The Kite Runner Exploration

Chapter 1 Quotations

“… 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. Looking back now, I realize I have been peeking into that deserted alleyway for the last twenty-six years.”

#Past #Character

Claws – Aggression. The resurfacing of this past will be painful

Bury it – Amir has done something bad in the past and tried to move on without fixing his mistakes 

Peeking – Hesitation to the looking. He is both curious but afraid. 

Deserted – There is no one there. Everyone has moved on except for Amir. 

“There is a way to be good again.”

#Redemption

Amir has done something very bad in the past

Good – Redemption

Chapter 2 Quotations

“Hassan and I fed from the same breasts. We took our first steps on the same lawn in the same yard. And, under the same roof, we spoke our first words. Mine was Baba. His war Amir. My name. Looking back on it now, I think the foundation for what happened in the winter of 1975 – and all that followed – was already laid in those first words.” 

#Brother #Kinship

Chapter 3 Quotations 

My Current thoughts on Amir. 

After reading Chapter 3 we have learnt a lot about Amir’s relationship with his father. Amir adores his father, idolizes him as a man who proved all those who doubted him wrong someone who rose up above the expectations of him. Yet at the same time he is also scared of his father, feels as if he is trying to mold him into the person that he wants him to be. “Baba saw the world in black and white. And he got to decide what was black and what was white. You can’t love a person who lives that way without fearing him too. Maybe even hating him a little.” Amir is different from his Baba, does not have the same interests, for example while Baba and the rest of the children that he grew up with played soccer as children, Amir has found a love for poetry, like his mother, and is always burying his head into a book. Because of this he is ignored by his father, despite desperately seeking his approval in regards to everything. To the point where he even pretends to like the same activities such as soccer. He is jealous of the attention that his father gives to people like Amir or the time that he invests in projects such as the orphanage that his father is building. This jealousy only grows over time and is expressed as a deep hatred directed at those who his father is giving attention to and not his own father, who he idolizes without question. “I wanted Baba all to myself.” “I already hated all the kids he was building the orphanage for; sometimes I wished they’d all died along with their parents.”

Bear and his father have a likeness in the way that Amir sees them. A bear is an animal that commonly frightens humans, a fear that Amir has grown to associate with his father the image of a bear. Someone who he would never be able to live up to no matter how hard he tries. 

In addition to this, Amir has to carry the weight of killing his mother in childbirth. This according to his father is the only sin known as theft “every other sin is a variation of theft” his father claims. This weight guilts him into feeling like he is a disappointment to his father, he has committed the one sin of theft, robbing his father of his “princess” his wife and Amir’s mother. 

While I do feel sympathetic towards Amir for the guilt that he has to carry with him at such a young age, I do not believe that his jealousy is something that is good for him to be feeling. He sometimes takes it too far such as wanting those who his father is building the orphanage for to be dead, although these children are too like him, they have lost their parents. However, Amir is privileged in a way that the children of the orphanage are not, he still has one parent and should be grateful for the wealthy lifestyle that his father enabled him to grow up in. 

Chapters 1-5 Summary

1. Write a brief summary of what has occurred in the novel so far. Explain who each character is and how they are connected to the other characters.

During the first chapter of the Kite Runner we see Amir as an adult living in San Francisco. Amir is searching for redemption for an action that he made a long time ago while living as a child in Afghanistan. There he gets a call from an old friend from Pakistan who tells him that “there is a way to be good again.” After hanging up the phone Amir starts to recollect the times of his youth living in Pakistan and the troubles of his childhood. Starting off, Amir begins to tell us of a time when he was around 12 years old and of all the people that have impacted him up until then including his father, with whom he calls Baba, a man who couldn’t show less interest in him, his father’s business partner, Rahim Khan, the affectionate man who Amir wishes was his father from time to time, Ali his father’s servant and friend from childhood, Hassan’s the servant, Ali’s son and Amir’s closest friend and his mother who died giving birth to Amir. We learn of Baba’s unspoken abuse towards Amir and his general disinterest and uninvolvement in his life. Amir then begins to recollect details about the various activities that he and Hassan would do together after Amir returned from school, such as reading stories to Hassan from his mother’s poetry book, climbing in their claimed tree, slingshotting rocks at hippies as they pass by on their animals and so on. These two boys have an extensive history growing up together. From here on out the story begins to go downhill as gunfire is heard in the streets. These gunfire shots are part of a coup in which Daoud Khan, the king’s cousin took over the government and transformed Afghanistan into a republic. The story then goes on to describe Hassan’s birthday. Each year Baba gets Hassan a gift, this year it is a surgeon who has been tasked with repairing Hassan’s cleft lip. As the months go on all that is left of Hassan’s cleft lip is a faint scar and his lips being centred slightly to the left but Hassan continues to smile as he is overjoyed with the outcome of his surgery. 

