An analysis of The Kite Runner

1. BACKGROUND
1. The Kite Runner
2. Khaled Hosseini
3. 2003
4. 270 pages
5. Historical Fiction
6. 1st person, told by Amir
7. I thought that it was really interesting to hear thoughts about Afghanistan from Amir’s eyes.  It would have been nice to read the book as it switched between Amir and Hassan’s points of view, so one could see Hassan’s view of the story, as he is a big character in the book, but I would say that it works best with only Amir’s point of view.
8. The reason that this book has the title “The Kite Runner” is that the main sin that Amir commits in the story happens after a kite flying tournament.  Although Amir tells the story, it is mostly about Hassan; he is “the kite runner.”
2. PLOT
1. EXPOSITION
1. Setting: The characters start the book off in the district of Wazir Akbar Khan, which is in Kabul, Afghanistan.  The time period starts in the late 1960s, and, as Amir grows up, ends in the 2000s, in the Bay Area of California.
2. Major Characters:
1. Amir: Amir was born in 1963.  All he wants as a kid is to make his father proud, and later in life wants to relieve himself of his guilt that has weighed upon him since his childhood.  He is a writer, and is not athletic.  He has light brown hair and pale hazel eyes, and is thin with scraggly legs.  He is married to Soraya Taheri, and lives with her, and his nephew, Sohrab.
2. Hassan:  Hassan has a very close relationship with Amir during their childhood, although Amir wouldn't call them friends.  He is very loyal, which he proves many times, including when he told Amir that if he wanted him to eat dirt, he would do it.  He and Amir are half brothers, which Hassan never finds out, and Amir only finds out after he is a grown man.  Hassan was born in the winter of 1964, and is a good kite runner because of his athleticism.  He is a Hazara, or Shi’a Muslim, and was born with a cleft lip which he later removes.  He has low set ears, a broad nose, narrow gold-green eyes, and a small chin.  He and his wife die from a Taliban attack.
3. Baba:  Baba is Amir’s father.  He is a Pashtun, and was born in 1933.  He believes that every sin is a variation of theft, and is a proud Republican.  He finds it hard to leave his past behind after moving to America, whereas Amir wants to run away from his past.  He has a thick beard, curly brown hair, and is 6’5”.  He dies soon after Amir’s wedding, of lung cancer.
4. Sohrab: Sohrab is Hassan’s son, and Amir’s nephew.  At an early age he feels the loss of his grandmother and his parents.  He is never quite the same after the traumatic experiences he goes through, even after he is safe in America with Amir, but eventually he starts to become more lively.  He looks almost exactly like Hassan, except without the cleft lip.
2. RISING ACTION
1. Conflicts:
1. Amir vs. Assef: external: character vs. character:  Assef is a Taliban and fights with Amir to the death, partly because settling the score, partly because they are fighting over Sohrab.
2. Amir vs. Baba: external: character vs. character: Baba is disappointed in Amir as he grows up.
3. Amir vs. General Taheri: external: character vs. character: When Amir first falls in love Soraya, he starts chatting with her, and also adopts a child with her, both of which are against Afghanistan tradition.
4. Amir vs. Hassan: external: character vs. character: Amir and Hassan grow distant from each other after Amir doesn’t stand up for Hassan.  
5. Hassan vs. Assef: external: character vs. character: Assef bullies Hassan in his childhood because of his heritage, a conflict that passes onto Assef and Sohrab, Hassan’s son.
6. Amir vs. his sin: internal: character vs. self: Amir’s sin of not standing up for Hassan as a child haunts him throughout his life.
3. TURNING POINT/ CLIMAX: The climax of The Kite Runner is when Amir finds Sohrab as a slave to the Talibans, specifically Assef.  Amir and Assef fight, and just when Amir is about to die, Sohrab aims his slingshot at Assef and shoots a brass ball into his eye to stop him from hurting Amir anymore.
4. FALLING ACTION: After Amir fights Assef, he tries to find a way to bring Sohrab to America after finding out that the people who were going to give Sohrab a home never existed.  Amir breaks a promise to Sohrab, and he tries to commit suicide, but after he heals, at least physically, they are able to make it to America.  
5. RESOLUTION: The resolution of the book is that Amir and Sohrab’s lives slowly get better, and at the end, they go kite flying, and for the first time in more than a year, Sohrab smiles, signifying that not all is lost.   The main characters Amir, Baba, and Sohrab were all dynamic.  Amir becomes free of his guilt, and doesn’t have it hanging over his head.  Baba finally realizes that Amir is a good son, even if he isn’t the son that he thought he would be.  Sohrab goes through loss, and will probably always miss his parents and grandmother,  but slowly accepts it.  Hassan is a static character, because he is always loyal to Amir, even if Amir doesn’t deserve it.
3. PROTAGONIST AND ANTAGONIST:
1. Amir: Protagonist:“...my problem was that someone had always done my fighting for me… I was older now, but maybe not yet too old to start doing my own fighting.” (227)
2. Amir’s sin he commits: Antagonist: “...It’s wrong what they say about the past, I’ve learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out.” (1)
3. Assef: Antagonist: “Afghanistan is like a beautiful mansion littered with garbage, and someone has to take out the garbage." (284)
4. THEME: Redemption helps people leave their past behind and focus on the future.  This theme is important because it shows that one needs to stand up for him/herself, by him/herself, to be able to atone his/her sins, so that they can live happier and be free of the past.  It also shows that forgiveness is connected to redemption, because Rahim Khan says “There is a way to be good again,” as a way of forgiving Amir.
5. FAVORITE SCENE:  My favorite scene from The Kite Runner is when Hassan tells Amir on the day of the kite flying tournament about his dream that he has.  I like this part because it shows how intuitive Hassan is, and how he always knows how to make Amir feel better.  Here is the passage:

