Sarah, Miraya, EnJanae, Lance

[Sarah Kloesel]

What judgement would you make about Hassan and Amir growing up without mothers and how it influenced their life? Did Amir's mother dying and Hassan's mother running away have a significant difference in their childhood?

[Jessica Trujillo]

Since Amir and Hassan both grew up without mothers I believe this influence Amir to desire Baba's approval. For instance, Amir is constantly trying to win the kite races and turns his back on Hassan because he believes that these actions would impress Baba. The absence of Hassan's mother may have made him more manly in a way because Amir states that he believes Hassan would not miss his mother.

[Ashley Diaz]

Amir's mother dying definitely influenced his life. Throughout the novel Amir asks himself "I always felt like Baba hated me a little. And why not? After all, I had killed his beloved wife, his beautiful princess, hadn't I?". Amir haunts himself with the memory of his mother. He feels that his birth made Baba unhappy because it brought Amir's mother to death. Growing up, the fact that Amir has no mother, affects his father-son relationship with Baba. It leads him to seek approval from Baba and to try to make it up to him by being a little more like Baba. Overall, his mother's death leads Amir to resent himself and feel as if he killed her and to make Baba proud as a form of redemption. Hassan on the other hand is different. His mother leaving him didn't make him feel guilty like it did with Amir. The idea of his mother was indifferent to him. It's also what could've made him so brave, the lack of guilt, and he didn't feel like he owned Ali anything, unlike the way Amir feels towards his father. 

[Brittany McWhorter]

Hassan and Amir growing up without mothers influenced their lives by causing them to not experience that compassion only a mother can give. Amir grew up with a lack of attention from his father and always felt un loved so he always pushed himself, ignoring his morals, to get Baba's attention. An example of this is when Hassan gets raped and Amir doesn't tell anyone because then the attention would be taken away from him winning the kite race. Another example is when Amir frames Hassan by putting the money and the watch under his bed to get Hassan out of the picture but it backfires on him and causes Baba to become even more distant due to the loss of a close friend and his secret son. Hassan growing up without a mother caused him to be closer to his father and doesn't have any negative outcomes because Hassan is a good kid. Because Amir’s mother died during childbirth Amir feels personally responsible for it and it adds to him trying to prove to baba that her death was not in vain. Because Hassan’s mother left, it allowed him to not have to worry about proving himself to his father, but rather made him feel a little bit less loved.  

[Kirstyn Gomez]

I do believe that not having a mother had an influence on Hassan and Amir life. Baba played the role of a father and mother and he did what he had to do to provide for their family, however he couldn't offer the comfort that a mother does along with other actions only a mother could provide. Amir tried to find ways to empress Baba because he felt as if it was his fault of his mothers passing. Hassan didn't have that much of an effect when his mother left. Hassan never felt guilt about his mother leaving, but it brought him strength and motivated him.

[lillian Morales]

The act of loosing their mothers definitely influenced both Hassan and Amir's life. The way Amir lost his mother too played a big role in influencing his life choices. Amir when he was born, his mother died giving birth to him and this keeps Amir wondering if Baba hates him for taking away his beautiful wife. This leads to Amir constantly trying to gain Baba's acceptance. Amir even treats Hassan badly just so Amir himself could feel like he had some sort of superiority, he does what he knows is wrong just to find ways to cope with the feeling of having a father that always seemed disappointing with him and favored the boy who was just supposed to be a servant. Hassan's life was influenced from not having a mother too but Hassan rather than feeling like he wasn't good enough, he became stronger. Hassan learned loyalty and kindness, he never felt he had a bad life. He lived with his father Ali in their own hut, he got to work for his best friend, and enjoyed the stories Amir would read him while under their favorite tree.

[Eveline M. Bailey]

Perhaps something to consider would also be that Hassan's mother did return to Hassan when he was an adult, and Hassan welcomed her into his family without reservation (we assume since we aren't told too much about it except that she came back and they all lived in harmony). Hassan's mother at least had the capability to return, whereas Amir's mother would never return. Too, even in the absence of a mother figure, Hassan didn't seem to lack the support and nurturing a mother provides since he received it from Ali, who was very much a father and mother to Hassan, even though ironically he was neither biologically. In fact, it seems the best representation of parenthood in the novel is Ali--the one parent who is not a biological parent at all.

[fernandez...@gmail.com]

I think that since Amir and Hassan never actually knew their mothers, they did not really understand what it was like to lose them because they left/passed when they were so young. Considering that they grew up without having mothers, I don't think they were influenced negatively or positively by it, however, Amir does depreciate himself because he blames himself for his mother's death and believes Baba does as well.