1. Consider why Hosseini opens the novel in the present with Amir narrating his regret to us. Explain what the purpose of this set up is.

The purpose of this setup is to convince the reader that Amir has done something bad or ill-fated that has haunted him for the vast majority of his life. It leads us to believe that this action is so dishonorable that Amir would carry it with him into his adult life and continue to dwell on it even though everyone involved in it no longer thinks about it anymore. But the action is so horrible to Amir that he cannot let go of it even though there is apparently “a way to be good again.” This sets up sympathy towards the main character, Amir. We know that he is full of regret, we know of a side of him that is vulnerable and regretful on a path towards searching for redemption. 

1. Explain the relationship between Amir and Hassan. What are some of the key aspects to note about their ‘friendship’ so far?

Amir is the son of a wealthy businessman with whom he calls Baba. Hassan and Amir have grown up with one another and have known eachother since birth. However, this is no ordinary friendship as the two boys are not considered equals by society. Hassan’s father is the servant of Amir’s father, Baba. Both Hassan and his father Amir as servants for Baba, making Amir’s bed, breakfast, packing his bag for school, cleaning up his room etc. “…there was a brotherhood between people who had fed from the same breast, a kinship that not even time could break.” The two boys both lost their mothers during childbirth or shortly after. Amir’s mother died giving birth to him and Hassan’s mother ran off with the hippies just a week after giving birth to him. Thus, both of the boys were fed by the same nurse and grew up under similar circumstances. Their friendship is openly acknowledged by Hassan but not by Amir. He constantly is in denial of their friendship, picking on Hassan for anything from criticizing him to getting more attention from Baba then he, himself gets. Despite seeming like a good friend at times, Amir is only a good friend to Hassan when no one else is around to see it. Due to the racial differences of Hassan being a Hazara and Amir being a Pashtun, Hassan is considered to be below Amir socially and this ideology is embodied in the way that Amir treats Hassan. This ethnic barrier as well as jealousy because of Baba’s affection towards Amir causes a relationship dominated by inequality and abuse. Although he covers for Hassan, what is really happening is that Amir is pressuring Hassan into doing bad things and making bad decisions but at the same time covering for him, it is a relationship based on owing each other favours and other things. 

1. Explain what a cleft lip is.

A cleft lip is a birth defect that is caused by the baby’s lip or mouth not forming properly during pregnancy. 

1. How does Amir feel about his father in these chapters?

Amir idolizes his father, wants to be just like him. However, his father is a controlling man wanting to mold the world to his will.  “Baba saw the world in black and white. And he got to decide what was black and what was white. You can’t love a person who lives that way without fearing him too. Maybe even hating him a little.” Amir is different from his Baba, does not have the same interests, for example while Baba and the rest of the children that he grew up with played soccer as children, Amir has found a love for poetry, like his mother, and is always burying his head into a book. Because of this he is ignored by his father, despite desperately seeking his approval in regards to everything. Amir is not the child that his father wanted him to be and is thus neglected and unspokenly abused by his father, Baba. Amir is mentally conflicted, while he religiously strives to gain his father’s approval and craves his father’s attention, he also sees him as a cold and unwelcoming presence in his life. His father blames him for his mother’s death and he has to carry this with him throughout his childhood and his entire life which is a hard burden to carry with you which makes him feel alienated throughout his entire life by most of the people in his life over his mother. 

