A Friend or a Servant?

Many times, Amir has referred to Hassan as his servant - and strictly his servant, although Amir and Hassan do everything together. They are together at all times of the day and enjoy their time together climbing trees, reading books and poems, shooting slingshots and pestering people, and laughing and playing together. It is beginning to bother me that Amir has changed his perception of Hassan from friend to servant so frequently. When Assef, the biggest bully in Kabul, and his two friends came across Amir and Hassan, Assef started verbally attacking them. Assef began trash talking Hassan and accusing Amir of not being a pure Pashtun because he spent time with Hassan and treated him well.

Assef said to Amir, "You're bothering me very much. In fact, you bother me more than this Hazara here. How can you talk to him, play with him, let him touch you? How can you call him your 'friend'?" (44)

Amir almost blurted out, "But he's not my friend! He's my servant!" (44)

On the other hand, Amir is extremely sweet to Hassan and admits to him that he loves him. If Hassan was just a servant to Amir, then I'm sure he wouldn't have a "love" for him. This is a hint that Amir really does consider Hassan his friend.

"I gave him a friendly shove. Smiled. 'You're a prince, Hassan. You're a prince and I love you." (33)

Jealousy Theme

I've began to notice that one of the main themes in The Kite Runner is jealousy. The main character and narrator, Amir, finds himself jealous of anyone who steals parts of his father's attention. His father (Baba) decided that he was going to build an orphanage in the city. It took three years before it was done being built, and there was a presentation and speech that Baba had to make to the city. The day before the speech was going to be made, Baba took Amir to Gharga Lake, a few miles north of Kabul.

"He asked me to fetch Hassan too, but I lied and told him Hassan had the runs. I wanted Baba all to myself. And besides, one time at Gharga Lake, Hassan and I were skimming stones and Hassan made his stone skip eight times. The most I managed was five. Baba was there, watching, and he patted Hassan on the back. Even put his arm around his shoulder." (14-15)

"Baba heaved a sigh of impatience. That stung too, because he was not an impatient man. I remembered all the times he didn't come home until after dark, all the times I ate dinner alone. I'd ask Ali where Baba was, when he was coming home, though I knew full well he was at the construction site, over-looking this, supervising that. Didn't that take patience? I already hated all the kids he was building the orphanage for; sometimes I wished they'd all died along with their parents." (19)

Amir also finds himself jealous of Hassan, his servant and best friend. One night, listening to his father and Rahim Khan talking, Amir heard his father say that Amir was unlike the rest of the boys his age. He preferred poetry to soccer, when all the other boys were soccer fanatics. Even when Amir is picked on, Hassan is the one that stands up for him. Amir hears this,

"Self-defense has nothing to do with meanness. You know what always happens when the neighbourhood boys tease him? Hassan steps in and fends them off. I've seen it with my own eyes...I'm telling you Rahim, there is something missing in that boy." (24)

The next day, as Hassan was preparing Amir's breakfast, he asked Amir if something was bothering him.

"I snapped at him, told him to mind his own business." (25)

There is a clear jealousy of Hassan here, and how Baba compares Amir to Hassan and Amir fails to measure up.

Explanations

When skimming through the book list and deciding what to read, I came across a couple books that I wanted to do my comparative assignment on. I contemplated choosing Memoirs of a Geisha, The Time Traveller's Wife, No Country For Old Men and The Kite Runner. I wanted a book that would be moving, compelling, and that I would have trouble putting down. That's when I made my decision to read The Kite Runner. It has a large appeal to me for a variety of reasons. Not only is it a world renowned fictional novel , but it also reveals the truths of friendship and life.

Since I have already seen the movie, I am aware of the major themes within the novel and I couldn't be more excited to start reading it. Last year in my 4U english class, we read A Thousand Splendid Suns, also by Khaled Hosseini. I fell in love with it right away and I'm sure The Kite Runner will be a great read for me as well. Khaled Hosseini does a great job connecting the reader to the characters. Throughout all of A Thousand Splendid Suns, I got so attached to Leila and Mariam and often felt the emotions that they felt. If they were going through a difficult time, I found myself upset for them. When they were happy, I was happy as well. I love feeling so close to the characters; it shows what a great author Hosseini is.

I also chose this novel because I loved the movie, and I'm glad I have a reason to go rent it again, or possibly buy it. It sounds ridiculous, but I like the movies that make me cry the most, and during this movie I definitely did. It's not only a tragic story, but I can also relate to Hassan being abandoned by Amir and I'm sure that contributed to the tears.

I also like the self reflecting aspect of this novel, and how the whole novel is almost a flashback.

"I looked up at those twin kites. I thought about Hassan. Thought about Baba. Ali. Kabul. I thought of the life I had lived until the winter of 1975 came along and changed everything. And made me what I am today." (Hosseini, 2)

This is the assignment that I'm looking forward to the most this year. I have very high expectations for this novel, and I'm sure it will meet every one of them.

Important Dates:

1st section: pages 1 to 131 by Friday, March 11th

2nd section: pages 132 to 254 by Friday, April 1st

3rd section: pages 255 to 391 by Friday, April 15th

Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. Anchor Canada Edition. Canada: Anchor Canada, 2003. Print.