Response to Victor about Irrational fears

I came across this post a while ago, but decided now to respond to it, like Victor asked:

I know that the people that read this might go to buy and eat an apple just for me, but I guess I will just try to live through it. I don’t want to feel like the only person with weird and irrational fears of things, so respond to this and tell me what you are afraid of.

 I wouldn't categorize this as weird, but I am afraid of the dark.  It is strange because I am only afraid sometimes, like after someone mentioned a scary story of reference to one, or I just watched a creepy movie.  I think that everyone must be slightly afraid of the dark because it is the unknown, and our survival instincts tell us that there is some potential danger in unknown.  Our instincts kick in, and that is why sometimes when it is dark and I am alone, I imagine someone looking at me, or walk with a weapon sometimes.  I am very alert in the dark, and I am ready for surprises.  Once when I was 9, when I was walking downstairs at night, I held a bamboo stick for a weapon, and my dad jumped out from behind a corner to scare me, and I instinctively hit him.  The dark is the unknown, and in the unknown, there are potential dangers, and with dangers, our body naturally kicks into battle mode, or survival mode.

This reminds me of a question that Vinh asked Mr. Sutherland, about why people have fear when it is potentially bad for you before a test.  I have thought deeply about this, and came to an explanation.  Before, when civilization wasn’t as civilized, and we had to hunt for our own food, fear is what kept us alive.  Without fear, you would never be ready for an attack, and you wouldn’t fear your attacker, whether a human or an animal, and you would be killed.  It is also important for taking tests because without fear, you wouldn’t be fearful of failure and not study.  And you would fail, but you wouldn’t improve because you don’t fear any consequences that you will be faced with after.  I think hat moderate fear is the most effective way for passing a test.  You shouldn’t freak over a test, but you should never take it too lightly, and overestimate them.  

Third Book Discussion

In this discussion, we rehashed some of the old topics: the consequences of Christopher's disability and what he actually has.  Also, we brought up new topics of how Christopher's adventure will affect him later, if he will ever forgive his father, and whether or not he would have a compatible partner.  

I talked about how the self confidence Christopher gained after he traveled to his mother would help him in the end.  In the end, Christopher stated that since he wrote a book, discovered the killing of wellington, and taveled to mother, he could do anything. i think this is very important because earlier, we talked about how Christopher holds himself back because he looks down upon him self by setting rules.  for example, the color of the cars technique of whether or not the day would be good or not, i think, is an insult to himself, because he purposely limits his own ability to feel the day for himself.  Also, we discussed why his he was afraid of his father.  Throughout the story, Christopher displayed his feelings towards his father as fear because he killed Wellington, but on the other hand, I think his real feeling was that his was hurt that his father had lied to him about his mother’s death.  This is very significant because he is covering up his feelings, not because he doesn’t want to share them, but because he doesn’t truly understand them.  We then moved on to the point of whether or not Christopher would ever forgive his father.  i believe that it will eventually happened, because his father will try relentlessly, and Christopher believes he can do anything, and once he realizes how important his father is to him, he will conquer his fear and battle through it, and eventually forgive him.  We spoke about if Christopher met a person alike him, they would be compatible as friends or even a couple.  Sam brought up that they wouldn’t touch each other at all because it would make both of them uncomfortable, and they would understand to explain everything very clearly for the both of them to understand (like Siobhan does).  They would overall just understand each other and be good for each other. 

Response To Jesse on Pizza

I was scrolling through reader, and found this post by Jesse, and decided to write a very descriptive paragraph on it.  

I think one of the best pizza places I’ve ever been to is Amici’s so if you see it, immediately plan a time to go there, cause their pizza is awesome! The pepperoni they put on the pizza kind of resembles a cup, and you can sprinkle Parmesan cheese or pepper and it tastes so good. So go there.

            Regular pizza, steaming hot with creamy cheese and greasy meats, is a comfort food.  However, as one takes each bite, one feels guilt running through their mind.  With each slice comes much fat and grease oozing out from the layers of cheeses, and the fatty meat toppings piled high.  If one wants a healthy choice of pizza, one should go to The Flat Bread Pizza Company in Paia, Hawaii which serves only the freshest, organic produce from local farmers, and cooks their specialty pizzas in a clay oven with a fire, fueled by wood.  By supporting local farms, they keep the toppings tasting fresh, and keeping the pizza healthier than other choices.  The clay oven provides a unique smoky taste to the crust that only comes from a wood burning fire.  It also contributes to keeping it healthy by lifting off the grease from the pizza.  When I went there last summer, I was amazed by the many delicious flavors bursting in my mouth at one.  I could barely believe that all the ingredients are natural and the pizza as a whole was healthy.  I was used to eating pizza that when brought out, I could see the grease and fat liquidizing on top if it.  There was both a positive difference in taste and health.  After many generations of evolving from its origins in Italy, pizza has been perfected.

