Climax

" "When it's done, only one of us will walk out of this room alive,"Assef said. "If it's him, then he's earned his freedom and you let him pass, do you understand?" " (pg. 287) This book is a masterpiece of suspense, but I feel that the climax of the book is when Assef and Amir meet in their adult life. When Assef said the quote above, I found myself on the edge of my seat reading as fast as I could because I could not find out what cam e next soon enough. I believe that this is the one true climax of the story because the outcome of this fight decides is Amir will ever get to redeem himself of his wrongs done as a child. If Amir gets past Assef and receives Sohrab, Rahim Khan's words, "There is a way to be good again," might come true. Once the reader finds out that this man is Assef, they become aware that nothing good is going to happen here. This scene is also so intense because the reader can see that Amir doesn't stand a chance against this man. I lost hope that Amir would make it through this fight and receive Sohrab in the end. I shouldn't have doubted the scene because Hassan steps in to save Amir even when he is dead. Hassan comes through for Amir through his son and all of the sling shot lessons he has taught him. Ultimately, Hassan created a smaller version of himself to watch over Amir now. Lastly, winning Sohrab gives Amir the opportunity to treat and take care of Sohrab like he sould have done for Hassan.

Making Up for the Past

"Earlier that morning, when I was certain no one was looking, I did something I had done twenty-six years earlier; I planted a fist-ful of crumpled money under a mattress." (pg. 242) This whole scene was ironic. It emphasized the growth that had occured in Amir. When Amir was younger, he recognized the harm he had done by not stopping Hassan from being raped. Once Amir realized that he could not get away from Hassan and the constant reminder of what he had done, Amir found a way to to make Hassan leave. This is when he planted his new watch and a handful of money under Hassan's mattress. The only way to get rid of his wrong was to do another wrong. Now, when Hassan leaves Farid's house, he plants money under a mattress and leaves Farid's sons with his watch. Amir does the same thing again, but this time it is for the good of these people. I believe that this is ironic, but also shows the change that has occured in Amir over time. Now, Amir is mature and wants to make up for the harm he has done instead of causing more harm.

Once Upon a Time

This frame story was created because of Nadine's combined thoughts of someone in her house and her hatred of writing a children's story that she didn't want to. It is apparent that she thinks that children's "once upon a time" and "happily ever after" stories aren't even worth writing because real life doesn't happen that way. She tells herself a story to go to bed. This story is what would really happen if a realistic family truly tried to live "happily ever after." I think the theme of this story is that if one tried to live a perfect life with no wrong in it, ironically, much wrong would come from it. To live "happily ever after is to have no worries. This family tries to accomplish this by pretty much incarcerating themselves from the world. The family even resorted to "concentration-camp style" barbed wire to put around their house. I think that is pushing it. This story if full of irony. Just when the family feels secure from all people with no worries, the mother reads a "once upon a time" story with a prince in it to their child. When the child tries to imitate this courageous prince and climb their security wall, he is mauled by the barbed-wire that was supposed to protect their family so well.

Lonely Hearts

This poem is comes across as a very odd poem to me. I feel like the speaker is searching for a new love on eHarmony in each stanza. What is ironic about the whole poem is that the speaker isn't searching for a gorgeous blonde-haired beauty who is skinny with tanned skin or a muscular manly man with a perfect smile. The speaker is explaining people who would almost be considered outcasts in our society. If there is such thing as "normal", these people explained would not be a part of it. This could mean two different things. Either the speaker is picky with their choice of "lover" or they are desperate. I think that the speaker is desperate because of the title "Lonely Hearts." When people have a lonely heart, they will do anything to make it feel whole again.

Ozymandias

I thought this poem was very interesting and had a good moral to it. This king, Ozymandias, seemed to have greatly oppressed his people. He thought that he would become the greatest king with all of the power if he did this. In the poem, all that is left of him are the legs and the head of a statue of him. He really left his mark, didn't he? I think this poem represents the idea that people get nothing accomplished by bossing others around and thinking that they are better than everyone else. When it comes down to it, these kinds of actions will only lead to defeat and damage to everyone. All people were created equal, so when people try to rule others, problems will always arise. It is just quite ironic that this "king of kings" has left nothing behind on this earth but rubble and remains of a statue.