Destinations In The Kite Runner

I have just written pretty much the whole blog post, and somehow it has all just been deleted. I am now writing it out all again. Annoyed.

I worked with Alice on this, we discussed that the main destination in The Kite Runner is Redemption. We both came up with a few ideas- here are mine:

• Baba's redemption. In Kabul, Baba never connected with his son Amir: "If I hadn't seen him being pulled out of his own mother with my own eyes, I'd never have believed he was my son." Yet in America, Baba becomes dependant on Amir, which allows them to grow closer. "'I am moftakhir, Amir,' he said. 'Proud.'"
• You could argue that Baba's whole life was spent trying to redeem himself from sleeping with Ali's wife, Baba's servant. This is illustrated by Baba's orphanage and other good deeds he did.
• It could be argued that Rahim Khan's redemption (perhaps for not telling anyone about Hassan's rape) is helping Amir find his. After Amir has left to find Sohrab, Rahim Khan is said to have gone away and is unreachable.
• When Amir stays with Fahrid's family, he gives his watch to the children. Although he is ignorant about what the kids are really looking at, it shows Amir is on his way to redemption, and he knows what he must do.
• It could also be argued that people, and the characters in the book, are driven to do good in order to achieve redemption. An example of this would be Baba's orphanage. He does all these good things in order to excuse himself from the bad thing he has done and redeem himself. Amir is also like this, throughout his life he feels guilty of what happens, yet he drives himself in Afghanistan to find Sohrab- he takes a beating from Assef and risks lives to keep him safe.

Merry Christmas!

Friday 10.12.2010

Today, we managed to finish The Kite Runner.

I have very much enjoyed reading The Kite Runner, (And will read A Thousand Splendid Suns), it has been brilliant in many ways and has been very thought-provoking throughout.
However, I am looking forward to moving onto a new text!

Update

Update of lessons- Sorry they are a bit late, but I have had various problems with the computer, and a lot of work to do. I wrote down what we did each lesson, but have been unable to actually post them onto the blog. So here they are.

26/11/2010
Today we looked at an analysis of a psychopaths behaviour. We talked about each point and we discussed how the majority of the points we similar to the character of Assef. Then we continued by exploring is Assef evil? In my opinion, when the word 'evil' is used to describe a person, I tend to think of Hitler, Stalin ect, the typical baddies of history. When it comes to the question of is Assef evil, I would have to agree that yes, he is. Reasons for my opinion of this are because he has no morals, he enjoys violence, and of course, he rapes boys. He is an irredeemably evil character, due to his shocking attack and rape on the characters martyr, Hassan.

01/12/2010
SNOW DAY!

03/12/2010
In our hour's lesson today, we looked at and compared each of our ''You're'' poems which describe subtly the character of Hassan. Mine really isn't that good, but I thought that Kyle's and Alice's were AWESOME.
Here's mine. It sucks.

You're
Whispering white linen in a breeze,
A lamb thrown to a slaughter,
Warm like the budding harvest,
The peaceful light shining in dark places.

A familiar tree on top of the hill,
Courageous like a sultan on his throne,
Ripples in a dried up pond,
Free as a kite,
My cleft lip friend.

Up to date now!

Wednesdays Lesson

Really enjoyed todays lesson! After playing a quick game of describing people, we looked at Sylvia Plath's poem "You're". I love Sylvia Plath.
We looked at this poem for inspiration for our own poems describing Hassan. Her poem
was a riddle, each line was a metaphor. When I complete my poem I will post it:)

Fridays Lesson

In Fridays lesson, as a group we created a large poster of the characters in The Kite Runner and also the main themes. We wrote down every idea we had about each character and theme then had a group discussion about what we thought. I found this very useful for revision of the characters and themes, but I also found it interesting to hear everyones different opinions and views on the subjects.

Wednesdays Lesson

We read chapter 22 on Wednesday, which sees the return of Assef, the baddie.

What I found interesting about Assefs character was how he was described to have track lines on his arms, signalling he must be an opium/heroin addict. Assef still hasn't changed from the bully he was when he was a kid. It shocks and repulses the reader when he kisses Sorab's neck and how he sneers when he calls Sorab 'my boy'.

At the end of the chapter, it sees Amir escape with Sorab after a face to face punch up between Assef and Amir. Though it was supposedly a 'fight to the death', neither was killed. When Assef tells Amir how he came to be i nthe position he is in, he said how he laughed when he was beaten up by the prison guards. This is mirrored when Amir laughs as Assef beats him up, which could be a reason why he left Amir go.

This is a big chapter and a lot of things happen. In my opinion, it is also the most gripping and interesting chapter.

Friday's Lesson

Friday's lesson- Chapter 19.

Not only in this chapter do we see a change in Amir, but also a change in his driver, Faird. At the beginning of the chapter we are reminded of Amir's weakness; "Again, the car sickness" yet we as the reader develops an admiration for Amir, as he tried to overcome (or just cover up) his weakness's; "You were right, I do feel better' I lied". It is as if now that Amir has a responsibility to take care of, he has matured and realised he cannot be protected and shielded from the world.

You also see a change in Farid, Amir's driver. At the beginning of the journey, he is cold and harsh towards Amir, "Farid gave me a dismissive look". This could be argued that he is like this towards Amir because he feels almost betrayed by Amir for leaving Afghanistan before the war became worse. Perhaps also he acts cold towards Amir because, as said previously in the book, honour and pride is very important to the people of Afghanistan, and he may feel that Amir has breached this by leaving. You do see some of Farids Afghan pride show through on page 201; "Farid snickered, 'It's not like fancy American medicine, I know, just an old remedy my mother taught me'". When Farid approaches his family, he is warm and welcoming- the complete opposite to how he treats Amir. However when Amir tells why he has business in Kabul, Farid's emotions change towards Amir, as he sees that his intentions are great.

A quote I found shocking, (which I am sure Hosseini's intentions were) was; "They hadn't been staring at my watch at all. They had been staring at my food." Amirs ignorance to how bad things had gotten for the poor families in Afghanistan made even myself feel guilty and feel sorry for the starving children. Yet it again shows Afghans pride, that they would sacrifice their dinner for guests.

Even though we found out that Hassan has died, he still has a big impact on Amir. When Amir wakes up with "a scream in his throat" after having a dream about Hassans' death (and being the person who shot him) he wakes up with a start, shocked by his own sub-conscience. It almost foreshadows how important Hassans son will become in Amir life.

In my opinion, The Kite Runner is at its 'juiciest', the plot is thickening and really makes you want to read on and finalise the events of Amir's troubled life.

:)