The Poor Little Rich Boy
Hi everyone, this is marie, sharon's friend here. Have not done such critical analysis since my O' levels days, so please bear with me! Anyway, here's my 2 cents' worth:
In response to Syl's question regarding who Hassan teared for , the father or the dying son, my guess would be that he was actually tearing for Amir, whose predicament paralleled the son's. In the first 4 chapters of the book so far, Hassan has proven to be a rather intelligent and intuitive boy, despite his illiteracy. His ability to solve riddles faster than Amir serves to highlight the fact that he seems to possess quite an analytical mind. I felt that Hassan was able to see the similarites between the relationship of the father and son in the story and that of Amir and his Baba. Both sons sought approval and some form of recognition from their fathers, only to be killed by them , and in Amir's case, his spirit was killed by his Baba's constant rebuffals. Hence, it could have been the pain and sadness that Hassan felt for Amir that made him tear whenever the story was being read to him.
Another thought that came to mind was that perhaps Hassan's inability to shield Amir from the pain of his father's indifference caused him to cry as well. Hassan's very first word uttered was 'Amir' and he once told Amir, in the opening chapter 'for you, a thousand times over'. The reverence that he held for Amir can be truly felt and it must have frustrated Hassan to have been helpless over the situation despite his attempts.
In response to Syl's question regarding who Hassan teared for , the father or the dying son, my guess would be that he was actually tearing for Amir, whose predicament paralleled the son's. In the first 4 chapters of the book so far, Hassan has proven to be a rather intelligent and intuitive boy, despite his illiteracy. His ability to solve riddles faster than Amir serves to highlight the fact that he seems to possess quite an analytical mind. I felt that Hassan was able to see the similarites between the relationship of the father and son in the story and that of Amir and his Baba. Both sons sought approval and some form of recognition from their fathers, only to be killed by them , and in Amir's case, his spirit was killed by his Baba's constant rebuffals. Hence, it could have been the pain and sadness that Hassan felt for Amir that made him tear whenever the story was being read to him.
Another thought that came to mind was that perhaps Hassan's inability to shield Amir from the pain of his father's indifference caused him to cry as well. Hassan's very first word uttered was 'Amir' and he once told Amir, in the opening chapter 'for you, a thousand times over'. The reverence that he held for Amir can be truly felt and it must have frustrated Hassan to have been helpless over the situation despite his attempts.
scribbled by marie at 5:52 pm
2 Comments:
When I read the part about their first words (Amir's first is 'Baba' and Hassan's first is 'Amir')it struck me that the author is somewhat hinting about the roles in which these people play in the boys' lives.
For Amir, is his longingness for Baba and for Hassan, Amir's importance and centrality in his life. The boys' relationship with each other is not on equal footing. Amir does not treat Hassan the same way the latter does. Hassan's love for Amir will probably not be reprocicated.
It'll be so cruel of Hassan to make Amir to read his own predicament in the form of a story over and over again since Hassan had made it his favourite story!
Probably a masochistic streak was in Hassan as well, as he makes Amir remind him repeatedly that he can't 'shield Amir from the pain of his father's indifference'. =(
But as we all know, Hassan being the hero in the story doesn't somehow add up to the characteristics as I've mentioned above.
Hmm... my question is a hard bark to chew on.
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