Grounded Kite ( Spoiler Alert!!!!!!)

SPOILER ALERT!

I have never been so mad while reading a chapter of a novel. Khaled Hosseini has been carrying out the theme of guilt through this whole novel. He has gave Amir a shadow of guilt that he simply could not shake. since the end of the first chapter i have been questioning exactly what Amir did to Hassan. Leading up to the reveal of the situation you could tell that no matter what Amir was doing  like a shadow the guilt was always with him. For example one time that The guilt surprised me was when, Amir was laying in bed with his wife. He literally just got done talking about the lack of fertility, and the intercourse he had with his wife. Out of nowhere Amir then states how he's curious as to if Hassan got married or had children. I just find it so weird to have Amir reference Hassan and intercourse. That situation alone demonstrated the theme of guilt. So when the guilt was being demonstrated the whole time, I could only question what happened.  Well with that being said, chapter 7 hit me like a brick. I never realized how a grown man could live his whole life feeling guilty, about something that happened when he was a kid. But when i found out that Hassan was rapped and he did nothing. I now knew why he felt so guilty. I am not far enough to know what happened when the two meet again. But I really need to find out. Because if Amir is feeling this guilty then what will be said in the confrontation.

Problems With The Kite

While reading The Kite Runner several conflicts are present. These conflicts come in the form of internal and external. Some may be more dominant than others. Also I feel as if some of the conflicts have yet to develop. One of the internal conflicts that i have noticed is the situation that occurred with Amir and Hazzan. When introduced in the first chapter, there was an incident that apparently caused Amir a great deal sadness. Then it is later revealed that Amir feels guilty about something he did to hazzan. This is what I believe to be the problem that will later be revealed. I also think this will be the major conflict of the story. What I also find to be interesting is that since this is a main conflict so far and it's only presented through the inner narration of Amir.

Another conflict that I found to be present is more direct. This Conflict has to do with Hazzan and his health issues. For the most part the author didn't come right out and say that Hazzan was unhealthy. The way i found out was through the narrator telling stories of his seemingly funny walk, due to the polio, and his facial paralysis that causes his grimace. The first few chapters tell stories of how walks through the market would result in Hazzan being taunted. Not only did this conflict result in Hazzan being bullied younger. I can only begin to fathom what they cause his life to be like in his older years.

Bossum Brothers

The book that I chose for my SSR blog is The Kite runner by Khaled Hosseini. So far I am addicted to this book. The first chapters is what lead to this addiction. Hosseini immediately leaves me wondering what did Amir do to Hassan. With that question being on my mind I decided to make my first blog post about the differences and similarities between Amir and Hassan. The main difference between the two is their lifestyle. As the story develops I learned that Hassan is actually a servant to Amir. With that being said Hassan also lives in a hut  by  Amir's father's mansion. Another difference that I have noticed is that Amir seems to be a relatively healthy boy, But Hassan on the other hand is not. Hassan not only was born with a cleft lip, he also suffers from paralysis of his lower face, which caused him to have a grim like appearance, and Hassan also has polio, which causes him to walk abnormally. With all these major differences being present it is hard to believe that the boys are so similar. Both boys are motherless the situations are different. Hassan lost his mother when shortly after he was born she ran off with rebels. Now Amir on the other hand lost his mother after she hemorrhaged during his birth. I find this ironic since Amir's mother died after giving birth to a healthy child, and Hassan's mother left after giving birth to an unhealthy child. this book has already gave me so much to think about, and i am barely into it. So I can't imagine what is in store.  

Personality Of The Maze

James Dashner author of  The Maze Runner is showcasing several themes. One of the themes that is being portrayed is, To never show fear. For example when Thomas was first Dropped into the maze, he was obviously extremely frightened. But Thomas was not able to Show his fear. James Dashner put Thomas into an uncomfortable situation, He made Thomas hide his fear, My first impression Thomas was he was a numb version of his former self. When he was placed into the maze he was now in a state of oblivion. He remembered nothing about his former self, all Thomas remembered about his former self was his name. Also he was now surrounded by people who he didn't know. Not only did he not know them,  but he didn't know  their intentions. At any point one of these boys could kill him. Thomas had to put on the front of him having trust in the guys, and not showing his fear

Another theme that James Dashner showed was friendship. Several friendships were present in the book maze runner. Whether it be from Thomas and Chucks trusting friendship. Or Thomas and Teresa being connected through a telepathic link. With the boys now being in the Glades they had no one but each other. Making friends was important for survival. For example when Ben was shot with the arrow. If Thomas wasn't on Albys good side then he could have died when Ben turned on him. Also when Thomas first arrived at the glades knew nobody or nothing. Once he befriended Chuck that's when he really started learning things since he no longer felt alone.

Order and chaos are also very dominant in the maze runner. James Dashner showed the difference between the civilized glades and the chaos in the maze. When Ben was shot by Alby that showed how Ben's barbaric actions were not suitable for the glades. So Alby then shot him since he did not believe in those actions. Also the chaos arrived when Thomas could not connect to Teresa during the glades state of panic. Since they were both used to being connected through their telepathic link they were in chaos when that link was broken.    

