Vote

I feel that the best novel for the next English 110 class would be 'The Road.' The group presented it very well. It seemed to have an air of mystery throughout it that seems very inticing to a reader. Also, this book did not seem to fall under the depressive theme that the class followed this semester, and it would be good to change things up a bit. I love a story with plot twists and the unexpected. A good book to me needs to have something that keeps me wanting to read more. Not something that is forced to get through, and I feel that this book might just give that to me.

Favorite Short Story

I would have to say that my favorite short story was 'Toga Party.' Usually I don't really like stories that are so depressing, and don't really have any climatic point. However, I liked the fact that in such a short amount of writing, the author gave so much. We found out about the main character and his wife, and their feelings toward their lives. They rarely heard from their children, and the husband was almost obsessed with the thought of himself dying. The whole story was drepressing, with the old man whose wife had died a few years before, and all the elderly parents who never hear from their children. However, even with all these sad substances, I feel that a lot of old people feel the same way. Of course I hope that's not the case, but I could only imagine when you get to the point where there really is nothing left to look forward to, the kind of thoughts people would have.

Kite Runner

Now that you've seen the first half of Kite Runner, what are your impressions of the film thus far? What do you make of the bond between the two boys, Amir and Hassan? Why did their relationship change after the kite running competition?

So far, I like the movie. It depicts two boys of different status who are like brothers to one another. However, these boys are very different people. Amir is not accepted by many boys, and he is cowardly. While Hassan, on the other hand, is very brave and stands up for what he feels is right. They are best friends, and Amir is educated and reads stories to Hassan. Hassan and his father work for Amir's father and live on the property. That is why the two boys have gotten so close.

Their relationship changed however, because of the older boys who were bullies. Because Hassan was a house servant, they treated him like a dog. When Hassan ran to go a get the kite for Amir, the older boys found him and cornered him. They started beating him and calling him names. Amir showed up right at that time, but did not do anything for his friend. He hid instead, and Hassan ended up getting raped by the boys.

I cant say for sure if Amir started treating Hassan the way he did because he believed what the older boys said, or if he just didn't want Hassan to be around him anymore in order to protect him from that happening again. Either way, it was wrong of Amir to do. He should have stuck up for his friend when the boys cornered him in the first place.

Also in Kite Runner, Sohrab saves Amir from Assef's brutality by using a slingshot. This scene mirrors the actions of Hassan earlier in the film. Is Amir's defense of Sohrab to General Taheri Amir's attempt to take a stand he didn't take earlier in the film? Or rather, does Amir redeem himself in the process of accepting Sohrab into his home?

Both of these assumptions are correct. When Amir went to go and find Sohrab, and brought him back to America, he redeemed himself to his childhood friend Hassan. When they were children, Amir treated Hassan poorly, and the last time he ever saw Hassan, they were not on good terms. Amir treated his best friend like crap. However, when Amir risks his life to save Hassan's son, and take him back to America to raise as his own, he fully redeems himself to his old friend and possibly to himself. I don't believe that this thought was the reason for his actions, because I believe that he was a good person, and that he knew he was doing the right thing.

Everything is Illuminated

I feel that the grandfather killed himself because he felt guilty his entire life. He felt guilty because he survived the war and the massacre in his town when no one else did. He also felt guilty because he was Jewish, but claimed the opposite for most of his life because he was afraid and ashamed. While the war was still going on, he probably went into hiding and started a new life, but had to lie about who he was in order to protect himself. However, he got so used to this new life, that he went with the flow of the rest of the people and began hating Jews and making fun of them, like the rest of his family did.

So, after he went back to his old town, and was revisited by his past, he felt that he deserved to die, or perhaps he felt that after talking with the woman, that his life was now at peace.