The Kite Runner: Accepting Mistakes You've Made

MAJOR SPOILER ALERT

I've been reading The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. I've never been a fan of books set in wartime, but I've wanted to read this since I discovered I wasn't allowed.  Five years later, I finally got around to it and I have to say, I love it.  The Kite Runner is about Amir, a rich boy growing up in Afghanistan. Amir would do anything for his father, and his Hazara servant and friend, Hassan, would do anything for Amir.  One day, Hassan is chasing after a fallen kite for Amir (more information on that here: http://www.afghana.com/Entertainment/Gudiparanbazi.htm) when he encounters a group of Hazara-hating boys (mainly Assef, the neighborhood bully) who assault and rape him.  Amir, while searching for Hassan, watches the scene from afar but is too afraid to do anything about it. Things sour between the two, and soon Hassan and his father leave the mansion.  Years later, when Russians invade, Amir and his father escape to America.  Amir gets married in America and his father dies from cancer.  Eventually, Amir's father's old friend, Rahim Khan, calls him with the enthusiastic promise that there is "a way to be good again". Amir travels to Pakistan, where he learns that Hassan married and had a son, Sohrab.  He and his wife are now dead, but their son is in an orphanage.  Amir also discovers that Hassan was his illegitimate half-brother. Amir is tricked into rescuing Sohrab and ends up in a bloody fight with Assef.  As far as I've read, Amir succeeded in rescuing Sohrab and is now recovering in a hospital in Islamabad.  Now that Sohrab is safe, Amir doesn't know what to do with him.  I've concluded that Amir and his father both make mistakes that haunt them for the rest of their lives, but the way they deal with them differs.  Although both characters make bad decisions, dealing with these mistakes are what help them to grow and mature.

As Amir's life goes on, he comes to understand that he has made an irreparable mistake.  By protecting Sohrab and living by Hassan's moral code, Amir can find closure and peace of mind.  I think that Amir goes through three stages throughout the book.  First, while he's still in Afghanistan, he refuses to admit that he did something wrong.  Assef later compares Amir to himself, and in this part of the book, you can see why: they're both acting selfish and cruel, but for different reasons: Assef acts out of racism and Amir acts out of fear.  Amir not only ignores Hassan's plight, he provokes him by hurling pomegranates at him and avoids Hassan whenever he wants to play.  Amir doesn't want to confront his responsibility to make things right, meaning that this is the part of the story where he's acting the most childish.  In the second stage, when Amir is in America, he avoids thinking about the subject but still feels remorseful about what he has done.  It's good that Amir admits to himself that what he did was wrong, but he is judging himself far too harshly without actually trying to make amends.  In this section, Amir is acting more mature, but still isn't ready to fix his mistake.  Lastly, Amir returns to Afghanistan.  At first, he's only saving Sohrab for Rahim Khan's sake, but as he searches, Amir realizes that standing up for Sohrab represents standing up for Hassan, and therefore he is able to find closure.  The way Amir dealt with his guilt made him a better person, and now, as an adult, he is stronger and at peace with himself.

Amir wasn't the only character dealing with guilt.  His father had to make a difficult choice--whether or not to accept his illegitimate son, Hassan, and face the consequences of his actions.  Because of society's mindset in Afghanistan in the 1970s, it wasn't realistic to expect Amir's father to admit that Hassan was truly his son.  I think he wanted to be able to treat his sons equally, but he valued his reputation in the community more than he valued an open father-son relationship with Hassan.  This is not purely a selfish decision; Amir's father's reputation allowed him to open an orphanage and do good in the community. Because Amir's father was such a benevolent person, he tried to repent for his mistake by doing general acts of heroism.  For example, when leaving Afghanistan, Amir's father couldn't bring Hassan with him to America.  In what I think is an unconscious attempt to counteract this with a good deed, Amir's father stands up to a Russian soldier, risking his life for a stranger in the process.  I think that Amir's father would like to believe that if he acts this way, maybe some stranger out there will be willing to risk his life for Hassan.  Amir's father's heart is in the right place, but once he made the decision to hide Hassan's true parentage from the world, he realized bringing the truth to light would do more harm than good.


Both Amir and his father learn to deal with their past mistakes throughout the book, Amir through acceptance and his father through attempting to be a paragon of moral rectitude.  Neither may be perfect, but in complicated situations like these, it's hard to find a perfect solution. One thing I haven't discussed though, is that I haven't finished the book!  It's hard to make a complete comparison between the two characters without finishing the book, but after thinking long and hard about it, I think I've done alright.  I assume Amir will take Sohrab home to live with him and his wife, which I think will turn out in one of two ways.  Either his wife will be mad and Sohrab will be traumatized and have a hard time adjusting, or they'll become a happy family together. If this were a realistic story, I'd bet on the first, but considering the commercial success of this book, it's probably more along the lines of the second.  Of course, that's just my thoughts as of now; it could go anywhere!

