Cory Lesher

AP English IV
Kaitlyn Pierce
May 1, 2016
1984
Erasure is a major theme in the novel that deals with changing the past and future, facts
and truth, and also your memories. There are two major examples throughout the book that
depicts this. The first one being Winstons job in the Ministry of Truth.
Winstons job in Minitru is in the Record department changing any documents he needs
to. His task is to erase history and rewrite the way The Party wants society to believe. Winston is
literally rewriting history, writing new facts about history so the citizens have a new truth. The
irony behind it is not actually knowing the real truth and real facts. Rather, they believe what has
been rewritten.
The second example throughout the novel is getting rid of any feelings individuals might
have. Especially love. Between a man and a woman, there is no love. Especially since marriages
in the novel are arranged. Winston even mentions wanting to push Katherine off a cliff at one
point. Even making love within a marriage is considered to be a task, not something for pleasure.
There are no feelings of sorrow for anyone committing a thought crime. Individuality in this
novel is forbidden.

Cory Lesher
AP English IV

Kaitlyn Pierce
May 1, 2016
The Kite Runner
In the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, he chooses to open and close the story
similarly. The first chapter is Amir looking for Hassan who is running the kite for him. The last
chapter end with Amir running the kite for Sohrab, Hassans son. I think Hosseini did this in
order to show Amirs redemption.
Throughout the novel, many lies are kept within the family, but they keep it from each
other. Amir never understood why Baba seemed to love Hassan more than him. Due to this, Amir
always had a buried hatred toward Hassan. He could have helped Hassan when he saw the abuse
in the alleyway. Hassan ran Amirs kite for him and in return Hassan received violation and
betrayal. For someone who was his best friend you would think he could get help. Or he could
have told Baba or Rahim and had something done about it.
Amir ends up not trying to find his own redemption; rather he wanted to better Sohrab.
He wanted to do this for his half- brother and half-nephew. So without intentionally getting
redemption, he still did. He got Sohrab out of Afghanistan and better him in America. The ending
scene is almost a flashback to the beginning of the novel. Now it is Amir running the kite for
Sohrab, who is symbolically representing Hassan. From his sin he was able to redeem himself by
loving and helping Sohrab.