Raoul Khouri’s Response to pages 40-73 of The Kite Runner

(Background to this Installment- I began reading at Hassan’s Birthday and ended reading, when Amir closed his eyes while Assef murdered Hassan)

            Reading The Kite Runner reminds me of how blessed I am to live in Miami during the 21^st century. My problems, even the ones that seem huge to me, are nothing compared to the problems Amir was exposed to in Afghanistan. Honestly, I find it hard to believe that there ever was a world without women’s rights, equality, or even modern technology. When I think about it, it is clear that a world such as the one Amir grew up in existed; however, I cannot even begin to image how it was to live there. Because of this I find it hard to relate to Amir. Don’t get me wrong, I can sympathize for Amir, but I cannot put myself in his shoes.

            Amir grew up in a world of pain, suffering, and sadness. His life is filled with pain, sadness, guilt, and regret. I cannot even imagine how bad Amir must feel that he killed his mother; the guilt must eat him up from inside. On top of not having a mother because he killed her, Amir gets no attention or compassion from his father, who Amir cannot relate to. With that much pain locked inside of Amir, one would think that he would be driven to insanity. But I believe one of the reasons why Amir has not gone insane, is because he has Hassan with him to comfort him.

            Even though I feel a lot of sympathy for Amir, I feel the most sympathy for Hassan because he is an honest, humble, clever, goodhearted, and loyal boy; however, because he was born a Shi’a, he was naturally doomed for failure. The worst part of all is that Hassan is so innocent and pure, and all he wanted to do was make Amir happy, but that was his doom. Even though Hassan would have put his life on the line for Amir, it became clear, at the end of the installment, that Amir would not put his life on the line for Hassan. Maybe, this was because Amir was jealous of Hassan.

            One thing I do like is that I can understand the Arabic in this book because of my Arabic background. For example, “Salaam Alaykum” (pg. 45) is a common Arabic greeting, which means “peace be upon you”.