For You, A Thousand Times
“There is way to be good again.” Amir pondered on these words from a letter from his uncle (and friend) Rahim as he was relaxing on a park bench in San Francisco. America, his adopted home for almost two decades had been good to him. Out from the sky, he saw a kite flying high above the skyline. Then he remembered his watan (country in Afghan or specifically the Pashtun language) and those memorable childhood summers and winters in hometown Kabul. And then a voice from a blue-eyed, Hazara boy (Afghanistan has many ethnic tribes with Pashtun the majority while the Hazara is one of the minorities albeit one of most oppressed) resonated from his conscience. No matter how he wanted to bury his past, it will claw its way back. Until he resolves it. So it began, Amir’s redemption of himself.
A Prince in His Palace
The protagonist in this novel is Amir, the son of a wealthy, self-made Pashtun businessman in Kabul. Fitting to his name (Amir or emir means prince in Arabic), he was a kid living in a gated, suburban mansion in Kabul during the late 1960s and early 1970s. However, unlike a normal kid who plays with his friends, he focused more on reading books from the library he inherited from his mother (she died giving birth to him) who was a university literary professor. If there was someone who came as close as becoming as his child or playmate, it’s their servant, Hassan (meaning handsome). By all means he was well provided by his rich father because every winter (Afghans have a winter gift giving event just like us Christians) he was given gifts like bicycle, bags and other things even rich Afghans couldn’t expect to get from their fathers. Despite this, he still doesn’t feel the love from his father Baba (meaning father). He might be right as he overheard a conversation between his father and Rahim (who he thought, was a true father to him), Baba commented that Hassan is a boy who doesn’t stand up for what is right.
So we see in the early parts of the novel Amir’s attempts to impress his father. He tried to play soccer, Afghan’s national past time, where he failed (his father was a former soccer player). He then tried to be a fan but to no avail. Instead he spent most of his time playing with Hassan. The problem was he thought him more of a servant and a playmate rather than as a friend. This is even if they were raised in the same house, play the same game, read books with each other, and watched the same movies (which is mostly Western movies dubbed in Farsi). They were also breast milked by Hassan’s mother (who just likes Amir lost her mother at birth, when she eloped with some wandering travelers).They both suffered, but Amir, instead of comforting Hassan, bullied him. Yet instead of fighting back, Hassan just stayed quiet, an innocent kid, a whipping boy. This is understandable because he was just a servant to Amir. However unlike Amir, Baba treated Hassan as a son and his father Ali as a friend. He gave gifts also to Hassan and financed the latter’s operation to fix his hare-cleft lip. This intensified the rift between Amir, Hassan and his father. Fathers and sons are not alike after all.
A Wasted Chance at Reconciliation
Amir could have reconciled with the two (Baba and Hassan). This was when he discovered his love for kite fighting. This game was popular then in Afghanistan (the Taliban banned it) during the winter months. In fact, there was a kite fighting competition which drew then large crowds. Together with Hassan (with some help from his father), he perfected his skills at this sports. This paid off when he won that winter. It could have been the perfect chance for the three to reconcile. Yet the tragedy happens.
In a kite-fighting competition, it is common for people, called "kite runners", to chase the fallen kites. It’s treated as a trophy. The most coveted of all is the kite that the champion defeated last (the runner-up). Baba and Hassan were happy for Amir and the latter felt the same too. Hassan volunteered to run for the kite saying he will do it “a thousand times over”. However, the happiness would be short-lived. Assef, a bully in Amir’s school and enemy of both Hassan and Amir, cornered Hassan. He couldn’t forget how Hassan humiliated him. Amir who followed Hassan saw the event from a wall hole. He saw it, the rape of an innocent, Hassan, and he just stood there. The result was predictable. Hassan became gloomy from the event. It reached to a point where they had to let him go. Amir, instead of comforting him, alienated him. So he decided to implicate Hassan in a crime (he put his clock in Hassan’s hovel accusing him as a thief). Baba was ready to forgive them despite that but to no avail. For the first time, Amir saw his father cry. Things are not the same anymore. So is Afghanistan because by that time, the Communist arm was infiltrating the country. So they fled to America.
America: Land of Opportunity
If there was positive thing that happened to Amir, it was coming to America. In here, he had a chance to build a new identity. He pursued his long time dream of writing. He began high school and took a degree in English. Of course some were not happy as his father, a wealthy businessman in Kabul, was forced to do menial jobs in America. He also disliked the culture in their new country which was not built on trust unlike in Afghanistan where he talked to all kinds of people, poor and rich alike. But for the father and son, it was a better experience as both came to rediscover themselves. Before Baba died, Amir became a fulltime writer and married a girl named Soraya (meaning princess). If there was one thing Baba missed, it's Hassan. Then Amir was bothered by his conscience. He needed to redeem himself.
Chance at Redemption
It started with Soraya’s revelation of her dark secret, about her wild years. Amir was taken aback at his weakness to stand for what is right. Then came the letter from Rahim encouraging him to absolve himself from his past deeds. He also learned the hard truth. Hassan was his half-brother (Ali, Hassan’s alleged father was sterile then), born out of wedlock from Hassan’s mother. Rahim said to Hassan that all of them had been victim from circumstances. They had suffered enough so the best thing to do is help them. So Rahim gave him a letter and a picture of an old man and a child. It’s Hassan and his child Sohrab (meaning illustrious,shining). They were still the same smiling folks. But times had changed as Hassan (he learned to read and write) said in his letter. People in their watan had distrusted each other with the new ruler the Talibans oppressing the Afghans again.
So Amir tried to track Hassan but sadly he learned he was killed together with his wife. Only his son survived. For the first time, he learned about his people, the poor families trying to survive an oppressive regime. Through the help of some good Afghan, he found Sohrab. In a twist of fate, he saw Assef again molesting a new generation of Afghans. The latter had become a Taliban who perverted Islam to oppress the people. Instead of backing down, this time he fought back. He will not let a victim suffer again. Through some luck he managed to escape from Assef’s mansion and bring Sohrab to America. Soraya was sterile so having Sohrab was a comfort to the couple. But the wound done to the child was done so the two couple facilitated his recovery. Someday, the Afghan nation and their children would heal the wounds. It’s time for nation building.
Pamirs and Afghan Meadow
Final Note
The book is of the coming-of-age genre of Harry Potter and Chronicles of Narnia. I read this book when I was depressed and I find comfort in it knowing I am not alone. All of us have problems, mistakes, foibles. Sometimes we find other things to forget or vent our anger. The bad thing is we vent it on our friends, family and strangers. It is not right because violence will beget violence. We must treat these problems as opportunities to improve ourself. And to face the problem itself. We need to break the chain of violence that we inflict on ourselves to others. But first we must learn to share the blame and then understand the problem or what C. Wright Mills calls as “Sociological Imagination”. One final quote from an Epicurus. "Blaming others for our problems means education is wanting, blaming oneself for his problem means education is continuing, blaming no one means means one’s education is complete".
Photo credits:
http://www.paintingsilove.com/image/show/64416/the-pamir-mountain-afghanistan
