Good and evil

1. Hassan is first described as having a 'perfectly round face' and 'giggling, laughing'. This shows him as a beautiful character and suggests his innocence.
2. Assef is portrayed as the 'embodiment of evil' throughout the book, e.g. when he compares himself to hitler 'he was a man with vision.. that's my vision'. This allows Assef to appear evil.
3. The rape of Hassan by Assef is an example of evil, as it taints both Amir's life, 'the rest of my life might have turned out differently if I had said something' and Hassan's 'always remind you of what I'm about to do'. This event leads to other evil things happening too..
4. Amir not stopping Hassan's rape is an example a kind of 'evil' as it ruins both their lives and their friendship, forever. Forcing Amir to find 'a way to be good again', showing he is not 'good' in his eyes because of what he did.
5. An example of good is when Amir plants 'a fistful of crumpled money under a mattress', this echoes the reason that Hassan and Ali left, when Amir planted the watch under Hassan's bed, which was a kind of 'evil'. Now he is slightly redeeming that action by doing a good thing.
6. Assef seems almost 'demonic' when he talks about ruthlessly, 'stoning adulterers' and 'raping children' and seems almost proud of it. Amir talks about trying not to 'conjure him' making Assef appear to have some kind of supernatural strength and therefore seeming demonic.
7. An example of goodness is when Amir finally stands up for what's right, when he challenges Assef, 'massacring hazaras? all in the name of Islam?' This shows he has finally conquered his fears as he is finally taking Baba's instinctive goodness, showing he isn't actually a complete coward.
8. Amir finally achieves 'redemption' when he saves Sohrab from the sexually assaulting grasp of Assef, Amir says he feels 'healed at last'.
9. Amir does a good thing when he takes Sohrab back to America to live with him, he is in a sense making up for not saving Hassan in the alleyway, by saving his son from the troubles of Afghanistan, 'Sohrab. We're going to America'.
10. Baba builds an orphanage in Afghanistan which is another example of someone doing something really good for others.

Assef's deeeeeemon characteristics

Well, an obvious one is the rape of Hassan. He let's him keep the kite so it will 'always remind you of what i'm about to do'. Assef is not only raping Hassan, but wants to punish him with it for the rest of his life.

Another example is when Assef stones the people to death. He takes relish in it, insighting the crowd by 'turning slowly in a full circle'. It is clear he is a sociopath as he describes the mass murder as, 'the show'.

There is a contrast between what Assef's actually doing, and what he thinks and feels 'inside'. You would expect religious people to be honourable, as would Assef, as he calls massacring Hazara's as 'cleansing' and makes it seem holy by saying 'we only stopped to eat and pray'. However his actions show the opposite of his feelings, killing people is not what religious people should do, they should not sin, and should be honourable and not rape young boys. It is clear Assef's mind is not right as he doesn't understand that almost everything he does is a contradiction to what he says.

totally just copied..

totally just copied fiona's themes as when I checked out her post.. it was much better than mine and listed the themes perfectly, and I came to the decision that having them on my blog would be good reivision.

1. Story telling - not only is the book one story, but there are lots of sub-stories throughout. Amir learns alot in this book through other people, just like the reader
2. Redemption - Amir tries to redeem himself for watching Hassan getting raped when he was 10 years old by finding and rescuing Sohrab
3. Pride - Baba has great pride in himself, and lacks pride for his son. Hassan also gets shot because he stood up to the Taliban, because he was right and telling the truth about the house
4. Friendship - The break of friendship between Amir and Hassan, and the friendship between Rahim and Baba
5. Love - Amir reaching out for love from Baba, and the love between Hassan and Amir as children, who turn out to be brothers
6. Guilt/shame - The shame of Amir throughout the book
7. Violence - The different types of violence throughout the book; emotional, sexual, verbal and physical all happened between Amir and Hassan, which drove them apart         
8. Hope Fi doesn't have copyrights.

Friday 19th

I enjoyed today because the supply teacher is niceeeee and we got to re-cap basically everything. By that I mean the characters and the main themes, but still. I liked it because I had been concentrating so much on certain chapters or parts of the book, that I hadn't stopped to think about it as a whole for a long time. It was nice looking over all the character's characteristics (lol) and discussing whether we liked them or not and why, (miss thinks Assef is a 'creature' and doesn't really like Amir, if I remember correctly.) Looking forward to more lesson's with miss, although of course Mr.F will be sadly missed for these 2 weeks.