The next morning, as he brewed black tea for breakfast, Hassan told me he’d had a dream.  “We were at Qargha Lake, you, me, Father, Agha sahib, Rahim Khan, and thousands of other people,” he said.  “It was warm and sunny, and the lake was clear like a mirror.  But no one was swimming because they said a monster had come to the lake.  It was swimming at the bottom, waiting.”

He poured me a cup and added sugar, blew on it a few times.  Put it before me.  “So everyone is scared to get in the water, and suddenly you kick off your shoes, Amir agha, and take off your shirt.  ‘There’s no monster,’ you say.  ‘I’ll show you all.’  And before anyone can stop you, you dive into the water, start swimming away.  I follow you in and we’re both swimming.”

“But you can’t swim.”

Hassan laughed.  “It’s a dream, Amir agha, you can do anything.  Anyway, everyone is screaming,’Get out! Get out!’ but we just swim in the cold water.  We make it way out to the middle of the lake and we stop swimming.  We turn toward the shore and wave to the people.  They look small like ants, but we can hear them clapping.  They see now.  There is no monster, just water.  The change the name of the lake after that, and call it the ‘Lake of Amir and Hassan, Sultans of Kabul,’ and we get to charge people money for swimming in it.”

After this, when Amir and Hassan are at the tournament, Amir is nervous and thinks this:

It occurred to me then that maybe Hassan had made up his dream. Was that possible? I decided it wasn’t. Hassan wasn’t that smart. I wasn’t that smart.  But made up or not, the silly dream had lifted some of my anxiety. Maybe I should take off my shirt, take a swim in the lake. Why not? (59-60)

6. HERO’S JOURNEY:
1. Call to adventure:  Rahim Khan wants Amir to bring Sohrab to a safe home.
2. Refusal of call: Amir doesn’t want to killed, not thinking of himself, but of his family.
3. Cross of threshold: Amir realizes that he if he rescues Sohrab, he will get the redemption that he craves.
4. Mentor: Rahim Khan inspires Amir to rescue Sohrab, and helps him get a ride, Farid, who drives Amir to Kabul and helps him find Sohrab.
5. Challenges: The director of an orphanage sells Sohrab to a Taliban official, and later Amir has to fight Assef to rescue Sohrab.
6. Abyss: Amir is hospitalized after fighting Assef.
7. Transformation:  After fighting Assef, Amir feels a weight lifted off his shoulders, as if he doesn’t need to carry his guilt around with him anymore.
8. Atonement: Amir starts to pray namaz again, and brings Sohrab back to America.
9. Return:  After more than a year of silence, Sohrab becomes more alive when flying kites with Amir in America.