Self Censoring

            The article, “A Dirty Little Secret” by Debra Lau Whelan from School Library Journal discusses the issue of self censorship, a belief that’s taking over librarians across the country.  Censorship is when librarians suppress material deemed as inappropriate for children; self censorship is when librarians suppress material that they themselves disapprove of.  For example, a homophobic librarian purposely avoiding books with gay protagonists is self censoring.  Countless children have read these such books and found solace in their themes; when librarians ban them, they may be denying hundreds of children access to these life changing books.  Another point Whelan makes is that although some adults believe that children are all drooling idiots who would keep reading a book they hate or are confused by, some parents and teachers think that’s not the case.  In fact, they believe that children are actually capable of choosing what material is appropriate for them, deeming censorship useless.

            Whelan is trying to express how censoring has come to mean something different to everyone, which has led to books being hidden from the public for ridiculous reasons.  And it’s not just the right-wing conservatives that are lobbying for self censoring.  “Politically correct lefties” are challenging authors, too.  The article describes how Rachel Vail’s book about children’s nightmares was banned because librarians thought children might develop nightmares from the book.  Nationally beloved books are being criticized, too.  Judy Blume’s Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing was criticized for a scene with a dead turtle.  A mom commented, “Don’t you know that reptiles have feelings, and reptiles feel fear?”  Too many people have the power to censor in their own way, and sometimes good books are removed from shelves because of it.

            I think that self censoring has gone too far, so far that it’s become a personal matter, different for each librarian.  I think that children should have the power to choose what they can read, because they know what’s right for them.  I tried to read Sold in sixth grade, but it was too intense for me so I put it down.  There was no debate or discussion, and another student in my class might have been able to read it just fine.  What matters is that my teacher put the book out and let us decide for ourselves if it was on our level.  If more librarians were unbiased, self censorship wouldn’t be a problem, but because many rely on their own opinions when choosing books, it has become a matter that we need to address.  Good books are being taken off shelves because librarians don’t agree with the subject matter, and that needs to change.

Legend: The New Hunger Games? #5

spoiler alert  !

I started this book with no intention of liking or finishing it.  I just had nothing to read at the time and I decided that Legend by Marie Lu would suffice for the moment.  I couldn't put it down and finished it two days later.  It's set in a future in which America is split into two sides in a war, the Republic and the Colonies.  Day is the Republic's most wanted criminal from the poor side of town and June is a rich young detective for the Republic military.  They are both fifteen years old and extremely smart.  They are pitted against each other by the Republic, but eventually become allies to fight against the corrupt government.

Like The Hunger Games, Legend involves a corrupt government, a normal person who beats the system and gathers a following they don't know about, brushes with death, a fight for the girl, and a cliffhanger ending.  The plot is addictive and involves plenty of sharp turns to keep you reading, but not so many that you lose track.  I actually liked this more than The Hunger Games because there's an element of mystery to it.  There's hacking of government files, a crime scene investigation, backstabbing "friends", and a hidden message from a dead man.  I also really enjoy corrupt government stories way more than I should (Little Brother, Cory Doctorow).  I think Legend's corrupt government was more realistic than The Hunger Games' corrupt government.  I feel like if a government is going to be corrupt, they wouldn't kill people off publicly, rather, they'd try a little harder to fool its citizens into trusting them (a.k.a., invent "plagues" that only hit the poor side of town and kill off anybody who suspects it).  In general, I'd suggest Legend to anybody who likes The Hunger Games but also those who don't.

The Apothecary: (Rare) Realistic Historical Fiction #4

After reading I am the Messenger, I didn't want to go back to reading 3 star fiction from the class library as usual.  So I dug through the piles of uncorrected proofs and damaged library books sitting around the house... and I found The Apothecary.  I don't generally like historical fiction, but this feels somehow more real.  There's even a letter from the main character, Janie at the beginning explaining how she found her diary and wrote a story from it.  Although it includes a song that was written almost 20 years after the book takes place, every detail and emotion seems straight from the mind of a fourteen year old girl in 1952.  It focuses mainly on her day to day life, like what happened in Latin class or the cute boy whose father runs an Apothecary.  But there's a looming shadow of the Cold War in every corner of her life.  Janie's family moved because they were being followed by the government, and kids are taught bomb drills at school.

I'm only on Chapter 6, so I have no idea what the plot is going to be.  I do know that this boy Benjamin and his father are going to be important, as they run the namesake of the book.  At some point Janie and Benjamin are going to be separated, there may be something magical involved, and something is going to make Jamie forget about it all. The cover shows the Tower Bridge and the Tower of London in a glass bottle.  There are two birds inside the bottle, both the size of the buildings, separately.  A much larger bird is perched at the neck of the bottle.  This might represent freedom from London, which Janie doesn't really love, or that London and freedom are in the bottle as a medicine to help her.  In America, Janie and her family were being followed because they were Communists.  In London, there's freedom from the judgmental American government, but it's a shockingly different place from L.A., so it might turn out to help or hurt Janie.

Around the World (a Well-Written Graphic Novel) #3

I know what you're thinking: a graphic novel for elementary school kids can't be all that interesting.  It was quite educational and was chock- full of biographical information about a bicyclist, a journalist, and a sailor.  However, there was also some insight as to why these people traveled where they did.


