That lovely chapter....

Urgh. Horrible. But i guess, fairly important - so I shall blog.

There are loads of things that are important about the way chapter 7 is written; the link with chapter 1, the foreshadowing, the dreams, the memories all play an important part in creating a vivid picture for the reader, whether they want it or not.

Chapter 7 is so significant because chapter 1 leads up to it, constantly referring, and then the rest of the book happens the way it does because of chapter 7. (I'm sure that could be said in a much better way)

But more of my thoughts will be revealed in my wonderful essay, which I did instead of reading to the blind and feeding the hungry.

TOOOOODLES.

Things I like about chapter 6....

Not sure if this was meant to be a blog or not... but decided to put it on here to make me look more intelligent!

Note: Don't read this out..... very long!

1) "the chill between Baba and me thawed a little. And the reason for that was the kites. Baba and I lived in the same house, but in different spheres of existence. Kites were the one paper-thin slice of intersection between those spheres." I like this because it shows just how important kites are, not only for the culture, and to show how important Hassan is, but also to show how important kites are in Baba's and Amir's relationship.

2) "I never slept the night before the tournament" shows the childish ways of Amir, which I think is sometimes forgotten when he describes the in depth relationship with his father, e.g. when he talks about "killing his beloved wife"

3) "but they he'd buy it for Hassan too. Sometimes I wished he wouldn't do that. Wished he'd let me be the favourite." I like this because it show's Amir's jealousy and desperation for a stronger relationship with his father.

4)"Afghans are independent people." I think this represents Baba really well.

5)"That wasn't a rule. That was custom." This is the way it's seen by everyone, but Assef think's differently, as he would.

6) "I decided to toy with him a little." This shows an unequal friendship between Amir and Hassan, which could be a result of Amir's jealousy of the appeared favouritism of Hassan from Baba. This is also shown here - "But there was something fascinating - albeit in a sick way - about teasing Hassan".

7) "I dropped my eyes. To this day, I find it hard to gaze directly at people like Hassan, people who mean every word they say." I think this shows Amir's uncertainty about everyone around him, and it's an important quote which is true for the whole book.

8) "And may God - if He exists, that is - strike me blind if the kite didn't just drop into his out stretched arms". I like this because it brings a lighter moment into a weird conversation.

9) "Show him once and for all that his son was worthy. Then maybe my life as a ghost in this house would finally be over." This shows the real reason behind Amir entering the kite competition, to gain a relationship with his father.

10) "He was so goddamn pure, you always felt like a phony around him." I think Hassan's perfectness has added to Amir's unsettledness and confusion in life.

Nasty, nasty Assef....

In Chapter 5, Assef the baddy makes his first appearance. (da da duuuuh) 

As we discussed in the lesson, the way Hosseini describes Assef, and the way his presence affects Hassan's and Amir's behaviour shows just how big and scary Assef is, and makes the reader think's he's rather horrid!

Assef thinks Hitler is a genius, and Hosseini links Assef with Hitler when Assef talks about his vision. Assef is also one bit hypocrite because he is racist towards Hazara people and says that Afghanistan should be for, and only for Pashtun's, but he's not even a 'real' Pashtun. 

I think Chapter 5 is important because it shows Hassan's character too and how lovely he is. Its sad that he accepts being abused because of his race, but its really sweet when he steps in to save Amir, and his politeness still remains even though he's about to get beaten up. 

The impact of Assef's character is mahooosive, as it still scares Hassan and Amir even after Assef has left - "Niether one of us said much of anything as we walked home in trepidation, certain that Assef and his friends would ambush us every time we turned a corner."

So i'm gonna go now because X factor is on, which is VERY important. Toooodles :) 

Baba in chapter 3...

On Wednesday we looked at Baba and how he is represented as you already know - because it's only people in my class who will read this. But I'm hoping this doesn't get read out, because mine always does (and there's always a mistake in here somewhere)! Buuuutttt, the chances of that happening are rather slim, soo......

