Connection: Amir and The Hero's Journey

"The Hero's Journey," according to Joseph Campbell, is a series of common elements in works of writing that the typical stages of a character's adventure. While reading The Kite Runner, I couldn't help but notice a strong connection between the two. Does this mean that Amir is a hero?

A condensed form of steps of the hero's journey are as follows:

1. The Ordinary World
2. Call to Adventure
3. Refusal of Call
4. Meeting the Wise Mentor
5. The First Threshold
6. Tests, Allies, and Enemies
7. Supreme Ordeal
8. Revisiting the Mentor
9. Return with New Knowledge
10. Seizing the Prize
11. Resurrection
12. Return

Now, most readers wouldn't consider The Kite Runner an adventure story, but the hero's journey reveals an alternate view of some of the events that occur in the story. There is one point in the story in which Amir's life takes a dramatic spin: the Call to Adventure.

Amir's call to adventure started with a phone call from Rahim Khan, beckoning him to Afghanistan. Rahim then presented his request for Amir to find Hassan's child, marking the official call to adventure. This was the point that marked the end of the ordinary world and a turn in Amir's life. He originally refused the call, but then realized that it was his only shot at redemption for his actions.

As Amir sets out on his journey in the first threshold, Farid becomes his companion and transporter, linking him to the stages of his journey. Amir makes friends and foes, but then he is tested to his limits in the Ordeal, or confrontation and fight with Assef.

Amir's brawl with Assef could be called the climax, the battle, or the ordeal, but one thing remains true: it is the darkest part of his adventure and separates Amir's old self from the new. A violent and traumatic fight made room for change and new beginnings in Amir's life and allowed Amir to finally achieve some sort of redemption within himself. Assef had doled out the punishment that Amir had longed for for decades. So, this Return With New Knowledge cleared a path for Amir to Seize his Prize, Sohrab.

The Resurrection was a time of peace for Amir; a time away from the stresses of his past journey and a time of reflection on how he had changed. This was an internal struggle for Amir, yet it had finally lead him to his Return home with Sohrab. He had seized his prize and brought him home safely, but failed to subdue Sohrab's pain.

So, as Amir concludes his journey, can he be considered a hero?

Best of Week: The Western Mind

The West has always been, well, different. We're the guys hanging out in the upper lefthand corner of the map, distant from the hip and happenin' Eastern hemisphere and enormous Eurasian land mass, yet we hold an immense amount of power. The US is simultaneously a newborn (less than 300 years!) and an economic superpower. Not to mention we have cowboys. But how does this change our thinking?

As we discussed The Kite Runner, Sean mentioned the presence of a feeling of closure in the story, especially in chapters 14-18 when Rahim Khan contacts Amir and Amir makes amends with his past. We came to the conclusion that Hosseini wrote this way to appeal to the Western mind.

So this is a lie.

Hosseini tied up various loose ends of Amir's past just so we Americans could sigh with relief and release our balled fists and get on with the book knowing that Amir had confronted his torn past. Sure, it makes some of these ideas pretty and wraps them up in a nice, neat parcel, but I feel cheated.

I feel cheated of the real story. The way Amir's life really played out or the way Hosseini really wrote it. I want to know what the book would have been like if Amir had to live the rest of his life in ambiguity, drifting through the depths of the unknown. Would his emotions get the better of him and drive him to insanity? Would he conquer his grim past and carry on with his life? Too bad I'll never know.

Of course, we really don't know the truth about Hosseini's motives, but I found the idea intriguing. How often do authors rewrite or change the message of their pieces to attract specific audiences?

Carry It Forward: The Kite Runner

To be quite honest, I had never really evaluated an author's motives in choosing to write in a specific genre, especially fiction. While non-fiction is strictly based on truth and fantasy is a limitless realm of wonder, fiction was just different. In my mind, it was a genre that gave authors more freedom in writing their stories but set limits by assuring that they were still believable. To put it simply: fiction was believable make-believe.

This opinion was quickly put to rest during our Kite Runner discussion as we contemplated Hosseini's decision to write a fictional memoir. During the discussion, Mr. Allen brought up the very thought-provoking idea about our public versus our private selves. We choose what we want others to see, leaving the rest to the depths of our private, inner selves. It was then that I realized the intensity of the seemingly-dull fictional genre.

Fiction allows the author to submerge their private thoughts into the context of a story without making them public. It allows them to delve into their own experiences and let another character feel the things they felt, act the way they did. It grants authors the freedom express their inner selves in a creative form.

Now I see that Hosseini's choice was artful and meaningful, as each tear shed by Amir was a tear that once grazed his own cheek and each smile was one that had lifted his spirits. I felt the joy, lonliness, and utter despair of each of the characters as Hosseini wove these emotions out of his own heartstrings, forcing his emotions through those of the characters. Fiction can be as boundless as the fantastic genre or as limited as non-fiction writing, but the choice relies on one's private or public self.