The Kite Runner: March 2012

Wednesday, 21 March 2012

Chapter 1

The first chapter of the Kite Runner is full of foreshadowing and information to get the readers already wondering what the novel contains, even if it is not even two pages long. It does not give away any specific actions, but as someone going back after reading the entire book, it is obvious that Amir is bringing up past evil actions. In the first paragraph he describes the life-changing event when he was twelve peeking behind an alley wall. Unless readers have read this book before, they have no idea that it was referring to Amir watching his half-brother get raped. These memories are brought on by a call from Rahim Khan, after telling Amir he “can be good again”. There are no acts of evil in this chapter, just foreshadowing and hints of the evil to come.

Chapter 2

There is a great amount of human evil in the second chapter. The human evil is mainly directed to Ali and Hassan since they are Hazara’s. Both the father and son get bullied for it where ever they go. On the way to the movies a few soldiers tease Hassan and convince him that one of the men had sex with his mother. This is a fully-grown man bullying a mere child. Soon after that the exact opposite is described when young children mock Ali in the street because of his hobble. All this bullying is prejudice towards the Hazara’s and is completely unfair. They call Ali things such as “Babalu” and “flat-nosed”. He hobbles around because he lost his leg was taken from him because of polio. Disease is evil in itself because of all the pain and heart break it causes, it’s an example of onological evil. Some thing that was not necessarily and evil act was the fact that Amir and Hassan never had mothers. They were both stolen the right to have the loving touch from their own mother.

Chapter 3

This chapter consists selfishness. When Baba told Amir to invite Hassan to Ghargha Lake he, “lied and told him Hassan had the runs. I wanted Bab all to myself” (p. 14). It is not a crime to want to spend time with one’s father, but Amir always wants his own way, and is willing to lie and leave his best friend behind to achieve what ever he wants. He continues to be selfish throughout most of the novel. There is a section of this chapter when Baba is being selfish because Amir was not turning out as he wished. He complained to Rahim Khan about if he did not see Amir come right from his wife, he would not believe he was his child. Instead of being happy about Amir’s love for reading and his own personality, he complains about how he is different. Baba is one of the most selfless characters in the book, however this was a very selfish moment. He defines sin to Amir as any type of stealing. Whether it is taking a loaf of bread or taking another man’s life, it is stealing and that is a sin.

Chapter 4

Chapter four does not demonstrate many specific examples of evil except right at the ending where a truly evil side of Amir comes out. Hassan asks a question about Amir’s story and a cold voice said, “What does he know, that illiterate Hazara? He’ll never be anything but a cook. How dare he criticize you?” (p.37). This voice was obviously in his head and was a dark thought of his own. This is yet another example of his selfishness. He referred to his childhood friend as a Hazara, which is degrading and rude to someone he was supposed to be close with. He also calls him illiterate and said all he ever has to potential to be is a cook; these are all extremely rude and unnecessary comments just because Hassan asked a simple question. The reason he woke Hassan up in the first place was so he could get more positive feedback on his story just to feed his own ego. He was over confident of his story after what Rahim Khan had said, so he took the opportunity to soak it up even more and when that did not work out for him, his dark side appeared.

Chapter 5

Within chapter 5 of The Kite Runner there are three significant examples of evil. The first event is when Amir recalls a time when he watched as “Assef’s blue eyes glinted with a light not entirely sane and how he grinned, how he grinned, as he pummeled that poor kid unconscious.” (41) Assef is committing Blumenthal’s definition of moral human evil as he is seen intentionally inflicting pain on another human being and according to Amir; he seemed to get pleasure from this action. Assef’s view on Adolf Hitler is the next example of evil in the novel. Assef believed he was “A great leader. A man with vision. Ill tell Daoud Khan to remember that is they had let Hitler finish what he started, the world would be a better place now.” (43) Assef is siding with one of the most disgusting men in the world and supporting the unbelievably cruel things that he did to innocent Jewish people. The final act of evil and racism come from Assef when he declares that Pashtuns are the pure Afghans and that his vision is to rid the land of the “flat nosed” Hazara’s like Hassan.

