The Kite Runner - Creative Writing - Rahim Khan Diary

24/12/1979

Today is Christmas. The last week I bought a present for Amir jan. It´s a story book for childrens.
The stories of the book have a very simple vocabulary, and it´s not really an interesting tale as the books he likes to read. But the importance of the book is not what it is, it's the message it leaves.
I know that he might don't like it, but he has to understand that Hassan is not different to him. Baba told me that he is not with them now. That´s bad. I hope the book helps.
If only he knew the true...

25/12/1979

Neither the book nor Allah can help us now.

The "reds" invaded us, showing up no mercy, not even on Christmas night. They advanced in Kabul with tanks, and a great army, shooting everyone who was fighting with them, killing everyone who was afraid of them.

I couldn't be able to give Amir his present. He is leaving the country by now. There's no future in Afganistan for him now. Maybe America is better. Hope I can meet them there as soon as possible.

1/1/1980

I can't leave Afganistan, at least by now.

The russian army is killing everyone in the frontier with Pakistan, after the massive emigration of the first day of the invasion.

I have been in my house since Baba and Amir left Kabul. Fortunately I have supplies to survive some weeks. 

28/4/1980

All the supplies I had are gone. Despite I have been getting more supplies by exchanging goods at the black market, this time I got nothing. 

The dealers doesn't want money. Nowadays, in our situation, money is just a worthless piece of paper. They want bullets. Fortunately a had plenty of it. 

Before all this mess, I liked going to the forest, away from the sound of the city. I liked to hunt. The only thing I used to hear there, was my shot. Now I hear shots everyday in the streets.

Today all the forest all gone, thanks to the Soviets. And what is more important, I'm running out of bullets.

Maybe is time to go out. 

11/6/1996

Some people died fighting the invaders. There are people that lost all his hope, and just committed suicide. 

I prefer to be optimistic.

Yesterday I spend some time taking care of Baba's house. With the talibans in the control of the country, I believe that everything will be like it was before.

Last week I went to a hazara village to find Hassan. I spend a long time looking for him.

The family must be all together when Baba and Amir jan come back.

Hassan has grown up. He told me the reason of his departure from Baba's house. I knew Amir was bad. That book I bought was suppose to help him. But now the book can help Hassan. With it he can learn to read and write. 

After all what happend he is still loyal to Amir. He will take care of the house with his son, Sohrab.

12/11/2001

The talibans are not better than the Russians.

The last day, they enter to the house, and beat me until I was unconscious

When I woke up Hassan and his wife were dead. They also kidnapped Sohrab.

It was foolish to be optimistic. I must go to Pakistan. I feel sick, after they beat me. 

I can’t rescue Sohrab, but I now who can do it.

He have to know that there’s a way to be good again.

He have to know too many things.

Hope the letter Hassan wrote to him can help.

598 words

The Kite Runner - Chapter 22 Reflection

• Differences:

1. If we read the book, we can know what was Amir thinking in the scene. He was having lots of flash backs, while he is trying to convince Assef to take Sohrab (the son of Hassan) with him. For example, when he first saw Sohrab, he reminds him, how Hassan was when he was a child
2. Also in the book, Amir gets much more damaged after he fights Assef. While in the book, he get broken bones all around his body, in the movie Amir just get damaged eye.
3. In the book, Assef tells Amir how he survived in the jail, and how he decided to help the talibans in Afganistan. In the movie, Assef dont say anything about this.

• Similarities:

1. What happend in the chapter, is exactly what the movie show to us. However the movie make a summary of the chapter, leaving behind some details. (For example: What was Amir thinking in that moment)
2. Some of the phrases that the characters say in the movie, are exactly what they say in the book.
3. The clothes that the characters are wearing in the movie are very similar to what is described in the book, specially Assef, who is wearing a white suit, with his "John Lennon" glasses on.

The Kite Runner - Chapter 12

1. In what way does Soraya’s story about her illiterate friend differ form Amir’s?
2. What period is described as a time of many ‘firsts’?
3. What was Baba’s final resolution about his diagnosis?
4. Why was Amir envious of Soraya?

Answers:

A1: Soraya's story about her illiterate friend differ with Amir's story, because she helped her friend to learn how to write and read. Meanwhile Amir bother Hassan, teaching him words with another the wrong meaning, while he laugh because of his innocense and ignorance.

A2: The period Amir described as a time of many firsts, is the time when he saw a lot of things that he has never seen have during his life. For example, to saw Baba sick and coughing blood.

A3: Baba's final resolution about his diagnosis is a lung cancer. He don't want to take treatments and remedies to make his disease better or at least dalay it.

A4: Amir was envious of Soraya, because she was brave enough to tell him her secrets, while he even cannot tell her his story with Hassan.

Opinion about Cloning

Nowadays with the technology growing as fast as the human being can conceive, cloning can be closer than we think.

During the past years, we already clone animals. As an example there is Dolly the sheep, the first animal to be clone. But can be possible to clone a human, to clone us? 

This maybe could not be only a science-fiction thing, that we see in the movies, this could be in the future something real for us, something normal.

But is this ethical? In my opinion is not.

To clone a human, you also have to duplicate his memories, his feelings, not only his body. If we forget to duplicate this, we would have an empty piece of bones and flesh, an useless body.

Anyway if we achieve cloning our feelings, that means that in that momento we achieve to create life, a whole human with all his perfections and imperfections.

Thats not playing to be God? To an atheist, this maybe is not an argument against cloning. In that case, I ask: What will happen when you clone yourself, what will you win? What he should do in his life, replace you?