17/11

Assef's character
 'I saw a splotch of dried blood on his left sleeve. I found it morbidly fascinating that he hadn't changed clothes after the executions'. Here Hosseini is deliberately trying to make Assef seem unpleasant and odd and draws on echoes of how he was before, when he was younger. 'Wearing dark John Lennon glasses', makes Assef seem like a Western character and therefore out of place in Afghanistan, he should not be there. It shows Assef's hypocricy at him being against Western values. 'Saw marks on his forearm', shows Assef is a herion addict which is moral hypocricy as, according to himself he is 'purifying people'. 'You enjoyed the show today?' shows that Assef takes pleasure in executing people. 'He was almost panting' shows Assef was frantically excited by the thought of death and killing. 'Only rested for food and prayer' shows Assef thinks his brutal massacring is somehow 'holy'. Amir says Assef acts as if it was some 'great party', showing Assef's distortion of reality. Assef sees Hassan as 'my boy' which displays his 'ownership' of Hassan and the fact that he sees him as his. The fact that Assef's 'hands slid down the child's back', shows how Assef is sexualising Hassan and it makes us feel uncomfortable. This shows Assef does not have the best intentions for the child and is inappropriate. Amir says he is afraid he might 'conjure him' making Assef seem like some sort of 'demon' and having 'supernatural powers'. Overall Assef is conjured up as a horrible character who we are supposed to dislike and think badly of.

The end of the chapter is told by Amir who is barely conscious and is therefore very brief. There are specific details about certain things, 'i watched the way his sandals pounded'... but not others, 'then i was looking up at the roof'. Because it's sketchy, it allows us to build up our own idea of what's happening and is evidence of how seriously injured Amir is. Amir ends up doing the same thing Assef did, laughing when he's being beaten up. That was Assef's 'enlightenment', this is Amir's, he becomes 'at peace'. On p.251 there is a future projection which foreshadows what happens to Amir.

Hassan's redemption?

Amir's car sickness has always been with him, as has his guilt for Hassan (well nearly always). The beginning of the chapter starts with Amir's 'car sickness' which shows he is still the same weak Amir that left Afghanistan all those years ago. As Alice said, Amir manages to conquer his weakness as even though the car sickness is still there, he tries to ignore it, 'i feel better. i lied'. For the first time in years Amir connects himself to Afghanistan again, he says, 'as an Afghan', reconnecting himself to the country he's going to. This could show that Amir is reconnecting himself with his sins and is going to redeem himself. Amir is redeeming himself by trying to get control over his weakness, knowing he 'had to leave as soon as possible'to make sure he goes through with going to find Sohrab. The repitition of the word 'afraid' shows he is afraid of his weakness getting him and still the insecure, self-criticising boy he always was. Just in case we think Amir is beginning to redeem himself and be free of guilt, Hosseini describes a nightmare Amir has about him shooting Hassan. As Alice said, in the last lines of the chapter Amir does a good thing by planting 'a fistful of crumpled money under a mattress', this echoes the watch Amir put under Hassan's mattress and the reason Hassan had to leave. This kind gesture could be the first step towards Amir's redemption...

November 10th

I found it interesting, yet hard, learning about how Hosseini uses voices in Chapter 17. I found it reaaaally hard trying to fit everything I wanted to say into 15 minutes of writing, deffo have to work on that...

Anywaay I DID enjoy it, especially looking at why Rahim Khan tells Amir about Hassan's death without emotion. I enjoyed learning about this because when sir first asked us about it, I actually had no idea why. So, learning that Rahim Khan tells the story almost like 'a police report' clearly makes what he is saying indesputable and makes Amir suffer more, right? But of course.

November 5th

I am going to try and use correct puncutation in this blog, just in case it is read out again :) full stop.

So, again, enjoyed reading and analysing The Kite Runner and, having done the homework, have enjoyed that too (ish). I particularly enjoyed learning about the 'narrative circle', as I had actually never heard of this phrase before. I always find it really interesting learning how people's lives have turned out, in real-life and in books. When I first read the book, I was very intrigued as to how Amir's life would turn out. In this chapter, we finally get to know. His wife is described as having 'the face of a Grand Ball princess' and having 'bird-in-flight eyebrows and nose'. I think this simile is amaaazing because I can imagine exactly what she would look like from that and it really brings me into the story.

It is clear this 'second part' of the book is about redepmtion and there being 'a way to be good again', after the first half of the book has been about Amir's sin. This is something I worked out after I'd read the book, but being the eng lit analyists we are, we have worked it out before the end, yay.

October 2nd

I enjoyed reading about how Baba is weakening. Obviously I didn't enjoy the fact that Baba was weakening cos he's great, but I enjoyed studying it yeaah. He is shown to be alienated as he is the 'lone republican' and seems much older as he complains much more and has more ailments, 'traffic noises gave him headaches'.

Baba and Amir's relationship has significantly changed as, when they were in Pakistan Baba was in control. He was a 'strong pashtun specimen' like a 'bear'. Standing up for people even till the last minute in Pakistan when he saves the woman from being raped. However when they reach America there seems to be a role-reversal as Baba looses his strength because he is an outsider and has 'broken english'. However Amir is educated and can speak good english. This gives him power over his father, he controls the situations like in the shop when he has to 'take Baba home'. At the end of this chapter though Baba finally becomes 'proud' of Amir which is what Amir has wanted seemingly all his life.

