The Kite Runner, a powerful tale

The Kite Runner is a novel by Khalid Hosseini. The book was first published in 2003 by Riverhead Books and is Hosseini’s debut novel. We are reading this book in class. I just recently started reading it and I have already found my self in love with the story, like so many others before me. The Kite Runner takes us back to the 1970s Afghanistan and we are presented to the country’s history from the 1970s to year 2002. We follow the story of Amir, the son of a wealthy and highly respected businessman, and Hassan, the son of the father’s servant and Amir’s best friend. Hassan and Amir are peers and through their childhood, inseparable. They grow up in the so what stabile Afghanistan in the early 1970s, playing in the trees, making up stories and running kites, living an uncomlicated and idyllic life. Until one life changing moment.

The two things that first got my attention while reading, was the relationships between the characters in the story. They are so complex in so many ways. First we have the relationship between Amir and his father, Baba. It has, since the birth of Amir, been strained and difficult because Amir’s mother did not survive the birth. Baba somewhere inside of himself blames his son for the pain he has had to live with ever since the loss of his wife. He showed more attention and affection for the servants and business partners than for Amir, while Amir, as a little boy struggled to make his father proud and to make him love him.

Another relationship worth mentioning is between Amir and Hassan, the servants’ son. They grew up together and they are the closest you can come to best friends. But all the while, Hassan is Amir’s servant and he is a Hazard. Back then you did not normally treat a Hazard and servant like your equal. How they balance their bond to each other is quite intriguing. I have not read enough to go any deeper than this, but what I’ve read so far is GOOD!
Picture found here

Advice to fellow students!

Our society today is highly distinguished by the extensive developments in technology and communication. Facebook, with now more than 500 million active users symbolizes how the internet has evolved and increased since it was first taken into academic use in the early 1980s. I think we can all agree that the internet can be of great usage in today's education. It is something that will help us develop and learn so much more, due to all the new and different learning methods and alternatives available. To have access to all the information the internet holds is of course beneficial  to the students. But with students gaining access to the internet in class, follows distractions.

 You can always find something on the internet that is more exciting to do, than what you've been told by your teacher. I think most students will agree with me on that! An article from the website www. Telegraph.co.uk says that students who use Facebook while studying for exams score significantly lower than those who do not. According to studies the students using Facebook while working (even if it is just occasionally) scored an average of 20 percent lower. That is a major difference. Personally I know how much using Facebook in class can affect you work and your grades, as well as I know how hard it is not to visit Facebook. I have experienced the consequences of not paying attention in class, and I have learned from these consequences. The easiest way to say it is that it is all up to yourself. You are not ruining anything for anyone but yourself, you alone are responsible for your life and your future. I know it is very difficult at times, but you have to think ahead and take responsibility. Even though the class might be dreadfully boring and you think that browsing on Facebook won't do any difference, it just might.


Here is some advice to all you fellow students: If you want good grades and a hich scores on your exams so that you can get into whichever school or university you wish to apply for, STAY OUT OF FACEBOOK IN CLASS :)

If you want to read the whole article,  click this link

Picture from wikipedia

Erin Brockowich

Last Friday in class we saw the first part of the movie ”Erin Brockowich”, a drama film from 2000 starring Julia Roberts. It tells the story of Erin Brockowich who fights to keep her life going in the right direction, but who also winds herself up in the middle of a legal fight against PG&E, Pacific Gas and Electric Company.

Already in the first scene, we get an insight to who Erin is as an individual and especially her living situation. We learn that she is unemployed and out of luck. After another rejection at a job interview she is on her way home when another car hits her. Erin ends up with bad neck injuries, and without insurance the hospital visit becomes dangerously expensive.  She files a lawsuit against the other driver, but looses in court. Now she is left with a debt of 17 000 dollars. She is an unemployed single mom with three kids, but Erin is strongwilled and fearless as ever. 

I’ve been intrigued by the movie so far and found it interesting and exciting. I look forward to seeing the rest next week. I have tried not to reveal too much for those of you who has not seen it. If you might want to see it, you can have a sneak-peak at the trailer.

Another part of the assignment we were given was to write about how one person can make a difference. Erin Brockowich is a perfect example. I believe that every human being is special (we do know that no one is the same) and that we all have something to contribute with in one way or the other. If it is making a difference for one individual by being in someone’s life, being a supporting friend, a loved one or a family member. You can also make a difference just by existing and being the one that someone loves. Every human being should feel that they are making a difference and that they are being loved. We all have the need to feel needed. 

Erin is a strong and independent woman with three children that needs her. But it is not as easy for her to except that she might need someone. Excepting help from others is somewhat difficult for her. Everything I write about Erin is based on my interpretation of her character so far in the movie…)

In the movie we experience how one single individual, completely normal and average can have an impact on so many people and really make a difference. Compared to the prime minister, public politicians etc, she might not be able to make a difference on a global scale, but that does not mean she cannot change peoples lives. Her own problems and worries at the time were piling up, while she consumed her time researching something that would turn many lives up-side down.

I think what the message here is that anyone can make a difference. Erin, I do believe represents a living situation a majority of people in this world can relate to. Her problems are currently very real for many people. The single motherhood part, the poverty, the unemployment or the legal difficulties. Even though you live an average life, you all have ability to do something important with your life, be of importance to someone. We all have it in us. Erin eventually finds her way of making a great difference and affecting peoples lives for the better. The key is to care.

Quote by Stevie Wonder: “We all have ability. The difference is how we use it”. 


Picture found on wikipedia