Anyway, if I were a doctor, and its necesary to clone someone what kind of people I would clone? I would clone people inspiring, who can motivate others to be better, and do great things. 
Where I would conduct this? Everywhere, the kind of people that I would clone can be living in any country, and part pf the world.
But what is more important, clone the first human, or clone a healthy child? The answer is clear: I would clone someone healthy, that can live his live well. What's the price if I clone the first human, and he can't live in a normal way.
Also if I clone someone, I would let the people know about my experiments, so they can give me their opinion about it, because cloning if someone that involves all of us.

IVF Treatment Dialogue

Goffard: Hello friend, how are you?

Pertuzé: Very good, and you?

Goffard: Fine, thanks, I heard that you want to have a new baby with your wife.

Pertuzé: Oh, yeah,  I just  leave the clinic, me and my wife are planig to have a daughter, perming the IVF treatment

Goffard: Oh men, but that is totally immoral, I am against it.

Pertuzé: I think is totally right to do this. Don’t stay in the past, move on be modern.

With a little girl in our family, we will get a perfect family balancing. If we get a daughter it will be a new experience for us.

Goffard: I respect that. Anyway I think it is inappropriate to manipulate the treatment to select the sex of their child, also known as family balancing because it is something un-natural and something in what humans do not have the rights to decide. Also, the way the fertilisation is than is disgusting as they produce more than one zygote and they “select the better one” just for convenience or favouritism, something elitist.

Pertuzé:  That what you think bro, you are not the one who have problems having childrens.

After all is my decision, with my wife. I respect your point of view, but this my business.

In the end we will love this children, no matter how is born.

Is our dream to be parents, don’t steal that from us.

Goffard: I suppose that’s why this topic it’s so controversial, we can talk about this all the day.

Well, I have to go! As always it was a pleasure to see you

Pertuzé: Hahaha, you are right.

We can met again some other day, you know… we can have fun, talk about the life, this stuff

Goffard: Yeah! See you later

Pertuzé: Bye!

The Kite Runner: Baba's Diary Entry

Monday, 1975

I thought that this day would never exist.
In this winter day, finally came the moment I wait for. Amir won the kite tournament, he finally did something brave, for men, something that I used to do.

All this years, I looked at Amir and the boy I were, and there isn't any similarities. Instead of playing football, he prefer to read books and write his own stories. He don't enjoy what a men do. He is all what I do no want for him.
One time I told Rahim Khan that "If I hadn't seen the doctor pull him out of my wife with my own eyes, I'd never believe he's my son".

Sometimes, when I look at Ali and his son Hassan, I think about the luck he had. Hassan is exactly the same as Ali is. Both of them are loyal and helpful. They always help us in the house.

Rahim Khan always told me to accept Amir. One time he said to me, that Amir may be different, but that wasn't something bad. He told me, Amir has great talents, that he knows how to write like a professional.
I thought he was wrong...

But this time, when I saw in the roof of the house, what Amir did to win the tournament with blood in his hands, I realized and understood what Rahim Khan said to me.

Amis is different, but that is nice.

The Kite Runner - Chapter 7, 8 and 9

Chapter 7:

1.  What was Hassan’s dream about
2. Why does Amir refer to the last moment of the competition as “All I smelled was victory. Salvation. Redemption“?
3. Who two people say these words: “He’s jut a Hazara, isn’t he?” What is the intended meaning?
4.  How does Amir feel by the end of the chapter? Why?

Answer:

1. Hassan dream about swimming in a lake with Amir. In this lake there was a monster, and the people of Kabul shout to them to get out, but they didn´t, bacause they knew that if they were together, nothing bad would happen.
2. According to the quote, in the last moment of competition, Amir refer that he was not only winning the tournament, he was also winning the love of Baba.
3. The people that said that words were the friends of Assef.
4. Amir feel really bad in the end of the chapter, because he knew that things will never be like before. He feel coward, bacause he didn't help Hassan, he not fight against Assef, like his friend would do.

Chapter 8

1. What happens to Amir on the way to Jalalabad? Why?
2. How does Amir react when Hassan invites him to buy naan?
3. Narrate the second episode at the pomegranate tree. What does it mark in Amir and Hassan’s relationship?
4. What is Assef’s gift to Amir?
5. What story does Rahim Khan tell to Amir? Why?

Answer:

1. On his way to Jalalabad, Amir vomit in the car. He really dont feel good about what happend to Hassan, and his reaction about that.
2. Amir reacts bad when Hassan invites him to buy naan. He shout him to not bother more.
3. Assef gift for Amir was the biography of Hitler.
4. Rahim Khan tell Amir the times whenn he was going to get marry. He realized that the 
5. "birthday boy" was sad, so the told that story

Chapter 9

1.  What is Amir’s most treasurable present?
2.  How does Amir feel when he receives Ali and Hassan’s present?
3.  What is Amir´s ” the last in a long time of shameful lies“?
4.  How does Amir realize Hassan “knew everything“?
5. Why does Amir compare the farawell moment to a Hindi film?

Answers:

1. Amir most treasurable present was the one that Rahim Khan gives to him
2. When Amir receives Ali and Hassan present, he fell very sad. It was the favorite book of Hassan and him. The quality of the book was also nice, so it was a expensive gift considering the economical situation of Hassan and his father
3. For Amir the last in a long time of shameful lies, was make Hassan looks like a thief in front of Baba.
4. Amir realized that Hassam knew everything about the lie, because when Baba ask him if it was true that he steal Amir's present, he said "yes", and he was the honest and loyal man ever born.
5. Amir compare the farawell moment to a Hindi film, because in that dramatic moment, when Hassan was leaving his life, in a movie he would chase the car.