ISU Theme Essay

Ashley Xuzhao

ENG 3U1
Ms. Jeon
December 23, 2016

Tragedies occur in every individuals life. However, the severity of these events as well
as the impact left is crucial in shaping a persons life and future. Most are changed irrevocably
after experiencing a heavily traumatic event and people have different ways to deal with it. It is
indisputable that the result of these experiences has identically negative impacts and outcomes in
individuals lives. The characters being discussed are be the main protagonists of the novels The
Kite Runner by Hosseini, Obasan by Joy Kogawa, and Crow Lake by Mary Lawson. Amir,
Naomi, and Kate all suffer through intense tragedy in their lives, and how they fail to resolve
their feelings towards this past trauma will be brought to the forefront. All of these characters
demonstrate that the defense mechanism of dealing with trauma is to get away from it by some
means. By forgoing the need to therapize their emotions, the depressing cycle begins. This in
turn leads to a rude awakening when they are forced to confront their tragedy as leaving it
unattended will cause these experiences to haunt their lives. It is only after they have accepted
the tragedy that they can find genuine peace and happiness because this is the only way for them
to mend. People who fail to resolve feelings from past trauma will be pushed to face the past in
order to discover true peace.
Victims desire to shut out the event by burying it within their minds through a multitude
of different tactics. For Amir, his tactic of burying the past begins by ignoring the source of his
guilt and trauma. Amir betrays Hassan in an unforgiveable manner, especially since Hassan has
never been anything but loyal and loving to him. In a kite running competition, Hassan runs the
winning kite for Amir, who wants it desperately to make his father proud of him for once. Yet,
when he finds Hassan, the other boy is being cornered by Assef and his lackeys. Because Hassan
refuses to surrender the kite, Assef rapes him while Amir watches without attempting to defend
his friend. He immediately stops talking to Hassan even after the other tries to show Amir that he

is forgiven. Nevertheless, even with Hassan being ignored, Amir still cannot forget and bury his
angst. He then frames Hassan, forcing him out of their home so he can ignore all that has
happened. When Hassan attempts to rekindle their friendship, Amir responds with I want you to
stop harassing me. I want you to go away (Hosseini 94). By first ignoring then finally
sabotaging Hassan, Amir is able to block the origin of his guilt as he describes the presence of
Hassan as choking. By doing so he can disregard the repercussions of his actions but lifelong
trauma will be a constant companion. In Obasan, Naomi, who has a plethora of agonizing
experiences dealt with them by forcing herself to forget all of her dreadful remembrances.
Throughout her early life, she dealt with the loss of her father along with the severe racism of her
community members. Not only was she sent out of her home during the war, but she was also
sexually assaulted as a child by her neighbour. By blocking her memories, she could ignore the
part of her that was hurt, confused, scared, and continue to function under the guise of normality.
For Kate of Crow Lake, her past is one that she does not want to speak about, not even to her
significant other. As a child, she had endured her parents tragic passing while learning to live
independently as there were only her older brothers as adult figures. By undergoing copious
amounts of difficulties, Kate changes. She is unable to come to terms with her past, leading to
her avoidance of her own family. She deals with her past with similar ploys as Amir, the less that
she sees her family, the less it will hurt. She most likely feels uncomfortable with the thought of
her past mixing with her present because her past is filled with adverse emotions. All three
characters have different ways of driving the past away from their minds to distance themselves
as far as possible from the root of misery.
The past will not be easily buried. As long as it is supressed it will eventually interrupt
current life to bring to light to what had been shielded in darkness. The Kite Runners Amir had