Lesson's 20.10.10

Though in some ways the worst chapter in the book, I reckon chapter 7 is the best chapter in the book. Although the actual act of the rape is not graphically detailed, the description of the actions leading up to it are so detailed 'unzipped his belt buckle..undid his jeans', you can imagine what it will be like without the graphic details of the rape itself. This shows Hosseini's amazing ability to tell the story without actually describing everything that happens. 

This chapter is so well written that even though Hosseini is constantly hinting and building up to a big event, the reader is almost unconscious of this on first reading (or I was anyway.) His use of referring back to chapter 1, particularly with the phrase 'for you a thousand times over' sets off alarm bells that something significant is going to happen. The frequent use of foreshdowing also gives this effect.

'Assef jan'

I enjoyed reading this chapter and looking at the character of Assef very much. I hadn't noticed the link Hosseini makes between Assef and Hitler when I first read the book, but when you analyse this chapter, particularly pages 33 and 35, it is clear there is a similarity between the two. They are both an 'embodiment of evil'. Hosseini's audience for this book are Western people and therefore they are likely to have preconceptions of Hitler and be prejudiced against him. Making Assef seem akin to Hitler in both his views and the fact that he a hypocrite, this is because he is of dual-heritage yet thinks 'Afghanistan is the land of Pashtuns..we are the true aghans, the pure afghans', when actually he is only half afghan and half german, again the german heritage linking him to hitler.These strong, and obvious links to a unanimously prejudice's the audience against him. 

Baba in ch.3

I find it very interesting looking at how characters personalities are portrayed without the writer having to actually say 'he was kind.' or 'Baba was judgemental.' Instead it is done subtly, and can be picked apart and worked out by looking at what he says, and how Amir sees and describes him from his point of view.

I love the descriptions of Baba, how he is a 'towering Pashtun specimen' and how his hands could 'uproot a willow tree'. These words build up a clear image of Baba in my head and by describing him in quite a lot of detail within the first few chapters, allows the reader to make their own picture of Baba in their heads for the rest of the story.

Lesson 8.10.10

I reaaaaaaally enjoyed analysing the kite runner today. This is what english lit's all about! I loved how literally every sentence was put in there for a reason, totally understanding the whole 'piece of paper on the floor' lesson now! I think it is amazing how everything in the kite runner links up with something else like Amir saying 'eyes are the window to the soul' just pages after he has described Hassan's eyes as 'gold, green and sapphire' suggesting they are beautiful and therefore that he is a beautiful person. Excellent!

Pashtun's and Hazara's

The Hazara people are an ethnic group originally from the Hazarajat region in central Afghanistan. In their modern history, Hazara's have faced several wars and forced displacements. Hazaras have faced persecution from the Pashtuns and have been forced to flee from many parts of today's Afghanistan to Hazarajat.

Hassan is a Hazara boy and his lower position in society compared to Amir who is Pashtun is clearly defined in 'The Kite Runner'. 

The Pashtuns live mainly in Afghanistan and Western Pakistan and are intimately tied to the history of modern Afghanistan and Pakistan. Pashtuns played a vital role during the Great Game from the 19th century to the 20th century as they were caught between the imperialist designs of the British and the Russian Empires. For over 300 years, they reigned as the dominant ethnic group in Afghanistan with nearly all rulers being Pashtun.

The Russians are a big part of 'The Kite Runner' and it is shown in detail how they brutally murdered many Hazara families. The difference between Hazaras and Pashtuns is also clearly defined in the book as most wealthy Pashtun families have Hazara slaves.

Lesson 1.10.2010

This lesson I found it interesting learning about direct speech - speech marks, indirect speech - no speech marks, attributed speech - e.g. he said and unattributed speech - 'free' speech, indirect. I found this interesting because although I knew there were different ways to write what someone is saying and who they're saying it to, I was never able to give the different ways names. I also liked looking at how this affected the reader, for example when something is not described as a thought straight away, we assume it to be  'fact'. This encourages the reader to see things from the person with the thought's point of view.

Lesson 24.09.2010

This lesson I have enjoyed learning about Chronological Topography. I found it interesting actually picking out the bits of a text which tell us about the period of time the writing was about. When you are reading a text you subconsciously take in this information in order to know what point in time the writer is talking about, but you do this without realising exactly what it is that is giving you this detail.

What tense the writer writes in gives us a good idea on whether this part of the text is retrospective (looking back) i.e. speaking from the future, looking to the future, or talking about the present time.

HEY SWEETFORMS.

HEY SWEETFORMS.