The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
"For you a thousand times over!" said Hassan as he turned and ran for the second last kite so as to bring his master even greater glory as the winner of the kite-flying competition.
This sentence will always remind me of the sweet Hassan in the novel, who had the character of Christ - loving, forgiving, longsuffering and unambitious.
This is not a Christian book, by the way. It is a book filled with the themes of guilt, love, honour, courage and sacrifice. Redemption is a theme that comes in at the later part.
Amir, the narrator, has the perfect life in 1970s Afghanistan - a rich and well-respected father, a good education, and a loyal servant who lives with him. Yet Amir is unhappy because his Baba seems to love Hassan more, and is secretly ashamed that his own son had inherited none of his courage. Amir thus takes his jealousy out on Hassan, who is officially his servant but treats Amir like a friend and thinks that the feelings are mutual.
The forgiving Hassan never takes Amir's unpleasant doings to heart, and is loyal to the extent that he would rather be raped by the village sociopath than give up the kite that he had promised to run for Amir after the kite-flying competition. (Kite-running is the attempt to run after and catch the last kite that was cut - the winner would gain even more glory if he manages to run that kite. Kite-flying competitions are usually held in winter) What he did not know was that Amir had witnessed everything while hidden safely behind the alley where the incident had taken place. Amir was too much of a coward to go forward to help his friend, and after that, he pretended not to have seen anything.
It was after that incident that the friendship between both boys changed. Hassan got over this a few days later, and tried hard to mend relations between them both, but Amir was angry with himself and refused to admit it, so he constantly pushed Hassan away. Finally, he drove Hassan and Ali (Hassan's father) away from his house. Baba was extremely upset about that.
Russia takes over Afghanistan some time later, and Baba and Amir are forced to leave Kabul, where they are situated. They settle in America after going through many hardships, and Amir marries Soraya there.
Amir had wanted to totally start afresh in America and leave behind his ugly past, but it caught up with him eventually. In a twist of fate, he learns that Hassan is actually his half-brother because Baba had slept with Hassan's mother. This act of betrayal done by Baba to his good friend, Ali, is almost as bad as what Amir had done to Hassan. Hassan had been publicly executed while trying to protect Amir's old house from the Taliban (who had later driven Russia out and took over Afghanistan in a reign of terror), and he had left behind only his son, Sohrab. Amir was tasked to get Sohrab back by Rahim Khan, Baba's old friend, because Rahim Khan knew all the evil that Amir had done towards Hassan and wanted him to do this as an act of redemption.
Ironically, Amir meets Assef, the village sociopath who had raped Hassan back then, and who was currently working for the Taliban. Assef had Sohrab in his possession, and had clearly sexually abused him too. The both of them got what they deserved in Amir's attempt to redeem Sohrab, although that was not the end of Amir's redemption.
When he breaks his promise to Sohrab to never send him to an orphanage again, Sohrab attempts suicide. Amir never managed to gain Sohrab's trust again after saving him, and even after bringing him back to America to his own home, Sohrab never spoke a word.
Redemption finally nears completion when Amir tells Sohrab he would run his kite for him in a kite-flying competition held by the Afghans in America. Sohrab had a faint, transient smile on his lips after their kite had cut down the second-last kite and nodded to signal to Amir that he had wanted Amir to run that kite for him. Amir hears himself saying, "For you, a thousand times over," as he turns and runs for the kite.
For in Amir's words, "Because when spring comes, it melts the snow one flake at a time, and maybe I just witnessed the first flake melting."
This sentence will always remind me of the sweet Hassan in the novel, who had the character of Christ - loving, forgiving, longsuffering and unambitious.
This is not a Christian book, by the way. It is a book filled with the themes of guilt, love, honour, courage and sacrifice. Redemption is a theme that comes in at the later part.
Amir, the narrator, has the perfect life in 1970s Afghanistan - a rich and well-respected father, a good education, and a loyal servant who lives with him. Yet Amir is unhappy because his Baba seems to love Hassan more, and is secretly ashamed that his own son had inherited none of his courage. Amir thus takes his jealousy out on Hassan, who is officially his servant but treats Amir like a friend and thinks that the feelings are mutual.
The forgiving Hassan never takes Amir's unpleasant doings to heart, and is loyal to the extent that he would rather be raped by the village sociopath than give up the kite that he had promised to run for Amir after the kite-flying competition. (Kite-running is the attempt to run after and catch the last kite that was cut - the winner would gain even more glory if he manages to run that kite. Kite-flying competitions are usually held in winter) What he did not know was that Amir had witnessed everything while hidden safely behind the alley where the incident had taken place. Amir was too much of a coward to go forward to help his friend, and after that, he pretended not to have seen anything.
It was after that incident that the friendship between both boys changed. Hassan got over this a few days later, and tried hard to mend relations between them both, but Amir was angry with himself and refused to admit it, so he constantly pushed Hassan away. Finally, he drove Hassan and Ali (Hassan's father) away from his house. Baba was extremely upset about that.
Russia takes over Afghanistan some time later, and Baba and Amir are forced to leave Kabul, where they are situated. They settle in America after going through many hardships, and Amir marries Soraya there.
Amir had wanted to totally start afresh in America and leave behind his ugly past, but it caught up with him eventually. In a twist of fate, he learns that Hassan is actually his half-brother because Baba had slept with Hassan's mother. This act of betrayal done by Baba to his good friend, Ali, is almost as bad as what Amir had done to Hassan. Hassan had been publicly executed while trying to protect Amir's old house from the Taliban (who had later driven Russia out and took over Afghanistan in a reign of terror), and he had left behind only his son, Sohrab. Amir was tasked to get Sohrab back by Rahim Khan, Baba's old friend, because Rahim Khan knew all the evil that Amir had done towards Hassan and wanted him to do this as an act of redemption.
Ironically, Amir meets Assef, the village sociopath who had raped Hassan back then, and who was currently working for the Taliban. Assef had Sohrab in his possession, and had clearly sexually abused him too. The both of them got what they deserved in Amir's attempt to redeem Sohrab, although that was not the end of Amir's redemption.
When he breaks his promise to Sohrab to never send him to an orphanage again, Sohrab attempts suicide. Amir never managed to gain Sohrab's trust again after saving him, and even after bringing him back to America to his own home, Sohrab never spoke a word.
Redemption finally nears completion when Amir tells Sohrab he would run his kite for him in a kite-flying competition held by the Afghans in America. Sohrab had a faint, transient smile on his lips after their kite had cut down the second-last kite and nodded to signal to Amir that he had wanted Amir to run that kite for him. Amir hears himself saying, "For you, a thousand times over," as he turns and runs for the kite.
For in Amir's words, "Because when spring comes, it melts the snow one flake at a time, and maybe I just witnessed the first flake melting."
Labels: book review
posted by andriTz* @ 9:29 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home