Comparison (Kite Runner and East of Eden)
William Hall once said, “People have a lot in common with one another, whether they see that or not.” This fact was made evident through reading The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseni and East of Eden by John Steinbeck, two novels about the lives of people thousands of miles apart but take on the similar challenges and try to lead decent and fulfilling lives. There were minute differences between the novels, but for the most part the books were very similar. Through analyzing themes, motifs and symbols within these novels, one cannot help but recognize the cords that unite humankind and defy all boundaries.
The dynamics of father-son relationships are central to both novels. In The Kite Runner, Amir has a very complex relationship with his father, Baba. As much as Amir loves and reveres his father, he continually struggles to feel loved by his him. Also, Baba has difficulty connecting with Amir and conveying his love for him and can only do so in an indirect way. Baba feels guilty about being able to love Amir freely and not being able to love Hassan (also his son) the same, which is misunderstood by Amir. “With me as the glaring exception, my father molded the world around him to his liking. The problem, of course, was that Baba saw the world in black and white (Hosseni 24),” Amir laments. Unfortunately, Amir couldn’t help but defy Baba’s perception of black and white (what was proper behavior) and continuously disappointed Baba through his love of poetry and writing, his inability to play soccer, and his dislike of violence. Therefore, Amir was always searching for ways to make Baba proud. In East of Eden, the issue of subjective love is reoccurring throughout the novel. Charles, from a young age, is able to sense the favoritism and begins to resent it deeply. This resentment and preferential love comes to a head when Adam puts minimal effort into giving his father a stray puppy for his birthday and Charles works hard to save money to buy his father an
The dynamics of father-son relationships are central to both novels. In The Kite Runner, Amir has a very complex relationship with his father, Baba. As much as Amir loves and reveres his father, he continually struggles to feel loved by his him. Also, Baba has difficulty connecting with Amir and conveying his love for him and can only do so in an indirect way. Baba feels guilty about being able to love Amir freely and not being able to love Hassan (also his son) the same, which is misunderstood by Amir. “With me as the glaring exception, my father molded the world around him to his liking. The problem, of course, was that Baba saw the world in black and white (Hosseni 24),” Amir laments. Unfortunately, Amir couldn’t help but defy Baba’s perception of black and white (what was proper behavior) and continuously disappointed Baba through his love of poetry and writing, his inability to play soccer, and his dislike of violence. Therefore, Amir was always searching for ways to make Baba proud. In East of Eden, the issue of subjective love is reoccurring throughout the novel. Charles, from a young age, is able to sense the favoritism and begins to resent it deeply. This resentment and preferential love comes to a head when Adam puts minimal effort into giving his father a stray puppy for his birthday and Charles works hard to save money to buy his father an