My favourite quotes from Chapter 3 which demonstrate Baba's characters areeeeeee:

1)     “Baba had drawn the blueprints himself despite the fact that he’d had no architectural experience at all”. I like this because I think it’s quite ambiguous. It could be seen as Baba seeing this as a personal achievement, or it could be seen as Baba being very controlling, and not wanting anyone else to take credit. 
2) ““I think I have saratan”. Cancer. Baba lifted his head from the pages flapping in the breeze. Told me I could get the soda myself, all I had to do was look in the trunk of the car”. This shows how desperate Amir is to have a relationship with his father, demonstrating that Baba’s keeping himself to himself, and at a distance from his son. 
3) “I always felt like Baba hated me a little. And why not? After all, I had killed his beloved wife, his beautiful princess”. I like this because it not only shows that Amir feels guilty, but it shows that Amir feels guilty because of the way that Baba has hinted, the way Baba acts around him. 
4) “my father molded the world around his liking” – showing the power and strength of Baba, making an impact on the whole world.




Toodles :)

The Kite Runner, Chapter 2....

Ok so on Friday the 8th of October we read through chapter two and studied it, which was reeeeally fun :) Although I didn't pick up on everything (well most things to be honest) I got a few so I am happy :)

A few of my favourite bits of Chapter two are:

1) "and the cleft lip, just left of midline, where the Chinese doll maker's instrument may have slipped, or perhaps he had simply grown tired and careless". This presents Hassan as a victim, and just makes me go 'ahhh' as it maked Hassan sound really sweet and delicate!

2) "I am a baby in that photograph and Baba is holding me, looking tired and grim. I'm in his arms, but it's Rahim Khan's pinky my fingers are curled around." I looooove this because it demonstrates that their relationship was rocky even at the beginning of Amir's life.

3)"Mine was Baba.
His was Amir. My name"
Looking back on it now, I think the foundation for what happened in the winter of 1975-and all that followed-was already laid in those first words." I think this is just really clever, because it shows how the feel about eachother, again as children, and foreshadows the whole book in just a few sentences.

Russians in Afghanistan...

The soviet war lasted almost 10 years, and on the 27th December 1979, 700 Russian troops (dressed in Afghan uniforms) invaded Kabul, Afghanistan. 

Ok, so i read through the info that i found but found it all too confusing! So, i read through Alice's a couple of times because it's so brilliant, and i understood a lot more. Thanks Alice! This is what i remembered without trying to copy her work! (Alice please forgive me!)

This war happened because the soviet people were told they were going to free Afghan communists, they wanted better access to the sea for trade, and Afghan had good stores of things, such as ion.

Right so the Russian prime minister, Hazifullah Amin, led a communist based government, which rejected religion, targeting the Afghans. The Afghans formed a group called Mujahideen, but the Russians said that Mujahideen's were 'Islamic Extremists'. 

When Amin was shot, the prime minister Kamal took over, and as a lot of people joined the Mujahideen, it eventually took 85,000 Russians to control Kamal. But, it turns out that the Afghans actually knew their country quite well, suprisingly, and although the Russians used posionous gas to try and kill the Mujahideen, by 1982, the Mujahideen controlled 75% of Afghanistan. So the Russians were then defeated, as it took all their money with weapons and stuff!  This is when the Taliban began to grow....

Hazara and Pashtun....

In the Kite Runner, Amir is Pashtun, while his servant, Hassan is a Hazara boy.

Hazara's are a Persian-speaking ethnic group, living in mainly central Afghanistan. The origin of Hazara's is not fully known, although it is thought that they are partially involved with the Mongolian culture. They were seen as lower class, and were slaves and servants in their community.

Pashtun's are primarily situated in Afghanistan and western Pakistan, and are the largest ethnic group - over 49 million people. The commuinity of Pashtun's were seen, or saw themselves as higher class than Hazara's. Pashtun's created the Taliban to take over Afghanistan.

Speech....

Last Friday we learned about different types of speech used in stories - direct and indirect, attributed and unattributed. I didn't know about them before but now i do :) We looked at chapter 1 of the Kite Runner - and the echo of direct speech confuses the reader, but helps in the long run (i think).