Irony

"I closed not my eyes that night. My internal being was in a state of insurrection and turmoil; I felt that order would thence arise, but I had no power to produce it." ( pg. 47 ) Frankenstiein drove himself crazy over this goal of his. He had to find out so many things in so little time. Victor was discouraged by some but motivated by others and he became obsessed with this whole idea. One of my group's themes is health and we decided that it is quite ironic that when Victor creates a new life, he destroys his own. This obsession has literally killed the person he used to be. I believe that Victor was just so eager to do something that had never been done before, but he did not realize how it was going to affect his life. Not only was he physically ill, I think it is fair to say that he was quite mentally ill too.

Dialect / Romance Time Period

" I may receive your letters on some occasions when I need them most to support my spirits. I love you very tenderly. Remember me with affection, should you never hear from me again. Your affectionate brother, Robert Walton " (pg. 21) From this passage, one might believe that Robert and the one he is addressing the letter to are in a relationship. In out world today, this is the way we would speak to a significant other. Here Robert is speaking to his sister so we know that this is surely not true. I believe that the author is writing with the language of her time. People actually spoke like this to their family members out of respect and love. Our world has changed and the average person who might read this nowadays would probably be a little creeped out. This book was written in the romantic period of time so I would expect a language sounding like this one. Throughout the book this fluid language sets the time of the story and gives the story character. Seeing sentences arranged in this beautiful style often help me, as the reader, actually hear the words as they are being said.

The End.

" "For you a thousand times over," I heard myself say. Then I turned and ran. " (pg. 371) This quote is the one quote that stuck with me throughout the whole book. I underlined it in the first chapter because Hosseini starts out with this quote too and at the time, I had a feeling that it would play a big part in the book. My feeling was correct. This book starts off with Hassan saying this quote to Amir because he loved and cared about him. Hassan would do anything for Amir and saying this quote made him aware of that. In the same way, the book ends with this quote, but instead, Amir is saying it. He now wants to show that it is his turn to be the servant and he will now do anything for Sohrab. I love the ending to this book. Again, Hosseini uses a circle effect by starting and ending the book in the same setting. With all of the twists and turns in this book, it is hard to believe that one could make this happen, but he certainly did. The ending was very unexpected, but I feel that it was fitting. I wasn't disappointed nor did I feel the ending was too complicated. I felt like the ending was perfect and shouldn't have been done any other way. From this ending, the reader can imagine what will happen next because Amir ultimately is given the chance to redeem himself. I'mnot sure how Hosseini did it, but he took a bunch of random puzzle pieces and found ways to connect them that nobody else would dare to dream of. By doing this, he created my all time favorite book.

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.

Flashbacks

" Hearing Rahim Khan speak Ali's name was like finding an old dusty music box that hadn't been opened in years; the melody began to play immediately: Who did you eat today, Babalu? Who did you eat, you slant-eyed Babalu?" (pg. 214) Flashbacks are what drive this book. Chapters 2-13 are essentially flashbacks of Amir's life. These are the chapters where the reader learns about everything that has happened up until the scene in chapter one. When Hosseini brings the reader back to the present in chapter fourteen, he also uses flashbacks to Amir's childhood. These flashbacks help the reader relate to Amir more because the reader has read of these occurances before in the previous chapters. Personally, these flashbacks helped me connect to Amir when he returned to Afganistan because I knew his background. I also believe that the flashbacks Amir has in chapters 14 - 25 push Amir to do the right thing. Flashbacks like the quote above help Amir to remember what he allowed to occur when he was young. Remembering these instances reminds Amir why he is ultimately searching for Sohrab. Amir owes it to his past to make the future better and these flashbacks push him to do so.

American vs. Afgan

" "I see America has infused you with the optimism that has made her so great. That's very good. We're a melancholic people, we Afgans, aren't we?" " (pg. 201) One of the biggest themes in this book is the comparison between the American life and the way of life in Afganistan. The reader starts to see this comparison once Amir and Baba flee to America. First we see them compared when it comes to trust and way of life. This is when Baba freaks out because a man who has known him for two years asks for his ID when Baba tries to write a check. Baba even explains how they would carve notches in wood to represent the loaves of bread that one would owe in Afganistan. The way of life is extremely differentin the two countries. I feel that Afganistan was a place that Baba felt a part of a family and everyone there worked together to get along and they trusted their neighbor. On the other hand, the American life relfects more of a survival of the fittest theme. The quote above shows the difference of the attitudes of the Americans and the Afgans. Americans have more of a optomistic outlook on life and the Afgans believe more in flowing with the way life takes them and letting fate take the wheel. In the book we see Amir take on the American outlook of trying to control life when he tells his father that there is a way to make him better and doctors could give him treatments to help him. Baba goes along with his natural born Afgan ways and refuses treatment and lets whatever is supposed to happen to him, happen. Lastly, I feel that the Afgans are more stubborn and not subject to change on views. Baba and Rahim Khan always seem to stick to what they have always known and they seldom stray from their ways.

Time

"Almost two years we bought his damn fruits ... " (pg. 127)

This book is a a bunch of stories and instances put together. Hosseini uses tool of time to put emphasis on important situations and skip over the unimportant things. In the quote above, it proves that the reader doesn't get to experience a detailed description of the first two years of Baba's and Amir's lives in America. For instance, from chapter nine to ten, the book skips five years. The reader doesn't get to see what life was like in Kabul for Amir and Baba without Hassan and Ali. It is said that they had about seven different servants in that period of time, so the reader can assume what happened, but obviously the author doesn't find those five years important and finds it much more important to express other events.

There are also times where the author takes up five pages to explain what happened in about five minutes. This is found in chapter tweleve when Amir is speaking to Soraya for the first couple times. The reader has the effect that time almost stops when they are in conversation.
Also, there were times like when the people were riding in the tank. Amir is so descriptive of what these couple hours were like, so I knew that this situation must be important.