Despite my doubts, the novel The Kite Runner turned out to be an amazingly good book. As a matter of fact, Khaled Hosseini’s novel proved to be one of the few books that has touched me. I am happy that I have read this fantastic novel, and I will always remember the friendship between Amir and Hassan.

Concerning the questions, I will try not to tell too much of the plot, if there are people who might want to read the novel later.

When reading the novel, the reader truly gets an insight into how hard it is to adapt to a new culture and country. After the Soviet invasion, the protagonist and his father immigrated to the US. As a consequence of moving to a new country, Amir and his father had to adapt to a new culture. The main character, who was very young when he came to the United States, did not have any problems with adapting to the different life.

In the United States, Amir went to collage and afterwards he became an author. However, his father, who had an important job in Afghanistan, had to work at a gas station in the States, just to stay alive. In a similar manner, it is not only Afghans in the US who has problems like this. For instance, here in Sweden we have the same problem. Surgeons, architects, engineers etc. do not have a chance to work with the things they are educated for.

However, they managed to keep traditions alive in the US. In my opinion, it is

because there were many other refugees from Afghanistan. When being a lot of people who share the same culture and traditions, it is easier to stay with it. After all, traditions characterizes people a lot, and I believe giving up traditions may be very difficult, and that is why many people seek out others with the same culture. That is why I think Amir’s father socialized with Afghans mostly.

The relationship between the protagonist and his father became increasingly better in the States. In my opinion, I think they managed to improve their relationship, because of not living in Afghanistan. In the United States Amir’s father had an opportunity to really focus on the father-and-son-relationship.

According to me, courage is when you do something you really fear. However, it does not have to mean that you are going to fight a lion or run into a burning house. Undoubtedly, it can also be courageous to tell the truth and admit that you have done something wrong. I truly believe that Amir is courageous. The protagonist says: ”I don’t want to forget anymore” (The Kite Runner, page 242). By admitting that he has done something wrong and are prepared to find redemption for his past is very courageous. Amir had a chance to forget the past and live on with his life, but he decided to conquer his biggest fear. Finally, Amir proofs himself to be a man who can stand up for himself, and also for others.

In the end, the book is much about taking responsibility for your actions, and finding redemption.

Second part (pages 102-207).

By reading The Kite Runner, the westerner truly gets an insight into the Afghan society. The Afghan class system consists primarily of two groups, a majority of the people are pashtun and a minority are hazara. The groups are characterized  by ethnic and religious differences, which creates a huge social gap between the citizens in Afghanistan. Amir is a Pashtun, which allows him education and material comfort. Unlike Amir, his best friend Hassan, is a hazara. By being a hazara, he is a second class citizen and born to serve the pashtuns. By letting only some people in a society have access to education, shows that there are great injustices. Hassan has to endure discrimination everyday for being a hazara.

In my opinion, there are  differences between the class systems in the 70’s Afghanistan and Sweden of today. There was no real industry in Afghanistan, with what we would call working class labourers, but instead most people were farmers or hearders. For people of hazara living in cities, the only option was to serve in pashtun families. This is the background of the story.

I belive, that injustice can work on many levels. On the "society-level”, we know that Hassan has the least of opportunities in life, since he can not rise from his present social level. He is discriminated in every way. But on the personal level, Hassan is lucky to have a pashtun friend, and through Amir’s family he has more privilgies than most hazaras. Instead, Amir has more priviliges by being a pashtun, but in one way the social pressure has a big role in his life. He does not have the courage to play with his friend among other children. In that way, he does not have that much of freedom. We dont know the consequences if you dont obey the social rules. For instance, we dont know what the religious authorities will do if social rules are not followed.

In the second part of the novel, you follow Amir  and his father’s journey to Pakistan, and then to their final destination, America. When coming to America, Amir and his father has to adjust to a new culture. After belonging to the Afghan upper class, in America they are now beloning to the working class.

The main character’s life is still marked by his lack of loyalty to his friend. But one day Amir gets a call from an old friend in Pakistan. When comming to Pakistan there is a quest for him. Amir knows that this quest is the only chance to find redemption, for what he had done to his best friend Hassan.

The novel has absolutley been interesting, but it is now, when it really gets excitning!

I'm reading "The kite runner", a novel by the author Khaled Hosseinin.

"I became what I am today at the age of twelve, on a frigid overcast day in the winter of 1975. I remember the precise moment, crouching behind a crumbling mud wall, peeking into the alley near the frozen creek". (The kite runner, page 1).

So begins the story of Amir, which starts with a flashback on his childhood in Afghanistan before he fled to the United States. In his flashbacks the reader is allowed to see how Amir's childhood shaped him into what he is today.

Amir is a boy living with his father in 1970's Afghanistan. He is a son of a wealthy Afghan man. The father, called "Baba", does not consider Amir as a real man, but a coward who does not stand up for himself. Because of trying to get  his father's approval and love, he becomes easily jealous.

You may not know much about Amir's appearance, but you understand that he looks like an ordinary Afghan boy.

One of the most fundamental relationships in the book is between Amir and his best friend Hassan. They grew up like brothers, but they could not be more different. Amir is a Sunni Muslim, a Pashtun. Hassan is a Sh'ia Muslim, a Hazara, and his father is a servant to Amir's father. Even though there are differences, Hassan's loyalty towards Amir is really indescribable. Because of the class system in the country, Amir is morally tested in his relationship with Hassan, but he fails.

One afternoon after the local kite-fighting tournament, Amir's lack of of courage to defend his friend from local bullies, changes the destiny of their friendship.

Another important realtionship in the book is between Amir and his father. The male protagonist knows that his father put the the blame on him because of his mother's death. The father's lack of love for his son makes Amir desperate to win his father's approval. However, he looks up to his dad, but he also feels abandoned. Their relationship really shows how a bad relationship between parents and children affects a person.

After reading the first third of the novel, I have high expectations! Because of the guilt and shame Amir has for what happened that afternoon, he has to find redemption. 

(I have read pages 1-102).