There are many lessons taught in "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini. Many of these lessons are about a boy growing up and how he matures. One day Baba and Rahim Khan are talking about how Amir is maturing. Many years later Rahim Khan is telling Amir about this conversation with Baba. One thing Rahim Khan told Amir that Baba said was, "A boy who can't stand up for himself becomes a man that can't stand up for anything," (Hosseini 221). This is one statement that I disagree with. Many times boys grow up to be completely different men. Many changes happen to boys as they grow up that can cause a small change in thinking and make them be able to stand up for things better. An example of these changes is where a person lives. When a man leaves his parents to go live on his own he must make more choices fro himself. This would casue him to be able to stand up for himself better. Also, where the man or boy lives will play a role in how well he stands up for himself. Just how the person acts as a child does not determine how he will act as an adult. The parents should not try to make the child act how they must be as an adult. Do you think a boy can learn how to stick up for himself over time?
There were also some changes between the American and Afghan cultures that I noticed, but there was one difference in particular that I spotted. This difference was how religious the two cultures are. Afghan people are very religious and relate everything back to their God Allah. A few examples of this is when Hassan writes the letter to Amir and says, "I pray this letter reaches you in good health and in the light of Allah's good graces," (Hosseini 215). Another example is also in the letter to Amir and says, "The streets are full enough already of hungry orphans and every day I thank Allah that I am alive," (Hosseini 216). These people find their first priority in life to be their religion. In America, religion for many people is one of the least important things. Some people don't even have a religion. The difference between the Afghani people and Americans is a lot becasue of how much respect they have and things that religion teaches. Do you think it is important to have a strong religion, a weak one, or none at all?
One major feeling that all people feel at some time in their life is guilt. Amir has this feeling throughout almost the entire book becasue of watching Hassan get raped. Guilt is one of the hardest feelings to get rid of becasue you can never redo what you did casue it. Throughout the entire book, Amir is trying to find a cure for his guilt. This ultimatly comes when Assef beats up Amir. He shows how he has overcome the feeling by thinking, "My body was broken—just how badly I wouldn’t find out until later—but I felt healed. Healed at last. I laughed,"(Hosseini 289). This amazed me with how much it actually took for Amir to clear his concious of Hassan being raped. Getting pounded on by Assef made him feel like he had gotten what he deserved and now they were even. Do you think guilt is one of the worst and most powerful feelings to have?
Dear Nick,
ReplyDeleteI do believe a man can learn to stick up for himself over time. We all learn and grow as life goes on, and one of the things that life teaches us is how to stand up for ourselves.
I think it is important to have at least a week religion. Religion is something that has been around as ling as theres been people and i believe it is good to beilive in something bigger than whats on the Earth.
Yes i do think guilt is one of the worst feelings to have. the feeling of wishing you had done something differently, better, or even at all is a very strong feeling and is something that fallows you and you never forget, making it a very powerful feeling.
Dear Nick,
ReplyDeleteI do think that a boy can learn how to speak up for himself after time. As boys grow they will become more mature, and instead of depending on everywhere around them they will learn how to support themselves, and be their own person. I believe that it is up to someone whether they want to have a certain faith in religion. Being Catholic, I don't understand how someone could not believe in God, but I understand that not everyone does, and that's okay. It is there life style choice. It might benefit their way of living. For me, I need God, and I always will. I also think that guilt is one of the worst feelings to feel. Feeling like you are responsible for someones pain, and suffering is not a good thing at all. It is stressful to keep it all to yourself and not know who to tell, or how to tell someone. One picture that reminded me of what guilt has the power to do to people is found here: http://teaganandmack.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/guilt.jpg. Guilt is like a heavy block on someones shoulder weighing them down, once Assef beat him up he felt like he had finally gotten what he deserved, and the guilt was lifted fron his shoulders. This was one part of the book that I found absolutely amazing.
Sincerely, Destiny Messier
Dear Nick,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, a boy can learn to stick up for himself overtime. Just because a person is timid and passive as a child doesnt mean they are never going to be able to stand up for themselfs. As a child people are still developing and growing so if there timid as a child there is a strong chance they'll grow out of it.I do not think it is important to have a strong reigon at all. I mean for some people religon may give them some explanation for why things go on or something to rely on but I dont think religon is a neccesity. In some cases religon can be harmful like in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6L2M6v3FuYQ.
Yes I believe guilt is one of the most powerful feelings a person can have. Guilt can drive a person insane if they do not jutify it and the lengths gone to try and get rid of guilt can be extreme. Just look at Amir and how much he struggles with the guilt of letting Hassan get raped.
Sincerely,
Benjamin Sawyer