The Faults in Our Minds

Poverty does not necessarily mean that one is trash, and ignorance does not determine a person’s intelligence; however, when the two are put together during hard times, it doesn't make for a good mix.  In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, it is shown that poverty and ignorance cause many negative impacts in Maycomb County during The Great Depression.

One negative impact is that many people are blinded by racism, even when hit with reason and truth.  For example, plenty of evidence was given against Bob Ewell, such as “There is circumstantial evidence to indicate that Mayella Ewell was beaten savagely by someone who led almost exclusively with his left… Tom Robinson now sits before you, having taken the oath with the only good hand he possesses - his right hand.” (204)  Despite this, the jury still said “Guilty… guilty… guilty… guilty.” (211) This shows that a;though everyone in the courtroom realized that Tom Robinson was innocent, he was still convicted because of his race.  This also shows that if one person becomes prejudiced towards something or someone, because of their own poverty or ignorance, it will spread to others, until everyone believes it and will not want to go against it.  In the same way, other faults among communities can be spread.

People are easily raised into stating one thing but doing another, also known as hypocrisy.  For example, Scout notices that Miss Gates talks about Hitler and his horrible deeds, but goes on to be cheerful at the fact that Tom Robinson was convicted.  She exclaims “I heard her say it's time somebody taught 'em a lesson, they were getting' way above themselves, an' the next thing they think they can do is marry us." (331)  This shows that Miss Gates, while not liking Hitler’s prejudice against Jews, is basically doing the same thing, but to African Americans.  This also shows that hypocrisy can be spread through poverty and ignorance, because if one is poor and is unable to see reason, they have a sort of lense in front of them, so that they can only see what they want to, even if it’s not right.  Many people in Maycomb County are affected by this.

Grudges are hard to let go of, even if the incident is long past.  For example, “Mr. Bob Ewell stopped Atticus on the post office corner, spat in his face, and told him he’d get him if it took the rest of his life.” (217) Bob Ewell blames the fact that the whole town doesn’t like him on Atticus, and tries to kill his children for it.  This shows that Bob Ewell lacks the trait of listening to reason and truth, since he can’t accept the town’s dislike, and wears the same lense as Miss Gates, enabling him with the need to do the only thing he can, which is attack Atticus’ kids, which is low, but what one would expect from him.  This also shows that grudges, even though they may have a well intentioned reason behind them, should not be kept for long or will encourage rash decisions and unthought-out plans.

As a result, Harper Lee expresses in To Kill a Mockingbird that poverty and ignorance combined can cause blind racism, hypocrisy, and long lasting grudges with bad decisions.  These faults of human-kind are still found everywhere today, even in places without poverty and ignorance, but are slowly disappearing as more and more people are raised without these influences.

An Impactful Message

Often, a person’s response to another’s action is to judge them without a thought.  Most people do not understand the right way to deal with an action that they disagree on.  In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird (TKM), Scout does this, and her father tells her, “...Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks.  You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view.”  There were two main reasons for her father, Atticus, telling her this.

The first reason  for Atticus to make this statement is to teach Scout not to judge people based on what they do, even if she disagrees with it.  Scout shows signs of doing this in TKM, when “Walter poured syrup on his vegetables and meat with a generous hand.”  Scout asks “what the sam hill he was doing” and he immediately puts his hands in his lap and ducks his head.  This shows that Scout judged Walter because she wasn’t used to people pouring so much syrup on their food.  This also shows that if Scout had heard Atticus’ statement before this happens she probably wouldn’t have said anything to Walter, realizing that he was poor, and had never eaten syrup before.  Atticus’ statement was very impactful towards Scout in another way, though.

