The Kite Runner: Innocence of Childhood

In the novel The Kite Runner, like Persepolis, children are put into situations and are forced to deal with them that no child should ever have to do. Childhood is supposed to be about innocence, not having to deal with responsibilities, and being care-free about the world because as soon as you grow up, all of that goes away and if you don't live your childhood to the fullest then you will regret it as you become older. 

Amir and Hassan are two children in this book that go through traumatic experiences forcing them out of their childhood and into adulthood way before it should have happened. Hassan went through the horrible experience of being raped and Amir was there to witness it. I could never imagine any child having to go through this but I can definitely see how these experiences pushed them right out of their childhood. If this event did not happen, Amir and Hassan would have continued on in their innocence and spend their childhood kite running like any other child in Afghanistan should be doing. 

Image of a child in Afghanistan kite running

(http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=46678)

Unfortunately for Hassan, his childhood ended after a traumatic experience he had that would never have happened if he wasn't just trying to be a good friend to Amir. If he had never offered to run that kite for Amir, he never would have been raped by Assef. This whole situation was extremely overwhelming for Hassan and also Amir who had watched it happen and was incapable of doing anything to stop it. This experience is one that no person should ever have to go through, especially a child. I can't imagine how horrifying something like this would be for a child, not really understanding exactly what's going on just knowing that it shouldn't be happening, and not being able to do anything to stop it. It is completely understandable that this experience would push a child closer to adulthood and away from their innocence. 

Persepolis: Book vs. Film 

After reading Persepolis and watching the film I gained a lot of understanding of Marji's story. In the book, we learn about Marji's grandmother but I don't think that the book makes her out to be as important to the story and Marji as the movie does. The film really brings the grandmother's character to life a lot more and we can see how important she is to Marji. The way Marji talks about her grandmother and the little things she does, like putting jasmine in her bra every morning, really shows the audience how much Marji looks up to her. 

The grandmother's facial expressions and her tone when talking to Marji in the film gives a better sense of how important these two characters are to each other. Marji is always asking her grandmother's opinion of things and you can tell that she searches for approval from her. You would think that with Marji's age that her grandmother would talk to her like the child that she is but she is much more straightforward with Marji and talks to her about the revolution without trying to hide things from her or make it seem like it is something that it's not. 

In the book you can still tell that Marji's grandmother is important but in the movie you really gain a sense of how close their relationship is and how much they mean to each other.