Chapter 6

In chapter 6, Hassan is revealed as a loyal individual when he claims that he would eat dirt before he would lie to Amir. Amir taunts him and questions if he would eat dirt if he told him to. (57) This is Amir’s way of belittling Hassan and looking down upon him. In this case, Amir is treating Hassan poorly because he is trying to make himself feel superior and show power over Hassan. Amir is Hassan’s good friend however Amir appears to be jealous of him because of Hassan’s close relationship with Baba. The jealousy is what sparks this need for Amir to constantly knock Hassan down and torture him like he did in this scenario. This is an act of evil because Amir is purposely taunting and bullying Hassan, which is inflicting emotional pain upon another being which relates directly to Blumenthal’s definition of moral evil.

Chapter 7

In chapter 7 of the novel, one of the most disturbing acts of moral evil is committed when Assef rapes Hassan in the back alley. Assef is committing an extreme act of moral evil because he shows no remorse when he is inflicting physical and emotional pain upon Hassan. Another act of evil occurred when Amir witnessed the rape of Hassan and remained silent. Amir does not help him when he is in an extremely vulnerable state. As both Amir and Assef’s friends remain silent throughout the rape this can be connected to the murder of Catherine Susan Genovese, which was studied in class. The murder of Genovese had 38 silent witnesses who all had the potential to help her and possibly save her life. Amir or Assef’s friends were all silent witnesses and had the opportunity to put a stop to the rape and help save Hassan.

Chapter 8

In chapter 8, Amir is dealing with the remorse of witnessing his friend’s rape and not taking action to help him when he had the opportunity. When doing this he is taking it out on Hassan even though Hassan should not have to pay for Amir’s actions, or lack there of. Amir is frustrated at the fact that Hassan is in a sense too nice to him, when he feels as though he doesn’t deserve his kindness after what he allowed Hassan to suffer through. As Amir’s frustration continues he tries pushing Hassan to his limit when he throws a pomegranate at him. He continues to throw them at him in hopes that he would throw one back at him. In frustration, Amir calls Hassan a coward. Hassan doesn’t retaliate, rather he picks up one of the pomegranates and crushes it against his face and proceeds to ask Amir if he is happy now. Amir is left feeling more frustrated and remorseful, as he cannot believe how loyal Hassan is as a friend when Amir is feeling undeserving of his loyalty.

Chapter 9

Chapter, Amir finally admits himself to be a liar, thief and cheater. He receives piles of gifts for his birthday, yet he doesn’t care because his guilt has taken over him. He did nothing when Hassan lied for him and told Baba that he took the watch from Amir. This shows just another instance of how Amir could have stepped up and done the right thing. Instead, he chose to be a bystander yet again and watch Hassan be punished again. This clearly illustrates his terrible loyalty to his best friend. Ali considered Amir’s acts so extreme that him and Hassan decided to leave their home, even after Baba fell to his knees and begged them to stay.

Chapter 10

The rafiqs have taken over Kabul. Baba and Amir left their whole life behind to set off for a better one in America. The rafiqs, who are like soldiers have made Kabul an awful place and destroyed all the bonds they ever had between the villagers. Neighbours were no longer loyal to other neighbours, nor friends to other friends. Young school children were taught to spy on their parents so that they can report to the rafiqs. This is a clear symbol of oppression and manipulation on the people of Kabul. Later on in the chapter, on their escape from Kabul, they run into a soldier blocking the road. The only way he’d left the truck by, was if he got half an hour with the only lady on the truck. Baba began choking him, with the intentions of killing him. The soldiers words when he was asked where his shame was, were “there’s no shame in war.” Realistically, there is all shame in war. It’s morally wrong. It violated many morals including that of killing, treachery and lying. Not forgetting about the shame in raping an innocent woman for selfish pleasure.

Chapter 11

This chapter consists of a false racist assumption. Once Amir and Baba get somewhat settled in America, Amir became much more adjusted than Baba over the short amount of time. When the store owner, Mr. Nguyen, a Vietnamese man asked Baba for ID, Baba threw a fit, caused damage and accused Mr. Nguyen of being a racist. They had been buying from his shop for years. Another source of evil occurred when Amir talked about the Russian soldiers marching into Afghanistan and burning villages and destroying schools. This is a clear example of moral evil. There is nothing alright with killing innocent people and destroying their home.

