The first impact of the novel on the reader is
total reticence. The
horror,the cruelty,the deep
piercing pathos that occupies the whole novel makes
the reader mute.The novel is more about the possibilities
and limitations of human relationship than about any country.
It is also a comment on the necessity to abolish differences
of all kinds, including ethnic. The very relationship between
Hassan and Amir,which is the center of this novel,
suggestsnegation of difference.Both of them are fed from the same
breast and their destiny does not wish them to know it.
Hassan''s protective instinct for Amir is symbolised by
the slingshot that is inseparable from him.Amir is a Sunni
and total reticence. The horror,the cruelty,the deep
piercing pathos that occupies the whole novel makes
the reader mute.The novel is more about the possibilities
and limitations of human relationship than about any country.
It is also a comment on the necessity to abolish differences
of all kinds, including ethnic. The very relationship between
Hassan and Amir,which is the center of this novel,suggests
negation of difference.Both of them are fed from the same
breast and their destiny does not wish them to know it.
Hassan''s protective instinct for Amir is symbolised by
the slingshot that is inseparable from him.Amir is a Sunni
and Hassan a Shi''a , but they are kids who "learned to
crawl together,and no history,ethnicity,society or religion
was going to change that either".
The novel moves between the themes of loss and gain and
suggests that there is really a very thin borderline between
the two.That makes the novel deeply philosophical. If Hassan
suggests guileless innocence, Amir suggests experience.Hassan evokes
animal imagery.He mutely endures pain whether it
is caused by hurling pomegranades or by way of rape.Hassan''s
dream about the monster at the bottom of the Ghargha Lake is
a subtle suggestion that evil always waits for a chance to
pounce on innocence. Evil wins when Hassan leaves Amir''s
house but good wins finally in the form of
Sohrab''s coming
to America. That is how the novelist satisfies Amir''s
possessive love for Hassan.The
satisfaction in getting Sohrab
is ultimately the satisfaction of Amir''s possessive instinct in
getting back Hassan in some form or the other. The overtones
of Hassan-sohrab analogy in the novel are not without purpose.
So far as style is concerned, I find it very close to
Emile Bronte''s novel ''Wuthering Heights''. To me,Hassan is
another Heathcliff so far as the intensity of love is concerned.
Hosseini''s novel,like Bronte''s,is based on love-hate theme.The
more Amir loves Hassan the more he is disgusted to find that his
father (Baba) likes him all the same.
Hosseini''s sense of horror and pathos is exact and deep. The
breath-taking horror in Russian soldier''s demand for the woman
almost on the verge of being fulfiled and Amir watching from the end
of the alley Hassan being gang-raped is unique in literature.
The
meek and mute submission of Hassan to everything and anything
for the sake of his Amiragha is deeply
pathetic. The pathetic
appeal made by Sohrab that he should not be sent to another
orphanage brings lump to our throat. The novel is full of
such tragic scenes.Hassan a Shi''a , but they are kids who "learned to
crawl together,and no history,ethnicity,society or religion
was going to change that either".
The novel moves between the themes of loss and gain and
suggests that there is really a very thin borderline between
the two.That makes the novel deeply philosophical. If Hassan
suggests guileless innocence, Amir suggests experience.Hassan evokes
animal imagery.He mutely endures pain whether it
is caused by hurling pomegranades or by way of rape.Hassan''s
dream about the monster at the bottom of the Ghargha Lake is
a subtle suggestion that evil always waits for a chance to
pounce on innocence. Evil wins when Hassan leaves Amir''s
house but good wins finally in the form of Sohrab''s coming
to America. That is how the novelist satisfies Amir''s
possessive love for Hassan.The satisfaction in getting Sohrab
is ultimately the satisfaction of Amir''s possessive instinct in
getting back Hassan in some form or the other. The overtones
of Hassan-sohrab analogy in the novel are not without purpose.
So far as style is concerned, I find it very close to
Emile Bronte''s novel ''Wuthering Heights''. To me,Hassan is
another Heathcliff so far as the intensity of love is concerned.
Hosseini''s novel,like Bronte''s,is based on love-hate theme.The
more Amir loves Hassan the more he is disgusted to find that his
father (Baba) likes him all the same.
Hosseini''s sense of horror and pathos is exact and deep. The
breath-taking horror in Russian soldier''s demand for the woman
almost on the verge of being fulfiled and Amir watching from the end
of the alley Hassan being gang-raped is unique in literature.
The meek and mute submission of Hassan to everything and anything
for the sake of his Amiragha is deeply pathetic. The pathetic
appeal made by Sohrab that he should not be sent to another
orphanage brings lump to our throat. The novel is full of
such tragic scenes.
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