Do you ever question why would Hassan stay friends with Amir after everything he does to him?? If you read as far as me you would absolutely hate Amir after everything he has done! What would you do if you had a friend like Amir?
Hassan is a shy Hazara (Religion) boy who is an outcast from the rest of the boys. His only friend is Amir, who he has grown up with from birth. He is Amir servant's son. Hassan has grown up poor without a mother and doesn't know how to read or write. He looks up to Amir to read to him and sees him has a bestfriend who he'd do anything for. One day while playing together Assef, the neighborhood bully approached Hassan and Amir. Assef questioned " How can you call him your 'friend'?" (Page 42). Amir expressed his thoughts of what he wanted to say "But he's not my friend!" I almost blurted! "He's my servant!" This proves how Amir really thought of him and minutes later Hassan approached Assef with a sling shot sticking up for Amir even though he knew it would cause a problem. (Page 43). This proves the loyalty Hassan has for his friend.
Even though he lives a worse life than the people around him, Hassan still remains happy. That is what I find special about Hassan; in the worst of times he remains happy. Not many people would be able to stay happy like Hassan. But his happiness has been taken away... and Amir, the only person who could have saved him.. who he was always 100% loyal too no matter what... betrayed him. Hassan was running to find Amir's new prized procession, the kite. Assef wanted the kite also and chased Hassan into an ally. He threatened him for the kite and Hassan refused to back down. He was loyal to Amir and never thought twice about giving into Assef because he knew how special the kite was. Hassan was then raped by Assef for not backing down to him. That shows extreme loyalty to one person. Hassan thought Amir would do the same but instead ran away like a coward and pretended he never seen what happened.
Amir feels guilty now and wants redemption... do you think that he deserves to relieve the guilt he feels? It is like a rapist feeling guilty for what he has down and wanting to get rid of it. No matter what the victim cannot forget the memories of that tragic day, it replays it their head and lives with them forever. It's not fair for the person who chose to do the wrong doing be able to relieve his mind of it. Hassan has to live his entire life with that memory nothing will every take that away.
Is that fair to Hassan who was betrayed by someone he remained loyal to?
The Kite Runner is written in the perspective of the main character Amir. Amir begins by telling the readers story's about his childhood in Afghanistan in Chapters 1-5. While reading about his childhood you discover what kind of personality Amir has. Through his story's of being a child in Afghanistan you portray Amir as a sensitive, smart but a sneaky young boy. Because of Amir's father social status he often carries himself through society with a sense of entitlement.
Hassan, Amir's servant has always been loyal to Amir. Everyday he wakes up and makes his bed for him, polishes his shoes, iron's his clothes and packs Amir's books and pencils for the school day (Page 27). Hassan does anything Amir says without a problem. If you had someone to serve you every morning like Hassan does for Amir wouldn't you treat that person with respect? Not in this case, Amir is sneaky and nota good friend towards Hassan. He feels he is higher then him and cannot consider him a friend because of his social status. I feel like Amir would be a good friend towards Hassan but he feels like his dad would not respect him as much. Amir often acts out towards Hassan because he wants attention from his father. Amir expresses these feelings earlier in the book on page 10.
"... under the same roof, we spoke our first words.
Mine was Baba.
His was Amir. My name.
Looking back at it now, I think the foundation for what happened in the winter of 1975- and all that followed-was already laid in those first words."
When first reading the quote you don't realize how important the words Amir is saying until you read on in the story. The quote has a deep meaning behind it that carries throughout the book, when Amir says "... and all that was followed-was already laid in those first words" he means Hassan looked up to Amir since birth when his first word was Amir but Amir's first word wasn't Hassan it was Baba. That explains who Amir really looks up to. I have yet to figure out what has happened in the winter of 1975 but I can make a prediction. I predict that while one day Hassan and Amir where playing together and Amir was trying to make his dad proud by being tough and hurt Hassan badly to the point where Amir has extreme guilt towards the situation.
Have you ever been in a situation where you had to do the wrong thing and felt guilty about it?
Have you ever looked at someone else's life and thought "wow, they have everything they must be happy?" Or wished you had their life because of everything they have? Everyone at least has felt the same way at one point when judging someone else's life. Judging that person's life from the outside may be easy but do we ever look at the bigger picture? Is that person really happy or just faking a smile?