Chapter 12

Another example of moral evil is shown when Amir and Soraya are talking in the market. Soraya talks about herself teaching a little girl to write and Amir reflects on how he used to use his literacy to make fun of Hassan, teasing him about words he didn’t know. The issue of race comes up again when Baba must go to the doctor. The doctor turns out to be Russian and Baba throws a fit, making an over generalization about Russians and accusing their people of taking over Afghanistan.

Chapter 13

Chapter 13 is the wedding scene and it is one of the happiest chapters in the novel. It
contrasts the rest of the book because the rest has some sort of evil component. The
only somewhat evi act is that of oppression when Amir discusses that a condition of the
marriage between the general and his wife and was that his wife could no longer sing.

Chapter 14

Within this chapter, Amir receives a call from Rahim Khan. Amir is told that he is sick
and that he should come to Pakistan to visit him and because Amir had been so close to Rahim, he agrees. As Amir begins to think about Rahim, he uncovers a thought, an "unspoken secret between" (130) them. Amir knows that Rahim had always known what had happened to Hassan, he just never said anything about it. Before Rahim Khan hung up on Amir, he told him that there was "a way to be good again" and that is exactly what Amir wanted. That was all Amir needed to hear, Amir has been feeling guilty about what he had let happen to Hassan, and even worse that he never told anybody about it. Jacob Neusner, who wrote about Evil & Suffering writes that some people avoid suffering, and in a way that is exactly what Amir did, avoided the truth of how Hassan suffered, so that he wouldn't suffer the guilt. But now it's time to stop hiding from the truth, Amir packed his things in preparation to go to Pakistan, to visit the one person who had always known.

Chapter 15

This chapter takes place in Pakistan when Amir goes to visit Rahim Khan. Rahim begins
to tell Amir how bad the Taliban is, how they "don't let you be human" (133). The Taliban are
the main source of "moral evil" throughout The Kite Runner, because of the fact that they
understand what they're doing is wrong, but they continuously do it anyway. "Moral evil" is
when “an intelligent being knowingly and deliberately inflicts suffering upon another sentient
being” (Russell 1989) This is exactly what the Taliban are, as they are aware that the suffering
and pain they are causing to the people of Pakistan is wrong, but they do it anyway, in an attempt to be the most powerful. Amir learns that the Taliban are the ones who destroyed his father's orphanage, they had ruined the entire place even with children still inside. The Taliban are known to the town as "peace makers" even though they're the ones who cause the most mischief, even though they cause the most destruction. The definition of terror is "a person or thing that causes terror", which can be linked towards the Taliban, as everyone in the town fears them when they come near. The idea that terrorism is caused by the Taliban because they continuously act in startling the people in town over an extended period of time.

The Taliban

Chapter 16

Rahim Khan begs Amir to listen to what he has to say about Hassan, he speaks of how his life has been and what he's been doing with his life. Amir learns that Hassan got married to a beautiful women and had a son, which they named Sohrab. The evil that takes place in this chapter is the war that was so fierce that "no one knew if they would live to see the end of the day" (143). The "raging war" (140) became so familiar that their "ears became accustomed to the whistle of falling shells" (142) and to the "rumble of gunfire" (142). Rahim Khan tells Amir that Hassan has taught his boy to run kites, but the Taliban comes and ruins it by banning kite running. Rahim assures Hassan that the war is over, "no more killing, no more funerals" (144) but two years later, the Taliban began massacring all the Hazaras in Mazar. Lectures provide the understanding that "Evil is doing acts which inflict violence, physical or emotional, upon another; or which tolerate violent acts done to another." Blumenthal (2007) This evil describes the war that takes place, as everyone participating in the war are only doing so to inflict pain, especially on the Hazaras.

The War in Pakistan

Chapter 17

The major part of evil within these chapters must be when Hassan was shot in the back of the head for living where he did. The Taliban claimed that Hassan was lying when he said he lived with Rahim Khan, even though many neighbours knew it was the truth. Hassan protested in leaving because that was his home, his place that he was supposed to keep safe until Rahim Khan returned. The Taliban came and took him into the street, made him kneel and shot him in the back of the head. When his wife, Farzana came out screaming, they shot her too. This definitely refers to the Oxford Dictionary definition of evil because the Taliban "did or intended to do harm, mischievous, or prejudicial". Mainly, the reason the Taliban did not believe Hassan is because of what kind of person he is, Hazaras were all killed, and because the Taliban did not believe one of them could live in that big beautiful house, they killed him.

