Ceremony

I've enjoyed Ceremony a lot more as I kept reading it. You get used to the flashbacks and changes. The end of the novel is the most saddening part of the book. Tayo is picked up by Leroy and Harly, who are capturing him to bring to Emo. When Tayo evades them, he realizes if he completes this night, the last step in the ceremony will be complete. Later, the bodies of Harley and Leroy are found in a ditch with full military attire. It is obvious Emo did it when they also find out Pinky has died too. Tayo is completing the ceremony not only for him but for all those who when to war and are now affected in some way. In completing the ceremony, he must come to understand that loss is a part of life, as he comes to this understanding, all three of his friends die, as if they are a sacrifice in the ceremony. The end just seemed to make sense in this way and was a good closure to the circle of events.

Zenele

In all fairness I did like some of the stories told in this book. Some in particular that stood out to me was Tinawo's stories. She tells about her first day at working with the Pelledays. She went to the grocer, butcher, and baker with Mrs. Pelledays in order for them to recognize Tinawo without questioning her, in the future. When Tinawo sat in the front seat, Mrs. Pelleday asked her to sit in the trunk while "Charlie" sat in the front. Tinawo then realized "all my years of jeering white hate prepared me for the sight of Charlie as he came bounding and barking around the hedge and flopped into the front seat" (162). Charlie's arrival was shortly fallowed by Mrs. Pelledays embracing the dog and "frisking his hair and burying her face in his abundant white fur" (162). The dog is a symbol for many things. His pronounced white fur emphasizes the "white" culture. The fact that Charlie gets the front seat over Tinawo shows the white ideal Mrs. Pelleday advocates. Even Mrs. Pelleday's overly affectionate demeanor toward the dog shows that they can humanize their pets while dehumanize Africans.

Zenele

In all fairness I did like some of the stories told in this book. Some in particular that stood out to me was Tinawo's stories. She tells about her first day at working with the Pelledays. She went to the grocer, butcher, and baker with Mrs. Pelledays in order for them to recognize Tinawo without questioning her, in the future. When Tinawo sat in the front seat, Mrs. Pelleday asked her to sit in the trunk while "Charlie" sat in the front. Tinawo then realized "all my years of jeering white hate prepared me for the sight of Charlie as he came bounding and barking around the hedge and flopped into the front seat" (162). Charlie's arrival was shortly fallowed by Mrs. Pelledays embracing the dog and "frisking his hair and burying her face in his abundant white fur" (162). The dog is a symbol for many things. His pronounced white fur emphasizes the "white" culture. The fact that Charlie gets the front seat over Tinawo shows the white ideal Mrs. Pelleday advocates. Even Mrs. Pelleday's overly affectionate demeanor toward the dog shows that they can humanize their pets while dehumanize Africans.

End of Kite Runner

"If someone where to ask me if the story of Hassan, Sorhab, and me ended in happiness, I wouldn't know what to say" (357).

I didn't know if the story was happy or sad myself. I guess a little of both. I think there are a few stories in this one book. The story of Amir lifting his guilt and finding a way to indirectly help Hassan by saving his son. The is the story of Hassan, who till his dieing day lived for Amir. He died protecting Amir's home leaving his son an orphan. Sorhab story is of a broken soul. Hosseini leaves the reader with a glimmer of hope for Sorhab's future, "A smile. Lopsided. Hardly there. But there" (371). With that, the book leaves Sorhab's future to the readers imagination.

More Kite Runner

A lot has developed in this middle section of the book. As I see Amir grow a little into his adulthood, I feel like he becomes more of a likable character. He gets married, writes a few books, and tries to have a baby. In a sense he is trying to start a new, and forget about his old self, the person who would desert his best friend in a time of need. When Amir goes to Packestan to visit his father's business parter who is dieing, Amir is confronted with another situation that shows his true character. When Rahim Khan asks Amir to find Hassan's son, his first reaction is unwillingness to go. "Rahim Khan, I don't want to go to Kabul. I can't!" (220). Finally after groveling, he decides to go. "Then I told [Rahim Khan] I was going to Kabul. Told him to call the Caldwells in the morning" (227). Although he redeemed himself by not chickening out completely, part of me wanted Amir to say he will take the child in no questions asked, and without even meeting the kid, because he is Hassan's son, and Hassan would do that for him. Instead he tells Rahim to call the Caldwells. Despited his final decision, his initial reaction is important to scrutinize. It was Amir's quick reaction that made him run away from Hassan in the ally. When Amir is faced with another quick decision, he storms out of Rahim Khan's place. Perhaps if Amir got to think about saving Hassan from Assef, he would have grown the courage to do it. But what makes a hero in a story is the type of character who doesn't have to go back home and ponder if he wants to be good, he just is.

