Monday, March 30, 2009

Jiahui's assignment 7

In some aspects, the adult character of Amir is similar to the child one. He's still a man "can't stand up to anything" and his first reaction is escape when faces cruel facts. For example, after Rahim Khan asked him to go to Kabul and bring Sohrab back, Amir obviously didn't want to go. That's because he wouldn't like to shoulder the responsibility which he should take. He's a coward so he couldn't stand up to it. Another example is, when he knew Hassan actually was his brother, he shouted, reviled and "stormed out of the apartment". The chain of his reactions demonstrates that in his subconsciousness, he avoided accepting the truth, especially a cruel one.
Everyone will change because they're growing up all the time, however. Amir is not an exception. When he was a child, he just felt a little guilty to Hassan, but adult Amir realized Hassan's unfortunate is because of him and also his father. Thus, his feeling is not just guiltiness but also atonement. Here are two examples from his thought. One is that "Rahim Khan had summoned me here to atone not just for my sins but for Baba's too". The another one is "How could I pack up and go back home when my actions may have cost Hassan a chance at those very same things?" That may be the biggest difference between the child and adult Amir.

1 comment:

  1. Good job! I think the examples to show his similarities are stronger than the ones you use to show his differences. Atonement is probably the biggest theme in this book, and you capture it well in describing the differences.

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