Fourth Reaction to P. 100-200

Up to pg. 200:

            Throughout the reading, I saw quite some juxtaposition between Amir and Baba. To begin, I was deeply angered by how selfish Amir was in framing Hassan; it was as if the rape wasn’t painful enough, and Amir needed to hurt Ali too. The worst part, however, was that Hassan and Ali were the heart and soul of Baba; seeing Baba break down and plead them not to leave was heartbreaking, but also incredibly insightful to his loyalty and trust. This strong, supportive relationship between Baba and Ali is the way that of Amir and Hassan should’ve been. With the Russian soldier situation, Baba would’ve willingly died to protect the rape of someone he didn’t even know, while Amir mutely watched and ran away when encountering the rape of the person who loved him the most.
            I’m also honestly blown away by how well Hosseini manages to turn even the ‘worst’ characters into someone I now recognize as having a good character. While Baba once seemed too hard on, and negligent of, Amir, he later becomes the exemplar loving, proud father. There were many incidents of his love for Amir that had me tearing up, such as him buying the car for Amir, accepting Amir’s writing dreams and carrying out his final paternal duty by asking for Soraya’s hand for Amir and spending all his life savings on their wedding so he could see his son happy and content before passing away. But the fact that he refused to gossip about Soraya and waited for her to tell Amir herself about her past made me look up to him and understand why the Afghan community in every country respected him. I was extremely heartbroken when he passed away.
            Even General Taheri had a good heart. It’s true that he did believe himself above mediocre work, preferred to take the food stamps that Baba refused, idly watched time pass and judged people too much on their social position and ancestry. Yet despite the judging and gossip of the community, he went to bring Soraya back home, however harshly, out of his fatherly love, and even bought Amir a typewriter to symbolize his acceptance. I also felt it was significant how, just like Baba, he was upset about his child’s career path, yet the underlying reason for this is because, just like Baba again, he only wanted the best for his daughter.
            I am looking forward to reading the rest of the book, as Amir’s visit to Rahim raises quite a bit of questions about Hassan. I also wonder about Assef and how Hosseini will continue to bring up the complexities of all the characters.