The second reason that Atticus tells Scout about understanding people is because he wanted her to get along with other people.  For example, Scout learns that if she had put herself in Miss Caroline’s shoes, she would realize that “it was an honest mistake on her [Miss Caroline’s] part” to hand something to a Cunningham.  This shows that Scout now knows that sometimes people will make mistakes that they can’t help, and that one shouldn’t hold them responsible for it.  This also shows that to make friends with people, one has to accept another for whom they are.  Without Atticus’ conveying all of this to Scout, she would not know how to get through life on her own.

O’ Brother, What Art Thou Allusions?

The Great Depression was a time of great sorrow, and hardships.  The movie O’ Brother, Where Art Thou was set during that time, and is about three criminals on a journey to find their treasure.  It is a story not unlike the epic poem “The Odyssey.”  The movie “O’ Brother, Where Art Thou” has three main allusions to “The Odyssey.”

The first main allusion to “The Odyssey” that O’ Brother, Where Art Thou shows is that the main character of the movie, named Ulysses McGill, is like Odysseus, and commits hubris and nemesis as Odysseus does, but in a different way.  For example, Ulysses says “I’m a Dapper Dan man!” as Dapper Dan is the name of the hair gel that Ulysses uses in his hair.  This shows that Ulysses commits hubris through his love and pride in his hair.  This also shows that he receives nemesis for his actions, when the hound that is after Ulysses and his two henchmen follows them and finds them from the smell of his hair gel.

The second main allusion to “The Odyssey” is how Ulysses follows arete throughout his journey.  For example, Ulysses tells his henchmen “There never was any treasure.”  He tells Pete and Delmar that he wanted to escape from prison to stop his wife from remarrying, so he had to make up a story to tell them.  This shows that Ulysses followed arete, because he wanted to get back to his wife and his land.  This also shows that Ulysses’ story of arete is a lot like Odysseus’ because they both got to their wives in the end of the story, but had several mishaps along the way.  Another example of arete in O’ Brother, Where Art Thou is that Delmar tells Ulysses “You ain’t a man if you ain’t got no land.”  This shows that in the times of The Great Depression, land was very important.  This also shows that things that were important during Greek societies have always been important throughout history, and that history repeats itself over and over.

The last main allusion of O’ Brother, Where Art Thou to “The Odyssey” is that the bible salesman that they meet, “Big Dan” is like the Cyclops in “The Odyssey.”  For example, he eats like a savage when he is at a picnic with Ulysses, Delmar, and Pete (who was actually a toad and not Pete).  He then “kills” Pete, and also has only one eye.  This shows that Big Dan is like the Cyclops, or Polyphemus, because they both eat like savages, and don’t have very good manners.  This also shows that they are alike because of the fact that they are both willing to kill people, not to mention the fact that they both only have one eye.

In conclusion, the main allusions from O’ Brother, Where Art Thou to “The Odyssey” are the themes of hubris, arete, and the parallel between Big Dan and the Cyclops.  The epic poem and movie closely relate because of these, and other, allusions.

A True Hero

When reading “The Odyssey,” at first glance this epic poem appears as if Odysseus is the hero of the story, because of his questing, and ability to escape beguiling, vile, and enticing adversaries.  However, upon closer insight into the epic poem, this is not completely true.  Penelope is the true hero of The Odyssey for several reasons.

One reason that Penelope is a hero is because she follows arete.  For example, whilst Odysseus is off receiving nemesis for committing hubris, Penelope is left on her own for 20 years.  Odysseus’ palace “Is overrun by more than 100 suitors who, believing Odysseus is dead, want to marry Penelope and take over his fortune.”  This shows that, although Penelope disdains proposals towards her, she is still hospitable towards her suitors and follows Greek society standards, even though her money is dwindling because of it.  This also shows that she is keeping arete, by keeping Odysseus’ fortune safe so that Telemachus can inherit it when he comes of age.