1. Describe Assef. Explain his ancestry and what his political vision is.

Assef is the neighbourhood bully who picks on Ali for his limp and Hassan for his cleft lip. Amir refers to him as being a sociopath. Assef has the intention of beating up Hassan and Amir with his brass knuckles however, Hassan, the tougher of the two boys steps up and threatens Assed with a slingshot saying that he will take out his eye if Assef didn’t leave them along right then and right there. Assef’s hatred towards the two boys is race related. He is annoyed that Amir has a Hazara servant with whom appears to be his friend from Assef and others perspective. Assef threatens that this is not the end for Amir and Hassan and that someday he will face Amir one on one. 

Assef was born by a German mother and an Afghan Father. He believes that Hitler had the right political ideology about race and has a deep hatred towards the Hazara people. His family knows Daoud Khan and he tells Hassan and Amir that the next time he sees him he plans on asking him about Hitler.

1. Now that you know what kite fighting is and that Amir and Hassan used a blue kite, explain why Hosseini included a reference in the opening chapter to blue and red kites flying in the sky as Amir reflected on the past. What do you suppose the kite symbolises at this point?

The two kites in the beginning of chapter one represent the bond between Amir and Hassan and the enduring unity between the two boys. However, now the kite serves as a reminder to Amir of the betrayal and guilt that haunts him everyday and his decision to not defend Hassan when he was raped by Assef. Hosseini included a reference to the kites in the beginning of the novel to show us as readers that Amir is never able to get over his betrayal of Hassan. That even something as simple and innocent as blue and red kites flying through the sky will remind him of his past decisions. It shows that he realizes the extent of his actions and continues to be haunted by them ever since but he does not do anything about them or try anything to fix them. 

1. Explain what Amir means when he says ‘I opened my mouth and almost said something…The rest of my life might have turned out differently if I had.”

Amir says here that he was basically paralyzed and unable to act, but after this quote he also admits that he was a coward and that some part of him felt this was a necessary sacrifice and that Hassan was willing to suffer for Amir’s wellbeing. The quote indicates a turning point in Amir’s life: he could have “said something” and his entire life could have been different, even if he only had to suffer for a small amount of time, he would have saved himself a life long sentence of guilt and betrayal that he had to carry with him throughout life. Despite Hassan’s unquestioning loyalty, Amir selfishly betrays Hassan by forcing him to go through hell alone and thus this would consequently end up causing Amir to live with himself and his actions for the rest of his life. 

1. Hassan describes the dream of ‘the monster in the lake’. This is significant. Go back and read the dream portion of the novel again. Identify the connection between Amir and the monster Hassan describes?

The Monster in the Lake is a symbol of Amir. It represents Amir’s betrayal and deception at the beginning of the novel. After choosing not to defend Hassan in the alleyway Amir has to live with himself, now knowing that he is the monster depicted in Hassan’s dream, however, he did not know this up until he realizes just how bad he is as a person. After Amir betrays Hassan by running away while Hassan is being raped by Assef, Amir thinks to himself, ““I thought about Hassan’s dream, the one about us swimming in the lake. There is no monster, he’d said, just water. Except he’d been wrong about that. There was a monster in the lake. It had grabbed Hassan by the ankles, dragged him to the murky bottom. I was that monster.” The betrayal portrayed Amir as selfish and self-absorbed. He was the monster. Amir was the one to feed Hassan to the wolves. He ran away because his desires were his motivation. By running away, Amir was dragging Hassan to the bottom of the lake. The bottom of the lake represents the depth of Amir’s betrayal and how far he went in order to achieve what he wanted. The lake is bottomless as if Amir’s betrayal of Hassan after the Kite fighting tournament in the Winter of that year. It also marks the end of Hassan’s innocence and describes the absolute inferiority that Hassan feels. 

1. Make a note of what is inscribed in the pomegranate tree in the back yard. Explain why it is significant that Amir picks a fight with Hassan in front of that tree.

The pomegranate tree in the back yard is a symbol of the friendship and brotherhood between Hassan and Amir. It is the place where they share many memories, happy memories of playing together, eating the fruit from the tree and bonding together as friends. Amir even recalls carving, “Amir and Hassan, the sultans of Kabul” into the side of the tree. Unfortunately, Amir and Hassan’s friendship is ruined after Amir witnesses Hassan getting raped by Assef and does not intervene. Tortured by guilt, Amir cannot stand to be around Hassan and does not enjoy visiting the pomegranate tree. 

