The Kite Runner --- Poignant and Thought Provoking

“ I'm going to find a boy. His father meant a lot to me.”

I saw the movie last night. I told myself I will not watch movies that would made me cry but I was so curious about the story that I braved it anyway. And i deserved the tears I shed and all the discomfort associated with it. The story is so emotional, emotional in the saddest way. I could have run (like what my son did when the scenes are getting too uncomfortable) but I stayed glued on the scenes, of course, with a tissue in hand.

The story is about friendship. Friendship of two young boys in a land destined to undergo tumultuous challenges. The most interesting is the friendship of Amir and Hassan. Amir is rich and Hassan is their servants’ son. Both of them does not have a mother and Amir although has everything has longed for his father’s appreciation. Hassan on the other hand is so loyal to Amir. He cannot read and write like Amir but he is strong and brave. Their friendship is truly exceptional. Amir would read and tell Hassan all his stories and Hassan would never tire of listening. They loved flying kites. There is nothing Hassan will not do for Amir. But Amir and his fears has caused him to betray Hassan. Three bullies has doubted and taunted their friendship to the extent of hurting Hassan. That is the point where i started crying because Hassan has valiantly demonstrated his loyalty to his friend and at the same time Amir has failed him immensely by not coming to help him. That incident has changed their friendship. Hassan has to stay away for a while to nurse his hurt and Amir seemed to have taken this the other way. He hurt Hassan and provoked him to hurt him back but Hassan would rather hurt himself than hurt his friend. Amir went as far as setting his friend up for stealing his watch. This made Hassan and his father leave their household. I was really feeling so upset with Amir at this point. How can he be soooo blind?

Then the Russians came to Afghanistan. Amir and his father have to get out of their country. They went to America and never returned. He graduated, became a writer and got married. His father died without seeing his country again. Until a call came and it was his father’s friend from back home. He was called to come and visit him in Pakistan. He came back to visit and learned that Hassan has died in the hands of the Taliban. He died protecting the house and properties they left behind... and left a son. He also learned that Hassan was his brother. His father’s son from one of the servants. This revelation has added a thousand fold to the guilt he has. He has a nephew alone in a place that is never kind to orphans.

He received a letter from Hassan who since learned by self-taught how to read and write. The letter was sooo touching ... that’s it... I cried again. An excerpt of his letter goes like this:

“I dream that my son will grow up to be a good person, a free person. I dream that someday you will return to revisit the land of our childhood. I dream that flowers will bloom in the streets again... and kites will fly in the skies!”

And there he has decided...he need to find the boy. He needed to be brave this time and do the right thing. Stand up to something he holds dear in his heart. He will go back to face the Taliban and find his nephew. He was told that he’s in one orphanage but when he went there, the boy was already taken by an evil man. He went to find this man only to find out that this man is one of the bullies that have hurt Hassan and now he is slaving Hassan’s son too. He is determined to get the boy and got hurt in the process but they were able to get away. With bruised face and body he was able to get the boy out and brought him to America. The boy was broken but Amir knew that he will do his best to protect him and make him feel safe. That experience has made him brave and finally understood how to stand up for what is right and just no matter what danger lies ahead.

Lessons!!! Oh! How my eyes hurt! Even writing this has made me shed some tears again. Friendship is such a delicate thing. What is the problem? The problem is that Amir has kept a secret, a guilt that was rooted from his fear. This has prevented him from being truly happy. How can he release his soul from such torture? He said he was done with forgetting, he needs to face his fear and he did. A chance to redeem himself came and he grabbed it.