The neighbours, people in town and others knew the truth about Hassan living in that
house though, and nobody came forward. "Most of it was fear of the Taliban" (232) and that is why none of them spoke a word about it, because they feared what would happen to them if they did. That's the worst cowardly behaviour that anyone could ever witness, letting someone take the punishment for something that they didn't do. None of the people came forward because they did not want to risk anything, especially for a pair of Hazara servants. This is moral evil, because the people in the neighbourhood knew that not confessing the truth was wrong, but the fear inside them allowed them to choose wrong morally, leaving a sad fate for Hassan and his wife, death.

Rahim Khan has just told Amir that Hassan is his brother, because Ali was sterile and
could not produce children. Amir is extremely upset at this because he feels as though his whole life has been one big lie that no one had the right to tell him about. He is ashamed and angry. Hannah Arendt says that "evil is the absence of rights" and in this case, Amir was not given the right to know about Hassan being his brother, so does that mean Ali and Baba are evil for keeping the truth from him? In that sense they are. Especially because Baba always told Amir, that when you lie, "you are robbing someone of the truth" and stealing is the biggest sin of all. And by keeping the truth from Amir, they robbed him of the truth in knowing that Hassan was his brother all these years.

Brothers

Chapter 18

In chapter 18 of the novel ‘The Kite Runner’, there is one significant example
of evil. It occurs on page 237 of the novel. It is here where Amir finds out the truth
about Hassan’s identity. He finds out that Hassan was really his half-brother. The
evil comes into play when Amir realizes that his own father had committed an act
of evil by lying about Hassan’s identity all this time. For Amir, Baba had committed
the ultimate sin, theft. He had stolen from Amir his half-brother. He had stolen from
Hassan the truth about his identity and his roots. Amir also feels that Baba had
stolen Ali’s honour by keeping the fact that Hassan was his son a secret.

Chapter 19

In chapter 19 an example of evil can be found on page 252. It is here where
Amir has a dreadful dream; he is the soldier that shot and killed Hassan on the
street. This can be viewed as survivor guilt. Amir and Baba had left for America,
while Ali and Hassan had to endure to hardships of living in Afghanistan during
those terrible times. The fact that Amir had survived and Hassan did not, troubled
Amir, for there were many things that happened to Hassan that Amir could have
prevented, his rape being the most significant of them all.

Chapter 20

In chapter 20, there were two significant instances where evil was evident in
the novel. The first example of evil was on page 256. Here Farid disclosed to Amir
that his friend and his family were murdered and their village had been burned
down. This ties in with Blumenthal’s definition of moral evil. What was done to
Farid’s friend and his family was inhumane and immoral and should have been
stopped. On page 268, Amir finds out that the orphanage he went to looking for
Sohrab was selling orphans. The owner tried to justify this by saying that he had
no other way of feeding and sheltering the other orphans. Money was tight and he
found a way out of it; it just so happens that that way was the sell orphans to the
Taliban. This is evil since the owner is allowing the Taliban to come and choose an
orphan to take with them. Event though, this is feeding the other children, it is not
right. There must have been other ways to survive rather than sell the very children
he once tried to save by taking them into his orphanage.

Chapter 21

In chapter 21 of the novel, two examples of evil stand out to the reader. On
page 271 in the novel, Amir came across a corpse near a restaurant. It was just left there to rot with everyone not even bothering to give it a second thought or glance. This is an example of a bystander. According to week two’s lecture and Barbara Coloroso, a bystander or bystanders are the “supporting cast” of the evil. Amir, not having done anything for the corpse, was a bystander in this example and can be seen as having committed a kind of evil. On page 283, the reader reads about the stoning of the adulterers at the soccer game in Afghanistan. This is an example of evil, but how the people of Afghanistan saw it was that suffering comes from God, as we learned in week eight. Them being adulterers was sinful and must be punished by God. This does not mean that one should send them to God for their punishment, it simply means that one should leave it up to God to punish them, if they have indeed committed sins. The fact that they did not do that, took things into their own hands and publicly murdered the adulterers was sinful and evil.

