"One can forgive but one should never forget."
The above quote is from the introduction of Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi. As true as it is, the context in which she uses it is in the respect of remembering one's homeland, the people who have fought and died for it, the place that defines you. In that respect, lies the aspect of family. Throughout "The Story of a Childhood" we see that family plays a very important role, one that I was actually impressed by. I found it intriguing that everytime Marjane had a new thought or idea about who she wanted be her family was right there to back her up, to inspire her, to correct her, to inform and teach her. While some may consider that being the whole point of having a family I think it is a common misconception of the Iranian culture that just because people may come from Iran (or Iraq even given our current warefare) that people do not stem from loving and safe families. I think that some people may think they don't have families because of the assumption that everyone from the Middle East nowadays is out to get us. But what I got from Marjane's story and her relationship with her parents is that all the trials and tribulations her family has gone through in order to give her the life she has, be it in Iran or elsewhere. I think it is important that we all find a little piece ourselves to identify with within the arena of Marjane's family, within her life in Iran in order to take away what we should from this piece. So as the quote says, taken in a different context, one should always forgive (your family) for their possible short comings, their faults and mistakes, their efforts and strife to make a better life for their children. ..but one should never, ever, ever forget the road they have taken to get there.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Luck of the Wind.
Chapters 15-End
I suppose I could chalk it up to human nature...the memory. Without memory there would be no guilt, there would be no sadness, no sublte smiles of remembering happiness; there would be no past. Unfortunately for Amir, his journey back to Afghanistan is a flood of memories that he cannot control, and perhaps for the best that he deals with them- better late than never. Through the coming pages, I came to the conclusion that Hassan had allowed himself to move on from his scarring and wreckage of a childhood. Hassan had become the better man we all knew he would probably become because in nearly every aspect he was always the better one. While in a way, I feel as if he was just weak due to his status, but the emotional triggers of that kind of friendship and untainted love trump those feelings of weakness. Through Hassan's letters to Amir we are once again reminded of the person Amir is not, that his 'lesser', his brother, is/was. Hassan's letters were forgiving and saving, triumphant and strong, proud and proven, telling. Amir learns of Hassan's life, his wife and child...and eventually his death. The death that comes as an end, an unforgiven end.
I don't think Amir was prepared for the Afghanistan he returned to- then again, I don't really know if one could ever fully prepare themselves for their homeland being demolished and ruined. But I think it speaks to the aspect of comittment that Amir finally owned up to towards the end, in determined to find Sohrab, his nephew, his only blood left. The lengths he goes to and the people he tracks down and listens to (the guy about his mom...just to get the tiniest of information about her, still more than Baba ever told him), and resulting in the fight of life against Assef, the one that selective karma brought back to him, the fight he should have had when he was 12 against the same man who stripped Hassan of his dignity and boyhood. And yet, just like Hassan always came to the rescue of Amir, Sohrab comes to the rescue of Amir in the same way with the slingshot. Damaging Assefs eye, damaging his vision on the world, damaging the empire he thought he built for himself in perpetually harming other people.
While in the end Soraya and Amir do not get the son of their California dreams, I think what they end up with is much more than they expected. Sohrab's silence is not to hurt them, but instead how he heals and deals with all to simliar issues that Amir faced when he was the same age. In a way, I suppose history repeated itself yet in a far worse circumstance of growing up. At least Amir knew what Afghanistan was like when it was good. Sohrab never knew the good, never knew the fun, the childhood. Hassan tried to give him what he never had and ultimately, Amir is a changed man, a freed man from all his chains and retraints because he finally, finally, finally steps up, like Baba wanted all along, and takes responsiblity for what is his. He knows he can give Sohrab the life he deserves, a living second chance of the best friend and brother he betrayed.
If all of us could be so lucky.
I suppose I could chalk it up to human nature...the memory. Without memory there would be no guilt, there would be no sadness, no sublte smiles of remembering happiness; there would be no past. Unfortunately for Amir, his journey back to Afghanistan is a flood of memories that he cannot control, and perhaps for the best that he deals with them- better late than never. Through the coming pages, I came to the conclusion that Hassan had allowed himself to move on from his scarring and wreckage of a childhood. Hassan had become the better man we all knew he would probably become because in nearly every aspect he was always the better one. While in a way, I feel as if he was just weak due to his status, but the emotional triggers of that kind of friendship and untainted love trump those feelings of weakness. Through Hassan's letters to Amir we are once again reminded of the person Amir is not, that his 'lesser', his brother, is/was. Hassan's letters were forgiving and saving, triumphant and strong, proud and proven, telling. Amir learns of Hassan's life, his wife and child...and eventually his death. The death that comes as an end, an unforgiven end.
