A Long Way Gone Part 3

Now that I have read the whole story, I can reallt reflect on the book. This book has taught me the true effects of war. The effects on children of all ages. How it ruins innocent families, and messes with everyone's head. The point on the book that I realized this was when Ismahel was in Rehab. He said that when he turned on the water, he saw blood coming out of the Tap. He was halucinating, and it was because of what he had seen in war. Can you imagine getting caught up in war at the age of twelve? Starting off running away from war, but in the end becoming part of it? This is something that nobody should have to go through especially a twelbe year old. By the age of sixteen he was a soldier who had to kill innocent people and take peoples food and supplies. This has been the saddest book I have ever seen, and as I have said before, everytime you think it cant get any worst... it does. Some of the imagery in this book are things I have only seen or heard about in movies. There where points in the book when I seriously considered not readong anymore because it was emotionally hard to read. I will never forget this book, and I am thinking about reading it again. i usually don't find a book that I like enough to read a second time, but I think I will with this book. I would reccomend thisbook to anyone, and I think it is something everyone should read. I will probably give my book to ASTI just because I feel like this s something the next year freshmen should read as a class. It is definatley not easy readin because it makes you think and sends your emotions off the chain, but none the less it is wonderful and movnig book.

A Long Way Gone (Post 2)

This part of the book brobably tops off the last section of the book by far. I would say that the reason why this part is the worst so far is because Ishmael gets caught and recruited by the rebels. Some of the things that he has to do in the rebels is horrifying. He constantly sees dead bodies, and has to deal with these images in his mind for the rest of his life. Can you imagine not knowing what happened to your family? Are they dead? Are they alive? Where my brothers also caught by the rebels? Did they escape this horrablle torture? There have been moments while reading this book, when I wanted to stop reading because it was so intense. In my opinion, I thought that the Kite Runner was very intense until I read this book. Some of the things that Ishmael has to go through in this book are so horrifying that nobody should every have to go through stuff like this. He is constantly having to see dead bodies, and even is forced to kill someone at the age of twelve. I think that one of the things that gets me the most about this book is one simple question. What is the Rebels point in killing all of these innocent people? What did they ever do to them? All thy where doing was trying to live their life and support their families. Who has the right to take that away from anybody? This subject gets me a little upset just thinking about it. I want to read more even though I don't at the same time. I am going to read more anyway!

Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a boy Soldier (First Post)

This book has been by far the most sickening, disturbing, and horrifying book I have ever read. Some of the things that have been talked about in this book I have only seen in movies.  For example babies being shot, women and children being set on fire, and little kids as young as the age of ten being recruited into the rebel forces and made to kill random  people. Can you even begin to imagine watching your friends and family being shot around you, and having to dodge your way around dead bodies just to try and survive? Can you imagine being separated from your loved ones and never knowing what happened to them? Always wondering did they get captured and recruited by the rebels?

Where they shot and killed? You never know. The most depressing thing about this to me, is the fact that this is a true story. Ishmael somehow escapes the horror of Sierra Leone which I will read later in the book. Ishmael says somewhere in the seventh chapter, “Even a 12 year old cannot be trusted anymore.” After that, he explained how children as young as the age of ten are recruited into the rebels. Because of this,  people don’t know if young children are rebel spies, or there to kill random people for no reason at all. It has been very sad and depressing to read the horrible things that where done to people in Sierra Leone. I have no doubt that the things I read from this point on will only get worst, but I cant’s stop reading the book. I definitely feel like our discussions that happened  today in class was a success and I look forward to more of them!

Kite Runner Final Essay

“I ran because I was a coward. I was afraid of Assef and what he would do to me. I was afraid of getting hurt. That’s what I told myself as I turned my back to the alley, to Hassan.” (Amir, P.77). This is what Amir said and did when he saw Hassan being raped BY Assef and his little friends. This simply shows how good of a friend Amir was too Hassan. The entire rape situation did not make that much sense to me as far as the way Amir acted to the situation.

Hassan made it very clear to Amir that he would do anything for Amir, and he proved it when he went through the rape for the kite. All Amir did was stand there. That proves what kind of friend he was to Hassan. Another thing that reflects what kind of person Amir was when he kicked Hassan out of the house. After all the things that Hassan did for Amir during there childhood, you would think that Amir would have some kind of heart as an adult. At the same time, Amir was not responsible for Hassan’s death, so lets just get that out of the way before I continue. . My feeling about all of this, is that Amir did not physically make Hassan leave the house. However, Amir did say some things that may have made Hassan upset and caused him to leave. None the less, the way Hassan reacted to what Amir said was entirely up to Hassan, and had nothing to do with Amir. Even if Amir did somehow force Hassan out of the house (which he didn’t), Amir cannot be blamed for the Taliban. Obviously the Taliban has been and is currently an ongoing problem in that part of the world, and Amir was not a part of the Taliban. It would be obscured to say that Amir wanted Hassan to be killed by the Taliban. Sometimes people are just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The example that I used in class to prove my point was this. Let’s say that I am hosting a party, and someone gets super drunk. Around 1:00am I say the party is over, and that everyone has to leave my house. That same drunk person decides to drive home. He ends up hitting another car, and killing the driver. It is not my fault that the other driver was killed. Just because I said the party was over and people had to go home, is not the cause of that person’s death. Now that all of this is out of the way and cleared up, I will continue. I think that Amir in a way owed Hassan because Hassan did so much for Amir as a child. Once again the rape. All Hassan had to do was give Assef the kite and he would not have gotten raped, but he took the rape just so that he could still give the kite to Amir. Since Hasssan went through all of this during their childhood, the fact that Amir kicked him out of his house when he returned to Kabul as an adult.