Penelope is a hero because of her ability to outsmart her suitors, without committing hubris.  For example, in book II of “The Odyssey,” it is shown that Penelope agrees to marry one of her suitors once she finishes weaving her tapestry as a shroud to Laertes.  This shows that she knew that she would have to marry someone eventually, or else she would run out of money for herself and Telemachus.  She had foreseen this, so makes a plan to weave the tapestry.  This also shows that Penelope is very intelligent, as she weaves the tapestry by day, and unravels it by night to stall having to marry.

The last reason that Penelope is a hero is that she knows how to make sure that Odysseus wasn't a fraud pretending to be him by saying to her maid while he was with her “Make up his bed… place it outside the bedchamber my lord built with his own hands.”  This shows that Penelope tests Odysseus, because only she and him know about how their bed was built from the trunk of an olive tree; it is their secret.  This also shows that Penelope does not trust people easily, a characteristic shared by many heroes.  This allows Penelope to make sure that Odysseus is not one of her adversaries.

In conclusion, Penelope is the true hero of the Odyssey.  She protects her home, and Odysseus’ fortune, she outsmarts her suitors, and tests Odysseus to make sure that it is actually him.  Penelope is the one character from the epic poem, “The Odyssey,” who shows the true characteristics of a hero.

The Hero To Be

The last month had given London rain and cold, leaving Christmas shoppers to hurry out of stores into their cars, trying not to soak themselves. However, one day, a Friday, was different. The sun shone bright across the flats of London and everyone was out and about, except for one person. She had blonde hair, with brown eyes and a sassy attitude that would charm even the most horrible person. She stood at a reasonable five foot four and was never caught not wearing heels. Her name was Rose Carter, a multi millionaire who ran a fashion company, called Spring.
Rose was holed up in her home, trying to piece together the puzzle that had baffled her for days on end.  Samantha Freeman was the chief marketing officer of Spring, and Rose’s best worker and friend. Last Saturday, she hadn’t shown up to work, and had been gone from then on. Rose had tried looking everywhere for her, but she was nowhere to be found. Rose even tried going to the police, and asked everyone she saw on the streets “Have you seen a woman with black hair, usually found in a mini skirt? Five foot seven? Blue eyes?” but no one had any information. Samantha had been acting strange the day before she left, randomly speaking phrases such as “almost ready now,” and saying something about avengement, but Rose had simply passed it off as Samantha being drowsy.
So here Rose was, hobbled over her office desk in her home, when suddenly she heard a knock come from the front door. She walked over to it, and noticed a note on the floor that must’ve been slipped through her mail slot. The note was simple, with one word written on it in black ink: run.  The knock came again, louder this time. Rose curiously peered through the peephole and saw several policemen, with angry looks on their faces. Rose didn’t know why she had to run, but the police seemed to be after her, so she followed the note’s orders.
 She ran out the back door without a second glance back. It was only when she reached the end of the street that she realized how stupid she'd been. She didn’t have a single pound with her, or any other clothes. And she was running in high heels, which she hadn’t taken off after coming home from work early. She knew that she needed to stop or she would end up twisting her ankle and land herself in the hospital.  She slowed to a brisk walk and checked her watch, feeling lucky that she had had it on her wrist when she left. It read 8:17. Realizing that it would be dark soon, Rose decided to find an empty warehouse or something of the like to sleep in. Seeing an abandoned candy factory, she headed inside it.
Rose saw some passerby outside, and shrank farther into the shadows of the old building. It was extremely musty, and smelled like rotting eggs, with the beams on the ceiling looking like they would fall down at any second. She did a walkthrough of the place, checking as she went to make sure there were no rats or other animals in the building. Rose hated rats. The last time she saw one she had screamed and called Samantha to get her to take care of it... Where was Samantha? The note must’ve been from her, since there was no mistaking Samantha’s scribble like scrawl. When or where could she find Samantha though? Rose was so caught up in her thoughts that she very nearly ran into a pillar. Luckily she saw it just in time, but wait, there was another note on the pillar! It was just like the last and stated: Wait here till morning. Rose knew she had to do as the note instructed, in the hopes that Samantha would come in the morning. How could the note have gotten there though? How did Samantha know that she would spend the night here? There were several other places Rose could’ve chosen to stay at.
As Rose lay down that night dozens of thoughts swirled through her mind. She lay awake nervous for morning to come. What awaited her in the morning? And what was exactly happening?  Rose tried her hardest to block all the new questions that kept zooming into her head, and eventually fell asleep.
She woke up just as the sun was starting to rise. Another sunny day, she thought drowsily.  She then remembered what had happened the previous day and woke up completely. What was she supposed to do? Just wait here? She suddenly saw someone approaching her, a woman. Was it Samantha? But no, it couldn’t be, this woman had reddish hair and was wearing all black. But it was her! You couldn't mistake Samantha’s face. Rose ran towards her and they hugged.
“What’s happening?” Rose exclaimed. “Where have you been?”
 “Rose,” Samantha said carefully, “ I’m not Samantha. I had to use a cover name so that I could make sure you were the person we needed.”
“What do you mean?  If you aren’t Samantha then who are you?”
“My name is Natasha Romanoff, and I’m here to talk to you about the Avengers Initiative.”
Epilogue
Rose learned that she had a superpower, the ability to charm people into doing what she wanted them to. That was why she had such a successful fashion business.  She lived a good life with the other Avengers, and became a hero, charming villains into being good people.  From Dr. Banner’s advice, she chose to donate her skeleton to English and science after she died, so that she would be a hero and inspiration even after death.