I don't think Amir was prepared for the Afghanistan he returned to- then again, I don't really know if one could ever fully prepare themselves for their homeland being demolished and ruined. But I think it speaks to the aspect of comittment that Amir finally owned up to towards the end, in determined to find Sohrab, his nephew, his only blood left. The lengths he goes to and the people he tracks down and listens to (the guy about his mom...just to get the tiniest of information about her, still more than Baba ever told him), and resulting in the fight of life against Assef, the one that selective karma brought back to him, the fight he should have had when he was 12 against the same man who stripped Hassan of his dignity and boyhood. And yet, just like Hassan always came to the rescue of Amir, Sohrab comes to the rescue of Amir in the same way with the slingshot. Damaging Assefs eye, damaging his vision on the world, damaging the empire he thought he built for himself in perpetually harming other people.
While in the end Soraya and Amir do not get the son of their California dreams, I think what they end up with is much more than they expected. Sohrab's silence is not to hurt them, but instead how he heals and deals with all to simliar issues that Amir faced when he was the same age. In a way, I suppose history repeated itself yet in a far worse circumstance of growing up. At least Amir knew what Afghanistan was like when it was good. Sohrab never knew the good, never knew the fun, the childhood. Hassan tried to give him what he never had and ultimately, Amir is a changed man, a freed man from all his chains and retraints because he finally, finally, finally steps up, like Baba wanted all along, and takes responsiblity for what is his. He knows he can give Sohrab the life he deserves, a living second chance of the best friend and brother he betrayed.
If all of us could be so lucky.
Running Out of Time
I'm going to cover a lot in this post...perhaps more than I am even anticipating but I feel as if I have so much to say about this novel, this emotional roller coaster of a novel. I will break the chapters into groups and cover nearly the entirety of the book: comments are most welcome.
Chapters 10-14
While I realize this is a fictional story, I cannot help but realize in the same respect that this is a close representation of the Afghan culture, what was happening during this time of invasion, and the desperate measures that had to be taken in order to survive...or even have a chance of surviving. There's a line on page 112 when Amir is standing on the side of the road when they're leaving Kabul and he realizes in one moment that this is when life had to change for him. Yes, he had been in other life changing situations before but there is no other momet in his life other than this one in which he is forced into the realization that home is no longer an option of safety. While Hosseini writes this very simply, without much emphasis this really struck me. During these same couple of pages we see another realm of rape- with the Russian and the woman on Karim's truck. I've said it many times before and I'll say it again: I can't believe how common this dispicable act is, not only in this novel, but seemingly everywhere Amir turns.
Chapter 11 brings us to America and the ongoing struggle to survive. This is the first time Baba and Amir are shown without their house, money and security of celebrity like they had in Kabul. They seem vulnerable yet so strong in the sense when Baba refuses welfare. At Amir's graduation we finally see Baba's pride in Amir, yet in Baba we see his sudden deterioration through Amir's eyes- he is no longer the invincible man he once was, no longer the giant superhero conquering all with one fist. In this moment of maturity and accomplishment, Amir grows a little more into the person we kind of wanted him to be all along...a human. Page 136 offers this extraordinary depth into why Amir would love America, for all its worth: to get rid of his ghosts, memories and sin...in other words, where he would try for the life of him, to move on from Hassan and the person he decided to be.
Moving quicker..the fact that Amir allows himself to love Soraya shows his maturity as well, his stepping stone of "coming of age" if you will. For all the crappy things he has done in his life, America and Soraya and school are his new chances to make better decisions, unlike those made in Afghanistan, unlike those with the person who loved him the most, in which he would never find a love like that again. The infertitlity may be karma- because I believe Karma is selective- karma for all the things he did, the people he betrayed and the things his eyes have seen. Perhaps not having child symbolizes that Amir has no more love to give to anyone other than the memories and Soraya. Perhaps he has a limited amount of love and emotion due to the stunted conscience he had as a boy.
A way to be good again. That's what Rahim Khan said before Amir and he hung up the phone. We find out later that there is in fact, a way to be good again. There is in fact a way to forgive himself, his past and his memory. There is in fact a way to be okay, to start over with lessons learned, to get what he deserves and move on. I realized at this point that Amir had been trying with all his might to block out Kabul since coming to California, which is why he has such a difficult time facing it and sleeping on it while on the plane back to see Rahim Khan. I debated whether he went out of obligation or because deep down Amir truly wanted to believe that there was a way to be good again. In the end, i decided it was half and half: Partially because of obligation to Baba and hsi past, partially because he needed to find something to give him peace.
