The Kite Runner

After reading the Kite Runner, it has really given me insight and opened up my mind to the horrific acts that take place not only in Afghanistan, but much of the Middle East as well. Sometimes we take what we have for granted and don't understand how bad it really is in some other parts of the world. Before the taliban had taken over, the country was in relative peace. Amir recalled a lot of his childhood memories that were very innocent and had a lot of happiness in them. However, once the fighting started, the country completely fell apart.

When the first terrorist group took over, they killed many innocent women and children. Then once the taliban came and kicked them out everyone was happy and actually congratulated them. They would soon

Amir as a child was a lot different than him as an adult. All of his childhood he basically was a disappointment to his father and Hassan was always favored over him by Baba. All Amir tried to do was get his fathers acceptance as a child. We really learn a lot about Amir through his flashbacks to his childhood and the type of person he was. He also always had a strange relationship with Hassan even though he was his best friend.

Amir's relationship with Hassan always seemed kind of tense on Amir's side. While he loved

Hassan like a brother, there was always some tension, especially since Baba liked him more.

Another aspect was how Hassan was always a great friend to Amir and no matter what Amir would do, Hassan would never get mad at him. He even took the fall for him when Amir hid the money under Hassan's mattress. Amir felt like he couldn't be as good of a friend back. Then after the day of the kite running tournament when Hassan got raped because he wouldn't give up

Amir's kite, Amir saw it happening to him and decided to do nothing. This weighed on his conscious and things were never the same with them because he felt so guilty.

Overall, The kite runner is a book that provides a great learning experience and is a must read

It opens up our minds to another part of the world that not many of us understand.

2. Cultural lens: Amir and Baba' relationship

1. Amir and baba had a very complicated and difficult relationship. At first during his childhood,

Amir mostly spent his time fighting for his father's acceptance. Baba was always kind of disappointed in Amir and thought he was weak. An example of how Amir was trying to gain his fathers love is when the kite runner tournament takes place. All he thinks about the whole time is how if he wins, baba will finally be proud of him and love him. In the days leading up to it, this is all he thinks about.

2. Once we get more in to the story, especially when they leave for America, the relationship starts to change. Baba starts to become more accepting of Amir when they reach America.

Their roles ironically become comepletely flipped when they come to America. In afghanistan, baba was a figure of importance. However, once he went to America, he was just another ordinary person. Baba had many troubles trying to acclimate to the new culture while Hassan had very few problems doing it. He survived and flourished in America while baba