The Kite Runner Chapters 1-12

The book is amazing! By the time I'm done reading each night, my face is rosy on the cheeks and my eyes are watery. I think what I like best about the story is I can relate to it a little. Coming from a middle eastern family, many of the customs are similar. The relationship Amir has with his Baba I recognise a lot. Khaled Hosseini inquires that in Pashtun custom you must earn a father's love (class notes). Amir's relationship with his father changes drastically from the beginning of the story to where I left off in chapter 12. The fact that Baba admits he is working his laboring job just for Amir to go to school, shows his father's true feelings, whereas in the beginning the reader sees a lot more of Amir's jealousy toward Hassan, and even Assef and the orphan kids Baba helps with the orphanage. In Calinfornia, Amir no longer has the other people in his life to be jealous over. He begins to see his father as only human, something that is only learned when you come of age. Amir sees his father working in a menial job, and later, with a crippling illness. Seeing one's father slowly wither brings reality closer for a boy to turn into a man. Amir knows the reality and asks "What about me Baba? What am I supposed to do?"(156). His farther rebuttals "All those years, that's what I was trying to teach you, how to never have to ask that question" (157). This quote is similar to "Girl" where the girl asks "but what if the baker wont let me feel the bread?". The mother's voice then replies "you mean to say after all you are going to be the kind of women who the baker won't let near the bread?

South America and Caribbean

"On Sunday" by Mario Vargas LLosa, the main character, Miguel, changes drastically in one instance. After overcoming the almost fatal swim in the freezing water, his biggest success was the gratification from his friends for beating Ruben is the contest. A few words from Melanes saying "you're beginning to be a man" (36) affirms his once weary confidence. LLosa shows how such a big part of a growing boy's personality is effected by friends. Llosa uses a comparison in the beginning of the story to display this difference in boys and girls. Miguel confesses his love to Flora, in turn Flora admits that she is unable to date him until she finishes school like her mother tells her. The difference in the two characters shows the difference in ambitions. The girl, wanting to listen to her mother, and finish school, while the boy, eager to fulfill his adolescent lust, fills the rest of the story with his ridiculous contests.

"Culumba" by Michelle Cliff involves a different type of situation. The main character befriends her servant (Culumba) who is only two years older than her. Culumba trusts the narrator enough to show her his prized doves which he cherishes and keeps as pets in an old car. I felt like there were two coming of age stories in this one story. The narrator comes of age as she is made aware of the scenario Culumba and her are in. She says, "I felt awkward that a boy two years older than myself was responsible for my laundry, for feeding me, for making my bed...I did not keep the cammandment" (7). The narrator shows her rebellion here, which in turn is a sign of her growing independance. The fact that she is becoming her own person is a key elemant of coming of age. The other coming of age story is Culumba's, which I was suprised more people in class didn't mention. The way Culumba does not dispute the request to kill the birds shows his knowledge of his statues. He has no hope in keeping his pets. The narrator even makes the point that the birds "are not for killing" and not much food will come out of them (9) . Simply said, Culumba is forced to come of age because he has to kill his pets, something a child should never endure.

"Columbus in Chains" by Jamaica Kincaid tells the story of a girl who is also rebellious. She is different from the girl in "Culumba" in that her rebellion is more childish. Her major rebellions are when she writes in her book and organizes an after school leg show gathering. She only has her coming of age at the end of the story when she is looking to her Mother for comfort and only gets breadfruit. She walks with the image that her Mother, "suddenly turned into a crocodile"(5). The end leaves the reader with a sense that the girl can not even rely on her mother. She learns that she is on this planet alone, and she has to deal with the consequences of her actions. Because children are different, dependent on their parents, the narrator here consequently comes of age.