been living relatively peacefully for several decades with his wife in America after escaping
Afghanistan with his father. While he has been happy with his wife-even through his fathers
death-Hassan still continually affects him just as much as when he was still living in the same
house. Just the thought of him makes Amir terrified, and he continues to wallow in his inability
to redeem his sins. He is then called upon by Rahim Khan, a close acquaintance of his fathers
who he himself was also quite close with. In the phone call a deathly ill Rahim ignites the past in
Amirs present: Come. There is a way to be good again,[he] said it in passing, almost as an
afterthought. A way to be good again (Hosseini 202). Rahim requests Amir to return to the
country the he had abandoned and expelled from his mind. Rahim also indicates that he knew
what Amir had done and suggests that there is a way to atone for his wrong, which strikes a
resonating chord in Amir. It is quite possible that without the interruption of Rahim, Amir would
have persisted in overlooking the past while being burdened by his own guilt. With the call of
Rahim, Amir was pulled out of his present life of comfort to a journey of redemption. In Obasan,
Naomi lives plainly and quietly, albeit in a lonely fashion with no social life whatsoever. The
people that she identifies as her friends are her young students, so she is classified as recluse. She
is called to confront her past when she is sought for help from her obasan with the funeral of her
uncle. There she discovers a journal that held all the contents that she laboured to forget. When
she reads this record of events, her memories begin to return, forcing her to come to terms with
her nightmarish past. Kate is pressed to bring her past into her present after years of awkward
avoidance. She may have never been truly forthcoming with her boyfriend about her past until an
insistent circumstance demanded her to. This particular push was through an invitation to her
older brother, Matts party, which she originally did not want to go to. However, her boyfriend
discovers this invitation and the argument begins there. The relationship between Dan and Kate

begin to drift as a cause of this, since Dan feels hurt by Kates reluctance to trust him. This
causes Kate to have to decide to either face her guilt and past or destroy her ties with her loved
ones. Thus, past ignored discord will push itself into the forefront in once peaceful lives,
challenging characters to resolve their pasts.
Those who have hellish pasts will never be able to experience true peace of heart and
mind until the pasts regrets and pains are acknowledged and accepted. For Amir, the mere
thought of Hassan would cause inexplicable suffocating pain, remnants of his crippling guilt
towards the tragedy. While he was living tranquilly and safely in America, the heavy burden of
Hassan would never stray far, he would constantly relate his current troubles to his sins against
Hassan. It is not until he rescues Sohrab, Hassans son, by facing off with Assef, the rapist, that
he feels he has confronted his past. During the bloody brawl which Amir was losing, he begins to
laugh, thinking, My body was brokenbut I felt healed. Healed at last (Hosseini 303). Amir
found redemption through facing the demon that he should have faced as a child, leading to him
feeling healed, new, and at peace. It is also important to note that he says he feels healed at last,
implying that it he never felt healed before this moment. Getting away from Hassan, marrying
Soraya, living in America was evidently not enough to bring him happiness. This proves that
without confronting his past, he would have never been truly happy since he would have never
forgiven himself. In Obasan, even the remembrance of memories is questioned. Naomi had a
relatively good life before her memories returned, nonetheless; there were parts of her that were
missing. Not only did she not want to speak with anyone of the same age, but she also held
feelings of sadness and resentment towards her mother for abandoning her. In this state, it would
be impossible to feel peace within her, which leads to the discovery and acceptance of her past.
Naomi realizes that her mother did not desert her but rather loved and protected her. At the end

of the novel, after finding all there was to know about her past and bringing it into the present,
Naomi finally feels at peace. Without the experience of exploring her memories, she would have
never found unity within her. If she could have, then she had all the time of her adulthood to do
so. For Kate, there were abundant unresolved feelings concerning Matts choice of giving up on
schooling to marry Marie. Thinking that she had taken his place, she never felt satisfied with
herself as she held guilt in her heart. She most likely would have continued to stay ignorant and
upset if she had not spoken to Matt himself to understand and trust the past. After she discovers
the truth of Matts feelings; that he is satisfied and not regretful of his decision, she comes to
know that their relationship is not irreparable. While not all problems are resolved, she can begin
to restore the many wounds she still feels from the past. Therefore, it is only after one has
confronted their past can they begin to heal and find harmony within themselves, especially if
they have been burying it prior.
Through the confrontation of ones long repressed past, one can reach peace and the
beginnings of joy. People always try to avoid traumatic events and try to erase any of hints that
would remind them of the memories that they have scorned. While they forget, the past refuses
to remain forgotten and will be reintroduced into their lives, often creating a lifelong impact for
these individuals. By finally accepting or atoning for their past, these people can begin to find
true happiness and not the sham of a peaceful life they have had before. In The Kite Runner,
Obasan, and Crow Lake, the protagonists demonstrate how human beings commonly cope with
tragedy. All three authors emphasize that the past is inescapable and through facing it, one can
initiate the dawn of happiness.

Works Cited
Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. Riverhead, 2003. Print.
Lawson, Mary. Crow Lake. Dial Press, 2002. Print.
Kogawa, Joy. Obasan. Anchor, 1994. Print.