To See a Parent Cry

I can honestly say that I find every page of this novel to be captivating. Hosseini’s words allow me to connect with these characters and their stories that are really just different combinations of the same twenty-six letters. Nevertheless, I do find more often than not that in our readings there is one sentence that resonates with me. I almost always find one part of the reading that gets me thinking about how something that is set on the other side of the world can relate so heavily to me.

            The scene where Amir speaks, or rather experiences, his father crying in front of him for the first time struck me a lot. It got me to thinking about how as children we see our parents as the strongest people we know. As I child I thought both my parent were strong and more specifically I attributed the quality of strength to my father. I honestly believed that there was nothing that could bring my father down. To me he was stronger than a G.I. Joe action figure or a man behind a gun. I think that life is highly defined by specific moments and one of them is seeing your father cry for the first time. When Amir saw Baba crying he was almost scared and he even remarks, “grown fathers weren’t supposed to cry.” He specifically notes how the “pain in his plea [and] the fear” resonates with him.

            I think that seeing your father cry for the first time is such a defining moment in life because it is one of the first times that you truly understand how vulnerable people are. You realize that fathers are as breakable a delicate China that is highly polished and kept in the nicest of cabinets. I know that the first time I saw my dad cry, is a memory that I will never forget. I stood from a distance watching this man that for my nine years of life I thought was unbreakable. I saw his continued sob and all I could think was that what was occurring was not real life. Hosseini’s mention of Baba crying touched me so much because of how relatable it seemed to me.

            Another part of the reading that really struck me was the gift that Hasaan and his father give to Amir. It was not really the gift that struck me but rather the manner in which they eyed “ a book neither he nor his son could read”. It got me thinking to how our society places such a high value on literacy. Though I do not find anything wrong with being literate I find it wrong that literacy becomes very close if not our complete definition of intelligence. Amir, completely literate and gifted with wonderful writing is no where near as intelligent as Hassan. To me, much of intelligence relies on how much a person you can be. I understand that how good or bad of a person you are is relative and an immeasurable quantity but I find it to be a much greater defining tool of intelligence than someone’s ability to do calculus problems or read novels.

- Talia Akerman