyone’s future. He intruded in the lives of others with a cataclysmic earthquake that took a lifetime to recover from - all because he couldn’t stand up for Hassan. Hassan always stood up for him, he even saved his ass from getting is face deformed by Assef’s fists. And when Hassan was having the definite worst time of his entire life, Amir couldn’t even at least call for help!? He could’ve made one little sacrifice for Hassan, the boy knew for pretty much his entire life. The boy he talked to, read stories to, had dinner with, and helped him win the love from his father in the kite tournament. I’m glad Amir felt guilty for granting Assef the right to rape his best friend, because later, Amir had to pay.

I can sort of understand why Amir didn’t do anything to help Hassan. Amir was very insecure about himself, which could also be why he never defended himself. He may have been insecure because of his father. If I didn’t know Baba I would say he was a very good parent, but unfortunately I do know Baba. Baba wasn’t very good at supporting Amir. However, he supported Hassan very well. At first Amir couldn’t figure out why his father was more affectionate for his friend. But later in his adulthood he found out the truth about Baba. He discovered that Hassan was actually Baba’s son, which made them half-brothers. That was the reason why Baba never showed any love for him, because he had another son. Another life he had to direct and look forward to incase his other one did not live up to his anticipations. That other life was Amir. Amir knew that Baba was not impressed. He knew he wasn’t what Baba wanted. He even heard him talk about him with a friend of his. “Be grateful he’s healthy,” Rahim Khan was saying.                                                                                                                                                                        

“I know, I know. But he’s always buried in those books or shuffling around the house like he’s lost in some dream.”… “Sometimes I look out this window and I see him playing on the street with the neighborhood boys. I see how they push him around, take his toys from him, give him a shove here, a whack there. And, you know, he never fights back. Nev er. He just…drops his head and…” “…You know what happens when the neighborhood boys tease him? Hassan steps in and fends them off. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. And when they come home, I say to him, ‘How did Hassan get that scrape on his face?’ And he says, ‘He fell down.’ I’m telling you, Rahim, there is something missing in that boy.” In these quotes, Baba was explaining how he is worried about Amir. He was not satisfied with the fact that he was so into books and poetry. He never defended himself, and when Hassan protected him he was too ashamed to admit it. I think this goes back to Baba caring more about Hassan than Amir. He knew that Hassan was already Baba’s favorite, so he didn’t want to make him prouder. And as for Baba, I think he only wanted his son to be more like him. He wanted him to follow his ways so that he can end up being as successful as him. But every time Amir was too busy being himself, Baba showed a bit of embarrassment. This is what made Amir insecure about himself. He never had to help Hassan out in anything, and when the time came he didn’t know what to do. If Baba would have showed more care for Amir then Amir wouldn’t have been so unsure of himself and he would’ve saved Hassan’s life, along with Ali, Hassan’s father.

Near the end of the book, Rahim Khan called Amir and asked him for a favor. He told Amir that Hassan and his wife were killed, and they had a son named Sorhab. He told Amir to go to Kabul to save Sorhab from the Taliban. Rahim said this would make up for the miserable mistake he made when he was a kid. At first Amir did not want to do this, he realized how dangerous it was and he also worried about his wife, Soraya. He ended up going, the guilty memories in his mind shattered him for long enough.

 He went to Kabul and found out that Assef, a bully from his childhood who raped his best friend, Hassan, now “owns” Sorhab. In order to save Sorhab’s life, he had to fight Assef in a bloody battle`. Assef nearly kills Amir; he bruises his face and destroys many of his bones.  But that was when Sorhab took out his slingshot and aimed it at Assef’s eye, right before he is about to pound Amir’s face. That was when I visualized Hassan doing the same thing for him back in Kabul. It was the same situation; Assef was ready to punch Amir’s face when he whipped out his sling shot. I remembered him taunting Assef, telling him that if he doesn’t leave they would have to call him “One-eyed Assef”.  It’s like Sorhab did both Amir and his father a favor. For Hassan, he did what his father should have done back when he was a kid. He made his father’s words come true; he was now “One-eyed Assef”.  For Amir, he saved his life. Not only that, but the fact that Sorhab stood up for him the same way that Hassan did most likely made Amir tear up, it reminded him of his best friend.  That event made me think of Sorhab as a miniature version ofHassan, or Hassan in his childhood.

The Kite Runner has been one of the best book I have ever read. I strongly recommend it to anyone interested in war or had a tough experience like Amir.  I think Hosseini did a splendid job in writing this book. The descriptions of each character in the book and their life experiences really made me care about them as if they were real people.  I felt hatred towards Assef and sympathy towards Hassan and Sorhab. It’s really heartbreaking to know that the same person that made a father suffer as a child was now making life miserable for the son. So overall, The Kite Runner is a great book and I really enjoyed it.