Thomas Stevens broke the routine and simplicity of his life as a miner to bicycle (on a big-front-wheeled one) through new and exciting places.  His story really is the most like a fairy tale; people all over the world invited him into their homes, fed him, told him stories, gave him directions, and gave him their companionship.  His days of working in coal mines were over, thanks to the generous pay for stories of his adventures


Nelly Bly dissolved barriers when she took her trip around the world as a reporter.  She definitely did it via any mode of transportation she could manage including trains, boats, carriages, and horses. 


On his tour around the world, Joshua Slocum looked for closure after his wife died, and traveled by sailboat.  He visited his wife's grave, but didn't seem to find what he was looking for.


All three travelers were inspired by Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days.  

I Am The Messenger #2

Currently, I'm reading I Am The Messenger by Marcus Zusak- author of the more popular The Book Thief.  Although this book is much lesser known, I think it's amazing- interesting and different, but beautiful and poetic at the same time.  Ed Kennedy is an underage cabdriver in Australia living on the poor side of town.  After accidentally thwarting a bank robbery, he begins to get aces in the mail giving him clues about people.  He then must help these people, and along the way, he helps himself and the world.

At the beginning of the book, Ed thinks of himself as just another loser in a town where succeeding takes something special.  At one point, after a friends seems him, she says, "Oh... it's just Ed" That really does describe him at the beginning; Ed is Just Ed, not his law school brother Tommy or anybody who can accomplish anything.  He drives a taxi in circles around town during the day, spends nights with his dog, Doorman, eating frozen pies, playing the odd card game, and doing chores for his mother.  Nothing is at all special about Ed, at least until he starts to see himself from other people's points of view.  They don't need to know he's a failure, they only need to know that he cared enough to read to an old woman and share Christmas dinner with her.

As cards go by and Ed's been called a saint multiple times, he starts to believe it.  Every time he fixes something in someone else, he feels a deeper sense of purpose.  Ed realizes that everyone's in the world for a reason, and he's found his: Delivering messages to people who need them.  But in the end, Ed realizes he's greater than just being a carrier- he is the message.  Ed Kennedy has the gift of knowing exactly what people need, and so many people are helped by that that Ed is now better than anything he ever dreamed of becoming.  But can everyone help the world just a little more?  Is Ed really a saint, or just another stupid human?

King Arthur and His Knights- a Slightly Dramatic Retell #1

Since I am reading King Arthur and His Knights and it's definitely above my level (medieval language), I have decided to retell the story so far in order to help me understand it.  Some of the story lines overlap and interweave, so I'll talk about the story line I'm in right now.  But first, an excerpt (the death of Queen Elizabeth of Lyonesse).  This is for the reader to understand the difficulty of the book for me...

"When ye see my lord, King Meliodas, commend me to him," she said to her gentlewoman, "and tell him what I have endured here for his love, and how I must die here for his sake, with none to help me.  And let him know that I am full sorry to depart out of this world from him, therefore pray him not to forget me.  Now let me see my little child, for whom I have had all this sorrow."  And when she saw him, she said in tender jesting, "Ah, my little son, thou hast killed thy mother, and therefore I suppose thou that art a murderer so young, thou art full likely to be a manly man in thine age." Then she charged the gentlewoman that she should beseech King Meliodas to call the child "Tristram," -that is as much as to say "born in sorrow."

And with that, this Queen died.

Let's backtrack a little.  King Melodias (of Lyonesse) has just gone hunting.  He was kidnapped by enchantment by the woman who had wanted to marry him once.  His very pregnant wife, Queen Elizabeth, went into the forest to find him with a servant.  She wouldn't leave the forest until her husband was found, so she had her baby there and died soon after.  But first, she told her servant to name the baby Tristram (born in sorrow).

After the King defeats his kidnappers, he hears that his wife is dead and mourns.  When Tristram is older, he is sent to France to learn fencing, jousting, and hawking (a medieval royal sport).  He grows up.  At one point, he is in a fight to win a beautiful lady.  He wins, but was smote (hit very hard) with a poisoned sword.  Part of his sword had also broken off mid-smote and lodged in his Irish opponent's skull, or brainpan.  They go their separate ways.  The Irish man is able to be healed, but Tristram is not, so he is taken to Ireland because it's where the poison came from.  He stays at the King and Queen's palace under the pseudonym, 'Tramtrist'.  So creative.  Anyway, he is only discovered as Tristram when the Queen finds the tip missing from his sword.  She matches it to the piece previously lodged in her son's head, and realizes she's been hosting the enemy.  In the meantime, Tristram and Iseult (The Irish King and Queen's daughter) fall in love (despite the beautiful lady that Tristram won over earlier)

When Tristram is healed, he stays with his uncle who's more like a roommate.  They become friendly rivals.  They uncle (King Mark) decides the ultimate finisher is ordering Tristram to fetch Iseult from Ireland so Mark can marry her.  Tristram agrees.  The queen gives Iseult's servant a potion for her and Mark to take so they'll be in love forever.  On the ship back, Tristram and Iseult mistake it for wine and drink it, causing them to fall very deeply in love