If you ever find yourself in Hawaii, make it one of your goals to visit this place, because I think it is going to blow your mind, especially because it is all organic, local grown food, and the clay oven puts such a great spin on it.  It is just amazing, so amazing that it was really difficult to write about it, using words.  I had to really think because, before, I would just explain the pizza as fhjdalkjdagsdal. Here is a link to reviews of the resturaunt, in case you want more detail: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60636-d729848-Reviews-Flatbread_Company-Paia_Maui_Hawaii.html. or http://www.yelp.com/biz/flatbread-company-paia

Final Discussion 2

In our second discussion of our final, we spoke about whether or not Christopher’s father made the correct decision of telling him that his mother died when she left.  Also, we discussed whether or not his father lied to Christopher on purpose or not, and whether his mother left for selfish reasons or to protect Christopher. 

Sam thought that his mother’s choice for leaving was the correct one, and was selfless because she wasn’t a good mother to Christopher at all.  She didn’t have the patience to take care of an autistic kid, and she often hit him when she lost her temper.  Also, he stated that Christopher’s father wasn’t very helpful towards his mother’s problems with temper.  He didn’t help her through it, but instead, he blamed her for being angry at Christopher.  I sort of agreed but I actually thought this:  I think that his father pushed his mother away by criticized her for yelling at Christopher.  She then sought refuge in Mr. Shears. She then fell in love and left, using her parenting issues as an excuse.  I also thought that his father lied to Christopher as a spur of a moment accident.  He just couldn’t accept the fact that his wife left him so he lied in order to avoid the subject.  He then continued with the lie because he couldn’t tell Christopher that he lied to him. And I think he regretted that one lie for a long time, but he couldn’t tell Christopher. 

We then moved onto the fact that Christopher is super smart.  He does a game that requires great imagination and concentration and intelligence to do.  IT consists of moving squares around like checkers and moving them from the bottom half to the top.  It is really interesting how he can imagine this and do it.  He said that he cant imagine things but he did this, which requires much imagination. He also remembered the whole scheme which is really, really impressive.  He is quite smart, much smarter than other people are, but people still look down upon him (including himself) just because he is different, and they don’t understand what goes on inside his brain, which, in my opinion, is much more developed than any average people.

Discussion one summary and improvements

In our first discussion on Friday, we began by observing Kathy, devin, and jesse's group.  One thing I noticed was that their questions were mostly about plot, asking why one person did one thing or another.  I'm not if it is just because of the story that makes it difficult to come up with more in-depth questions or it was just a lack of effort, but that's what I noticed.  The best commentary I heard was about whether or not the "unwinding" of humans was humane.  It was very interesting to hear the discussion but I am extremely worried that there will be spoilers because I want to read that book, but they will be discussing it before I get a chance to do so.  Plus, I can't really stop them from discussing spoilers, because they must do so in order to discuss, because they are all at that point, and I am just an observer.

In our discussion, we. Talked a lot about what disabilities Christopher has.  We talked about autism, which is what he clearly has, but I wasn't sure what that really meant.  Sam cleared it up, saying that it is the disability of not knowing what people's emotions were.  I also questioned whether or not he had OCD because he liked everything perfect(I.e. When he went to his jail cell, he liked it because it was almost perfectly a cube, he also won't eat foood unless they weren't touching each other)

I brought up the thought about how his mother may still be alive.  We had a quick discussion about this but it was very frustrating because without ht elicited amount of time we had,we were all rushing to get our ideas ion, cutting people off, and changing the subject much too quickly.  We spent roughly two minters on this, when we should have spent at least 10.  That went for almost every single topic we discussed.  I think that we Should split this time into two days, doing one hroup's discussion one day, and the other's the next.  Just one day for tow discussions just simply isn't enough, especially for one third of a whole book. I know that we are limited on time two just two weeks left, but I really don't mind reading faster, if that means more discussion time.

Response to Sam's thoughts on Christopher's mother

During this discussion, we started off slowly, basically talking about plot.  I brought up the point that Christopher   John Francis Boone's mother may still be alive and well, but with another man:

One very interesting part of the discussion was when the question that Christopher’s mother might still be alive.  If you think about it, it make since because Christopher was not allowed to see her in the hospital, and she was cremated, making it so there would b no actual opportunity to see a body.(excerpt from Sam's Blog)

Christopher, as Sam stated, never met his mother in the hospital. Also, his father didn't know the type of heart attack that she suffered from, something that one usually finds out from the doctor.  She was cremated, and Christopher didn't go to the funeral, and he didn't know what happened to the ashes.  I don't think that there is a question on whether or not his mother is dead, or living.  Our whole entire group(Sam, Bassam, and myself) agreed that we think that christopher's father lied to him when he said his mother was dead.  It is just a question on why his father did lie to him.

I have two ideas: his father just couldn't get himself to say/admit it, or he didn't think that with christopher's disability, he could handle the awful news.  The first idea seems far fetched because the whole neighborhood knew about the affair of mr. Shears and christopher's mother.  It may be possible because rumors could have been started, or mrs. Shears could have been the one who told everyone, not christopher's dad.  It seems far fetched, but It is possible.

