Kite Runner

Summary/Thoughts - The novel opens with the main character Amir walking down a street in San Francisco. He spots two kites flying high in the air. These two kites symbolize a lot of things for Amir that previously happened in his childhood and carried over into his adult hood. These kites truly remind Amir of what he is today and what sins he has to live with for the rest of his life. Amir has to live with the guilt of watching his "friend" Hassan get raped by a town bully when they where younger. (Thought) This made me so up set to see Amir just stand there and watch his "friend" helplessly get raped in the alley. Hassan always stood up for Amir and alway watched his back, and to see Amir do nothing to help Hassan made me sick! Baba (Amir's Dad)(Thought) )I just had to add this in, but Baba to me was really never a father figure to Amir, he always ignored him and never respected what he did. Baba wanted Amir to be the kid he wanted to be and not the kid Amir wanted to be. And through the story there was a man named Rahim Khan and to me he was more of a father figure than Baba was) so Baba always told Amir there is one sin and one sin only and that is theft. (Though) To me Amir broke Baba's number one rule because by him watching Hassan in they ally stole a lot from him, including friendship, trust, and much more. Hassan never spoke and was never the same for a very long time and Amir never tried to work things out but instead he tried to get Hassan out of the house and leave forever. Amir put money and a watch under his bed and ran and told Baba that Hassan stole. Baba over looked it and said that is was OK. Amir stood there in shock and didnt understand, he framed Hassan for THEFT and Baba just over looked it. (Thought) Here i was wondering why Baba didn't kick Hassan out of the house after he "broke" Babas rule? Baba has alway had a liking for the Hazaran boy (Hassan) and others could not figure out why when Hazaras where not liked by the Pashtuns. This got me thinking if the servant (Hassan) was more than just a servant to Baba? Well Hassan and his "dad" decide to leave anyways because Hassan told him everything that happened in the alley, Baba was torn apart to see him go away. And here is the last time the two "friends" will ever see each other again. Time had passed and Amir and Baba had to leave there lovely house in Kabul and flee to safer place in Pakistan, do to the fact that the Russians came and started a war. (Thought) before this war took place and the town had to evacuate, I made a connection between Amir's childhood and mine. I had always thought that Afghan was a run down place and with nothing to do, but i came to realize that their life was real similar to ours. Some get to go to school, play, go to movies, have parties, and most importantly just able to be a kid without having to worry about any thing. After getting to a hiding spot in Pakistan and are safe, the setting changes and now Amir and his father made it and live in America in San Fransico, and it is here that Amir meets his dream girl. Amir and Baba are much older now and since moving i have noticed that Baba's way of life has change a lot. I say this because back in Kabul the narrator never really spoke of Baba working but he lived a great life, but since he is in America i have noticed that he works really hard and only gets enough to get by. Baba gets the short end of the stick and gets really sick and does not have much more time till he passes. Amir notices this and asks Baba to get Soraya Taheri's fathers ok to marry her. Amirs wish to marry his dream girl is approved and they live a happy life. Its not to much long and Baba passes away, and Amir is freaking out now because he is now on his "own" (Thought) When Baba passes away Amir is scared now because he is on his own. To me i believe that Amir has always been on his own and Baba didn't have that much of an impact on his life. Amir got a very important call from a dear friend back in Afgan, Rahim Khan and told Amir he is about to die and would like to see him one last time. Amir flies to Afgan and notices that a lot has changed since the last time he was there. He met up with Rahim Khan and what Khan had to say blew my mind. He gave Amir a letter from an old friend HASSAN!! Amir was speachless and wanted to see him right away but he told him some sad stuff and said that the Taliban killed him! (Though) He was killed for a dumb reason and that was his race. I can not believe that people do this, even today this is a major problem and in my eyes this problem will never be settled. This also made me think of Assef the kid who raped Hassan when he said that this land is not for Hazaras and wanted them all dead. Could it be him behide the Tilbs and all the killings? Khan told Amir he was here for one reason and that was to go and save Hassans son Soharb. He showed him a picture of what he looked liked and it brought back so many memories of what Hassan was when he was a child. (Thought) I can relate to what Amir is saying about how much the two look alike because out of my brother and I, I'm the one who looks like my dad the most. Amir told him it was to dangerous and he could not risk his life... hours passed and Amir came back and finally said that he will do it. (Thought) Its about time that Amir stands up for someone and takes charge!! I believe that he is doing this to help him forget and leave the sins behind of what he saw happen to Hassan and he is doing this to say he is sorry. Khan also told Amir that he had a brother that Baba never talked about and his brother was Hassan. (Thought) This explains why Baba loved him so much. I would be so mad!!! Amir was shocked and was very upset he moved on and focused on his goal to find his nephew. Amir spent looking all over for Sohrab and finally found him, in a place that was very unkind. Amir had to go to the head of the Taliban and behind all of these killings was ASSEF. I was correct. For the kid Amir got beat up and nearly killed but got the kid. Amir had trouble getting him back to the US, it was around this time Soharb tried to commite sucide because he was afraid he was going to have to go back where he was. He was saved at the last minute and Amirs got a pass for them to come back home in America. At the end of the book Amir was flying a kite with Sohrab and ran for one last time. (Thought) I believe that Amir ran this last kite for himself, Hassan, his father and Soharb. He ran this last kite because he felt that his sins could finally be forgotten...
This book was a probably my favorite book ever and its because its the only book iv read but it tought me alot of great lessons. The main one was to always follow your dream as Amir did with he writing. I hope to follow all my dreams and achive them as i get older!!!!!!!