Book Review: The Kite Runner

I just finished reading the epic novel by Khaled Hosseini called The Kite Runner and I am truly shocked by what happened towards the end.  Amir has to go back to the place where he grew up, back where he was happy. Back in the place where he had Baba, Rahim, Hassan, and Ali. It was where he kept his happiest memories, but also the one that scarred him for life.  Anyways, he went back to find Hassan’s son, Sorhab. He found out that Assef, a bully from his childhood who raped his best friend, Hassan, now “owns” Sorhab.  Amir has to fight Assef in order for him to grant Sorhab’s freedom. Assef nearly kills Amir; he bruises his face and destroys many of his bones.  But that was when Sorhab took out his slingshot and aimed it at Assef’s eye, right before he is about to pound Amir’s face. That was when I visualized Hassan doing the same thing for him back in Kabul. It was the same situation; Assef was ready to punch Amir’s face when he whipped out his sling shot. I remembered him taunting Assef, telling him that if he doesn’t leave they would have to call him “One-eyed Assef”.  It’s like Sorhab did both Amir and his father a favor. For Hassan, he did what his father should have done back when he was a kid. He made his father’s words come true; he was now “One-eyed Assef”.  For Amir, he saved his life. Not only that, but the fact that Sorhab stood up for him the same way that Hassan did most likely made Amir tear up, it reminded him of his best friend.  That event made me think of Sorhab as a mini Hassan, or Hassan in his childhood.

Another part of the book which I really like was the end, when Amir runs a kite for the first time in many years. The way Hosseini described it made me remember the day when Amir and Hassan won the kite tournament. It made me remember how skilled Hassan was at running those kites, and all the tricks he knew. I do like the ending. The way Amir introduces kite running to Sorhab, who was very silent at the moment. He gives him the kite, and runs it with him as he thinks of Hassan. The ending for me means that there is still hope for Sorhab to regain the strength he once had, and be happy. Now whenever he goes kite running with Amir, it is a time for both of them to remember Hassan.

things on my mind

Today is Friday and I have to type up a free post on this blog that's due tonight at 11:59:59. I really have nothing to talk about this time, so I'll just make stuff up as I go. One thing that has been really cool this week is lunch. Lunch for me is very exciting because of the people I go with. It's always hilarious because I always try to provoke a particular person. I call him names and he always over reacts over the softest insult. I do it because his reaction to my different actions are so funny, it's a tough challenge for me not to mess with him. After everyone is done with their food - or almost done - we leave the fast food restaurant. As we're walking back to school, there always has to be somebody that throws their half-eaten burger at me. I usually take that as a joke, but sometimes they go too far. It's all forgotten in the end, so that's okay.

Uh....something that excites me very much at the moment is Black Friday, it's the day I will go to Guitar Center to buy an electric guitar with an amp. So yea...really looking forward to rock out. I hate it when you get so full of joy and excitement for a moment, and then later you realize all the crap you have to worry about. Things such as homework, problems in school, personal issues with others, chores, and maybe even your own future. It's like getting high - not that I do drugs, which I don't - you feel super relieved and your heart is aching with the amount of happiness you feel. You feel as if you have nothing to worry about and you have no problems, but then all that joy you thought you had disintegrates in a matter of minutes. All your stress comes back stronger than ever, and you have a negative attitude throughout the day. Damn it I just hate that feeling.

I don't know what else to talk about, I think this whole blog post is right about done. I feel like these posts are hard sometimes. Sometimes I find it hard to make them longer than 350 words, which sounds pretty stupid. 350 words is really nothing, I shouldn't have to make my sentences longer just so I reach Mr. Sutherland's expectations. Maybe I'm just lazy, or maybe the topics I choose to write about aren't topics I know a whole lot about. Yeah I'm just going with the second one, just to make myself feel better, hahaha. So yeah I'm very confident now that I made this blog post longer than 350 words.......

Response to Jessica's Post on Black Friday

I read a blog post by Jessica about a very exciting event called Black Friday. Black Friday is basically the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. Some stores are opened earlier than they normally are so that shoppers can come in and take advantage of the sweet deals they usually have. I found this quote from Jessica's post: 

 Every year there are around one hundred thirty-five million people going Black Friday. This is an immense shopping day because people get really excited. Many stores would be open earlier than they usually are, so people would wait on line really early like at twelve am in the morning. Shoppers would like to have the best shopping items, so they would wait on line early.