Amir grew up in a luxurious home in Afghanistan. Looking at his life you would envy him but if you really know him you'd know he had a deep feelings of guilt and sadness towards his life. Amir's mother died when she was giving birth to him. He never got to meet his mother and grew up with his wealthy father, Baba who gave him whatever he wanted. Yes, he got everything he wanted physically but Amir was dealing with an internal conflict. Amir felt that his father and him never had a connection. Amir is not sporty nor a confident person like his father was as a child. Because of this lack of difference between Baba and Amir's personality's, Amir thought his father hated him. One day while Amir was walking past Baba's study he heard him talking about how he felt about him.
"He needs someone who... understands him, because God knows I don't. But something about Amir troubles me in a way I cant express. It's like... if I hadn't seen the doctor pull him out of my wife with my own eyes, I'd never believe he's my son" - Baba to Rahim (Page: 23)
Hearing those words come out of his father's mouth devastated Amir. Amir was different then everyone else and to make his father like him he pretended to be someone he wasn't. While playing with Hassan he would talk down to him and make him feel lower to try and earn Baba's love. Looking at Amir's life you would never realize the sadness he holds. Amir didn't want to be mean to Hassan but he felt it was the only way to earn respect from Baba.
Looking at someone else's life you need to look at the bigger picture and get to know that person before you start judging. This situation can relate to the quote " Don't judge a book by its cover." When you first meet someone you cannot judge them for there first impression.
Have you ever judged someone from their first impression?
Throughout this entire book I was hoping Dex and Rachel's love would never end. I won't say what actually happens so I don't ruin the ending for anyone but there's a huge plot twist! It's nothing any reader would expect but I refuse to write anymore about the ending!! As you can guess I have finally finished the book and I can honestly say it is one of the best books I have ever read. This book is recommended by me towards the high school level girl students because of the sexual content included.The drama and love story included in the book Something Borrowed is the reason I would not recommend this book to boys. This book would appeal more towards girly girls who are interested in the sappy love story's.
If I had to rate this book from a scale 1- 10
1 - Uniteresting, boring.
5 - It was ok, boring in some parts.
10 - Very interesting, caught my attention the entire time.
I would personally rate this book a 9 because throughout the entire book I was interested. Only a few very little spots I became bored of what I was reading. The anticipation of the drama between Dex and Rachel made me not want to put the book down. There was always a question to be left with after every chapter.
Without the character Rachel the book Something Borrowed would have no conflict or theme. Rachel is a very important character to the story line because she engages the reader. Girls, have you ever really liked a boy but you couldn't have him because he was your friends ex or her recent boyfriend? Through Rachel the reader can connect to her personally and feel/ understand the emotional roller coaster that she experiences. The theme; to be completely happy is the most fulfilling thing in life is expressed through Rachel. Something everyone who reads this book will be able to connect to is how Rachel challenges friendship, her morals and society's opinion through this story.
" He sits beside me and the words come... I'm sorry ... I'm truly sorry ..."- (page: 257)
" I considered screaming " Don't go! Please! I love you!... " (Page: 258)
The love between Rachel and Dex is felt through every part of the book. When Rachel is upset at Dex you understand that through her thoughts. When Rachel is completely in love with Dex you feel happy for her. The emotional roller coaster that Rachel goes through is felt with every word you read. Emily Griffin is an truly amazing writer to write a story of a character like Rachel who is so easy to connect to. Have you ever felt the same way as Rachel?
Making yourself happy is the most fulfilling feeling in life; Emily Griffin expresses this theme throughout her book “Something Borrowed”. The
book shares a message to not be ashamed of what you feel even if it hurts
others because in the end it's only you who matters. The theme is expressed
through a character in the book Rachel. She has a hard time making a decision
of “Do I make myself happy? Or hold back my happiness to not hurt others?” and
often chooses to hide her feelings to make others happy.
“ “I am fine with the
way things are,” I say. It’s not exactly true, but I am afraid of losing him if
I ask for more. Of course, I am terrified of truly being with him too.” -Rachel
(Page: 136)
Rachel can’t hide her feelings anymore for Darcy’s fiancé
Dex and Dex can’t hide what he feels for Rachel. Rachel’s scared of the
consequences of being happy because she will end up hurting her best friend Darcy in the process… but should that even matter to her? Yes, they have been best
friends since elementary school and have grown to be adults together but is it
worth it to stop your happiness for a friend?Lying to yourself about the feelings you harbor will only end with “what
ifs?” and leave you feeling unfulfilled with the life you live.
