Wednesday, March 24, 2010
You've Always Been a Tourist
After successfully escaping Afghanistan and building a new life for himself in America, Amir is forced to confront his past and the truth about himself, his father, and Hassan. When Rahim Kahn telephones asking for his help, Amir has no choice but to get on a plane to Pakistan. Once he arrives, he learns the truth about the ties that bind he and Hassan together. Of course, now he has no choice. He must agree to Rahim Kahn's request that he return to Afghanistan, find Hassan's son Sohrab, and smuggle him out of the country. Although he realizes the danger involved, Amir soon finds himself sitting in the back of an old car wearing a carefully woven beard and some traditional Afghan clothing. His driver Farid is taking him through the Khyber Pass and into Afghanistan. Amir is sick and Farid treats him with contempt. He resents Amir and soon exclaims, "You've alwaysbeen a tourist here, you just didn't know it." What distinction does Farid draw between the life Amir lived in Afghanistan and the life most Afghans lived? Based on what you know and what you're reading about life for the typical Afghan, do you agree with Farid's accusation? (Please support your response with some textual evidence and even extend it with a connection to real life.)
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“You’ve always been a tourist here, you just didn’t know it” Farid tells Amir on the ride to Afghanistan. Farid is quick to judge Amir and he is right to do so because Amir was after all a very privileged young man when he lived in Afghanistan. Amir has never struggled for anything like the people of Afghanistan do on a daily basis and in fact he is a coward. Many of the men in Afghanistan are very proud and courageous people because they have had to fight for most of their life to receive that Amir took for granted. “If I changed my mind and asked for a bigger and fancier kite, Baba would buy it for me…” Amir had said earlier in the book and it shows how he got everything handed to him on a silver platter unlike most of Afghanistan. Farid had every right to call Amir out and say he was a tourist in his own country.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with Farid’s accusation. Baba was a well off business man and Amir was his son. He had amenities and luxuries most Afghans did not have never really made an attempt to imagine how the other half lived. The way he treated Hassan was a clear indicator of how disconnected he was from the average Afghan or at least the people with a lesser financial standing. He felt it was perfectly acceptable to look at Hassan as a servant. Farid’s accusations are understandable when looked at under this light. On top of all this Amir and his father fled when Afghanistan was becoming a terror state. The driver’s contempt may stem from the fact that they were able to escape all the chaos and death. Again Hassan is a prime example. While he was in the U.S. Hassan and his wife were killed by the Taliban for being Hazara and his son was orphaned. Now as Amir fights to “regain his citizenship” so to speak he must rescue Sorhab Hassan’s son.
ReplyDeleteFarid tries to stress the fact Amir’s life in Afghanistan was totally different from the life most Afghans have been living. They have been treated like dogs, completely governed by the Taliban, and forced to live in the shadows. I agree with Farid’s statement because Amir is oblivious to what Afghans had to endure during his stay in America. Also, when Amir was growing up, he had a rich life with servants and no worries. But others had to make huge sacrifices on a daily basis in order to make it through to see the morning sun. Things like this actually occurred in real life, and the Taliban still opposes a threat overseas. Before then, the Taliban tortured the Afghans and created a global issue which got the U.S involved.
ReplyDeleteThe distinction between the life that Amir lived in Afghanistan and the life that most Afghans lived is that not all people had wealthy parents like Amir had. Baba was a wealthy man who owned a car dealership, a carpet business, and an orphanage. He worked hard to earn the position in society that he achieved. Fortunately for Amir, he was born into the wealthy aspect, and people figured that it was because of his father history. Most Afghani’s did not have wealthy families from the past, therefore they were not handed anything, including money and a larger, extravagant home. I agree with Farid’s quote saying. "You've always been a tourist here, you just didn't know it,” because he is right. Amir and Baba lived the life with a large home, nice cars, money, and servants to maintain a spotless home. Amir never really performed too much work like any other Afghan son would do. He was handed his family history, but he should not be looked down on for it.
ReplyDeleteI’d have to say I do agree with Farid’s accusation only because Amir’s childhood was different from the others. Even though the book really didn’t go too much into detail about the childhood of others in the area, Amir was living with only his dad and their servants. When typically there is both a mother and a father. Amir kept to himself and the only true friend he had was Hassan, who wasn’t accepted at their social standards. In real life, Amir was an outsider. In school today, in our world, outsiders are looked at differently. Like Amir, they keep to themselves and don’t want any problems. Like tourists, they are looked at differently and often picked on. Amir could definitley be looked at as a tourist.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with Farid’s accusation because Amir lived his childhood in a large mansion with a rich and successful father. He even had servants, Ali and Hassan to clean the house and take care of meals. But I think that Ali and Hassan were the real image of Afghanistan, and not the luxurious life Amir was living. Amir always picked on Hassan, not really realizing that Hassan did not have it as good as Amir did. It was people like Hassan, not necessarily Hazaras, but poorer, less fortunate people that occupied the majority of Afghanistan. When Amir returns to Kabul later in the book, he sees a lot of beggars on the street and recalls seeing some before Kabul was destroyed. Amir said that there would be beggars that Baba would bring money specifically for them.
ReplyDeleteThe reason for Farid to say that is correct and I do agree with him because Amir and Baba have always lived a luxurious life, even in Afghanistan. In Afghanistan, there are people who do not even have a piece of bread that they can eat for a meal. In the book, Amir's life was surrounded with a great house with servants to serve him when people in Afghanistan do not imagine half of what Amir has lived. Amir is not aware of that because he does not know what Afghans endure and fight for to just earn one meal a day. They earn it the hard way while it’s brought to Amir. Earlier in the book, the way Hassan’s and Amir’s relationship is described obviously showed that the reason for Amir to treat Hassan was where his financial position was. Although he had lived all his childhood with Hassan, Amir still considered him a servant so I do indeed agree with Farid. Amir has always been a tourist in his own country.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Farid's accusation. Amir grew up with servants and a huge house and really nothing to worry about. As opposed to Hassan, who was a poor, unfortunate boy. Amir hasn't really lived the life of a true Afghan because of all his luxuries. When he comes back he sees all of the poverty and terrible things, and really gets a better view of Afghanistan after living in the US for a while. So yes, he really has only been a tourist in Afghanistan.
ReplyDeleteAmir grew up with many more advantages than most other Afghan children. Baba was a wealthy man and Amir always had a stable home life, where as most Afghan children lived in poverty and violence, not know where the next day would lead them. Because of this, I agree with Farid's comment about Amir being a tourist in Afghanistan. However, although Amir can be thought of as a tourist, he later realizes how good he had it when he sees how Kabul has ended up. When he arrived, he picks up on the masses of children and women beggars. He goes to a soccer game and watches men and women being stoned to death. He hears about Hassan and his wife being murdered because of their Hazaran background. Amir may be a tourist, but he is not oblivious to how life really is in Afghanistan.
ReplyDelete