In both The Epic of Gilgamesh and Kite Runner, dreams are very important to the plot development; however, they each portray this in two very different ways.
In The Epic of Gilgamesh, dreams fortold the future and often forshadowed upcoming events. During the time period of Enkidu and Gilgamesh, dreams were highly valued because it was believed that they came from the Gods. Their dreams were evidence that the Gods were trying to communicate with them. In this story, the Gods were needed to caste a sense of importance on the dreams.
In Kite Runner, dreams are put in a different context, and represent the change of characters or of perspectives. For example, when Amir sees his father wrestling the bear, he pictures his strong, muscular, and bold father. Then, in the next sentence Baba is no longer the one wrestling the bear, but rather it is Amir. Because Amir has finally faced his fears, his search for redemption is now over. Going back to Afghanistan, and saving Sohrab, Amir is now the hero, thus he becomes the strong-willed man who has vanquished the bear. Now, literally in his own eyes, Amir sees himself as the strong and proud man, the man he saw in his father.
This connection has shown me that dreams often represent something beyond the plain truth, and go further by expressing something about a character or situation in a more metaphorical sense. While at first I did not realize it, looking at dreams and thinking about them in a less literal way, greatly developes the plot, and helps me better understand the story.
Tuesday, 29 September 2009
Sunday, 20 September 2009
Best of the Week: Culture
This week we discussed how culture has such an overwhelming impact on characters and their actions. Culture is evident in every culture. For example, in The Blue Sweater , we noticed how the women felt so empowered becase culture had pushed them down so many times, and told them they couldn't do anything. In that story, women were very limited because of culture. However, culture is different for every part of the world. America's culture is different from Africa's which is different from Afghanistans, and so on.
Anyway, at the beginning of the story, Amir was a walking example of culture. For example, while although Amir never said it, we could see through his actions and thoughts that Amir thought of Hassan as his servant. Why? Only because Hassan was a Hazara. Culture had guided Amir to this conclusion, and would continue to do so for the rest of his life.
20 years later, as Amir asked for Soraya's hand in marriage, he had to be very cautious because Afghani culture would reject the way the marriage was performed. Even at the market, it was his Amir's father who reminded him, not to embarrass the two of them, by doing even something as simple as talking to a woman. While although marrying Soraya in the first place, was a rejection of culture (because of her reputation), the rest of their marriage had to be led by it.
Culture has played a dominant role in Amir's life, and think it will continue to for a very long time. It's so hard to defy something that has been with you your whole life.
This is relatable to Assef's and Amir's childhood. What role does culture play in your upbringing? Whether that is for the better or for the worse. In my opinion, there were many instances where culture brought out the worst in Amir. However, later in his life, while Amir was still under the chains of culture, he did happen to defy it. This was when he married Soraya.
In conclusion, culture played a large role in Amir's life, sometimes for the worst, sometimes for the better. It's up to Amir to decide to what extent it influences the rest of his life.
Anyway, at the beginning of the story, Amir was a walking example of culture. For example, while although Amir never said it, we could see through his actions and thoughts that Amir thought of Hassan as his servant. Why? Only because Hassan was a Hazara. Culture had guided Amir to this conclusion, and would continue to do so for the rest of his life.
20 years later, as Amir asked for Soraya's hand in marriage, he had to be very cautious because Afghani culture would reject the way the marriage was performed. Even at the market, it was his Amir's father who reminded him, not to embarrass the two of them, by doing even something as simple as talking to a woman. While although marrying Soraya in the first place, was a rejection of culture (because of her reputation), the rest of their marriage had to be led by it.
Culture has played a dominant role in Amir's life, and think it will continue to for a very long time. It's so hard to defy something that has been with you your whole life.
This is relatable to Assef's and Amir's childhood. What role does culture play in your upbringing? Whether that is for the better or for the worse. In my opinion, there were many instances where culture brought out the worst in Amir. However, later in his life, while Amir was still under the chains of culture, he did happen to defy it. This was when he married Soraya.
In conclusion, culture played a large role in Amir's life, sometimes for the worst, sometimes for the better. It's up to Amir to decide to what extent it influences the rest of his life.
Sunday, 13 September 2009
Change of Mind: Freedom
Free - dom [free – duh m] n. – 1. Exemption from external control, interference, regulation, etc.
2. The power to determine action without restraint.
3. The state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint.
Of all the definitions of freedom, there is not one that talks about internal freedom. External, action, physical restraint – they all consider freedom as only an outside condition. And up until a few days ago, that’s exactly what freedom to me was. So while reading Kite Runner, I asked myself, is there such a thing as internal freedom? Can you be constrained, forced, or controlled, by something internal? So my new answer to this question is why yes, yes you can.