In chapter 8, Hassan asks Amir to visit the pomegranate tree to read, and Amir agrees. However, Amir thinks that he’s made a mistake visiting the tree and walks back home without reading to Hassan. This is important as it involves Amir trying to mend his relationship with Hassan by visiting the Pomegranate tree but then choosing not to, thus leaving without reading to Hassan, who he continues to disappoint. 

In Greek mythology, the pomegranate was known as the fruit of the dead. This is important as when Amir hit Hassan over and over again with the pomegranates that are at the pomegranate tree yelling at him to fight back and give him the punishment that he so desperately wants so that he can sleep at night, he is killing their friendship and ending it once and for all, thus the fruit representing the death and destruction of relationships and most importantly of their own. 

1. What are your thoughts on Amir by the end of this section of the novel? Consider if they have changed from the opening section or not.

I am no longer sympathetic towards Amir at this point in the novel, to be honest I hate his character. No amount of being ignored by your father and wanting his appraisal is enough to forgive Amir for his actions. He has betrayed the one true friend that he had, Hassan, whose first world was Amir, his name. He is entitled and selfish, only caring about himself and he will have to live with his actions for the rest of his life. I do understand why he has done some of the things that he has done, but they are for purely selfish reasons. They would be less intense if Hassan hadn’t been so pure and such a good friend to Amir, but he was always the best friend of Amir without even considering that this was not true. Even though Amir was only 12 at the time of the traumatic event, he knows that what he did was wrong and acknowledges this but he is too much of a coward even later in life to try and mend his actions. In the end it will be too late for him to be forgiven by those who were involved in the events of that one Winter night after the Kite fighting competition. 

Chapters 11-14

1. Why are Amir and his father fleeing Afghanistan?

Amir and his father, Baba are fleeing Afghanistan because of the Soviet invasion. Baba hates the idea of his country being ruled by Russians both physically and ideologically with their communist way of life and ideas about how a society should be run. Both Baba and Amir end up leaving before the invasion gets to its worst because as a businessman, the lives of both of them would have been in danger because of Baba’s work. 

1. “America was different. America was a river roaring along, unmindful of the past. I could wade into this river, let my sins drown to the bottom, let the waters carry me someplace far.” This quote from Chapter 11 is said by whom? What does it reveal? What does this metaphor mean?

This quote is said by Amir. This river of America is a symbolic reference to Amir’s past in Afghanistan and the decisions that he made there. It is symbolic of both the past and Amir’s desire to wash away or erase his memory of the decisions that haunt him. When Baba and Amir move from Afghanistan to America after the Soviet invasion, Amir sees this move as an opportunity to move on in life and leave behind his past. Afghanistan haunts him as it is the place where he made life changing decisions such as choosing not to stick up for Hassan that one night after the kite fighting championship in the alleyway. So he sees this move as both leaving behind his sins in the past and moving on towards the river of the future. However, rivers only continue to move along and never really have an ending point, eventually reaching the ocean as a dumping point. The ocean is where everything builds up that was once washed away in the river. The river is just carrying and picking up Amir’s debris as it moves along and eventually dumps it into the ocean, where everything just builds up and waits to come back and haunt him in the future. America may seem to take away Amir’s past, but all it is, is a place for Amir to forget his past for the meantime. 

1. What does Baba give Amir as a graduation present? What is Amir feeling at this moment? What is Baba feeling?

At 20 years old Amir graduates as by far the oldest in his class but Baba couldn’t be more proud of him. As a graduation gift, Baba gives Amir a car, a Ford Grand Torino which is coloured Navy Blue. Amir is surprised and feels loved by his father and appreciates his act of kindness and everything that Baba has done for him up until now. Baba feels proud of Amir for graduating high school with his class and is excited about Amir going to college, to the University of Maryland to study ENGLISH 101 and become a writer. Baba is excited that Amir is going to college so that he can become successful in America. 

1. Baba observes that “It may be unfair, but what happens in a single day can change the course of a whole lifetime.” Whom is he speaking about? Why? What else might be significant about that quote?

