The Kite Runner Blog #2

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?

The Kite Runner Blog #1

The Kite Runner

Author: Khaled Hosseini

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?

Chapters 20-26 Book Review

Book Review

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?