Literary Merit

I could not even think of a fun title that incorporates an aspect of the novel. I was just instructed to write about The Kite Runner's literary merit and in lieu of some great pun all I could think of was "Literary Merit". Well now that the titles out of the way, I am going to continue with the rest of the blog.

Before I get into analyzing the literary merit of The Kite Runner I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed the book. It was perfect for this activity. It had a great plot and complex characters and was a complete page turner. It was a little bit shorter than some other books we had read, which meant I could read at a gentle pace. This was especially helpful with the fact that our blog posts were during our midterms. I loved reading the book, but I do not believe that it was of literary merit for an AP level.

The first thing about The Kite Runner is how all the important information was near the surface. I did not have to interpret the book and go deeper than just the literal words to understand the meaning and the theme. At times Khaled Hosseini was so blunt with his motifs that it felt like I was being beat over the head. A great example of this is when Amir is in the hospital after getting beat up by Assef. The doctor is telling him about his injuries and says, "The impact had cut your upper lip in two, he had said, clean down the middle. Clean down the middle." (297). At this point Hosseini has created a great similarity between Amir and Hassan because of the symbology between their likeness of their lips. For a book at an AP English level that would be all that would be needed to be said in order for the reader to understand the reference. But Hosseini ruins the moment and takes the complexity down a notch with the next sentence, "Like a harelip." (297). Now, one would have to have been half asleep when reading the book to not get that reference. It is so obvious. And this happens repeatably throughout the book. When Amir goes to save Sohrab from the Taliban he encounters none other than Assef. Now, the villain could have been someone who looks or has any of his traits, but the author had to make it Assef to complete the parallel between Hassan fighting Assef and Amir fighting Assef. Not only is it improbable, but the reference is just too blunt for an AP reader. After reading Song of Solomon my understanding of an AP level piece of literature is one that hides meaning and motifs in details that would not be expected and had to be looked for, like when Milkman is in the forest and he is tripping over the roots. In seems like a minor plot detail, but the author used it to help convey his meaning of Milkman changing as a man after that journey. The Kite Runner just is not at that level. Do I believe that it is a good book to read and one that numerous people may find enjoyable. I absolutely do, but I believe it should not be taught in an AP curriculum. For what the project I was doing involving blogging it is great, especially with the fact that after reading it I have to answer the question of its literary merit. But overall too blunt, too obvious, too expected and literal.

Finally, I would like to say that as this is my last blog post that I have very much enjoyed this project. It beats writing a long paper on one topic. I get to widen my range of topics and add more of my personal voice to the writing.

Thank you to anyone who has spent the time to read my blog, even if you are just one of my classmates. Hopefully, you have appreciated what I had to say and might even have been convinced to pick up The Kite Runner and try it for yourself.

Yelda and the Significance that Follows

After finishing The Kite Runner I found the book very entertaining  with a great story and a satisfying ending. Along with the novel following Amir and his entertaining adventures Khaled Hosseini uses it to promote a idea through the meaning of the work. One of the ideas that Hosseini promotes is that a father and a son having a strong relationship is good for both of them. In The Kite Runner Amir does not have the best relationship with his father until they move to America. Before then Amir always crazed his father's recognition of how capable he was and his father, Baba, would not be very proud of him because Baba did not like how Amir did not resemble himself at all. Amir was strong academically and could recite poetry right and left, but he was not very capable in athletics and shied away from confrontation. The only moment Baba was proud of Amir was when he won the kite flying competition and even then Baba's pride did not last that long. However, when Amir and Baba move to America their relationship becomes much stronger. They no longer live in luxury and now have to find ways to survive. They have more time to see each other and have conversations because there are no longer servants in the household and fewer people that Baba wants to invite over. Because of their interactions their relationship strengthens and they are at least happy with the time that they spend with each other. When Baba finally dies Amir is truly remorseful because their relationship has gotten to the point where Amir has forgiven Baba for not being the proudest parent when he was younger.

The other meaning that Hosseini promotes throughout the story is to atone for one's mistakes or sins. The entire story revolves around characters dealing with their inner struggles starting with Amir watching Hassan get raped and doing nothing about to when we learn that Hassan is actually Baba's son and Baba not being able to tell anyone about it. Amir first pushes Hassan out of life after the incident in hopes that his guilt will eventually die down. However, Amir's guilt never actually leaves him and he is left with the thoughts of what if he had intervened even while he is living in America thousands of miles away. Amir eventually atones for his mistake by travelling back to Afghanistan during the time of the Taliban regime to rescue Hassan's orphaned son. After saving Hassan's son, Amir finally feels like he has lost the guilt that plagued him for so many years. This is the opposite of his father's case. Baba never tells anyone that Hassan is his son and takes that secret to the grave with him.Through tales that Rahim Khan tells Amir it is seen that Baba was tormented by his secret and it hurt him to treat Hassan like a servant even though they were family. Amir is seen as in a better place at the end of the novel than Baba when he dies. Hosseini's trying to get across the point that atoning for one's sins is better.

Hosseini not only writes an entertaining novel, but he portrays meaning in his work, all starting with that winter when Hassan is raped after Yelda, or the first night of winter.