Connection: Kite Runner and Flags of our Fathers

These two books are seperated by genre, with plots seperated by 40 years and cultures that have been very different for a long time, share a concept that is central to both of the main characters.

In The Kite Runner, Amir witnesses the raping of Hassan, and holds that information to himself for 25 years. On that very day, he was selfish enough to let his fear get in the way of his relationship with Hassan; he took the kite to his father, which was "my key to Baba's heart." (71). He did not stand up for Hassan, and he ran from that alley, but he never got away. Amir never shared that memory for 25 years, and he was haunted by it for most of his life. He tried to let his feelings out, but he was still too afraid to talk to anyone about Hassan. He finally allowed his emotions to escape when he told Soriya.

In Flags of our Fathers, the author James Bradley writes about his father, John Bradley, who was one of the six men who put up the flag on top of Mount Suribachi, which is the highest point on the island of Iwo Jima, (Here is a link to the very photo: http://imgs.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2006/08/21/mn_rosenthal105.jpg) Once this photo was developed and produced, the U.S. government used it as a symbol of success to show the people of America how America was doing in the war. The reality of the photo is that the mountain was actually captured the day before, and the flag that John Bradley and the other five men put up was just a replacement flag. So John returned to America after the Americans won the battle of Iwo Jima, and was sent on a tour around the country with the two other men in the photo that survived the battle. He was able to leave battle, but he could not leave the memories of that island behind. He was haunted by images of his best friend's sexually abused body and the bodies of countless others. He would wake up at night crying, having dreamt about Iwo Jima, but he never asked for help. His immediate family was the only group of people that knew of his problems, but he forbade them from telling anyone.

In both stories, Amir and John keep memories of terrible things to themselves. While John did not have to be ashamed of his memories, he was just as intimidated by what he saw as Amir was. The genital dismemberment of John's friend led John to hate Japan and its people until the day he died, and Amir's witnessing of Hassan's rape allowed Amir to see the true evil in Assef. Both of these realizations deeply influenced who Amir and John became. Amir feels certain that if he stood up for Hassan, that his and Hassan's lives would have played out much differently. And if John hadn't seen his friend's disfigured body, he wouldn't have hated Japan to the same degree that he did. They both tried to run away from their fears and bury them, but in the end Amir chose to face the fear, while John did not.