Reader Response : Kite Runner

The Kite Runner 

The Kite Runner is an amazing novel and I would suggest it to everybody. While I was reading the novel it made me make a lot of connections from my prior knowledge to what was happening in the text. Even though I haven't been to Afghanistan I can still relate to this book because of Amir's relationship with his father, through the caste system and lastly Amir and Hassan's relationship.

Amir And Baba 

Amir and Baba's relationship reminded me of my relationship with my father since we didn't always like each other. Amir stated "I wished I too hard some scar that would beget Baba's sympathy. It wasn't fair. Hassan hadn't done anything to earn Baba's affection; He'd just been born with that stupid harelip"(Hosseini 46). I felt this quote deeply since I had a brother growing up too and we did everything together but my dad was always more proud of my older brother since he had a learning disability but had better grades than me and was great at sports while I really didn't care about anything other than what my K/D in Black Ops 3 was. Back then I used to get so mad because it wasn't fair in my eyes that my dad liked my brother more, this made me say hateful things like Amir said about Hassan. later on, in my teenage years, I realized that I was jealous like Amir was jealous of Hassan and that my dad loved me too but differently then he did with my brother.

 

The Caste System 

In Afghanistan, there is a cast system that is used to determine who would be considered royalty and who are peasants. "In it, I read that my people, the Pashtuns, had persecuted and oppressed the Hazaras. It said the Hazaras had tried to rise against the Pashtuns in the nineteenth century, but the Pashtuns had ‘quelled them with unspeakable violence.’"(Hosseini 9). when I read that I remembered something that I read a long time ago -Sikhism history book- in the book I read that my people were oppressed too and that if it wasn't for my Gurus that my religion would not be around and I would probably be a Muslim. All of my Gurus said that if push comes to shove you should fight for what is right and that is exactly what my people did but in today's world, the caste system doesn't matter as much. Just like the Hazaras, my people revolted but unlike them, my people won the war and we got our freedom. what I understood was that the Hazaras had heart for trying to fight and that in the end, a war that happened ages ago shouldn't decide if you get a good quality of life or not.

Amir and Hassan

 When I see Amir and Hassan I get reminded of the relationship I have with my brother. I and my brother have a very tight bond you can say now. As kids, I would always get us both in trouble even if it was my idea. one time I and my brother threw rocks at some kid that pushed me. my brother got in trouble since he was older even though I told him to do it, my dad asked me if I did anything but I said it was all my brother's fault. Now that I think of it I only said his name since he was my dad's favorite child and that me telling on him or saying nothing was revenge in some way for me. Amir said ”Hassan would mumble, looking down at his feet. But he never told on me. Never told that the mirror, like shooting walnuts at the neighbor’s dog, was always my idea."(Hosseini 3). This reminded me of my brother and what I did, but it also made me realize that not "maning" up was my way of revenge. All in all The kite Runner should me how the reader can make meaning of anything of a text.