The Kite Runner-Week 2, Post B

Significant Quote:
"The curious thing was , I never thought of Hassan and me as friends either. Not in the usual sense, anyhow. Never mind that we taught each other to ride a bicycle with no hands, or to build a fully functional homemade camera out of a cardboard box. Never mind that we spent entire winters flying kites, running kites. Never mind that to me, the face of Afghanistan is that of a boy with a thin-boned frame, a shaved head, and low-set ears, a boy with a Chinese doll face perpetually lit by a harelipped smile." (25) This quote is interesting to me because I never realized that the social barriers in Afghanistan applied to the friendship bewteen Amir and Hassan. I believed they both saw past all that. I now understand where Amir gets this from because as I've read on, Amir seems to take advantage of Hassan quite a bit. I know he values the friendship, but Amir doesn't seem to understand that the benefits of friendship goes both ways. I'm under the impression that Amir would not step up to the plate to help Hassan if Hassan were in a conflict of some sort. On the other hand, I'm 100% sure that Hassan would walk through fire for Amir. This doesn't seem fair and I hope it all evens out before the novel is finished.

The Kite Runner-Week 2, Post A

Vocab:
-Melee (20): a confused hand-to-hand fight or struggle among several people.
-Vehemently (24): zealous; ardent; impassioned

Figurative Language:
"Sometimes, my entire childhood seems like one long lazy summer day with Hassan..." (25) This statement represents a similie describing Amir's view of his childhood.

"To him, the words on the page were a scramble of codes, indecipherable, mysterious." (30) This quote is a metaphor describing what it's like for Hassan to look at piece of literature, considering he is illiterate.

"'Fascinating,' I repeated, a little breathless, feeling like a man who discovers a buried treasure in his own backyard." (30) This passage is an example of a similie describing Amir's reaction to hearing news that his made-up story is quite good.

Quote:
"When they left, I sat on my bed and wish Rahim Kahn had been my father. Then I thought of Baba and his great big chest and how good it felt when he held me against it, how he smelled of Brut in the morning, and how his beard tickled my face. I was overcome with such sudden guilt that I bolted to the bathroom and vomited in the sink." (32) I found the passage interesting because it proves that no matter how cold and selfish a parent can be, you can still love them and see past all that. Baba was extremely cold to Amir in this chapter, and yet Amir cannot find it in him to deny that he is glad to be his son.

Theme:
The theme I have noticed so far is the strength of love between a parent and a child. Baba, to say the least, is not the greatest father in the world and has even admitted to being dissapointed in his son for being who he is. While it's extremely unfortunate that Baba feels this way, it does not stop Amir from loving him. Amir loves his father very much, and he knows about how his father feels about him. This love seems to be able to surpass anything.