Sport Versus Survival

A lot of times, when someone reads a book, they see the movie and its completely changed.  Recently, my class read and watched “The Most Dangerous Game.”  The themes, among many other parts of the book and movie, were drastically different.  The main difference of themes between the movie and short story “The Most Dangerous Game” are that the former’s theme is about survival of the fittest, and the latter’s theme is about hunters versus huntees.

In the short story and movie “The Most Dangerous Game” a man named Rainsford ends up on an island starving, without anything but the clothes on his back.  He stays in the house of a man named Zaroff, who he later finds out hunts people for sport, and is forced to play “The most dangerous game” with another person on the island, named Eve, against Zaroff.  The theme of “The Most Dangerous Game” short story is mostly about hunters versus huntees.  For example, Rainsford says in the beginning of the story “This world is made up of two classes - the hunters and the huntees.  Luckily, you and I are hunters.”  However, later in the story, he becomes a huntee when being hunted down by General Zaroff, and acts like a fox would in the means of escaping a hunter, when he “executed a series of intricate loops; he doubled on his train again and again, recalling all the lore of the fox hunt, and all the dodges of the fox.”  This shows that at first, Rainsford believed that one could only be a hunter or a huntee, and not both.  This also shows that he found out what it was like to be the hunted, and realized the fragile line between the two.  This theme, however, is slightly different from the theme in the movie The Most Dangerous Game.

In the movie The Most Dangerous Game, the theme is about “Survival of the fittest,” and how one must outsmart one’s enemies to beat them and survive.  For example, in the movie, Rainsford and Eve try to outsmart Zaroff by laying several traps for him.  They make a trap so that when the general steps on a trigger that is a bough, a giant, dead tree will fall on top of him.  Sadly, the general sees through this trap, and doesn't fall for it, as well as other traps like trying to make him fall off of a cliff.  However, Rainsford bests Zaroff in the end, when Rainsford is attacked by a hunting dog and Zaroff shoots him, but hits the dog instead, which he doesn’t realize.  Rainsford goes back to Zaroff’s house and and wounds Zaroff, who falls out of a window to be eaten by his hunting dogs.  This shows that Rainsford and Zaroff both prove that they are clever enough to beat the other with all of the traps and avoidings of traps when they are hunting each other.  This also shows that Rainsford is smarter and fitter than Zaroff, because he tricks Zaroff into thinking he is dead.  He wins the game because of his cleverness.  In conclusion, the differences between the movie and short story “The Most Dangerous Game” are that the movie’s theme was about survival of the fittest, and the short stories theme was about being a hunter versus a huntee.

