Kite Runner (post #2)

     My class has finished reading and annotating the second section of Kite Runner, a novel by Khaled Hosseini. This section tells of life in America and the beginning of the journey to adopt Sohrab.At the beginning of the section, I was a bit shocked by Baba's behavior. He's an independent person who refuses help from others and doesn't defy fate.
     On page 130, Baba returns all the food stamps that were given to him. He views the food stamps as free money, which he would never accept. He wants to earn hisown money and spend his own money. Also, it says that Baba "alleviated one of his greatest fears: that an Afghan would see him buying food with charity money." I think it was pride that forced him to give back the food stamps. He used to live in a large mansion with gold tapestries and high quality furniture and drive a shiny black Ford around town. He was probably used to living that way and doesn't like how he has to work ten hours at a gas station everyday.
     Baba refusing chemotherapy to extend his remaining time suprised me even more than the drama with the food stamps. I know plenty of people who would refuse a chemotherapy, but many of them would refuse it because they're too poor to afford it and it doesn't cure the cancer. Baba had enough money in his savings account to pay for the chemotherapy, but he didn't. I think this is event is similar to that of the food stamps. Baba refuses to take something. It may be that he's afraid of letting another Afghan seeing him get chemotherapy done on him. If neither of these is the reason, it may be that the chemotherapy doesn't follow Baba's own rules. Baba lives by his own rules and follows his own rules, although he'll occasionally break one.
     Finally, Baba seemed to know exactly what Amir had in mind when Amir wanted to go talk to Soraya. It occured to me that the exact same thing happened to Baba and Amir's mother. Baba didn't force Amir not to go the the Taheris' van; instead, he let him go. I think he did this because if Baba met Amir's mother by doing this, Amir may be able to start a relationship with someone else, too. After Amir had a talk with Soraya and the General escorted him away, Baba told Amir not to bother. This shows that he knew exactly what Amir was doing the whole time. Like I said before, this could have happened to Baba. Like father like son.
     Baba has a strange behavior that differs from that of common everyday people. Refusing both food stamps and chemotherapy, he follows his own sets of rules, which he may have losened a bit around Amir when he went to talk with Soraya. Baba's bahavior can show a lot about Baba and his past, which reflects onto Amir's personality and behavior. By studying Baba, you can undrstand the book and Amir.