Close Reading 3/15

"Garp didn't want a daughter because of men. Because of bad men, certainly; but even, he thought, because of men like me" (174).

At the end of the chapter, Helen is pregnant with their second child. Helen wishes for a daughter, while Garp realizes that he does not want a daughter. After seeing a girl who was raped while on his run, he knows just how bad men can be. He sees what sort of things can drive men and it makes him wish that he does not have a daughter who has to deal with men like that in the world. In a way, it seems as though he is afraid for the sort of people that his daughter could potentially meet.

The use of the italicized words help to bring extra attention to the meanings of the words and how all of the words are interconnected. The words, men, bad, and me, are all italicized in this quote, used at the end of the chapter. The use of the italics helps to bring attention to how they are all tied together. In a way it shows how Garp thinks of himself, as a man who could be considered bad. He does this as an analysis of what he has done in his life, and his cheating on his wife and having sex with prostitutes makes him think of himself as a bad person. He believes he caused people pain in his life and the people he is always hurting are women. He realizes that he does not want a daughter of his own to have to experience the pain that men cause, knowing that he was one of those men that caused women pain.

The word, bad, shows that the author seems like he is against the idea of men or Garp seems to be against men in general. He feels as though men have a negative side to them. Men are the ones who are hurting the women. He thought, "the girl in the park, his image of the tongueless Ellen James, his own mother's difficult decisions" (174). He realizes that men are the ones who caused all of these things. A man raped Ellen James and the 10-year old girl in the park. Men, in general, caused his mother to never want a relationship and never want to have to deal with the problems of men.

Garp seems that he does not ever want a daughter and have to see her go through the pain that he has seen other women go through. He knows how much pain women go through and how much hurt men can cause. He considers men to be bad, and him as one of those bad men. He is afraid of what could happen to his daughter if he had one.

Close Reading 3/8

"'Your bastard son has seduced my daughter! I know they're in there, in that fucking infirmary!' It is a fucking infirmary now, Garp thought" (94).

The end of this chapter contains both irony and indirect characterization for both Garp and Jenny Fields, showing the differences in their personalities as well as the way that they choose to live their lives. The obvious irony of the quote centers around the use of the word 'fucking'. Mr. Percy is using it to describe the infirmary in a negative way. He uses the word out of anger and for profanity, while Garp thinks the word, describe sex because of what him and Cushie did that night in the infirmary. It is ironic in the fact that Mr. Percy has no idea that he is describing what actually happened in the infirmary, while Garp knows exactly what happened and finds in quite humorous to hear the word choice that Mr. Percy used.

In addition, this quote shows characterization for both Garp and Jenny Fields. Jenny Fields is the one who answers the door to the infirmary that night, being forced to listen to Mr. Percy scream about what Garp was supposedly doing. Jenny Fields does not allow Mr. Percy in, nor does she seem to suspect at that point, that her son is capable of seducing anyone. Because, she herself does not like sex and the idea of lust and love, she expects her son to be the same way that she is and not want to engage in sex with anyone out of the feelings of lust. The reaction that Jenny has with Mr. Percy and how she does not allow him into the infirmary, even after he says the things that he does, shows just how much she is against the idea of sex, and that she does not actually believe that Garp would ever do that.

Garp also has some defining character traits in this short scene as well. Garp does indeed have a sense of humor that is not shown as much earlier in the novel as it is shown in this short encounter. He is able to see the irony in what Mr. Percy says and make a joke to himself about it. The scene also shows that he will listen to the lustful feelings he has at a moment, even though it is clear that he is in love with Helen. He is alright with having sex with Cushie although he feels like he wants to marry Helen later in life. Giving into emotions, and engaging in sex shows the contrast between Jenny and Garp. Even though they are biologically related, mother and son, they are very different and this scene helps to show just how different they are. Jenny is not influenced by her feelings and will do exactly as she must, while Garp at times, is controlled by his feelings. This one instance helps to show the defining difference between Garp and Jenny.

Close Reading 3/1

"Returning to Kabul was like running into an old, forgotten friend and seeing that life hadn't been good to him, that he'd become homeless and destitute." (246)

Amir decides to return to Kabul and save the one person he has left to help. He made the decision to return to his homeland, the place that he grew up in and lived until war raged over Afghanistan. The place that Amir left was happy, and nothing like the place he has found upon his return. The place he has come upon in order to try and save Sohrab is dirty, filled with people who cannot take care of themselves, and a city living in fear. Amir finds Kabul taken over by the Taliban and he sees first hand the things he only imagined when he read the news stories in San Fransisco of what was happening in Afghanistan.

Hosseini describes the Kabul that Amir returns to find to an old friend that did not have a good life. This simile is so powerful. The Kabul that Amir grew up in, the Kabul that Amir was familiar with, no longer exists. Instead, in its place, is a savage community with people struggling to survive each day. There are so many people who are homeless and people who cannot even afford the basic essentials for life, clean water, food, shelter. Amir has to come to terms with the fact that the life he once knew no longer exists. He cannot return to Afghanistan and find the place of his childhood the anywhere near the same.

Hosseini's choice of the word homeless is more than accurate. So many of the people who are left living in Kabul are homeless. They have no place to go, no way of escape. They are forced to stay and try and make it through each day. They have to try and survive the Taliban. In addition, destitute is also another powerful word choice. Living without basic necessities is what these people do. It is all because of the Taliban and that is what Amir has to see. He has to understand that there are so many more people that do not have the luxuries in life that he has.

This quote in particular finally shows Amir just how lucky he is. He was able to escape the Afghanistan he is now faced with just in time. He did not have to go through this sort of physical suffering that all of these people are going through. Even though he went through mental suffering, he lived in a comfortable place to suffer. These people live on the streets trying to get by each day, suffering twice as much as Amir ever did. In a way, it seems that the reality check may have been one of the reasons that Amir realized just how important it was to find Sohrab no matter what. He was able to see his destiny in the eyes of the starving people of Kabul.