Questions
to be answered:
1
Describe a problem faced by
the main character. Explain how the main character deals
with the
problem. Make a personal connection to this (either your own experience or that
of someone you know).
One of the problems Amir had that I would like to
discuss was when he witnessed his best friend, Hassan, get raped by Assef that
winter night he won the kite tournament because he refused to hand over the
blue kite to Assef. Amir wasn’t able to tell anyone about what he had seen and
he decided to keep it to himself but it cost his long-term friendship with
Hassan.
Conflict arose between Assef and Hassan from the
time when Assef was bullying and interrogating Amir as to why he was
associating himself with a “dirty, kasseef Hazaras” (Ch 5) and that they were
the reason why Afghanistan was falling apart. Amir tried standing up for
Hassan, but what Assef had said to him made him think about why he was indeed a
loyal friend to a Hazara. A Shi’a Muslim. Assef reminded him that Hassan should
be serving him as his master, not to be serving him his friendship. So instead,
Hassan defended himself with his slingshot so that he would be spared the taste
of Assef’s infamous stainless steel brass knuckles that day. Assef declared, “this
doesn’t end today, believe me.” (Ch 5) Hassan promised Amir that he would run
the kite when Amir won and he proudly ran it through Wazir Akbar Khan, past the
bazaar until he was cornered by Assef and his disciples, Wali and Kamal. Hassan
stayed true and loyal and didn’t give them what they wanted, while Amir
cowardly watched the unfortunate event unfold standing behind a stony wall. He
watched the entire thing; Ran back into town and ran into Hassan pretending he
hadn’t seen anything. Hassan, limping and bleeding, loyally gave Amir the blue
kite. Amir was relieved that the kite was still in one piece.
He ends up not talking or checking up on Hassan,
even when he looked very unwell and slept most afternoons in the following
weeks (I suspect from an infection or blood poisoning as he wasn’t taken to the
hospital when he was bleeding profusely), but “Hassan kept trying to rekindle
things between [them].”(Ch 8) One day Hassan
had asked Amir if he would like to go for a walk to buy some naan at the bakery
and Amir rejected his offer. Hassan broke down and asked Amir what he had done
to him that has caused them to not “play anymore.” (Ch 8) Amir asked him to
stop harassing him and to leave him alone and that he did. One spring day while
planting tulip bulbs, Amir asked, “Baba, have you ever thought about getting
new servants?” (Ch 8) The question aggravated Baba and made sure Amir knew that
Ali was not going anywhere because he was part of the family. Amir finally one
day asked Hassan if he would walk up the hill with him so that he can read to Hassan
his new written story “against the low cemetery wall under the shade thrown by
the pomegranate tree.” (Ch 8) He grabbed a ripe pomegranate and asked Hassan “what
would you do if I hit you with this?” (Ch 8) Testing
Hassan to see if he would defend himself, Amir started to throw pomegranates at
Hassan, but he was reluctant to fight back. Instead, Hassan picked up the fruit
from the ground and pushed it against his own forehead and asked Amir if he
felt better and dashed off down the hill.
Alas, Amir’s final attempt to get a reaction from
Hassan was done by taking one of his birthday gifts and a handful of cash and
stuffed it under Hassan’s mattress and told Baba what he “hoped would be the
last in a long line of shameful lies.” (Ch 9) Even though it was a lie, Hassan
admitted to stealing from Amir, when in fact he did not; Hassan was reluctant
to tell the truth. Ali and Hassan decided to leave Kabul that same day. Baba
begged for them to explain to him what was the meaning of their decision and
that there must be something they weren’t telling him, but Ali, like Hassan,
refused to tell him the truth and just told him that life was impossible for
them now and that they must be leaving.
Can I relate to Amir’s problem? No. Not totally. I
can say that I know of a friend who we can call Hassan #2 that possesses a similar
loyalty as Hassan in the novel. Hassan #2 was sometimes perceived as someone
who didn’t have a backbone and would let people walk all over him, but when it
came to defending his friends he wouldn’t think twice, he would just do it; No
matter the cost and consequence. He had a friend who we can call Amir #2, that
kept trying to get Hassan #2 to get some backbone in him, similar to the book
except the part about the pomegranates and the stuffing of cash and stolen
presents under his mattress. Amir #2 was trying to help him become a stronger
person for the first couple years of their friendship; and after ten years, Amir
#2 essentially gave up being his friend and started to make fun of him because
he ultimately wanted to belong to a group of friends that he believed that held
more courage, ego and strength. All things that he thought would bring more
value to his life. He was wrong. He later regretted valuing the superficial
aspects to a relationship and tried rekindling his meaningful friendship with
Hassan #2. Did he take him back as a friend? Of course, he did. He forgave him
too.
2
Write your opinion of a character's
action or reaction to a situation in the book. Do you
think it was the
appropriate course of action and would you have done the same? Why/Why not?
Did I agree with what he did?
No; Not at all. It was very selfish and no true friend would ever do that. I
feel the same with the novel. I didn’t agree with Amir’s reaction to Hassan
getting raped and I also didn’t agree with his actions leading up to Hassan and
his father leaving their home. It was clear that Amir did in fact have feelings
for Hassan, but his emotions didn’t flow with his actions. It was clear that
Amir wanted Hassan to be a stronger character than what he was born with, then
maybe he wouldn’t have gotten bullied and hurt. But the way Amir approached
Hassan with ignoring him when he was evidently ill and rejected Hassan’s
invitations to hang out and to have things go back to normal because he didn’t
want to feel the guilt of it all when he saw Hassan’s face. When Amir finally
had the courage to ask him to hang out, he completely lost it and started to
throw pomegranates at him. I feel a deep remorse for Hassan and what he had
gone through was a grueling read. I believe he was such a good friend, he never
judged Amir; He only accepted him as he was. A complete contrast to how Amir
treated him. If I was in Amir’s shoes, I would’ve accepted Hassan for who he
was and if the kids in my neighborhood didn’t agree with it and started to
bully us then I would’ve gone to my father and told him so that he can go off
and take care of it in a mature and adult way. If I was in Amir’s shoes and
witnessed one of my best friends being cornered by 3 bullies, knowing my
father’s status in the neighborhood, I would’ve stepped in and saved Hassan and
I would’ve threatened Assef and his clan that if they don’t leave Hassan alone,
I would go tell Baba. I know that they wouldn’t hurt me, and even if they did,
I would still stand up for Hassan. I wouldn’t change anything. It was my kite
that got him into trouble and he was defending it with his life. Literally.