Amir, the main character in this story, is full proof, that internal freedom does exist, and that he lives with a secret that makes him internally enslaved. His feelings of loneliness, disconnection with reality, guilt, and fear, are all pieces of evidence that inside he feels anything but liberated.
My definition of freedom before reading this story was exactly what Webster thought as well – freedom is physical. That nothing can keep you internally imprisoned. When I thought of freedom, I thought of the Civil war. I thought of the Holocaust and the detention camps. I thought of Paul Revere. I thought of Martin Luther King. I didn’t think that your mind, your thoughts, your feelings, were something that could be caged and locked up as well.
So then, I asked myself another question, is internal detainment something that is brought upon by an outside source, or can you, yourself, bring upon internal imprisonment? This is where my definition of freedom changed again. For Amir, the feeling of freedom was something that he denied himself. After he watched Hassan get raped, he limited and perhaps totally cut off his notion of internal freedom.
As I evaluated how Amir felt internally confined, I realized that internal freedom is something that exists in a lot of other places, although it may, at times, be disguised. For example, similar feelings of lack of internal freedom are evident in women who are abused by men. The thoughts that they are powerless and alone are similar to what Amir felt. Initially, I would have perceived abused womens lack of freedom to be external; but I realize that much of their lack of freedom is internal, too.
The biggest piece of evidence that lead me to change my perspective of freedom was when Amir described what “the past” meant to him - “That was a long time ago, but it’s wrong what they say about the past, I’ve learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out" (pp. 1). For Amir, the past finds a way to interfere and incarcerate his emotions and feelings, which causes him to feel internall imprisoned. In response this influences his external actions.
In conclusion, this book, so far, has completely changed my definition of freedom. No longer will I say freedom, and only think that you can be restrained physically, because I have learned that imprisonment and lack of freedom can be internal as well. No longer will I think that internal detainment is impossible without external enslavement, because Amir’s story has proved otherwise. No longer, is freedom or lack thereof, Paul Revere, the Civil War, the Holocaust, but it is also Amir and abused women. No longer is freedom only physical.
2. The power to determine action without restraint.
3. The state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint.
Of all the definitions of freedom, there is not one that talks about internal freedom. External, action, physical restraint – they all consider freedom as only an outside condition. And up until a few days ago, that’s exactly what freedom to me was. So while reading Kite Runner, I asked myself, is there such a thing as internal freedom? Can you be constrained, forced, or controlled, by something internal? So my new answer to this question is why yes, yes you can.
Amir, the main character in this story, is full proof, that internal freedom does exist, and that he lives with a secret that makes him internally enslaved. His feelings of loneliness, disconnection with reality, guilt, and fear, are all pieces of evidence that inside he feels anything but liberated.
My definition of freedom before reading this story was exactly what Webster thought as well – freedom is physical. That nothing can keep you internally imprisoned. When I thought of freedom, I thought of the Civil war. I thought of the Holocaust and the detention camps. I thought of Paul Revere. I thought of Martin Luther King. I didn’t think that your mind, your thoughts, your feelings, were something that could be caged and locked up as well.
So then, I asked myself another question, is internal detainment something that is brought upon by an outside source, or can you, yourself, bring upon internal imprisonment? This is where my definition of freedom changed again. For Amir, the feeling of freedom was something that he denied himself. After he watched Hassan get raped, he limited and perhaps totally cut off his notion of internal freedom.
As I evaluated how Amir felt internally confined, I realized that internal freedom is something that exists in a lot of other places, although it may, at times, be disguised. For example, similar feelings of lack of internal freedom are evident in women who are abused by men. The thoughts that they are powerless and alone are similar to what Amir felt. Initially, I would have perceived abused womens lack of freedom to be external; but I realize that much of their lack of freedom is internal, too.
The biggest piece of evidence that lead me to change my perspective of freedom was when Amir described what “the past” meant to him - “That was a long time ago, but it’s wrong what they say about the past, I’ve learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out" (pp. 1). For Amir, the past finds a way to interfere and incarcerate his emotions and feelings, which causes him to feel internall imprisoned. In response this influences his external actions.
In conclusion, this book, so far, has completely changed my definition of freedom. No longer will I say freedom, and only think that you can be restrained physically, because I have learned that imprisonment and lack of freedom can be internal as well. No longer will I think that internal detainment is impossible without external enslavement, because Amir’s story has proved otherwise. No longer, is freedom or lack thereof, Paul Revere, the Civil War, the Holocaust, but it is also Amir and abused women. No longer is freedom only physical.
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