The Kite Runner Week 3 Madison Deiter

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini brought up so many emotions and even left me in tears at some points. I haven't read a book like The Kite Runner in such a long time which is probably the reason why I finished it in 2 days! Hosseini did a wonderful job keeping the reader on their feet since many things were unpredictable. Everything was mapped out perfectly, as it jumped from the past to the future in a way that made the reader really connect to the characters like Amir and Hassan.
SparkNotes did a really nice job of giving an in-depth description of the characters and how the characters reacted in important situations throughout the book. For example, I noted that Amir was very insecure growing up as he competed with Hassan for Baba's affection. I enjoyed seeing Amir grow up through the novel and how Amir reflected back on his actions towards the end, which made me realize how his character evolved. SparkNotes describes Amir as "passive-aggressive" with his relationship with Hassan. SparkNotes also notes the change in Amir "from a selfish child to a selfless adult". I agree with the part of Amir being a selfish child, but there were many aspects where Amir still had that selfish immaturity in him when he went back to Pakistan. Amir always had a way of putting his feelings first, but how he grew was realizing that that wasn't always the best answer.
 “My body was broken—just how badly I wouldn’t find out until later—but I felt healed. Healed at last. I laughed.” (p. 289) This quote stood out to me and SparkNotes because this is when Amir finally felt like he got what he deserved. As a reader, this made my confidence in Amir grow because throughout the book, Amir's guilt showed me that he wasn't evil, his guilt showed that he was human and that humans do make mistakes. The reason why this quote is so vital to Amir's character is because Amir finally came to terms with his guilt and felt like things were even between him and Hassan. SparkNotes summarizes this quote more than analyzes it which was disappointing. SparkNotes implies that Amir carries around his guilt because he felt like he never got the punishment that he deserved which I fully agree with. However, I believe there is another part of Amir's guilt that SparkNotes didn't cover which is the fact that Amir's guilt is what ultimately made him a good person. 
All in all, I was pleased with the way SparkNotes broke down the charactres and highlighted the important parts of the book, but there were somethings that one would have to read in order to get the full effect of this amazing novel.