Ryan Pearson's Third Reaction to The Kite Runner

I found the most recent section of The Kite Runner to be very moving. Hosseini does a fantastic job capturing the ruining of Hassan’s innocence, which frustrates me to the extent where I found myself yelling at Amir to change his ways. With that said, I find it difficult to truly dislike the boy, as I continue to watch him struggle to be loved by his father. It appears to be an awful existence. His guilt slowly eats away at his conscience to the point where he asks Baba if he had ever considered getting new servants. As I read the story, I find myself forgetting Amir is only a child and getting annoyed by his immaturity before recalling his young age.

Back to the rape, through the entire passage, I found myself wanting to yell at Amir to step in to save his friend. The detailed description of the rape was horrible. What was almost worse was reading about Amir isolating Hassan and leaving Hassan to “heal” on his own. The most saddening part was reading Hassan comment, “I don’t know what I’ve done…I wish you’d tell me… I’ll stop doing it.”  The author successfully draws out our emotions in a way that rarely happens when reading a story. The boys’ encounter on the hilltop with the pomegranates was surprisingly climactic for what it was.

The dialogue with Assef at Amir’s party furthered my disgust with him. His “favorite book,” which he gives to Amir, is a biography of Hitler. Something about him makes me wonder whether he will play a bigger role in the rest of the story. 

Ryan Pearson