Trash RAFT Response #3 - Hailey and Sierra

Dear Jun Jun,

I have heard rumors of you and your friends being in Sampalo so I will send this letter there in the hopes that you receive it.  A few days ago, money disappeared from my safe, and there was a piece of paper with your name on it, on my desk.  Yesterday I was surprised to discover that even more money had been returned to my office, with another piece of paper with again your name on it, and a picture of flowers.  Thank you for returning the money.  I know that you only took it in the first place for a good cause.  This morning, I was overjoyed when I noticed the huge piles of money blowing around Behala.  I assume that the money was what Jose Angelico stole from Senator Zapanta, who stole the money from the poor.  Now it’s back where it rightfully belongs!  I just hope you, Raphael, and Gardo are safe.

     Best wishes, Father Juilliard

Dear Father Juilliard,

I am having Raphael write this letter, because I have never learned to write anything more than my name.  From now on you can write to this address: 1268, Main Street, Sampalo.  Raphael, Gardo, Pia, and I are currently renting a small house, and own two boats and make a living off of fishing,  You were right; it was me who took the money, and I apologize for that.  I hope that the money was enough to make up for what we took, and that it can help bring more students to the Mission School.  I hope that you have a peaceful retirement.

            Love, Jun Jun

Dear Jun Jun,

Maybe if you have some time you can come to the Mission School, so that you can learn to write.  Don’t worry about the money; you put more than enough back.  Already I have had a few more kids come to the Mission School, but hopefully even more will join soon before I retire.  Maybe when I retire I can move somewhere near you; I have always wanted to live by the water.  Who is Pia?  Is she a new friend you’ve met?  Does the fishing business work well?  Also, I forgot to mention in my last letter that we were never going to use those uniforms and backpacks anyway, so I’m glad you took them.

           Hope you’re happy with your new life, Father Juilliard

Dear Father Juilliard,

I have never told you about Pia, have I?  She is the daughter of the man who took back the money from Senator Zapanta.  Her name is Pia Dante Angelico.  She is staying with us because she has nobody left in this world to care for her.  We are doing great with the fish business!  There is no need for me to come to the Mission School to learn to write, because Raphael has offered to teach me.  I hope that when you retire, you retire near us.

      Love, Jun Jun

Trash RAFT Response #2

Dear Diary,

I fear my days are almost over.  I don’t fear the end though, as most suspect, for I know that when I die, I will be up in the sky with my god son.  I am so thankful for the boy, Gardo, who came to me today.  He is an angel.  His ways of getting to Solve Prison were not the best, but the information that he was able to shared with me made me want to dance!  That letter meant the world to me, because Jose hadn’t written in a long time.  And the code!  Oh, I sure do hope that the guard, Marco, wasn’t it?  I think that’s his name, but my memory’s not the best.  Anyways, I hope that he can be trusted.  If so, I will die an even happier man than I am now.

Hopefully the kid figures out the code; it shouldn’t be too hard, right?  Finally, a chance to get back at Vice President Zapanta.  There are far too many greedy people in this word, but at least once the code is deciphered there will be one less person, at least one less person who is greedy and has control over others.   

In the letter, it said that if I could go to Zapanta’s house, my soul would sing.  I am actually kind of confused by this, even though I know so much about Zapanta.  I’ve been in jail a long time though, and don’t read the papers that often, so maybe once the code is uncovered it will made more sense.  

It’s about time for me to get some rest.  I’m not thinking straight, and get tired easily at this age.  I don’t know if I’ll last much longer, but just hope I can live to see Zapanta found guilty of stealing the money, once the boy figures the code out.   Hopefully he (Gardo, isn’t it?) comes back tomorrow.

                                                                                              Gabriel Olondriz