The emotional being in both Amir and Hassan while being cruel and kind respectively is what I liked reading. Amir tries hell lot so that Hassan leaves their house and once and for all he can get rid of the monsters in his head that remind him of the day Hassan fought for his master's kite..His 'Amir Agha's' kite. The same day when Amir was acclaimed as a winner, but in stead the toll of events made him feel nothing more than a looser.
The protagonist here is Amir, but if I would make a film.. :-))..(allow yourself to laugh!!)...in my film the lead character would be Hassan. As the story revolves around his mystery and the unexplained love from Baba for him.
Although after knowing about Hassan being Baba's son, I thought how come I could not guess it. But I was really amazed to know that twist in the story.
Also it made me sad to comprehend how Amir must have felt after knowing, how could he be a silent spectator to the wrongness that took place with Hassan. Somehow, the portrayal of his
calm and unoffensive nature makes me think, even if he knew, the truth about Hassan and Baba, would he have the nerves to fight Assef and his friends and stop the injustice??
From the beginning of the book, the beauty about the town
Hassan though not a literate is depicted to more wiser and considerate than Amir. He comprehends Amir's virgin stories and dreams even much aptly than Amir himself.
"The same night I wrote my first story. It took me 30 minutes. It was a drak tale about a man who found a magic cup and learned that if he wept into the cup, his tears turned into pearls. Buteven though he had always been poor, he was happy man and rarely shed a tear. So he found ways to make himslef sad so that his tears could make him rich The story ended with the man sitting on a mountain of pearls, knife in his hand, weeping helplessly into the cup with his beloved wife's slain bosy in his arms "
Amir narrates his story to Hassan in the middle of the night.
"Someday Inshallah, you will be a great writer. But will you permit me to ask a ? about the story, he said shyly. If I may ask,why did the man kill his wife? In fact, why did he ever have to feel sad to shed tears? Couldn't he have just smelled an onion?"
I was stunned. That particular point, so obvious it was utterly stupid, hadnt even occurred to me. I moved my lips soundlessly. The plot hole. Taught by Hassan of all people. Hassan who couldn't had never written a single word in his entire life. A voice, cold and dark, suddenly whispered in my ear,What does he know, that illeterate Hazara. Well..I began and never got to finish my sentence.
They'd both been crying: I could tell from their red, puffed up eyes. Baba came right out and asked, "Did u steal that money? Did u steal amir's watch Hassan?" Hassan replied in a resly voice-Yes!
I flinched, like I'd been slapped. My heart sank and I almost blurted out the truth. Then I understood:this was Hassan's final sacrifice for me. If he has said NO, Babab would have believed him because we all knew Hassan never lied. He knew I'd seen everything in that alley, tat I'd stood there and done nothing. he knew I had betrayed him and yet he once again, maybe for the las time. I loved him in that moment, loved him more than I'd ever loved anyone, and I wanted to tell them that I was the snake in the grass, the monster in the lake. I wasn't worthy of sacrifice, I was a liar, a cheat, and a thief. I wanted to bearth again. Except Baba stunned me by saying"I forgive u Hassan."
Forgive? But theft was the one unforgivable sin, the common de nominator of all sins. When U kill a man, u steal alife. You steal his wife's right to a husband, rob his children of a father. when U tell a lie u steal someone from the right to the truth. When u cheat, u steal th eright to fairness. There is no act more wretched than stealing. Hadn't Baba sat me on his lap and said these words?. Then how could he forgive me for not being the son he'd always wanted? Why?
We are leaving, why don;t u leave us to the bus station to Hazarajat?
Then I saw Baba do something I had never seen him doing before: he cried. It scared me a little, seeing a grown man sob. Fathers weren't supposed to cry.
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The skirting finally came to end over the dinner, when the general put down his fork and aid, " So amirJan, you're going to tell us why you have brought back this boy with you?"Jamila Jan and Soraya both objected at General's inquisitiveness....
"Its Ok SOraya, Is Ok General sahib is quite right. People will ask. "
U see genral Sahib, my father slept with his servan;t wfe. she bore him a son named Hassan. Hassan is dead ow. that boy sleeping on my couch is Hassan's son. he's my nephew. thats what u tell people when they ask"
They were all staring at me. "And one more thing General Sahib, U will never again refer to him as Hazara boy in my presence. he has a name and its Sohrab"
At this point of time I wonder, that was this confession(Where he accepts Sohrab as a nephew from his father's illegitimate relation) more painful to Amir or would in his childhood having the courage to tell that he was there when Hassan was molested, that would have been more gruesome. I guess as one's Ego grows with time, definitely he must have been more hurt to let his wife and her family know about the truth. But high time that he realized, not everything can be covered under the gloominess of night and slept over on. His wife Soraya was a doll to accept Sohrab and was patient, despite her gestures to bestow Sohrab with motherhood, which she failed every time she maintained her cool and gave all the time and space to both Amir and Sohrab to come above their insecurities relating to their respective kite running childhood's.
Some afgani words and their meanings-
- Laaf- Tendency to exaggerate
- Saratan- Cancer
- Qiyamat- The Judgement Day
- Chapandaz- Highly skilled horesmen
- Shahnamah- 10th century Epic of ancient persian heroes.
- Goshtakhar - Ear eater
- Kunis- Fag
- Moftakhir - Proud
- Khannum- Wife
- Tassali- Condolence
- Parchami - Communist
- Salaam Bachem- Hello my child
- Zinda Mirgaza- Lofe goes on
- Khastegars- Suitors
- Yelda- First night of winter
- Nang Namoos- Honor & Pride
- Mojarad- Single yound man
- Moalem- Teacher
- Komak- Somebody help
- Iftikhar- Pride
- Khar Khara Mishnassah- Takes a donkey to know a donley
- Khoshteep- Handsome
- Shirni Khori- Eating of Sweets
- Kochech Morgha- Chicken Bazaar
- Qishla- Military Barracks
- Ihtiram- Respect
- Hadia - Gift
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