Revenge is sweet

  When someone does something as simple as insult you, revenge is the first thing on most peoples mind.  How can you get them back to satisfy your ego. Or it can be something more serious, if someone physically assaults you or a loved one, you might feel the urge to get revenge on this person to get even with them. Amir wants revenge on Assef for what he did to Hassan early in the novel. At the end of the novel Amir goes to get Hassans orphan daughter and gets beat up very badly by what turns out to be Assef and his brass knuckles. Sohrab, Hassan daughter, and Amir end up getting away. This is the revenge that Amir was looking for, also this is redemption. Amir all of these years after he stabbed Hassan in the back metaphorically, by telling Baba that Hassan stole from him and he was kicked out, Amir redeems himself by going through lots of trouble and pain to get Hassan's daughter so he could raise her as his own. The picture below is a picture of brass knuckles, this is a weapon that is put on your knuckles to make the damage much more significant. This is what Assef used when he beat up Amir.

At the start of the novel Hassan gets beaten up to make Amir happy. Amir does nothing to return the favor, this makes him seem like a very shallow character and it seems like he has no respect for Hassan. Later in the story, Amir is the one who takes the beating, and this time it is something that would have made Hassan very happy, he saves Sohrab. This is Amir's repayment to Hassan after all these years when Hassan risked his life for Amir. This is Amir's final steps into manhood.

Culture Oppression

    Oppression of culture is present all throughout the novel The Kite Runner, a very obvious sign of this is when the Taliban come to the town and ban kite running. Kite running is a traditional event that is a very big part of the culture in Afghanistan, what happens kites battle to break the other kites strings, everyone chases the last kite to get cut and they try to retrieve the kite. We see this happen in the story when Amir is flying the kite and Hassan goes to chase it for him.When the Taliban bans this activity a part of the culture is taken away from them. Something that has been such an important part of their culture is gone for now.

In the story it is mostly the culture of the Hazaras that is oppressed. They are treated terribly by the Pashtuns. They can't read, this is shown when Amir reads Hassan stories but Amir makes up parts of the stories and Hassan, much to Amir's surprise, likes the stories. In Afghanistan the Pashtuns do not accept any other religions to be expressed. This is very different from what we experience here in Canada. When immigrants decide to come to Canada to live, they are encouraged to keep practicing their religion. This in my opinion is the way every country should be but sadly this is not the case, many people are killed all over the world because of the religion. I think in Canada as the years go by, are learning more and more about other religions and we are becoming more diverse. For example I know more about other religions than I ever thought I would. My parents know a tenth of what I know about other religions and I am proud of it and always have more to learn.

Racism: It has to be stopped sooner rather than later.

    Racism is a very strong word. It is very frowned upon in many parts of the world, but we still see racism everyday all over the world. It is terrible and in my opinion need to stop. Racism is a main part of the book The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. We see racism many times when people are looking down upon the Hazara people. It is unfair to think that just because of someones religion that you are thought of as less of a person. Hassan is picked on countless times because of his religion. Equality is crucial in this world, no matter your background, everyone should be treated the same as each other. An example of this is Amir being racist when he says that Hassan was just a Hazara boy after he didn't help him when he was being raped. Amir was not willing to risk his safety to help his friend just because of his religion. But Hassan is truly a good person because he sees everyone as equals, Amir is a Pashtun and Hassan  still treats him with respect, and we see this when he goes to retrieve the winning kite and put his life in risk just so Amir can have the kite. If we had more people like Hassan in the world it would be a better place because in his eyes everyone is the same.

Racism is present everywhere is the world, even when you don't see it. This novel shows the racism that takes place in the middle east and specifically Afghanistan, it is split up between the Pashtuns and the Hazaras. It is a very violent situation and leads to the deaths of many innocent people. But racism is not always this obvious it can sometimes seem like its not even happening. For example all over the world in cities there is a small part of the city that is for example "China town". Most people would think this is the right thing to do, our city is so diverse. In my opinion having a part of a city that is designated China town is racism. We try to not separate ourselves from other races and accept everyone but realistically all this is doing is saying "yes you can come to our country, but here's the thing you can live over there with the rest of your people." I think this is terrible, if we are trying to eliminate racism then everyone should be integrated in the same community not separated. The following picture is of China town in Ottawa and is a perfect example of racism in my opinion.

The point is racism is all over the world and is not always as violent as the book portrays. The countries of this world need to take more steps towards equality and realize that we are all the same, we just come from different parts of the world.

Friendship: What would you do for your friends?

Friendship: What would you do for your friends?

    Many people say they would take a bullet for their family members and close friends, but is this true? Just how far would you be willing to go for a friend? In the early parts of the novel Amir see's Hassan being raped by Assef, all Amir can do is watch and not intervene. One reason why Amir might not have intervened and stood up for his longtime friend is because of his religion. Hassan is Hazara and a combination of that and fear ultimately took Amir over and left him watching his friend. Amir said when he was young that him and Hassan were not best friends because Amir did not want to be seen by the public and best friends with Hassan because of his religion. But Amir saying he is not best friends with Hassan is ridiculous, they are as close as friends can get. So the real question is, did Amir betray  Hassan and let him down by not helping him in on that day that he was raped by Assef?

There are two possible answers to this question. The first answer is yes, Amir betrayed his best friend by not helping him and it was terrible of him not to intervene. Anyone that has this opinion has a valid point, Amir let his friend get hurt and he could have stopped it. He thinks because he is a Pashtun and Hassan is a Hazara that Amir is better than him and he didn't have to do anything. I know me personally if one of my best friends is in danger or is in a bad situation, there is no way I would watch from a far and see how it unfolds, I would be the first person by their side helping them. And we don't see this from Amir and maybe it is just because he is young or it is the message that has been told to him by the public that he is better than Hazara people and he doesn't have to help them. Amir realizes later that he should have been there to help and the guilt builds on him as the story progresses. 

The other answer to the question is no Amir is not a coward and did not betray Hassan, he did the safe thing. A common expression that has been said by many people is "don't be a hero". Meaning don't put yourself in danger to help others. Would the average person really have the courage to do anything different than what Amir did. If you look at it this way, Amir would have just got himself hurt if he stood up for Hassan and they both would be in the same situation. This don't be a hero rule is popular and is best for protecting yourself. It is used in a movie I really enjoyed, Zombieland where the main character is going over a set of rules that are essential in survival in a zombie apocalypse and I believe in some cases this rule does apply to real life.

In my opinion it was wrong of Amir not to stand up and intervene and protect his friend, even if it meant putting himself in danger. One reason why I might think this, is my sports background, the amount of time I spend with my best friends playing hockey creates a really close bond between one another and I find it very hard to see myself not standing up for my friends. Amir did make up for it by going back years later to adopt Hassan's orphan son and took him in as his own. This is a perfect representation of the character growth of Amir over the course of the novel.