The second idea seems more realistic.  With christopher's disability, he doesn't fully understand how to let out his emotions.  His father didn't know how safe it would be if he let christopher know that his mother lied to him.  N body knew how christopher would react to the news, so they kept it a secret to them, in order to protect him, and the people around him(he could get violent once he hears the news).  One thing I know for certain is that his father never kept this secret for being mean, it was just the way it was.

Overcoming Problems

What are some of the conflicts Amir faces, and what does he do to over come it? Do you see a trend in his actions? How does it effect him?

The historical fiction novel, The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini portrays a young Amir, who Throughout the story, faces many internal problems. He goes through a "tough love" relationship with his father, he faces problematic relationship with his best friend, Hassan,(and his guilt), he faces his fathers death, and he, in the end, faces all the problems that he ran away from in the past.



Amir, first of all, faces his father, who seems to show more fatherly love to Hassan than to Amir. He does not show much affection to Amir who yearns for his love and works hard to it. For example, he tries and wins the kite running tournament because his father shows a hint of encouragement that he might twin this year's contest. While competing, he sees his father standing on top of a roof, pumping his fists, rooting for him. He had finally saw proof of his father's love and he is happy. He avoided ever facing his father.  He went on through life, taking his advice and sometimes neglect.  California changed things.  His father, with the absence of Hassan, began to bond with Amir and treat him more as a close son.  Amir likes this, and never really had to confront his problem, America fixed it.  This is so because in America, Baba didn't really have the pressure of being the great man everyone saw him as; he could go through life being like a normal citizen because in California, all the Afghans started out the same: In america, Amir suggested going back to Afghanistan to his father,

 "'You were happier there, Baba.   It was more like home,' I said

'Peshawar was good for me. Not good for you.'" (page 129)

He shows that he will sacrifice for his son, and suffer in order to give Amir what is best for him.

His relationship with Hassan started as any normal friendship would be. Amir struggles through a complicated friendship with his servant’s son, Hassan.  Their relationship starts off like normal one; they play and make mischief together all the time, but, strangely, Hassan always takes the blame for all the troubles they cause together.  It seems like Hassan knows his place as Amir’s servant, but doesn’t let it come in their friendship’s way.  On the other hand, as Amir grows older, he begins to realize the differences between him and his best friend.  They come from two different races, they come from different ends of the social ladder, and have different traits (Hassan is athletic and Amir is educated).  After Hassan's rape, Amir begins to feel guilty that he hadn't done anything to help his best friend out. He has an internal conflict overtime he hangs out with his best friend because he is constantly reminded of what he did not do. He tries to get Hassan to pelt him with pomegranates, as if he was getting his revenge, but that does not work. After Hassan proves himself unable to inflict any physical harm to him, Amir feels as though it is hopeless to get Hassan to take revenge on him, and he won’t let go, so He finally figures that being away from Hassan, running away from his problems, would solve it. And so Amir sends him off by framing him for stealing his watch. His whole life is lived in the shadow of the mistakes of not helping Hassan, throwing pomegranates at him, and expelling him from his life.

He then faces his father's death.  His father, although he didn't show it often, loved him very much.  He said that Amir lets others fight for him, and even Amir, himself, admits this.  He leans on Baba throughout his whole life, and is not ready to let go.  He recalls that in the ambulance, he felt powerless, unable to do anything to help his father.  He had no idea what to do.  His father survived that visit to the hospital but he was diagnosed with cancer.  Baba went on living, getting weaker little by little, continuing to treat Amir well, and soon past. After his father dies, he is unsure of how he would survive on his own.  Luckily, he married Soraya before his father died.  She was always there to help Amir through life, taking the place of Baba.


Throughout his whole life, Amir avoids actually facing his problems.  He expels Hassan from his life, running away from his troubles.  He flees Afghanistan, leaving his home country in it's time of need (according to the people who stayed), when the wars became worsened. And later, when his father dies, he doesn't face living alone, or overcoming his loneliness, Baba is replaced by his wife, Soraya, who, like Baba, gives him advice and love.

Finally, once he finally returns to Afghanistan, he is flooded with the many problems he has left behind.  The most obvious was the problem with Hassan's son.  Since he feels as though he is in debt to Hassan, he has an urge to do what his heart tells him to do, but his heart tells him not to.  He finally faces his problem after many, many years, and goes to save Hassan's son, Sorhab, and feels better.  Once he faces his conflict within himself, he instantly feels better, after all the years of guilt that he bubbles up inside of him.  He also do this by admitting his whole story to Soraya, a story he never admitted to anyone. He is also faced with his childhood towns and life turned to rubble.  He grew up living in these towns, playing in these towns, and eating in these towns, but when he returns, his once beautiful, great childhood environment completely destroyed and all the culture left crushed.  The incident of overcoming his internal conflict made him stronger, and he was able to endure this, the destruction of his childhood country, as well as the beating he received from Assef:

"I don't at what point I started laughing, but i did.  It hurt to laugh... But i was laughing and laughing."(page 289)

Amir laughed because he was finally free from his burden on guilt.  He freed himself through standing up for himself, and fighting his battles, not running away, or having someone else fight them for him.  Facing his own problems welcomed Amir into manly-hood.