Yet again Amir character is full of countless surprises. At this point in the book he is back in Afghanistan, his homeland, searching for technically, his nephew (which he actually just found out about). The shocker is that Afghanistan is not as Amir knows it to be. Now through war it is as if a hurricane has devoured all the good while leaving people desperate, famished, with no water or food. The streets are pilled with children with no fathers, and Tabil’s, only ready to kill more. This as one can imagine is an ultra disaster in the mind of Amir, yet he seems to remain secure in himself and the new war torn afganistan.. At one point in chapter 20 where he finds out that his nephew has most likely been sold into the sex trade, he remains unreasonably calm. However Amir fellow Farid freaks onto the man who sold Amir nephew and begins to attack him, screaming, “ I’m killing him”. It is Amir who intervenes and stops Farid. Why does Amir stop Faird? Why would a person who was sneaky enough before to set up Hassan in order to get him kick out of the house, suddenly be so rational and calm?
I believe the answer to this question is that Amir’s guilt is driving him. The trip back to Afghanistan is a way to finally setting thing right with Hassan, and sending Amir’s guilt to the grave. In knowing this though; Amir character seems strange because I would suspect that he would be a little bit crazier. After seeing his old home, and seeing the ruins, after knowing what Hassan had to live through, one would think that Amir would have more guilt. I would expect this guild to drive him crazy and possibly drive him back into a moment of his old self. In his old self he would want to run away, just forget what has happened, and act cowardly as always. The fact that he is not acting this way and is remain calm and confident is surprising. I guess I am skeptical to believe that this surprise will last much longer. I would expect in the near future of the book for Amir’s old character to emerge at one point or another. The immense guilt that he has lived with for so long, has had too strong of a hold on Amir life for it to be dissolved that easily. I predict a struggle within Amir character, but maybe I will be surprised again, it seems it is hard to know with Amir and his surprising character.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Kara that is great insight to the chapters. But I must say that by Amir choosing to adopt Hassan’s son shows great character. Throughout the novel Amir’s ways have changed, he made a mistake as a child, and has been too hard on himself. He is finally given the chance to make a change, and this is when he goes to him homeland to fetch his nephew. His character has changed because he has matured as a person, and I don’t think he realized the extent of seriousness that affect Hassan. For someone that young it’s something quite new to them, finding it hard for them to deal with. Amir has proven himself to be a noble kind and driven man. He has been pushing so hard for this adoption and has even spent time away from home. You would think the old selfish Amir would leave his homeland and return to his love, but this is proven wrong. My appreciation for his change in character has drastically increased. He has gone through living hell to get Sohrab because he knew he owed it to Hassan. It is unfortunate he could not have proved it to Hassan, and that Hassan couldn’t live to see his only son. But you said you are expecting Amir to go to his old self, this I can not agree with because to me its not quite possible. Amir knows it is hell to live in guilt for his life, he knows what he did is wrong. But he has to move along; he has his own issues to overcome. Yes what he did was terrible and he will always remember it, but he has realized it and put in so much effort to make it better. Amir has grown as a person and I don’t see there being a possibility he would go back to his old-self with Sohrab in the picture, he’s betrayed someone once, he knows not to do it again.
Hey Kara!
I believe that I myself had difficulty making a response on Amir’s character at this point in the novel because it is so fluid that it may be difficult to understand the changes that are happening; so I applaud your charisma. I agree with you that his actions may have been driven by guilt but on the other spectrum of things, he was numb. Numb to the feelings he was having, trying to in a way separate himself from what is happening to his homeland, his family, and his world. Still undergoing the drastic changes he is unable to react. Not knowing exactly what so say demonstrates his lack of understanding. He has always had words to say and opinions to express with his remarkable writing talents, and yet he is silenced. Plucked from his newly founded family in America, he is bewildered unable to see the light at the end of that dark tunnel.
When you said: “It is Amir who intervenes and stops Farid. Why does Amir stop Faird? Why would a person who was sneaky enough before to set up Hassan in order to get him kick out of the house, suddenly be so rational and calm?” I would like to point out his reasoning. Page 269 Amir says this: “the children are watching, Farid. They’re watching”. I believe that the root of the majority of Amir’s passion are children. He has this unique weakness to them, unable to control his emotions around them, which is why he (after thorough thought) chooses to find his nephew, grasping his opportunity to recover what was lost; his best friend.
Post a Comment