Moving To the USA

Amir and Baba’s arrival to the United States in a way changes both their personalities. At first, you can easily tell that Baba is not happy at all. The first sentence of chapter 11 says it all, America gave him an ulcer. Baba seems miserable. When he gets angry at Mr. and Ms. Nguyen, it is obvious that he is not accustomed to his new way of life. Back home, Baba was well known and extremely respected. He never had to show identification because everyone knew who he was and people had faith in him, they knew he kept his word. When I first read how Baba had reacted, I thought to myself that he was crossing the line. But the more I thought about, the more I realized that his behavior is not surprising. If you live your whole life one way, you cannot expect someone to suddenly change overnight. I was surprised however, by how Amir handled the situation. He gave off an impression of being more mature, older and responsible. Amir is usually the one being taken care of, either by Hassan, another servant or his father, but in this dilemma, he becomes the adult and he cares for his father. Amir is even willing to sacrifice his home and go back to Peshawar just for his father. Nevertheless, his father has sacrificed so much already and wants to keep on doing so in order to see his soon succeed. I thought the author did a terrific job in displaying the age and personality differences that Amir undergoes.

Additionally, I found it interesting how Amir is finally getting what he always wanted from his father, but is not completely happy. For some reason, while reading, it felt as if there was something missing, as if Amir was happy, but not as happy as he would like to be. In other words, Baba is finally proud of Amir. His graduation and his grades in Junior college make Baba extremely content and feeling as if he did the right thing by moving to the United States. Amir and Baba are finally hanging out and spending time together, alone, like he always wanted. Yet, it is noticeable that Amir cannot help but miss Hassan. He wanted Hassan gone, and now that he is, he wants him back. It is ironic how Amir states that moving to the United States has helped him forget and clear him of his sins, but when he sees the Pacific he begins to cry and feel guilty. I do not think he will ever get over that feeling.