Chapters 10-14
While I realize this is a fictional story, I cannot help but realize in the same respect that this is a close representation of the Afghan culture, what was happening during this time of invasion, and the desperate measures that had to be taken in order to survive...or even have a chance of surviving. There's a line on page 112 when Amir is standing on the side of the road when they're leaving Kabul and he realizes in one moment that this is when life had to change for him. Yes, he had been in other life changing situations before but there is no other momet in his life other than this one in which he is forced into the realization that home is no longer an option of safety. While Hosseini writes this very simply, without much emphasis this really struck me. During these same couple of pages we see another realm of rape- with the Russian and the woman on Karim's truck. I've said it many times before and I'll say it again: I can't believe how common this dispicable act is, not only in this novel, but seemingly everywhere Amir turns.
Chapter 11 brings us to America and the ongoing struggle to survive. This is the first time Baba and Amir are shown without their house, money and security of celebrity like they had in Kabul. They seem vulnerable yet so strong in the sense when Baba refuses welfare. At Amir's graduation we finally see Baba's pride in Amir, yet in Baba we see his sudden deterioration through Amir's eyes- he is no longer the invincible man he once was, no longer the giant superhero conquering all with one fist. In this moment of maturity and accomplishment, Amir grows a little more into the person we kind of wanted him to be all along...a human. Page 136 offers this extraordinary depth into why Amir would love America, for all its worth: to get rid of his ghosts, memories and sin...in other words, where he would try for the life of him, to move on from Hassan and the person he decided to be.
Moving quicker..the fact that Amir allows himself to love Soraya shows his maturity as well, his stepping stone of "coming of age" if you will. For all the crappy things he has done in his life, America and Soraya and school are his new chances to make better decisions, unlike those made in Afghanistan, unlike those with the person who loved him the most, in which he would never find a love like that again. The infertitlity may be karma- because I believe Karma is selective- karma for all the things he did, the people he betrayed and the things his eyes have seen. Perhaps not having child symbolizes that Amir has no more love to give to anyone other than the memories and Soraya. Perhaps he has a limited amount of love and emotion due to the stunted conscience he had as a boy.
A way to be good again. That's what Rahim Khan said before Amir and he hung up the phone. We find out later that there is in fact, a way to be good again. There is in fact a way to forgive himself, his past and his memory. There is in fact a way to be okay, to start over with lessons learned, to get what he deserves and move on. I realized at this point that Amir had been trying with all his might to block out Kabul since coming to California, which is why he has such a difficult time facing it and sleeping on it while on the plane back to see Rahim Khan. I debated whether he went out of obligation or because deep down Amir truly wanted to believe that there was a way to be good again. In the end, i decided it was half and half: Partially because of obligation to Baba and hsi past, partially because he needed to find something to give him peace.
Monday, February 4, 2008
The First Kite
I had always meant to read The Kite Runner on my own but with all the mumbo-jumbo of classes and assignments, I never got around to it. Now that I have the assignment to read it for class, I can't seem to put it down. The way Hosseini begins the novel throwing the reader right into the setting, the landscape, the relationships, centering yet confining to Afghanistan. I love the word choice and the way he ends each section with a foreshadowing one-liner. On page 47, the closing line of chapter 5: "Because that was the winter Hassan stopped smiling." How powerful eight words can be...how foreshadowing...how telling of what is to come, or how these boys' lives are about to change.
I pay much of my attention to word choice and paragraphs like Hosseini does in The Kite Runner because I feel that every word has the opportunity to build and build and build until a cliff-hanger like the end of Chapter 5...or all the other sections. It is a powerful technique that I, myself use as a writer. The innocence lost in the chapters we have read is relatable on a level beyond their location, beyond their ages, beyond the walls of the Middle East. I think I'll go read some more...
I pay much of my attention to word choice and paragraphs like Hosseini does in The Kite Runner because I feel that every word has the opportunity to build and build and build until a cliff-hanger like the end of Chapter 5...or all the other sections. It is a powerful technique that I, myself use as a writer. The innocence lost in the chapters we have read is relatable on a level beyond their location, beyond their ages, beyond the walls of the Middle East. I think I'll go read some more...
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