One day in the library, I glanced at a book cover of a kid flying a kite and it was titled The Kite Runner. Actually, flying kites is a popular sport in my country of China so I was intrigued. My initial thought was that this book would be a happy one. But when I noticed that the author was from Afghanistan, I envisioned a country in turmoil, one full of poverty and the image of war emerged. How can such a joyous pastime take place in such a country? I opened the book with curiosity.
In this novel, the protagonist, Amir, I learned, cowardly failed to save his friend and servant Hassan from an awful violent act inflicted upon him. Then, in a time of war, the readers learn that Amir escaped his country for America, leaving his friend behind. Eventually, Hassan was shot for protecting Amir’s house in Afghanistan. Adding to this, Amir discovers that Hassan was really his half-brother in which Amir risks his life at the end to save Hassan’s only son and offering himself complete redemption.
I learned much about Afghanistan in this novel. According to this novel, it was once a happy and peaceful place. Compared to the Afghanistan we see on television which is full of war and terror, I could not believe that this was ever true. But, I realized the devastation of war there and that many people lost their lives and their peaceful living. Most people who died in war were innocent citizens. Therefore, war has the power to devastate ordinary people and sometimes what it brings cannot be fixed. In the story, Amir said’ I feel like a tourist in my own country” and this proved how much it had changed since he had left it.
Furthermore, apart from the war, Amir had his own personal devastation. His cowardly reluctance to save his friend, to escape from his responsibility to another person, and to become a person who dispels a person who is completely loyal to him, his best friend, he seems to be a character we cannot forgive. However, after reading this book, we can all forgive. I think deep in all of our hearts this is a frightened Amir. Most importantly, Amir cannot forgive himself and he tried his best to make it up to Hassan after living with the guilt for over twenty years. His ability and passion to redeem himself and rectify his wrong makes him an affable character that we can all relate to. I think becoming brave and undertaking responsibility finally is the reason we can forgive him.
After reading this novel, I realize that the kite isn’t a simple kite. It is friendship, it is love, it is guilt, it is redemption, it is hope, it is loyalty, it is honesty, it is everything.

Everyone has a kite and, whatever it is, run for it.