Tuesday 19 April 2016

Chapters 1-10 How I Feel About Amir

In the novel "The Kite Runner", I believe Amir to be a genuinely good person.  Sure, he has made some mistakes and has had to make some tough decisions, but in the end his actions reflect on his youth.  Making mistakes is a part of growing up.  Being thrown into tough and rather complicated situations at the mere age of twelve would be overwhelming, and learning from experience and fault is what helps you grow as a person.  Not only this, Amir has to deal with the struggle of gaining attention from his father, who seems to pay little attention to him solely because he is different from how he was as a child.  Therefore, growing up proves to be a challenge for Amir, and learning from his experiences can help him develop as a person.
Firstly, when Amir was put in a quite uncomfortable position as bystander during Hassan's rape, he had a rather tough decision to make.  He could "step into that alley, stand up for Hassan" (Hosseini 82) or, "(he) could run" (82).  At the age of 12, not only is it a hard situation to be confronted with, but to have to make the decision of whether to stand up for his friend and "accept whatever happened to (him)" (82) or merely get out of the circumstance altogether is a lot to ask of the young boy.  Because of his juvenile mind, it would be quite inordinate in my opinion to be confronted with such a position where you have to make such a rash decision. 
Secondly, Amir's longing for his father to appreciate his potential is also a result of childhood.  At Amir's young age, as well as any time in life, it is only natural to want to belong, and I respect how much admiration he has for his father.  In chapter seven, Amir states the blue kite is "(his) key to Baba's heart" (76).  The fact that Amir is willing to try so hard to gain recognition from Baba is admirable and shows he loves and cares for him, despite the fact his father shows little regard towards him.



3 comments:

  1. Natalie, you have put forth a strong argument about the challenges Amir has to face as a young boy. I agree that it would be incredibly difficult to know what to do that day in the alleyway. His lack of maturity (to be expected of a 12-year-old) and damaged relationship with his father really play a role in his decision, which ultimately was wrong.

    For future blog posts, try to have a clearer conclusion.

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  2. Natalie, huh, I never thought about it like that, I see where you're coming from with all the challenges Amir has to go through being so juvinile. However, that still doesn't excuse his actions. AT his age he should know the difference between right and wrong, therefore it was a judgement call on his part. He teased his friend, watched him get raped and ran, and then he tried setting him up, so Baba would send Hassan and Ali away. All these situations show that it wasn't because he was young, but because he is an evil, manipulative, liar.

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  3. I agree with you that Amir is a genuinely good person and that what he has done in the past are mistakes, but I feel as though he wouldn't have made all this mistakes if he had the love and support of his father from the beginning. Instead of chasing ways to get Baba's attention. Overall I thought you had good points.

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