This book takes place in Afghanistan beginning several years before the country underwent several years of military coups, Taliban takeover, and the war with our country. The story is told from the perspective of a little boy named Amir. Amir’s mother died giving birth to him so he lived solely with his father. His father was a wealthy man and had servants. Amir grew up playing with Hassan, a servant’s son. While reading of the friendship of the two boys, it is obvious that they are the best of friends but because of their different classes, Amir is often condescending to Hassan and would never admit they were friends. Hassan is often embarrassingly loyal to Amir as his servant.
Before the wars, kite flying was a favored past time in Afghanistan. Afghani kite flying is not what we picture in America of seeing how high we can fly the kite. Instead, the boys took longs spoils of string and rolled it in tar and glass. On the day of the tournament, they used the glassy tarred string to cut down the other kites. The last kite in the air was the winner and hero of the day. The second hero was the kite runner who chased down the last falling kite and retrieved it.
In this story, Amir participates in the kite tournament with his sidekick Hassan aiding him. Amir ends up winning the tournament which gives him hope that his dad would finally be proud of him. After Amir cuts down the last kite, Hassan, who was one of the best kite runners, heads out to run the last kite and bring it to Amir, making Amir the ultimate champion that day. After Amir is congratulated by his father, he heads off to find Hassan. He eventually finds that Hassan had retrieved the final kite. He also realizes from a distance that the neighborhood bullies have cornered Hassan. Amir chooses to keep his distance, sealing his fate as a coward. The biggest bully raped Hassan while Amir looked on in safety. This event drove a wedge between the two boys. Hassan, as usual, continues to be loyal to Amir and strives to restore their friendship. Amir, riddled with guilt and shame, becomes distant and is mean to Hassan.
Eventually Amir decides to ask Hassan to go with him to their favorite spot underneath the pomegranate tree. Once there, Amir, riddled with guilt and anger, picks up a pomegranate and asks what Hassan would do if he threw it at him. He proceeds to throw it at Hassan and asked him to hit him back. Amir continued to pepper him with pomegranates until it the juice made it look like Hassan was covered in blood. Amir’s pomegranate throwing indicated that he hoped Hassan would finally retaliate and punish him for being a coward, atoning for his sins. Hassan eventually picked up a pomegranate and crushed it on his own forehead, asking Amir if he was finally satisfied.
The story continues from there but I have explained enough for my purposes. I love that scene because it reminds me of Jesus. What I failed to mention above was that the bullies gave Hassan the option to either give up the kite or be raped. Hassan, always loyal to Amir, intended on giving the kite to Amir. Hassan chose to retain the kite and face the awful consequences. This story reminds me that Jesus took the punishment for the sins that I deserved. I’m not saying that Amir deserved to be raped but I am pointing out that Hassan chose to endure a punishment to show love to his beloved friend as Jesus chose to endure the cross to show love to us. Amir chose to hide in his shame and cowardice rather than bring things to light through confession. Then when given a chance to repent of his actions and receive the reward of a restored friendship, he instead pelted pomegranates at Hassan hoping to face Hassan’s wrath at his transgression. Instead, Hassan endured the scorn and proved his unending loyalty by smashing a pomegranate on his own head just as Jesus took our sins upon Himself. He paid for our transgressions so we can be free. Oh how humanity follows Amir’s pattern of shirking from what is right and then wallowing in guilt rather than finding the forgiveness of Jesus. Oh how we, like Amir, try to find a way to pay for our own sins so that we will be loved by God. Like Hassan smashing the pomegranate on his own head, Jesus tells us that we can never pay for our sins, they are too many. We turn mean and hurl insults at Jesus and all the while Jesus quietly pleads with us telling us our sins have been paid for and expresses that he would willingly take those nails in his wrists again if only we would embrace his unending love. We are loved, honored, and valued by God because of Jesus' sacrifice.
This story comes to mind often as I celebrate Christ’s death through communion. The communions where I feel the most guilty and want to wallow in my guilt or be punished for my sins, I find Jesus quietly pleading, smashing pomegranates on his forehead. As he does so, he tells me he has taken my punishment, telling me that I am clean, I am forgiven, I can move forward in victory because he was victorious. May you find hope in his death and raised life.
Click here to see the pomegranate scene from the movie version.
Click here to see the pomegranate scene from the movie version.