“Avoiding regret at
any cost. Being good no matter what. Good student. Good Daughter. Good friend.
And yet I am struck by the sudden realization that regret cuts two ways. I
might also regret sacrificing myself, my own desires for Darcy sake, in the
name of friendship, in the name of being a good person. Why should I be martyr
here?” – Rachel (Page: 163)
Emily Griffin is trying to express a much deeper meaning than most will realize. Being in a tricky situation like Rachel is confusing, and is pure heart to mind battle. Her mind tells her to be a good friend and to push away her feelings to live a drama free simple life, but her heart, on the other hand, is telling her to express her love for Dex. Following her heart would make her happy but the consequences are holding her back. Rachel needs to make a decision if she wants to listen to her mind and always question“what if" I would have expressed my feelings publically would my life be with Dex. An alternative could be to listen to her heart and not have to live with the "What if's". Us readers, know what she should do, and that is to follow her heart, but Rachel cannot seem to find the direction she wants to follow. Happiness is at her feet, and she is scared to take advantage of it. Emily Griffin expresses the theme that you need to make yourself happy before anybody else.
Do you think Rachel will follow her heart or forever keep in her feelings due to the consequences that might happen?
Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin consist of 99% girl drama and constant plot twists something that drew my attention in and made me never want to put the book down because I was always left with question what will happen next? Will, Dex, and Darcy get married or will Rachel split them up for good? Does Dex end things with Darcy and live happily with Rachel, or the complete opposite? This book left me with questions after each chapter.
Darcy and Rachel dreamt since they where little girls of what their life would be once they turned thirty, would they have a family? Maybe a husband? Would their lives be as perfect as they wished for? The big three-zero has finally come for Rachel and to her surprise she has rarely lived her life to make her own self happy. Constantly being casted under Darcy's shadow that hung over her haunting her twenty's; a time when Rachel felt she accomplished nothing. Rachel wants to finally control her own happiness and does so with the action of betraying a best friend. Now, she slept with Darcy's fiańce Dex and has fallen in love but is Rachel finally following the right path towards happiness or will she hold in her feelings to not hurt Darcy?
" Why didn't I recognize my feelings sooner? Why had I put Darcy's interests ahead of my own? Dex leans in and kisses me again, softly but with a sense of absolute certainty" - Rachel (Page: 87)
Songs we listen to today can often relate to events that happen throughout a book you read:
#1
"Its even more exhausting avoiding Dex. I avoid him when he is alone, I avoid him when he is with Darcy. Avoid dwelling on him and the incident." -Rachel (Page: 82)
The song " Strangers" by Seven Lions expresses lyrics of two people who try to erase what they had together but then realized they cannot live without each other no matter how hard they try. Rachel is avoiding Dex at all costs. She wants to forget the entire incident so she can go back to living her normal life without having an affair with her best friends fiańce... Will Rachel win this battle and live on without Dex? This song relates to Rachel and Dex's secret relationship. No matter how hard they tried to avoid each others existence they always found a reason to come back for each other. Rachel couldn't erase her deep feelings she accumulated for Dex and he felt the same about her. It was a love that couldn't be held back no matter how hard they tried. The second time Dex came over to see Rachel she was nervous. Rachel didn't want to be a bad friend and continue this love affair so she acted blunt but it didn't work for long.
" I feel myself being sucked into his gaze, losing my resolve to be a good friend, a good friend. I look away nervously..." (Page 85) " He leans forward ... I kiss him back" (Page 86) -Rachel
#2
"Unconditionally" by Katy Perry describes a love that is never ending for one person. The love she describes is a once in a lifetime feeling that never really goes away. Rachel and Dex cannot stay away from each other they exchange emails, phone calls throughout the day and sometimes anonymous flowers sent by Dex. Nobody has ever treated Rachel like this before and she feels like she is on cloud nine. Dex sends an email to Rachel, subject line reads "you" :
" You are an amazing person, and I don't know where the feelings that you give me came from. What do I know is that I am completely and utterly into you and I want time to freeze so I can be with you all the time and not have to think of anything else at all. I like literally everything about you, including the way your face shows everything you're thinking and especially the way it looks when we are together and your hair is back and your eyes are closed and your lips are open just a little bit. Okay. Thats all I wanted to say." - Dex to Rachel ( Page 91).
Dex and Rachel's relationship has been an up and down roller coaster. Do you think the relationship will ever go father then an affair with the way it is going?