Here Baba is speaking about Soraya and her bad experiences with a man in the past when she lived in Virginia. He says this because Soraya has not had a suitor since running away with a man when she lived in Virginia and refusing to come home. This event has literally changed her life forever. This quote is also significant as it is a reminder of Amir and his decisions in the past back in Afghanistan. The night of the Kite Flying competition that one Winter Amir could have chosen to act differently and his entire life would have been different but he chose not to. The quote is significant to the fact that our decisions can change our lives completely and in ways that we never would have expected them to. 

1. What disappointment do Soraya and Amir face? Do you think Amir should have told Soraya about his betrayal of Hassan before they were married? Why or why not? What does this do to a relationship? 

Soraya and Amir face the difficulty of unexplained infertility and after every test imaginable, months worth of tests they do not get to understand why they are unable to conceive a child. This is disappointing for them as in Afghanistan culture it is frowned upon to adopt, blood means everything and is very important to families as they are able to trace down the ancestry of a family that their child may marry into as all of the families have known eachother since their ancestors hundreds of years ago. 

Soraya told Amir her darkest secret, demonstrating her honesty and courageousness. Soraya tells Amir that she ran away with an Afghan man when she was eighteen years old. Her boyfriend at the time was a drug addict, and everyone in Virginia’s Afghan community was gossiping about her shameful situation. Soraya’s father ended up finding her and forced her to come home. Even in knowing his Amir choses to cowardly keep his own past to himself, which ends up basing their relationship on a bed of lies. If Amir cannot tell his wife the secret that has haunted him since he was 12 years old then there is a lack of trust between the two of them and this is not a good way to start a relationship together. 

1. Chapter 14 brings us back to the opening of the book: the telephone call from Rahim Khan. What is Rahim asking Amir to do?

Rahim Khan is ill and wants Amir to fly out to Pakistan as it is now safe there. He wants to know the truth about Amir’s past and what really happened between Hassan and Amir all of those years ago when they were both 12 and living in Afghanistan before the Soviet invasion and before Baba and Amir ended up leaving to move to America when Amir was only 18 years old and still in high school.

Chapter 15 – 20 questions 

1. What does Amir say about clichés? Why does Amir use the cliché about “an elephant in the room” to describe his meeting with Rahim Khan? 

A creative writing teacher at San Jose State used to say about clichés: “Avoid them like the plague.” Then he’d laugh at his own joke. The class laughed along with him, but I always thought clichés got a bum rap. Because, often, they’re dead-on. The cliche “an elephant in the room” can be used to describe an unspoken issue between two people, both people know of the issue or everyone does, however, no one wants to talk about it or even mention it to another person who knows of the issue or problem and will attempt to disregard it for as long as possible. In Amir and Rahim Khan’s case the elephant in the room is Amir’s betrayal of Hassan all of those years ago. 

1. In Chapter 16, Rahim tells us what happened to Hassan. What has happened? Where is he living? What is his family life like?

After leaving Baba’s house, Hassan and Ali moved to Bamiyan to start a new life. Hassan has lived in the same house for all of those years up until Rahim Khan goes to see him. Rahim Khan learns of Ali’s death by mines and realizes that Hassan and his wife are very happy where they are despite their living circumstances, as they say that they have friends where they are and have built a life in Bamiyan together. There he learns that Hassan has married Farzana who is expecting their first child. After learning of Baba’s death, Hassan and Farzana proceed to move in with Rhahim Khan to tend to Baba’s house. Farzana first gives birth to a still born girl and then proceeds to give birth again to Sohrab, and Hassan and his family live happily for a time until, after Rahim leaves for Pakistan because of his health, militiamen murder Hassan and Farzana and Sohrab is taken into an orphanage where he lives until being taken by a military general who has taken many child before him. 

1. In Chapter 17, Rahim gives Amir a letter from Hassan, who wrote it six months before. What is the tone of this letter? How does Amir react?

The undertone of the letter can be described as having a feeling of melancholy and sadness. Hassan describes what is going on with the Taliban and how they are treating the Hazaras in a sad way. For example when Farzana spoke up to a seller who was hard at hearing and the Talib whacked her, Hassan describes himself as being unable to do anything as is he is feeling very useful and hopeless. This tone of hopelessness and sadness is also conveyed in talk of Rahim Khan’s illness. However at the end the tone is hopeful because Hassan is talking about his dreams of his son growing up and seeing Amir again. 