Questions that where brought up when I was reading the book where these. First of all, why did Hassan and his father leave Amir and Baba’s house? Did Hassan tell his father what had happened with the rape, and therefore the father wanted to flee town to get away from Assef? Or did Hassan tell his father all of the stuff that he lied about in order to keep Hassan out of trouble?  To me, it just not make too much sense why they just all of a sudden left. The second question I have, is what made Amir let Hassan stay at his house as an adult in the first place? Obviously after the rape, Amir just stayed away from Hassan and their friendship was pretty much over. So because of this, why would he let Hassan stay over? My final question is why did Amir go back to Kabul in the first place? You could tell this when he went got the phone call in San Francisco. Overall, I thin that Amir did some really messed up things to Hassan especially after all the things that Hassan did for him.

Kite Runner Part Three

Today in class, we got into a pretty heated discussion (yelling & throwing chairs) and I want to let my point be known.  We started talking about the part when Hassan left Amir’s house. Some people in our debate felt like it was Amir’s fault that Hassan died, so I asked why? Their idea was that Amir made Hassan leave the house and then he was killed by the Taliban. My first response to this, was that even though Hassan did leave the house for whatever reason, Amir had nothing to do with the Taliban. Immediately, the  opposing side said that if Hassan had never left the house, than all of that wouldn’t have happened. My feeling about all of this, is that Amir did not physically make Hassan leave the house. However, Amir did say some things that may have made Hassan upset and caused him to leave. None the less, the way Hassan reacted to what Amir said was entirely up to Hassan, and had nothing to do with Amir. Even if Amir did somehow force Hassan out of the house (which he didn’t), Amir cannot be blamed for the Taliban. Obviously the Taliban has been and is currently an ongoing problem in that part of the world, and Amir was not a part of the Taliban. It would be obscured to say that Amir wanted Hassan to be killed by the Taliban. Sometimes people are just in the wrong place at the wrong time. The example that I used in class to prove my point was this. Let’s say that I am hosting a party, and someone gets super drunk. Around 1:00am I say the party is over, and that everyone has to leave my house. That same drunk person decides to drive home. He ends up hitting another car, and killing the driver. It is not my fault that the other driver was killed. Just because I said the party was over and people had to go home, is not the cause of that persons death. That is my metaphor for the whole situation, and aside from that whole debate, I loved the book. It was one of the few books that I have been forced to read as an assignment and liked. I liked it, and am seriously considering reading it a second time. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in reading it!

Post About Whatever

I am just posting about whatever since I don’t have a specific topic I want to post about today. I guess I will post about the new video game I got. It is called Call Of Duty Black Ops. It is by far the best game I have ever played. The graphics are amazing too the point where you almost feel like you are watching areal movie as you play it. And the story is so deep, it leaves you not wanting to put away the controller. It is a little bit like a good book. For example the Kite Runner. Every time you think it can’t get better… it does. Plus there is an online multiplayer mode that kicks a**. It is so much fun, because you earn money to buy and customize your weapons and equipment. I recommend this game to anyone who likes first person shooters, and if you don’t believe how good this game is, go buy it and see for yourself.

Kite Runner Part Two

I am posting this a little late because I was very sick when it was due and did not get a chance to do this then. Part two of the kite runner has been very interesting so far. The part that is striking me the most, is when Baba gives Amir the car. There is really nothing special about this part, accept for when Baba says that he wished Hassan was there at the time. As I read through this section of the book, I could tell that this made Amir upset. I get the feeling that all along Amir has seen Hassan as a threat too Baba’s love. In other words, I think that Amir saw the situation as a competition for Baba’s love even though Hassan did not. I think when Baba and Amir moved to California, Amir was probably somewhat happy because he finally had Baba all too himself. But when Baba mentioned how much he missed Hassan and how he wished that he could be with them in California, I think that made Amir Fell many emotions all at the same time. Jealous, sad, angry, unsecure. Those are the feelings that I think Amir was feeling during that whole seen. Over all from what I have read in the book, Amir has had quite the hard life. Hard in some ways. Yes he lived with a rich father in a nice big house and a mustang, but the things he went through growing up as a child. For example, the rape. Now for the rest of his life, he has to live with the guilt for not helping his friend. He also lives with the thought that his own father does not love him as much as he loves his friend. Whether or not this is true is irrelevant, because Amir does not know the truth. Overall, I come to the conclusion that Amir’s life does not get any easier as I read on.