Humans need to communicate

Humans want to be happy

Humans want to connect

Humans need companionship

Humans need friends

Humans like to help

Humans can be empathetic

Humans need hopes and dreams

Humans sometimes strive for knowledge and improve

Humans are scared of each other

Humans abuse power

Humans are selfish

Humans are violent

Humans are greedy

Humans are diverse

Humans can be accepting

Humans are resilient and with unity, may overcome adversity

Humans are curious

The novel The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, has a strong message about humans and their betrayal, guilt, and redemption. It is about a boy named Amir who grew up in Afghanistan and fled the country when the Russians created war. He left behind his servant and his son, his best friend. When he hears of bad news of another friend, he returns to Pakistan to see how he is doing. He finds out his childhood best friend is dead and he should help his son. In the end of the story, he was able to bring the son home to live with him and his wife.

I learned about how people cope with the remorse. Amir left his best friend, the son of his servant, to be raped in defense of him. He watched and couldn’t be brave enough to help. When he left Afghanistan only with his father, he held on to the hope and the happy memories of him and his best friend flying kites in winter days. He held onto the happiness, proving again that happiness can get you through the toughest of times. When Amir left though, he still had the guilt of never acknowledging what happened in the alleyway, apologizing, and having tried to make them leave the house so he never had to deal with the memory again. He traveled back home, through a dangerous and war torn country, to help the son of his best friend and feel redemption from his betrayal; he was able to then forget his guilt after helping the boy. The war torn country itself represented betrayal. The Afghans fought against the Russians, but ended up becoming power hungry. With this power, they betrayed the Afghan people and created a racist and extremist fight against their own people.

This book shows both sides of betrayal. Those who betray others for power. It shows the humans who are selfish, who crave power and control. They may have seen their ethnic cleansing and extremism as the best for the country. It shows a friend who betrayed a close friend. It showed that with betrayal, you can choose to redeem yourself. The Afghans who created another war after the Russians left may not have seen their actions as betrayal. The book shows that reasons for betrayal are not always evident to the person, some may feel guilt with their power over others and some may not. It also has a small representation of happiness. Humans need to be happy, to have good memories, and to care. Without any care, they might not have any motive for actions. The Afghans cared about their country, Amir first cared for himself, then his redemption. Happiness is a light that may let you stay strong in rough times. Rough times could be being inside a tank, escaping your home country to a new country. Happiness is something to hold onto that is there to help you get through an issue.

This story shows different perspectives of the same emotions. It shows how some humans become selfish and may cope with guilt. It was a powerful story that taught me about struggles of those in war torn countries and the perspectives of radical leaders and regular people with guilt.