Connections: Amir and Angel

Redemption:

–noun

1.	an act of redeeming or the state of being redeemed.

2.	deliverance; rescue.

3.	Theology. deliverance from sin; salvation.

4.	atonement for guilt.

Amir and Angel are extremely similar in the sense of their desire for redemption. Both have dark occurrences in their past that they run from for many years in hope to escape the guilt that accompanies it. While the horrors they have done and caused are extremely different, both try to move on and forget what is inevitibly to be remembered in similar ways.

To understand this connection, you first must understand Angel, or Angelus. Named by his "face of an angel", this character was turned into a vampire by a woman named Darla in the mid-seventeen hundreds. Throughout his first two hundred and fifty years as a vampire, he became part of a group known as the Scourge of Europe, made up of Angelus, Darla, and two other vampires, the extremely insane Drusilla and Spike. In the early nineteen hundreds, Angelus was cursed with a soul, therefore forced to bear with the pain and guilt of killing, raping, and torturing thousands across Europe.

Throughout the entire Buffy and Angel series, we see the more human, ensouled counter-part of Angelus save and sacrifice many times in his strong desire for redemption. The turning point for Angel, where he truly begins to believe that he can redeem himself is early in Buffy season one when he kills Darla as she's about to kill Buffy. At this moment, we see Angel change from a vampire who's afraid and constantly brooding about his horrible past actions to someone who truly believes he can make a positive difference in the world, if only to counteract what he's done in the past.

Amir's interaction with Assef is much like Angel's with Darla. On page 289, as he is being attacked by Assef, Amir says, "What was so funny was that, for the first time since the winter of 1975, I felt at peace." To me, this symbolizes the turning point in the book where Amir stops running from what he didn't do for Hassan, and begins to believe that he has finally started redeeming himself for Hassan, Sohrab, and himself.

Between these two intricately detailed characters, it is obvious how the two suppplement each other. As Angel rips the innocence and purity from a young Drusilla, Amir watches his best friend get raped and stays in the shadows. Angel broods and tries to hide his fears and doubts away, at the point in the story where Amir tries to leave his sins in the past and not atone. As Angel begins to hope in his redemption, Amir saves Sohrab from Assef and starts to see that there is a chance for him to be helped, redeemed, and healed.

In essence, both Angel and Amir have very similar stories within different cultres and periods of time. They both experience a carefree beginning to life, with a disturbed middle and a guilty concience throughout. But by the end, their balance has been restored and both become heroes in their own ways.

Best of the Week: Amir's Life in Afghanistan

This week there were many discussion points that I thought were noteworthy, the point I thought was one of the most insightful was the one made when discussing Afghanistan's history in relation to Amir. I think that this extremely important point impacts not only Amir's point of view, but how his life plays out. As a child, Amir grows up in Soviet Afghanistan, and as he matures he ends up in Taliban Afghanistan.

This idea of Amir experiencing two entirely different versions of Afghanistan, almost two countries in the same place in one lifetime. I think that this impacts Amir's life in multiple ways throughout the book, living under two completely different regimes with opposite ideals. This concept makes me think about the impact on children who would have grown up at the same time as Amir, and lived through the exchange of power. It made me think about the other wars, genocides and horros that have befallen many parts of the world because of one person who has an idea and imposes it onto their inferiors and rallies support.

This idea of two different worlds within one lifetime connects to many stories I've read, and the things I believe about them. For example, in The Little Princess, Sara is forced from a life of privilige to one of poverty and suffering, much like Amir when he encounters the Russian soldiers. I believe that these ruptures in government and society can forever damage a child's mind, therefore directly affecting them for the rest of their lives, much like the child soldiers who were turned from innocent beings to gun-toting terrifying members of society.

I can see myself using this concept not very far in the future; this concept of regimes and lives not only changing but being turned around within one moment. I see this idea coming to play in my life in the international work I want to do, helping out children and families whose lives have been so terribly changed by these moments, whose lives are split between the good days before and the bad ones after. I hope that by the time I would come to do this work I would be able to fully understand this phenomena to work against it and prevent it from ruining the lives of millions because of one prejudiced being.

Carry It Forward: The Blue Sweater

When most people think of helping the poor, they immediately go to charities and donate their money. They envision a new pair of shoes, or a plate of food handed to a small African child. In their minds eye they see the frail form's face light up and be forever grateful to the generous benefactor who provided them with this short-term privilege, not a group of people working months on end with these poor Africans to end the poverty cycle and provide self-sufficient members of society.

For those days when we discussed The Blue Sweater by Jacqueline Novogratz, the main anomaly of her mission was not to simply raise up the poor but to inspire the poor to raise themselves up. Millions of poor people are shunted to the side and taken for unable to pull themselves out of poverty every day. Many of those Jacqueline worked with exemplify this desolation, this lack of conviction and belief in what they can do. But Novogratz's mission was to provide those people with the chance to get themselves out of the never-ending cycle of poverty; to start businesses that could eventually prosper without outside help.

The Acumen Fund is one that takes the typical preconceived notions about the poor and throws it at the face of those who believe that throwing money at a problem will solve it. Acumen spends hours with the recipients of their money and services, ensuring that donations and grants are put to good use actually changing the lives of the poor. In lieu of donating through corrupt governments and societies where a small percentage (if any) of the money donated actually reaches the people, Acumen workers go to the people and and observe their daily lives and the things they could benefit from. The Acumen Fund, in my opinion, one that challenges people everywhere to not only give money but to act on their desires to help the poor and experience parts of their lives with them that will change them forever.