Cultural Context

This post is a little different. It's not broken down in two examples with some story behind them to bulk the answer up a bit, no. This a take your choice of a selection and tell how that choice affects the story and your, my, understanding of it. I've chosen the Taliban.

The Taliban has a role in Hosseini's book because it is set in Afghanistan. If you didn't know this yet, it is set in Afghanistan. Assef, the antagonist and bully in the book that I have previously mentioned, ends up being the leader of the Taliban Army. The Taliban ruled largely in Afghanistan during the time of like, 1996 to 2001, and had diplomatic recognition from some other countries, as well. The Taliban surfaced after the Soviet Afghan War and was a key influence in the novel The Kite Runner to the life of Amir and Hassan. Assef grew to be the Taliban leader and Assef has always troubled Amir.

Amir was often bullied by Assef throughout the story, though Hassan often defended him. Before Assef joined the Taliban, he got at Amir by violating his friend. Assef had his soldiers later raider his fathers house and kill Hassan and his wife. After constantly being picked on by Assef, and his army, Amir made it a mission to get back Sohrab, Hassan's son, who the Taliban held. It is time for Amir to try to correct what was wronged, and show his own loyalty that he couldn't to Hassan, to Hassan's son. Assef and the Taliban prey on Amir throughout the story, but Amir grows stronger, and learns to defend himself, and in the end, saves Sohrab.

Is that it? I think I'm done. This has been a look at how the Taliban influenced the story, and how with greater understanding, the story can make more sense. 

There's no more required postings. I do not know if this blog will be used again, maybe I'll use it like any other blog now, or maybe I'll switch it up and turn it into a runner's athletic blog, because with a title like Spying the Runner, it could totally be athletic, right? Yeah... We'll see. This has been fun, may we will meet again in the future.

Betrayal

Betrayal, disloyalty, faithlessness, falseness.

From the Loyalty post, you can see there is already a lot to be said for betrayal, just as there was a lot more that could've been said about loyalty. So, here we go, two instances of betrayal with some support from the book.

1.  I can't sit back and not mention, even if it was briefly mentioned in the "loyalty" post, the huge betrayal to Hassan from Amir. Amir witnessed Hassan being raped, he witnessed it, and he still didn't do anything to try to save his friend. "I had final opportunity to decide who I was going to be. I could step into that alley, stand up for Hassan--the way he stood up for me all those times in the past--and accept whatever would happen to me. Or I could run. In the end, I ran." This is a quote of what Amir was thinking about the decision he made. Even though Hassan can prove his loyalty a dozen times over, Amir won't even speak up when the time matters most.

2.  Amir once again betrays Hassan when he lies to Baba, his father, when accusing Hassan of stealing his watch and money. Amir is disgusted with himself every time he sees Hassan, he cannot stop thinking about the alleyway event, and he wishes to have Hassan cast off so he doesn't have to see him anymore and feel that guilt. When Baba confronts Hassan about stealing the watch and money, Hassan says he did steal it, to protect Amir. Hassan is constantly showing his friendship, his loyalty, even when Amir does the complete opposite. This was Hassan's "final sacrifice" though.

Another posting, down! This one is in the books. Man, there are so many choices and options, it's tough to narrow it down, but the beginning of the book just holds so much.
Time to discuss some cultural context! Coming up!

Loyalty

Loyalty, allegiance, faithfullness, reliability, dependability. 

Right now, we are going to take a look at a couple of cases of loyalty from the book The Kite Runner. This post is supposed to have two cases of loyalty and with support. Let's remedy this now. 

Loyalty and betrayal are highly important themes in the book we are discussing here and there are many different scenes and moments in which I, or anyone, could choose from. Hassan is a servant to Amir and his family and, as a servant, he has been endlessly loyal to Amir. I'm going to take a look at a few ways in which Hassan has been loyal to Amir.

1.  There is a moment, early in the book, when the antagonist, Assef, stops Hassan and Amir. Assef is a bully and downgrades the likes of Hassan and his people, Hazaras, and he ridicules those people who treat Hazaras as equals to themselves, like Amir and his father, Baba. Amir is about to speak up to say that Hassan is only his servant, not a friend, which would be an act of betrayal, when Hassan defends Amir by pulling out his slingshot and firing at Assef's eye. Hassan, was willing to defend Amir, risking his own life, so that Amir would not get hurt, even though Amir showed no sign of speaking the truth and being loyal to Hassan. 

2.  Hassan shows even more loyalty to Amir. There was a kite race and Hassan told Amir that he would get the last kite cut for him; that is until Assef shows up again. Assef, of course, has not forgotten about the slingshot episode, and takes the kite that Hassan has for Amir away from him. Hassan refused to give it up as he promised it to Amir, and in return, Hassan gets raped. Hassan was willing to be so loyal that he would be physically violated. And worse, Amir witnessed the act, and didn't say anything to stop it. 

Those are just two of the many acts of loyalty in this book, but for now, this sums up the requirements of this post. Let us look at betrayal next! 

An Introduction

This post is going to be a brief introduction to me, why I'm making this blog, and what this blog is about. Come along for the ride.

My name is Courtney and I'm a student at Keystone School Online. I'm taking an English 4 course, and it is my last course to finish up. Eeeep! Finally! Phew. Anyway, during the course, I've had to read the book "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini, and now, as an assignment, I have to make a web page about it. It's a really different assignment. I'm not sure how this works, particularly because the assignment page says we shouldn't have to publish the posts, except I don't know how I would be able to show the work otherwise. So, I might be foolish, but I'm actually going to publish my work, on the Internet, for anyone to see, and hope that I don't embarrass myself, and complete the work accurately.

So, as I've mentioned this blog is really only for an assignment, an assignment about a book. What you can expect from this blog, as of now, is this introduction, a posting about loyalty, one about betrayal, and lastly, cultural context found in the story. The assignment has four parts: intro, loyalty, betrayal, culture context. Four parts, four posts. Sounds, somewhat, simple enough. I hope.

Spying the Runner might seem like an unusual title, but to me, for this activity, I am spying into the depths of The Kite Runner. I'm delving into the pages and picking passages out, plucking information and scenarios, and looking at them deeper with the eye of a spy. Spying the Runner is the title that is fitting for me and this assignment and for this blog. I hope you like it and where I am about to take you. I'll see you in my next posting.