The Kite Runner Post 1

"Now, no matter what the mullah teaches there is only one sin, only one. And that is theft." (17)

In The Kite Runner Baba tells Amir this advice about religion after Mullah Fatiullah Khan taugh Amir about Islam when he was in fifth grade. Baba has a right to tell Amir this advise because he dosn't consider murder a sin because Amir's mother died in childbirth. I think this is a kind of foreshadowing of what is going to happen because the book parralles the abolishment of the monarchy of Afghanistan and the founding of a republic run by the Talibans. Then Afghanistan is invaded by the Soviets and ever since the country has been in turmoil. The Talibans remained in power until 9/11 when the US kicked them out. Probibly because of all this turmoil Amir realizes that he is going to witness a lot of murders, rapes, etc, and the most importaint thing is that you don't steal.

After 9/11 and the Iraq War I thought all Muslims were tarrorists. I thought they came from a violent religion that promoted terrorism and that they all supported Osama bin Laden. Now that I have started reading this book I have realized that Muslims face the same challenges that everyone else faces, bullies, politics, and family conflicts. When I first saw the summary I thought that the book would be about a Muslim child's point of view after the US invaded Afghanistan after 9/11. I didn't know that the Muslims didn't all support Al-Quida, now I realize that they are just a small number and that the majority of Muslims are normal people.

I also like Hosseini's writing style. It is very easy to read and the last sentence of every chapter makes you want to go on. I like the fact that he talks about what the Afghans think about American culture. Amir and Hassan seem to like American westerns and say that the resident hippies are friendly. A really part of the story was when Amir and Hassan wanted Baba to take them to Iran to meet John Wayne because they didn't understan the concept of dubbing movies. I thought that Afghanistan was a third world country and didn't realize that people drove Mustangs and saw American movies. I thought all the Muslims wanted to keep from themselves and didn't want to associate with western culture. But this was before all the radical Muslims came into power and Afghanistan was a peaceful country.