Chapter 22

When Amir arrives at the house of the unnamed man so far, he is shocked to find out that the show at the stadium was not the only atrocious public display of power that the Taliban uses to keep bystanders in order. He learns that Assef is the one behind the Taliban, and that he believes he is liberating the people. He believes he has chosen rightness, just like George Bush in the Riswold reading. “You don't know the meaning of the word 'liberating' until you've done that, stood in a roomful of targets, let the bullets fly, free of guilt and remorse, knowing you are virtuous, good and decent. Knowing you're doing God's work.” (The Kite Runner, 187). After the discussion about who is right or wrong, Assef says to Amir to take the boy, but as soon as they are about the leave the room, Assef states that he is allowed to take the boy, but not without a price. The price turns out to be that Amir and Assef fight. In the end, Sohrab saves Amir in the exact same way that Hassan did when they were children fighting Assef. Sohrab pleads for Assef to stop beating up Amir, and when Assef lunges at Sohrab, he fires a brass ball into the eye socket of Assef. The two flee from the household and it ends with Amir passing out in the car with Farid and Sohrab

Chapter 23

After the fight with his old foe, Amir awakens at the hospital in very bad shape. Among the injuries listed he has a ruptured spleen, several broken ribs, a punctured lung, broken teeth, and a cut on the middle of his lip- which happens to remind him of Hassan's hare lip and the scar that surgery left. Farid informs Amir that Rahim Khan, the old family friend has disappeared and left a note and key to Amir. Rahim Khan informs Amir that he knows about the actions he committed against Hassan and his father to have left his household when they were still children. “What you did was wrong, Amir jan, but do not forget that you were a boy when it happened. A troubled little boy. You were too hard on yourself then, and you still are- I saw it in your eyes in Peshawar. But I hope you will heed this: A man who has no conscience, no goodness, does not suffer. I hope your suffering comes to an end with this journey to Afghanistan.” (The Kite Runner, 203). This is the recognition of sin and the possibility of redemption in Amir's life.

Chapter 24

After leaving for a better province, Amir wakes up to an empty bed and Sohrab gone. He frantically starts searching for him, and it eventually leads him to a mosque. Amir strikes up a conversation with Sohrab and possibility of going to hell for his actions is brought up. This is interesting because they way he was brought up was to never harm anyone, even people doing bad things. Hell is the punishment for commiting a sin, so it is fitting that according to Sohrab he thinks he is going to hell for his actions which he perceived as wrong. One prevalent theme in the chapter is perseverance. On many occasions in his quest to start adopting Sohrab into his own home, Amir is told to give up because it will be near impossible. He tells Sohrab that the best option is to put him in a home again and go from there, Sohrab protests but is not listened to by Amir. Amir falls asleep, and wakes up when he receives a call from his wife saying that there is a better way to go about the adoption which would mean that Sohrab doesn't have to go back into an orphanage. By this time Sohrab is jumping up and down and starts looking for Sohrab, whom he eventually finds in the bathtub. Because of Amir's revelation earlier he tries to commit suicide, and that is how Amir finds him, near lifeless in the tub full of water.

Chapter 25

This is final chapter in the book The Kite Runner, but it is critical to summarize it to wrap up the book and end on a positive note. This is the chapter where Sohrab starts a new chapter in his life with Amir. Last chapter left of where Amir discovered Sohrab's body in the tub. This is also where Amir starts to turn around as well, after 15 years of not praying, he prays frantically and fervently for Sohrab's recovery. It ends up that Sohrab surrenders to Amir and takes him to America. Soon after the 9/11 attacks in New York happen, and the American flag is seen to be flown everywhere, which can bring the theme of patriotism and the feeling of pride and rebuilding. This can be related to Bush's claimed rightness in relation to “You are either with us, or you are with the terrorists”. Although not directly stated in the book, it can be tied to that theme. The book ends on a positive note that starts at a New Year's celebration. Sohrab gains interest when Amir starts flying a kite and telling Sohrab that his father was the best kite runner in the competitions that were held when they were children. After a challenger appears in the sky, Sohrab hands the kite back to Amir to fend it off. He wins against the green kite and proceeds to run the kite down for Sohrab. Amir mentions an accurate comparison about seeing the first snowflake of many melting in regards to Sohrab.