Chapter 6-8

Chapter 6

Chapter six is all about winter and the events that take place in the cold winters of Afghanistan. Winter is Amir favorite time of the year because there is now school and he can spend more time with Hassan playing cards, watching free movies at the park, delicous hot food, and of course kites, flying them and running them. Speaking of kites, winter is the time when Kabul had the famous kite-fighting tournament. Since Amir and Hassan were clearly better kite flyers than kite builders, Baba takes them both to get three identical kites. And if Amir wants a more expensive one, Baba would buy him one; although, he would also buy one for Hassan. This really upsets Amir, he wants to have the best, not the same as Hassan’s. Amir, just for once, wants to be the favorite. The actually kite flying is pretty simple: fly your kite and remain the last kite in the air, no other rules. The kite running was just as simple: follow the cut kite and retrieve it for your honor. Hassan is amazing at kite running. When they were running a kite another year, Amir keep telling Hassan that he was going the wrong way but he would not listen, he just said to trust him and keep looking at the ground and sure enough they ended up with the kite. Although, the winter of 1975 was the last year that Hassan ran kite. A few days before the tournament, Baba told Amir that this year he would win. This talk truly incouraged Amir and he starts day-dreaming about how things would change when he won and ended up with his last cut kite. When he won he would bring home the kite and show it to Baba. He was going to show him once and for all that his son was worthy. Then maybe his life as a ghost would finally be over. Amir could already see the conversations and laughter over dinner instead of silence broken with the clinking of silverware and the occasional grunt. Amir and his father would take Friday drives, stopping at the lake to have dinner, and go to the zoo. And maybe, just maybe Baba would read one of his stories. And maybe he would call him Amir jan and to top things off maybe he would be forgiven for killing his mother. All these things that Amir wants from his father reminds me of another character that we have read about, Happy. Happy tried so hard to achieve his father’s approval just like Amir is doing right now. And just like Happy trying to come out of his brother’s shadow, Amir is trying to come out of Hassan’s shadow.
The day before the big tournament, Amir over hears his father talking getting new TVs. Amir tells Hassan that so day he will get him one. I’m feeling very confused about Amir’s feelings about Hassan. I mean, he says things like this, I will get you a TV one day, but then he doesn’t invite Hassan to play with the guest’s that are over at his house. What’s going on? Does Amir think of Hassan as a friend or not? If you ask me Amir’s feelings for Hassan are more wild than the cut kites flying out of control towards the ground.

Chapter 7

Chapter seven is the big tournament; although, the day of the big tournament Hassan has a dream and Amir is getting cold feet. Amir is so scared that he even contemplates not even going to fly his kite, but Hassan then explains that his dream is saying that he needs to go out and fly his kite and win. After then tournament gets going, Amir keeps looking at Baba and Rahim who are sitting on the balcony. This causes Amir to also get cut but he manages to somehow cut the other guy and then last until the final end where he wins! While the crowd is cheering loud Hassan says that he will go get the other kite to make the win complete. After Amir says thank you to everyone that said congratulations and gets his kite wrapped up, he goes after Hassan to see if he got the kite, but this is the moment that will forever change his life. After looking for Hassan for awhile, Amir finally finds him in an alley with the kite, but there are three boys there, Kamal, Wali, and Assef. They have cornered Hassan into the alley and want the kite but he won’t give it to them. This upsets them so they beat him, but that isn’t where it stops. Then Assef rapes Hassan. While this is wrong in so many ways, this isn’t what troubles me; I still can’t get past the whole fact of Amir watching the boys do this to Hassan and not stopping them. Yes, he could have been beat too, but maybe they won’t have raped Hassan. But Amir does nothing, instead he runs the other direction and when he meets Hassan he acts like he knows nothing. It kills me that the reason that Amir did nothing is because he wanted the kite for his father. This is the only thing he cares about, the kite to make his father proud. I mean instead of asking if Hassan is ok, he looks over the kite, to make sure there was no tares in the material. I guess I answered my own question, Amir really doesn’t think of Hassan as a friend, he is merely his servant who was to get the kite for him so he could gain his father's approval. And just like Amir wanted it, he got his father's approval.
Also, what does the italics writing mean? The part that says, “A Memory.” What is going on? This really confuses me.

Chapter 8

Chapter eight is depressing to me. Because of the alley incident Amir and Hassan aren’t really talking. Hassan has his entire chorus done before Amir is even up. Although, Amir isn’t really complaining that Hassan isn’t there in the morning because he now doesn’t have to look at Hassan and see the pain that is there in his eyes, let alone the guilt that he should be feeling. And now lately all that Hassan is doing is a lot of sleeping. This concerns Ali, so he asks Amir if he knows what is wrong with Hassan. Amir then lies because he doesn’t want to tell Ali and maybe doesn’t want to relive that memory again. Since the bring home the kite to Baba Amir and Baba have become a lot closer, Amir can even ask for go place without his father staring at his watch. Although even with the new relationship, Amir still can’t be by himself. When Amir wants to go away for the weekend with his father, Baba invites all these extra people. On the trip Baba continues to brag about how Amir won the kite-fight tournament, but while everyone else says congratulations, Rahim gives Amir a different look that doesn’t say congratulations. I think Rahim can read Amir’s mind just like Hassan can. I believe that Rahim may not know the actual secret, but knows that there is one being held by Amir. Finally Hassan talks to Amir and asks him to go hiking with him. Amir did say yes but the second time Hassan asked; although, when they got to the hill, the situation was too difficult for Amir so they go home right away. The rest of the winter was now hazy. Amir most of the time was in his room reading, but Hassan kept trying to talk to Amir but Amir continued to refuse and was really mean about the whole thing considering that Hassan was the one that was raped. When spring started to come around, the tension for Amir became too much and he asked Baba if they could get new servants. Baba was offended and that is when the new relationship that Amir had worked so hard to get, giving up his relationship with Hassan, ended. Amir was happy when school started because he thought that he could just get lost in his school work and not have to talk to Hassan, but that wasn’t working so Amir tried something new to get his angry out. While up on the hill with Hassan, Amir opens fire on Hassan with pomegranates. Amir kept telling Hassan to throw one at him but he didn’t anything. When Amir was exhausted and resting on the ground, Hassan comes over and hits Amir directly in the forehead and leaves. Amir then started to cry; even though it sounds like Amir has finally cracked, I still am mad at him and now that he as threw pomegranates at Hassan and Hassan really did nothing, I’m only angrier. At the end Amir turns thirteen. For his birthday, Baba throws a big party with several guests, but Amir knows none of them. When Assef and his family show up Amir has to leave because he gets angry at the way they are treating Hassan who is serving drinks. While gone Rahim finds him and tells Amir that if there is anything that he would like to say to him he can. Then he tells Amir about how he was in love with their servant’s daughter and almost married her at the age of eighteen, but when he told his parents, his mother fainted and his father was upset. Rahim also gives Amir a leather journal to write his stories in. Still, in the end he doesn’t tell and still does nothing to stop the boys from their mean ways. What is wrong with Amir? Why doesn’t he stand up for his supposed friend?