Final Reaction

“The Kite Runner,” by Khaled Hosseini was better than everyone told me it would be. I loved it; from beginning to end. I was not bored at any point in the story, and unlike many other stories I have read, every event that took place was meaningful in one way or another. Watching Amir transition from a young, cowardly, deceiving boy into a brave, intelligent family man was a pleasure for me, and I am so glad to have read this novel.

So many aspects of this story stood out to me. To start, I recognized the ongoing feeling of nostalgia. Throughout the entire novel, Amir alludes to his childhood with so much detail and he is able to awaken every sense in the reader, from smell, to touch, to hearing, to sight, to taste. Sometimes, the nostalgia is negative, and others it is positive. But almost every line gave me a feeling that he missed his childhood, and that he wanted more than anything to return to it, wishing that life was as easy at it was when he was younger. I noticed that Amir did not fully recognize this sense of nostalgia until Sohrab emphasized how much he wanted his old life back. It was at this point that Amir realized he wanted his too, but also understood that the past is past, and there is no way of getting it back.

Another part of the story that stood out to me was the presence of Baba and the effect of his character on Amir. His entire life, Amir looks up to Baba and yearns for his love. Unfortunately, Baba is unable to fully give him the love he deserves as a son, and Amir blames himself for this. He feels that because his mother died giving birth to him, Baba resents him for it. When I found out that Baba’s true reasons for treating Amir this way were that he was guilty for what he had done to Ali, everything pieced itself together in my mind and made more sense.

I feel that Khaled Hosseini did a great job of adding plot twists to the story while still making it realistic and believable. Although I do think that Baba was a great man, it made a lot more sense that his reasons for his generous acts were to make up for what he had done to Hassan and Ali. Regardless of what he did, I feel that Baba was an amazing person and though his acts were remorseful, they were kind and genuine. He still tried to treat Hassan like a son, and never treated him as inferior to him and Amir.

From the beginning, Baba was portrayed as a harsh, but fair man who wanted the best for everyone and tried to be as good as possible. Despite his moral correctness, he was never the loving, warming father that Amir so strongly wanted, but after he dies we see just how alike Amir and Baba are.

A small yet influential part of the story that I was intrigued by was General Tahib’s shift from being a strict, traditional father who wanted things done the traditional way, to gaining clarity and realizing that his time is running out. Although he is not ill or said to die soon, we realize towards the end that the General eases up on his rigidness when he becomes closer to Soraya, begins attending her classes that he was so against at the beginning, and goes on walks with her. As time goes on, they begin to build a stronger relationship. Like we said in the discussion about “The Stranger,” the General reached the season that coincides with the elderly, and his perceptions began to clear up from distortion. He starts to rekindle his relationship with his daughter because he knows that that is what is truly important in life. 

This novel has a lot to do with Amir’s guilt for what he did, or didn’t do, for Hassan when he was being raped by Assef. His entire life, Amir is unable to be truly happy because he is so consumed by his guilt. I found it incredibly interesting that it is not until Amir is getting beaten by Assef, as adults, that he finally feels at peace with himself. He finally receives the punishment he felt he deserved for what he did, and it is at this point that he can forgive himself and be relieved of what he had done so many years ago. Ironically enough, we find out from Rahim and Sohrab that Hassan forgave him shortly after it happened. Hassan, Amir’s complete foil character, forgave Amir and still considered him his best friend. Amir dealt with the situation differently, and as Rahim said, he was too hard on himself. Nonetheless, Amir relinquishes the bad actions he committed when he saves Sohrab from the terrible circumstances he was in. In a way, Sohrab saved Amir just as much as Amir saved Sohrab. But it is through Sohrab that we see that Hassan’s unconditional love still lives in some alternate form and he is still there, in his strength and loyalty, beside Amir.

Khaled Hosseini described Afghan culture, as well as the country, in such a detailed and realistic way that I felt as if he was writing about his own life. The Afghan language, customs, food, and traditions were well evoked and added a lot to the story. I adored the book and will never forget the powerful, coming of age story written by this amazing author.