The last theme that I have found to be dominant in The Maze Runner is death.The amount of boys that have died when going into the maze is sky high. Also they say that everyone who enters the maze is never heard from again. Death is also present when Thomas stumbles across the graveyard. He even saw a grave sight of a young boy who tried to escape. The boys in the glades are simply being controlled by monsters. The monsters take one boy every night at one point. So these boys are being forced to see how far they can push themselves until the limit is reached.

Somehow James Dashner manages to mold all these themes into one book. He can show the Theme of showing no fear, and Death at the same time which is truly remarkable. He is able to have different themes be showcased throughout the novel without contradicting himself.

The Music Of The Maze

The book Maze Runner was made into a movie. So picking songs for it could be as simple as watching the movie. But I decided to wait until I finish the book to watch the movie. So  I will make the soundtrack to the events as they happened in the book. So I can give the events the emotion that I would like.

The first moment that I am choosing is in chapter 15 when Thomas is awaking from another sleepless night. He also comes to an important decision during this chapter. He has now decided that he wants to be a runner in the maze. So he tells Newt about his decision and Newt basically thinks Thomas is crazy.  But Newt admires his courage and puts him on a training list. The song that I picked to represent this scene is Ode To Sleep by Twenty One Pilots, I think this song represents it well because Thomas has a lot of emotion in this chapter. From feeling upset about Ben being banished. To him deciding to be a Runner in the maze. That's exactly what this song has, enough tempo changes to represent the different emotions that Thomas is experiencing.   

The second Scene that I chose to compare to a soundtrack was, when the glades is now in state of chaos. Thomas and Newt where now being chased by Minho, who then notified them that they were being chased by grievers. So now Thomas and Newt now had to be alert. Thomas was also in a state of chaos because he wanted to make sure Teresa was okay. So in conclusion Thomas’s mind was moving at a mile a minute. Taking that into consideration the song that I chose was  Bring The Noize by M.I.A. My reason for choosing this song is to represent the fast pace that I imagine. Also the song is mainly saying that it will be wild and unpredictable which imagine this scene to be like.

The last scene that I chose to add add a soundtrack to was when Thomas awoke from his changing. This is a big scene since Teresa was unable to link with him telepathically. Also chuck wasn't able to update him on what was going on. Imagine this whole scene as a haze. The best song to represent this was  Ghost Of A Chance By Young and Sick. This whole song has a slow and mellow tempo which goes perfectly with the haze that thomas was in. Also if you take a listen to the lyrics you can hear how it has a very low. That way it give the ghostly tone to the song it would also give it to the scene. This song also has  a romantic feel to it. Which I feel like would represent the love connection between Thomas and Teresa. It's not very dominant in the song But I feel like it's also not very dominant in the book, so in a sense it's a perfect fit.

Thomas VS Katniss

In the book The Maze Runner it starts off when the main character Thomas awakes in an elevator in a state of oblivion. He doesn't remember anything or anyone. He then begins to hear strange and unfamiliar voices, once the voices sound uncomfortably close the elevator doors open. The bright light blinds Thomas and he is now greeted by other boys his age, he then finds out that he is now in a place known as the glades. The character Thomas reminds me a lot of Katniss from the Hunger Games. In the book The Hunger Games Katniss was placed into a situation where even though she was frightened, she was forced to rise up and put on a brave outward appearance so her family and friends wouldn’t be scared. Although Thomas has no recollection of his family or his former self, he still puts on a front of bravery so the other boys would not think he was weak. In the first few chapters it seems as if Thomas was selective of his friends. Once he learned a little about chuck he was eager to befriend him and stuck close to him. This reminds me of how Katniss was picky about who she trusted in the hunger games arena. She bonded with Rue and stuck close to her. One of the major comparisons in these books is when Thomas went to bed the night him and chuck really bonded. He moved his sleeping bag which showed that he must really trust chuck. Thomas was now trusting chuck enough to have him in his presence when he was in his most vulnerable state. This reminds me of when Katniss and Rue were officially allies, and they both slept up in the trees. In the hunger games the main purpose was to kill off the other contestants in the arena. When Katniss trusted Rue enough to have her sleep in a close radius, it showed that she was now opening up to Rue. At anytime Rue could have turned on Katniss and killed her, but Katniss trusted a stranger enough potentially have her life at risk. The last major comparison that I noticed between Thomas and Katniss was when they first witnessed Death. When Thomas was confronted by Ben in the graveyard, Ben began threatening Thomas with a knife. When Alby showed up with a bow to try and negotiate with Ben. He seemed to have aggravated the situation, ben continued to be unreasonable, Alby then shot an arrow which then killed Ben. Thomas was then in a state of shock after seeing this happen right in front of him. Which reminds me of when Katniss witnessed Rue's death right in front of her. In all reality Rue held more meaning to Katniss but the impact was still the same. She had to act fast and kill Marvel in order to avenge Rue. After witnessing death both characters had different reactions. Granted the deaths held different meaning for each of the characters. They both were still in shock, Katniss just had to make an impulse decision after. Since reading the first few chapters of The Maze Runner I have noticed several comparisons to The Hunger Games already. So now as I continue to read I am interested in seeing if I can find some more.