I have never been in any store for Black Friday, but this year I discovered something really cool. I heard on the radio that Guitar Center was having a sale for Black Friday. They said that Fender guitars will be around one hundred dollars, and if you buy one you'll get any Fender equipment for free. I'm trying to buy a new guitar and amp, but prices are just too high. Now that they're having discounts and good sales for Black Friday, I am really looking forward to picking up something good. I'm probably going to have to get up at six o' clock in the morning, since Guitar Center will open up at eight. I am expecting it to be really crowded inside, I'm expecting a huge line around the store. I remember the last time I went to Guitar Center it was pretty packed. People were all over the place trying out expensive guitars, basses, keyboards, and drum kits. It was so full, and it wasn't even on holidays. Now I think that Black Friday's sweet discounts are going to fill up the whole Guitar Center, probably so that no one else can fit inside. But aside from all the worries, I am very excited about going to Guitar Center this Black Friday. I am going to make sure I get the best deal possible.

Basic Book Review: The Kite Runner Pt.2

              I finished reading up to the second paper clip in the book The Kite Runner written by Khaled Hosseini, and I felt countless emotions throughout the whole thing. I still feel awful for what happened to Hassan; needless to say it was all Amir’s fault. It had always been Amir’s fault; he’s to blame for everything that ever happened to Hassan. Ever since that winter of 1975, Amir has felt nothing but guilt and pain, and he deserves it. He allowed his half brother to get raped by an older boy. That’s right, Amir and Hassan are half brothers. Fifteen years after his wedding, Amir receives a call from Rahim Khan, who is dying from an illness. Rahim Khan asks Amir to come to Peshawar, Pakistan. That was when he told everything that had happened throughout the years. Rahim told about the death of Ali, Hassan, and his wife. He also revealed the shocking truth about Hassan, that he was Baba’s son. Amir must have felt terrible when he realized that all those times he ignored Hassan, all those times he excluded him for his other friends, all those times he insulted and made fun of him for being illiterate, all those times he envied him for being Baba’s favorite, and all those times he failed to stand up for him, affected everyone’s future – especially his brother’s.

              Amir married to the daughter of a general named Soraya. Before they got married she revealed a very personal event that happened when she was a teenager. Soraya said that when she was eighteen, she ran off with this guy who was into drugs. She told Amir that she lived with that guy for a month, until her father finally found them and convinced her to come home. As she was telling him all this, she began to tear up. When she arrived home, she learned that her mother had a stroke – the right side of her face was paralyzed. Soraya did not want to start her relationship with Amir with secrets, so she wanted to tell him this. Amir envied her courage to speak out and talk about a private moment in her life. Amir was so selfish, he couldn’t even speak out the truth to the person he loved the most. Soraya would have been the easiest to talk to about his guilt. But he chose not to. He should have made the choice when he had the chance. Back in the winter of 1975. If he would have done what he was supposed to, Hassan and Ali would still be alive and he wouldn’t be feeling guilty. And Sohrab wouldn’t be a bastard.

a biography I wrote in 8th grade

Kurt Cobain was born on February 20, 1967 in Seattle. His mom was a cocktail waitress and his dad was an auto mechanic. Tragically, his parents divorced when he was seven; he said he never felt secure or loved again. He became increasingly difficult to talk to and was withdrawn to his parent’s divorce. Cobain didn’t have a legal guardian, so he was shuttled back and forth between various relatives and at one point living under a bridge.

            Kurt was miserable in high school; he said he had so much hatred towards the people he couldn’t stand. He knew others noticed this, he felt paranoid; they thought he was going to freak out at any point. People at school saw him as the kind of kid who would bring an AK-47 to school and just blow everyone away. Luckily he made a gay friend. He said his friend saved him from wanting to kill himself half the time. Everyone in high school knew he was gay, and because they were hanging out, people at his gym class were harassing him. Homophobics called him a fag and would either cover up their private parts or beat him up, or both. But after a while Kurt said he began to feel proud he was gay, even though he wasn’t. By 1986 he formed a band called Nirvana. Nirvana was a grunge band between Guitarist and singer Kurt Cobain, bassist Krist Novoselic, and eventually drummer and multi-instrumentalist Dave Grohl.

Cobain fell into heroin in the early 90’s, he said he use it as a shield against demands of touring and to stop the pain of stomach ulcers or an irritated bowel. Through the touring and pressure he kept writing his very personal and focused lyrics. Cobain was displeased to find that his fans were interpreting the meanings of his songs the wrong way. He was disturbed when he found out that his song Polly, a heavily ironic anti-rape song had been used as background music in a real gang rape. He noticed he had very little control, he also worried that his band was attracting the wrong kind of fans, like the ones who used to beat him up.

            In February 1992 he married Courtney Love when she was already pregnant, and in August he had hospital treatment for heroin abuse. The following year they released In Utero, the 4^th Nirvana album that had most of Cobain’s passionate work. Some songs detailed aspects of his sometimes shaky marriage, and other songs detailed the agonies and struggles in of his experiences. Nirvana went on a support tour and recorded and filmed an “Unplugged” (acoustic) performance for MTV in November of 1993, that was their 5^th and last album.

