Kite Runner Book Review

Kite Runner is a fictional narrative written by Khaled Hosseini. Kite Runner is a story written in a time of war in Afghanistan. In Kite Runner a boy named Amir witnesses his best friend  get physically assaulted. Amir never forgets this and tries to bury the past. Later in the story he and his dad move to America due to their safety. Once Amir is America he finally gathers up the courage to go back to Afghanistan and redeem himself.

Hassan was  a very interesting and loyal character in Kite Runner. Throughout the story Hassan’s loyalty toward Amir never changed. He never hit him back and always stood up for him. Hassan was a Hazara and Amir was a Pashtun, but their social status didn’t separate their friendship. When Amir won the Kite Tournament Hassan promised Amir he would get the kite and said, “For you, a thousand times over.”  It meant that he was going to get it, no matter what. When Hassan finally got the kite, he was brutally beaten and raped by Assef. All Assef wanted was the kite, but Hassan never gave it up because of his loyalty and his promise. After Hassan got raped, Amir kept ignoring him and didn’t want to be his friend. Hassan kept trying to restore their friendship by telling him he was sorry for whatever he did, but Amir couldn’t look at Hassan the same way. One day Amir told Hassan to go to the pomegranate tree where they used to hang out. When they got there Amir threw pomegranates at Hassan and wanted him to throw them back, but since Amir doesn’t understand the extent of Hassan’s loyalty he didn’t expect Hassan to smother a pomegranate on his own head.  Hassan probally thought that after some time, everything between him and Amir would get better, thats why he never retaliated when Amir was throwing pomegranates at him. I wonder what Amir would have done if he knew that Hassan was really his half-brother.

One thing that Hassan and Baba have a lot of, is Bravery. They both stood up for someone. Hassan deafened Amir with his slingshot when Assef first confronted  them, which is similar to when Baba defends the woman from the Russian soldier in the fuel truck. This is a very distinct trait that Hassan and Baba have, but lacks in Amir.  Amir has little, or no bravery in the beginning of the story, but gradually develops it later on.

Khald Hosseini’s purpose in writing this fictional story was to educate people on whats its like in Modern Afghanistan, and how it’s hard to bury the past. I’ve learned a lot on what it’s like in Afghanistan,  what some of the people there have to go through on a daily basis, some Farsi,  and Afghanistan culture.  There were lots of things going on in Afghanistan at that time. Some included the constant fight over power.

The whole story was basically about how Amir tries to bury the memory of Hassan being raped, but later on, it comes back. Amir tried so hard to forget what happened to Hassan. Amir was about eight when he witnessed it, and felt very guilty. When he moved to American, he had finally locked up that event somewhere in his head, but later on he gets a call from Rahim Kahn and the past just crept its way out. Near the end of the story after Amir rescues Sohrab, he has a dream where he witnesses his father fighting with a bear, 

“They roll over a patch of green grass, man and beast...They fall to the ground with a loud thud and Baba is sitting on the bear’s chest, his fingers digging in its snout. He looks up at me and I see me. He’s me I am wrestling the bear.” 

 Amir has finally realised that he has redeemed himself. Houssei incorporates a very strong moral into this story. The moral is, if your try to forget the past, it will eventually come back at you. I’ve learned that the best way to get rid guilt, is to confront your fears and fix things.

Most of the people of Afghanistan were already in poverty, then the Taliban came along and started  killing and harassing people.

“What is the matter with you?” Farid hissed.

“What?”

“Don’t ever stare at them! Do you understand me? Never!”

“I didn’t mean to,” I said.

“Your friend is quite right, Agha. You might as well poke a rabid dog with a stick,”    someone said.

This was when a Taliban glared at Amir. The Taliban were there just looking for someone to kill or start a fight with. Farid was telling Amir to not look at the Taliban if he didn’t want to die. That’s how bad the Taliban were. Even though the story is fictional, there are lots of events in the story that I wouldn’t be surprised to hear really happened.

Kite Runner had lots of information about Afghanistan culture, and taught me a little bit of Farsi. I learned that in Afghanistan culture couples don’t get to choose who they marry, the parents marry their daughter or son according to the other families ancestry. General Taheri says, “ Now this is the right way-the Afghan way- to do it, bachem.”After reading Kite runner, I’ve learned that Salaam means greetings and calling some one's name and adding jan is a form of respect. Knowing even a little Farsi can help me communicate with people if I ever have to go to Afghanistan.
Overall The Kite Runner was a very intriguing and informative book. It taught me life lessons, events that happened in Afghanistan, Farsi, Afghan culture, and how people are dealing with the crisis’ there. It was also very sad, but had a great ending. I would recommend this book to everyone that is over the age of twelve. I will always remember the this story.