Post B # 7

In addition to the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns, The Kite Runner was also a fabulous book. Khaled Hosseini is a skilled author, something that is hard to come by these days. I was greatful that I could be reading this book on the side of something bad like the Odyssey or All the Pretty Horses. I learned a lot from the novel, and it provided a good perspective on the different lifestyles of America and Afghanistan. One aspect of the novel that helped do this was Amir's move to California. He described it as a river. He described it as a place where one could rest. A place where one could wade into the river, and watch all of his or her sins away. If nothing else, that was why he embraced the United States. His life in America changed him. He became rich and wealthy, and became used to and accustomed to the American ways. When he returns to Afghanistan, it feels different, not like the land he grew up in. "'I feel like a tourist in my own country,' I said, taking in a goatherd leading a half-dozen emaciated goats along the side of the road (231). His chauffer driving him laughs in a kind of cruel way, and asks him half-jokingly, "You still think of this place as your country?"
Even though Amir did become "used to" the American way, of being rich and all, I think it was good for him, and it helped him to become more self-confident overall. When he moved to California, he was able to spend more time with his father, and he got to know him some before he died of lung cancer. In California, his father stuck with him on his decision to marry Soraya, and both Soraya and Amir loved each other very much. Going back to Afghanistan though was a good decision to make, because adopting Sohrab (the son of his late friend Hassan) was the only chance he had to make up for what he had done as a child.