Connection: Hassan = A Bridge Over Troubled Water

Hassan acts like Amir's bitch, and it's tragic. No matter what atrocities Amir puts him through, he can always count on Hassan forgiving him. About twice a page you witness him make some sort of personal sacrifice for Amir. What does he ever receive in return? I specifically chose to compare Hassan to a bridge because Amir treats him exactly like that: he uses him for personal benefit by stepping on him. "Like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down." A line that seems to fit on multiple levels, some of which I regret noticing.

It's not even that he's stupid, he's illiterate because he lacks opportunities to receive an education. It's also not exactly a brown-nose type of relationship. So what is it that makes him so devoted to Amir? The social implications of being a Hazara in Afghanistan? That could be it, after all he is Amir's servant. But freedom of personal thought is something that will never be taken away (and in the event that it is, then God/Allah/Yahweh help us all), and Hassan's devotion seems to be legitimate. The only reason I can possibly think of is friendship, and Amir really isn't a great paragon of that. He flat out refuses to acknowledge Hassan as a friend in the early stages of the book.

I have nothing more to say, and I have no doubt some poor souls who have to read this will disagree with me. Sorry.

Best of Week: Multiple Hitlers

A cursory glance at the title might make me seem a Neo-Nazi, but bear with me. After reviewing what I could recall from the past week, I decided Nature vs. Nurture would provide ample material to work with. My chain of thought began after the movie "The Boys From Brazil" was brought up. Raising the same person in many different settings to study the effects of environment on development is interesting and frightening to me at the same time. What makes a charismatic leader? A cold-blooded killer? A literary genius? One's nurturing probably is not all that's needed to produce one of the above, but it most likely plays a prominent role. The idea of actually cloning and observing is the frightening part. Research leads to results. Results lead to action. In the future will there be 'super-people' bred with controlled genes and environments? Will there be people reduced to products, engineered and designed like brand-name cars?

These thoughts lead elsewhere: how much of an impact should I consider my environment has on me? If I believed that my heredity sets my fate in stone then I might live my life in a very different manner than I do now. On the other hand, assuming that environment shapes every single aspect of "you" is also disconcerting, in that it removes most of the individuality that we often credit ourselves with. I suspect that the answer (as always) is a balance of the two.

Experiences shape us. I wholeheartedly believe in this. Genetics also shape us. I trust in science enough to believe this too. Will this apply to my life in the future? Of course. It has been applied, is being applied, and will be applied for every single second of my existence because every moment, however insignificant and trivial, is an experience in its own way. "The answer my friend, is blowin' in the wind." Peace.

Carry It Forward: The Blue Sweater

Speaking (writing) honestly, I will admit that I didn't like The Blue Sweater very much. I can agree that the story told was significant, but towards the end my interest in it steadily diminished. That being said, I did like the theme of compromise that it offered, the compromise between profit and charity. While this is not the specific idea that I will carry forward, it is an embodiment of it.

The concept of searching for the middle ground between two extremes in order to reach maximum efficiency is something that makes a lot of sense to me. It took Novogratz many attempts and years to reach this, but it seemed to have been worth it. The ability to find the perfect balance in anything would prove to be a valuable skill to have. Unfortunately, I don't think I've ever been able to accomplish this in any area of my life. Great. This is specifically why I'd like to "carry it forward": if I had any semblance of an idea on how to pull a Novogratz, I feel that life might pose less problems to me. Maybe not. But I'll still hang on to the idea.

The ways in which I'd apply it are infinite and depend on what kind of life I might live. I could be investing in stocks and find myself faced with a choice of a high-risk-massive-profit approach or a more conservative strategy. Going someplace in the middle would obviously rock. (This particular situation is similar to that of Novogratz.) My point is that the idea can be applied to basically any problem, so I feel like an idiot listing possible scenarios. I'll stop.