            On March the 4^th Cobain was rushed to the hospital in a coma for an unsuccessful suicide attempt in which he washed down fifty prescription painkillers with champagne. It was officially called an accident and was not even made known to close friends and associates. Even though Kurt was in deep distress, his wife, friends, and managers convinced him to enter a detox program in L.A. According to a missing person’s report Cobain fled after a few days of the program. Days later on the 8^th of April his body was found with a shotgun pointing at his blown up face by an electrician who came to check security. A medical examiner says that he had three times the normal amount of heroin in his body before he died, that would be more than enough to incapacitate him within a few seconds, but he still managed to button his sleeve and pull the trigger on a shotgun. Investigators found a suicide note, but only the last four sentences were about suicide, the rest was like a letter to why he was quitting Nirvana. Investigators also realized that someone was using Cobain’s credit cards two days before and after he was dead. People are still wondering whether his death was a suicide or a murder.

Response: Ivan's Blog

I read a post that Ivan posted in his blog which I found very interesting and true. The main idea that Ivan was trying to explain in his post was that even though Facebook is fun and entertaining, it is very harmful and dangerous for some of the users. Here is a quote from his post that says a lot about his topic:

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????

I like this quote because it's true. I know that personally, I can't stand a day without going on Facebook. I'm not completely addicted to it, I just always get distracted by it when I'm doing my homework. I'm not the type of user who would give out their phone number to random people, or give an enormous chunk of personal information. I'm also not the type who adds or accepts random people as friends. But the problem is that other people actually do stuff like that. People doing this are taking the risk of some some creep taking all of their information lie their phone number, their full name, the school they go to, the city they live in, and other private information about them. If they allow any stranger to know so much about them, the stranger could easily track them down and harm them. Kids are usually the ones who are exposing themselves ti this type of danger. And if they are kids the ones who are giving away information, it is a thousand times easier for an adult to stalk, rape, or attack the child.

Basic Book Review: The Kite Runner

So far, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is a very exciting book to read. It is about an adult looking back at his life, reflecting on the different events that changed his life, and shaped him into the person he is now. The character’s Amir, I haven’t read the whole book yet, I am still reading the part where he is still talking about his childhood. He describes a lot about his father Baba, who treats him nothing like a son, almost as if he is ashamed of him. Through most of his childhood Amir has been making such a strong effort to win Baba’s love and acceptance, trying to reach Baba’s expectations he has for him. But seeing and knowing that his father is far more proud of Hassan, only makes it more agonizing for Amir. Hassan is the son of Ali, who is Baba’s servant and friendly companion. Like Baba and Ali, Amir and Hassan grew up together. They have reached a point in their years of bonding where he is not just a servant, but a brother, and a best friend to Amir. However, Amir may not see Hassan as a friend. Considering the fact that he only talks to him and hangs out with him whenever he’s bored or has no one else to talk to. He also excludes him from games that he plays with the other neighborhood kids. But despite the way he is ignored sometimes, Hassan is still very loyal to Amir. No matter what kind of trouble Amir gets himself into, Hassan is always there to get him out. Amir knows this, he even experienced it when Assef was about to punch him with his strong knuckles. Hassan took out his slingshot and aimed it at Assef’s eye. Amir knew that day that Hassan was able to take a beating for him. He was capable of risking his own life, in order to save his.

The author talks about a specific date that changes his life forever – the winter of 1975. That was a tragic day for Amir, but even more for Hassan. They had just won the kite tournament, this competition was a huge deal for Amir, it was a chance to prove to Baba how capable he was, and finally win his love. But anyways, Hassan took the kite with him; he said he would be back. Just when Amir noticed that he was taking a long time to come back, he went out looking for Hassan. He couldn’t find him. He asked many people if they had seen him, and finally, he found him. Only he was surrounded in an alley by three other boys, Assef and his two friends, Wali and Kamal. He watched, at first they were going to steal his kite, but instead Assef decided to do something else. He pulled down Hassan’s pants, and began to unbuckle his. Amir only watched, until he finally decided he couldn’t take it anymore, and ran away.

This was the moment when I felt a strong sense of hatred toward Amir for allowing his best friend Hassan to get raped by Assef. WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH HIM!!?!?!? Hassan always stands up for him, he even saved his ass from getting is face deformed by Assef’s fists. And when Hassan was having the definite worst time of his entire life, Amir couldn’t even at least call for help!? He could’ve made one little sacrifice for Hassan, the boy knew for pretty much his entire life. The boy he talked to, read stories to, had dinner with, and helped him win the love from his father in the kite tournament. I’m glad Amir feels guilty for what he did that winter of 1975, and unfortunately for him, he now has to pay.