I'd thought that by the time we had gotten this far in the book my peers would have a better grip on Amir's emotional standpoint and the psychological processes of those that are close to him. But my classmates are still calling him selfish, still saying he deserves any bad things in life. They say that because he didn't do anything to save Hassan, karma has made it so that he can't have a son. They don't know how wrong they are. I've already explained why he didn't do anything (here). And if karma did, for some reason, take place in his life, all of the guilt would have already paid his price.
They say he's selfish because he didn't want to go and get Sohrab until after he knew the boy was his nephew. They say he's just as bad as before. I say there's evidence against that. From looking at the picture he knows that Sohrab looks just like Hassan- by being near the boy, he'd be reliving his guilt day in and day out. Also, he doesn't want to go to Kabul because he's heard that it's changed- a lot. He doesn't want to go back to the place he grew up and see it in ruins. It was once his beautiful home- going back would mean he would be forced to experience just how much it's degraded.
They also inquire about Baba. "Why didn't he accept the medication?" they ask. "Did he want to die?" No, of course not! If he hadn't had his history, and if he hadn't been so stubborn, he would have accepted the meds. But Baba is Baba, and there's no changing him! Taking the medication would have been like taking the food stamps- it would have seriously damaged his pride. It would have made him appear weak. Baba is not the kind of man who would allow himself to feel the shame and insecurity of being weak.
Basically... I'm disappointed still. I'm still trying to show people the emotional, human side of things... But... I don't know if my last blog post wasn't read or what. :/
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