Book Reviews: The Kite Runner and The Journeys of Socrates

The Kite Runner and The Journeys of Socrates are both coming of age stories or in other words bildungsromans. Both stories are about young boys who face awful tragedies which shape the men they become. The Kite Runner is about a boy, Amir, who grows up in Afghanistan with his servant who also happens to be his best friend. After a horrific incident, Amir rejects his best friend and undergoes a series of challenges that contributes to the man he will become. The Journeys of Socrates is a prequel to The Peaceful Warrior. It is a story about Sergei a boy who is forced from his home because of sudden death and must grow as a man on his own led by various mentors to learn about the ways of life, war and peace within.

Both Amir and Sergei grew up in countries that are facing immense challenges which affected their life greatly. Amir is raised in Afghanistan where the invasion by the Russians causes him to leave his home with his father. Amir moves from country to country before growing up in the United States. The experience in the United States changes him as he longer feels a tie to his country. This is also influenced by the fact that his country has drastically changed as the Taliban takes over. Sergei is raised in Czarist Russia during a time when the country is in turmoil. Although Sergei remains in his country rather than running away from it, he still faces political turmoil as he grows up in a Russia that is changing politically and dramatically.

Both Sergei and Amir also have to deal with horrific incidents which directly occur to other people however they have to deal with the ramifications of those incidents. Sergei’s oldest brother is killed when he falls off a roof even before he is born. His brother’s death results in his mother’s death who was expecting him at the time. Sergei is born through an emergency caesarian section and has to deal with a father who is facing both his son’s and wife’s death. Due to these incident’s Sergei is sent away to military school at a young age which shapes the man he will become. Amir is a witness to the rape of his best friend and fails to protect him. This incident causes Amir to reject his friend and turn him away. Later in life, Amir learns that his friend was actually his half-brother and he goes on a quest to save his nephew from the Taliban. The incident that happened years ago when he was too cowardly to save his friend led him to build the courage to be able to save his nephew from the sexual abuse of the Taliban.

Sergei and Amir also both have mentors who shape the men that they become. Amir’s mentor is his father’s best friend, Rahim Khan, who encourages him to tell stories and gives him a notebook to write in. Amir gives Rahim the credit for his career as a writer. Rahim is also the direct link for Amir to be able to save his nephew from the Taliban as he is the one that tells him his friend was actually his brother. Rahim also convinces him that if he does this it will save him and avenge his brother’s life. Sergei’s mentors come to him after he has been sent away from his home and runs away from military school. Sergei’s mentors teach him about ideals on a larger global scale than Amir. However, they both gain lessons to build their spirituality. Sergei’s mentors teach him how to fight the frequent metaphorical and literal wars he encounters throughout his life. His mentor also teaches him how to achieve inner peace. The lessons Sergei learns are ones he passes along to someone else he mentors. This person becomes the protagonist of the novel The Peaceful Warrior, a book that was written before The Journeys of Socrates.

The stories of Amir and Sergei not only give a glimpse into how certain life events can drastically affect their lives but they are also stories of how to achieve inner peace and resolve their turmoil. The stories are both empowering and can teach the reader a lesson about courage and bravery. The stories are also examples of how adversity can turn into triumph. While the characters may not behave in the noblest way throughout the novels they are a character to aspire to as they make the right decision at the end of the novel. In a nod to ethical relativism, The novels also demonstrate how although change can be challenging sometimes it is worth the effort.

Works Cited

Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. New York: Riverhead, 2003.

Millman, Dan. The Journeys of Socrates. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2005.