Kite Runner Reflection #2

     The seminar influenced my thinking by opening up a wider range of topics for discussion. Being able to hear the opinions of my classmates made it easier for me to understand the text. The discussion truly made me put myself into the shoes of the characters, and try to imagine just what it would have felt like to be them. Much of the discussion focused on the relationship between Baba and Amir, as well as the dramatic changes they endure when they immigrate to the U.S.  A particularly interesting question that I had not thought of in depth before was whether or not refugees should be seen as cowardly for leaving their countries in a time of war. While reading the book, I had not thought much about the this concept of cowardice, and I though it was an interesting question that sparked some very diverse responses.

     The statement that I agreed with the most was that Amir would probably never be able to forgive himself for what he let happen to Hassan. Many of my classmates agreed with this statement, and added on that Amir may constantly try to make up for his actions, but life without regrets is an impossible feat. The statement that I least agree with is that refugees can be considered cowards because they fled their countries in times of war. I personally believe that if a person is placed in a dangerous, life threatening situation, it is only logical and fair that they be allowed to leave. Refugees are often innocent people, who have been caught up violence, which in many cases, seems impossible to stop. I think it is unfair to deny refugees the change to move to other countries and try to make better lives for themselves, and even their families. If there had been more time for discussion, I would have liked to further discuss the life of Hassan, and how it compares to that of Amir. I am still puzzled by Hassan’s unfaltering loyalty, the fact that he would drop anything to help Amir, the fact that he wore black for 40 days in mourning for Baba. I think it would have been very interesting to discuss the idea of loyalty, and see if my classmates valued it, gave it, and to what extent.

     I think that the group did very well at being courteous and allowing those who were speaking to finish their thoughts before sharing their own opinions. This particular seminar group was composed of those who tend to dominate the discussions, which I was the discussion leader for. A great thing about this discussion was the number of different ideas people had. I felt like each individual person had adequately prepared, which made it easy for the discussion to flow and cover a wide range of topics. Because everybody in the group was courteous I felt comfortable speaking and knew that I would not be interrupted by anybody, and took care not to interrupt anybody. The combination of everybody sharing their ideas whenever they could, as well as allowing others to speak created a stimulating discussion, that was able to dig deeper into a lot of the themes of The Kite Runner.

     A particular area that could use improvement would be the amount of time spent on each topic of discussion. I felt that the discussion lingered on some topics and ideas, namely the relationship between Baba and Amir, as well as how they were faring in the U.S. While these topics are complex, and have many areas that can be analyzed, the discussion got to the point where it seemed like people were repeating others, or themselves. Avoiding this would make discussions less redundant and open up other important topics and themes for discussion.

Kite Runner Reflection #1

     The seminar influenced the way I thought about Amir’s relationship with Baba and Hassan.  While completing preparation for the seminar, I realized that Amir’s relationships with Baba and Hassan were almost opposite because while Amir tries hard to please Baba but maintains a distant relationship, he is very close with Hassan but tries not to give him too much credit.  One thing that was said which I hadn’t thought of in depth was how Assef might not actually be a good son of Baba’s despite their friendliness displayed in the book.  This might be true because Assef’s tendency to manipulate others and prove himself superior might clash with Baba’s manliness and duty as leader and protector.

      The statement made by one of my peers that I agree with the most is that Amir is not a very likeable character due to his bullying of Hassan.  I found this statement to be true because in the story, Amir is constantly doing little things to prove himself superior to Hassan, like giving him the wrong definitions of words, or making fun of him.  Although there were small points that I may have disagreed with, I generally agreed with every statement made in the seminar, maybe because the story evoked the same emotional responses from my peers.  If I had the opportunity to add anything to the seminar, I would have mentioned that Amir’s belief that he should be superior to Hassan because Hassan is his servant.

      Surprisingly, some things that worked really well for the seminar were the use of emotional appeals.  On the surface, The Kite Runner is a story of social conflict, political turmoil, and new life in the USA.  However, beneath the surface, there is an entire dimension having to do with the relationships between Amir and Hassan, notably, Amir’s torturous guilt of never confessing the rape.  These emotional relationships in the books made up the majority of the conversation during the seminar, and therefore, the use of emotional appeals was a success for the first time.

      Some things that needed improvement in the seminar were the separation of people for the groups and lack of preparation.  The groups were split up by chance, and therefore, the first group ended up having many more people than the second one.  This was a problem because it changed the amount of speaking time people had in each group.  Another improvement that could be made was the lack of preparation.  Many people were very well prepared, but there were others who had clearly not studied the subject material beforehand.  This made it very difficult to include everyone I the seminar.