Chapters 23-25

Dear Reader,
                    Towards the end of chapter 3 I was extremely surprised by what Farid announced to Amir when he was explaining his plans to leave the hospital. Farid says "There never was a John and Betty Caldwelll in Peshawar. According to the people at the constulate, they never existed. Not here in peshwar, anyhow" (Hosseini 308). This news particularly surprised me because I cant believe Rahim lied to Amir once again. I get why Rahim lied because if he didnt he probably wouldnt have been able to convince Amir to go after Sohrad. It just surprised me though that Rahim was able to lie so easily even after he apologized for keeping the secret about Hassan for so many years. Do you think Amir would have gone to save Sohrad if Rahim didn't lie about the Caldwells in Peshwar?
                     Another part of the novel which caught me by surprise was when Amir finds Sohrab in the Bathtub. Later in the hospital he describes what he saw " ... the bloody bathwater; the left arm dangling over the side of the tub, the blood soaked razor sitting on the toliet tank..." (Hosseini 348). This scene is a Horrific scene for more than one reason. First because Sohrab is only a boy with the rest of his life ahead of him, yet he is found with slit wrists covered in blood in the bathtub. This scene was also horrific because it made me wonder how bad the conditions had to be at that orphanage to drive a young boy to opt for suicide instead of going back to the orphanage. This scene also reminded me of Stuck in Neutral with its prevelant idea of Euthanasia or mercy killing. In The Kite Runner Sohrab is sort of performing mercy killing on himself to save him from the suffering at the orphanage.
                     Overall I thought The Kite Runner was an excelent book and Hosseini end the book perfectly. The line which has been prevelant throughout the book really brings everything together. When Sohrab and Amir cut the string of the other kite,  Amir asks if he can run the kite for Sohrab and Sohrab smiles. When sohrab does this Amir says "For you, a thousand times over" (Hosseini 371). I think this part was really important in ending the book because at this moment Amir finally came to peace with himself for what he had done and shed his guilt as he ran the kite for Sohrab as Hassan had done for him in his childhood. He had saved Sohrab from his terrible life and abuse in Afganistan and brought him to America. This allows Amir to believe hes made up for what hes done when he didnt help Hassan as he got raped and shunned Hassan after words. This ending also allows the reader to imagine what happens next, leaving the life of Sohrab, Amir, and his wife open ended. As a reader did you enjoy the book and would you have eneded the book a different way or kept the same?

Sincerely,
                Benjamin Sawyer