Sam

=Sam's Reading Log (Discussion Director, Passage Master, Connector, Researcher)=

**Chapters 1-4**
summary: In chapters one through four you basically cover the life history of all of the main characters. Alli and Baba grew up together as Hassan and Amir are growing up together. Amir is the narrator and even though he is a Sunni and Hassan was a Shia they still spent most of their time together. Baba seems to be a great man and has done a lot for other people but is is still at time cruel to his own son Amir.

Response: 1. The relationship between Amir and his father is clearly a complicated one and to see the aspects of their relationship is difficult. I feel that even if Amir was more like Baba, then Baba would still resent him for "killing" his mother. Even with this resentment that seems to go both ways i think that Amir still tries extremely hard to impress his father and even sees him as threatening. They love each other but don't seem to share the stereo typical father to son relationship.

2. I believe in his theory because it is true every sin is a form of theft, as he explained it when you kill someone you are stealing their life. Every real sin can be pinpointed down to theft. If you look at Christianity it seems to be the same way with the ten commandments, theft obviously does, adultery steals the right to a good spouse, and so on.

3. I think that with this huge change Amir and Hassan are going to grow even closer which you do see in the first chapter but i feel like Amir will do something extraordinary for Hassan.

Chapters 4-7
The main event in these chapters was when they were fighting kites. During this time you were able to see the internal and external conflicts of Amir and you even have foreshadowing of the conflicts with Hassan. Amir has a dream and in this dream I think that it foreshadows what Amir and Hassan will show their fellow people. As they jumped in the water and realized there was no monster they will show their peers that the Hazars are not monsters and that two can work together. By winning the kite race Amir feels that he had finally pleased Baba and made him proud. Hassan goes to chase the kite and stands up for Amir in amazing ways.

Passage Master- "And that right there was the single greatest moment of my twelve years of lice, seeing Baba on that roof, proud of me at last." (pg. 66) importance: You see a resolution and how Amir really felt about his father and you also see how hard he had tried to just once be seen as proud of.

"And maybe, just maybe, I would finally be pardoned for killing my mother." (pg. 56) importance: This shows the guilt that Amir feels and what is conflicted on him by his father. Amir's mother died shortly after child birth and Baba always finds a way to lay the guilt on him.

**Chapters 8-9**
From the beginning of chapter eight you see the affects of when Hassan was raped. You dont only see these affects in Hassan but also in others around him. Hassan is now unable to speak and spends most of his time in solitude. the guilt Amir feels becomes even worse when he sees how Hassan is suffering. The guilt Amir feels overcomes him almost as much as the pain overcomes Hassan. Amir begins to think that maybe Hassan knows he was there and this crushes him even more. On his birthday Amir really did not want any presents for he felt they were undeserving. All of these affects ultimately lead to Alli and Hassan leaving.

connector- There have been many times in my life where i have seen something go wrong and I never stand up for someone for either my own selfish reasons or fear. I have never witnessed something as unjust as this but on a smaller scale I have numerous times. Like when my mom yells at my brother for something and I do not think it is fair, I can stand up for him and risk getting in trouble myself or i can just sit and mind my own business. Either way your decision ends with conflict either I get in trouble or I let my brother down. It really is a touch decision to make because either way the consequences will be about the same. With these experiences it is difficult for me to put blame on Amir, I would like to tell myself I would of defended Hassan, but if it hard for me to go against my mom or let my brother down, I can't even imagine the moral dilemma Amir must have gone through.

**Chapters 10-11**
A lot of changes occur ecspecially with Baba and Amir. Every aspect of their lives change. Chapter ten starts with them leaving Afghanistan and a lot of barriers are in their way. Finally they make to America but now they are no longer the rich family or the smart family, but instead they are scrambling to make ends meat and Amir doesn't even graduate till the age of 20. Even through these hard times Amir and Baba seem to be forming a greater bond and every day Baba seems more and more proud of Amir.

research- In 1979 the Russians invaded Afghanistan and this angered President Jimmy Carter and caused him to boycott the Olympics in Moscow unless the Soviet union agreed to leave Afghanistan. This boycott took place in 1980 and the United States was joined by many other countries in this protest. It did not really change anything though many countries still participated and even had most of their athletes participate.

Chapters 11-15
In these chapter so much changes. Baba becomes sick and dies shortly after Amir gets married. Amir writes his first novel and it was published soon there after. Amir and his wife are unable to have children and it leaves you in chapter 13 not knowing how that would happen. Amir later receives a phone call from Kublia Khan who is very sick and asks him to come to Pakistan and Amir instantly agrees.

discussion director

**Chapters 16-20**
Amir visits Khan in Pakistan where he finds him deathly ill. Khan has a lot to tell Amir and begins by telling him about where he has been and what he has been doing lately. He then tells him about how Hassan is really his half brother and this furriates Amir. He runs from the house but then later returns. Khan tells him how Hassan has been and how he is married and then he tells him that Hassan and his wife were killed but they had a son who is still in Kabul. Amir sets off to find him but he is told that he has been taken by a Taliban from the orphanage and he also finds that he has been raped by the Talibans. At the end of chapter 20 Amir is setting off ot look for him.

Passage Master "I remember he said ot me, 'Rahim, a boy who won;t stand up for himself becomes a man who can't stand up for anything.' I wonder is that what you have become?" This is what Amir had overheard his father saying a long time ago and now that his father has been dead for 15 years it stabs like a knife. At first Amir refuses to go and get Hassan's son but then after reminded of this he changes his mind.

"Please think, Amir jan. It was a shameful situation. People would talk. All that a mn had back then, all that he was, was his honor. his name, and if people talked....." This is where Amir finds out that Hassan is actually his half brother and with this he has a huge realization, He finally understood why his father had always treated Hassan like family and was so angry when Amir asked if they could get new servants. Its because he was family and he wasn't really a servant he was a son.

Chapters 21-22
The hardest part to read in these chapters was when they were killing the people in front of the crowd and everyone was watching with pleasure. Now that Amir is in Kabul again I think he realizes that everything he once had is gone. One of the only trees he saw still standing was the pomegranate tree which he and hassan had carved their names into. It was a very sad thing to read especially since in the past few days Amir has endured so many tragedies.

Connector: It is hard to make connections with a book so drastic and emotional as this one but at times I try to relate to some of them. One of the biggest things was then Amir traveled to his old home to find it in ruins. I had a similar experience when I went to neworleans two summers ago with my Dad and she showed me his old house. His house was still standing kind of, but it had been ripped off its foundation and pulled to the other side of the street. The high school which he had gone to no longer had any windows and you could see the water stains on the side of the building almost to the roof.

Posted May 16, 2008 2:24 pm - [|http://fahistorylitcircle.wikispaces.com/message/view/Kite+Runner/4291209#|[delete]]