1. In Chapter 18, Amir finds out that both Hassan and his wife were shot by the Taliban trying to protect Baba’s house, orphaning their son. Rahim tells Amir it is his job to find Sohrab in Karteh-Seh, Afghanistan, and take him to an orphanage in Peshawar, Pakistan. What is Amir’s reaction? Do you think Rahim’s dying wish is unfair? Why or why not?

Amir does not want to go to Kabul. Afghanistan is a dangerous place even after the war ended and it is not like it was back when Amir was a child. He now has a wife, a career, a house and has built a life in America. It is something so dangerous that he cannot even tell his wife that he is going to Kabul, Afghanistan in fear that she will fly out and try to come to or even stop him. This dying wish of Rahim Khan is a way for Amir to get the punishment that he so desperately wants, although it may seem unfair for this to be thrust upon Amir, in the end he owes it to Hassan to do this for his child. As Rahim Khan says to Amir “there is a way to be good again.” and Rahim Khan knows that this is the thing that will help Amir achieve redemption for his actions that he made so long ago. 

1. Foreshadowing is used frequently throughout this novel to build tension and suspense. What clues hint at the secret that is revealed in Chapters 17-18?

Baba hiring a surgeon for Hassan’s harelip to be fixed and never forgetting his birthday. The way that Baba reacted when Amir asked to get new servants how he spoke of Hassan being part of his family and how he will never be replaced and nor will Ali, this defensiveness suggests a deeper relationship than servants and friends. The way that Baba spoke of Hassan on the night of Amir’s high school graduation “I wish Hassan had been with us today.” 

1. What realizations does Amir come to in Chapter 19?

That Afghanistan is his true home. No matter how long ago he moved to America, no matter the fact that he lives there and has a life there he will always be a true Afghan as this is the place where he grew up in. He thought that he had forgotten and was forgotten but he had not. Amir realizes that he can share in Baba’s greatest value and have the courage to do what is right and find Sohrab so that he can finally achieve redemption and repay Hassan even after his death for his actions and the decisions that he made so long ago in his childhood years. 

1. In Chapter 20, the director of the orphanage, Zaman, tells Amir that Sohrab was taken by a Taliban official, who takes children, usually girls, about once a month, for his “sexual pleasure.” The official gives Zaman a great deal of cash. How does Zaman defend his actions?

Zaman says that he has to save the other children. The orphanage has not enough facilities or food to feed all of the children. With the money that he takes from the Taliban general he is able to provide food and clothing for the rest of the children. The Taliban refuse to give him any more money so he is desperate and at this point will take any resource that he can get to help these poor orphan and parentless children as he is all that they have. This orphanage is all that they have. 

Chapters 20 – 25 Questions 

1. In Chapter 21, Amir finally sees Sohrab and realizes something about the Taliban official. What is it? What is your reaction to this character’s reappearance as a Talib? How does he justify his transformation? Is it a transformation? 

Amir realizes that the Taliban official, is Assef, the bully who rapoed Hassan all those years ago. I am shocked to find this out as I am sure Amir was as Assef has now wronged three generations of Hassan’s family. First he ridiculed Ali for his limp, raped Hassan and how is doing those same acts of sexual assault on Hassan’s son, Sohrab. He tells Amir he was once imprisoned, and one evening a guard began kicking him until the blows dislodged a kidney stone that had been causing him severe pain. He felt relief and began laughing. At that moment he knew God was on his side. Being a Talib just gives him another excuse to perform these terrible deeds, it is not truly a transformation because he is still the same horrible human being that he was as a child. 

1. In Chapter 22, we encounter many “full-circle” endings as we reach the climax, or turning point, of the plot. List three. 

When Amir learns of Hassan’s murder at the hands of the Taliban and learning that he is his half-brother. He finally understands why his father treated him the way that he did and this only increases his guilt of how he treated Hassan and his decision to not help him in the alleyway when he was being raped by Assef. 

Amir going back to Kabul to realize that it is no longer the place that it was when he was a child. It has changed for the worst and nothing is as it once was. 

Amir encountering Assef after all of those years that he has been in America and finally being able to gain redemption. The ironic part of this ‘full-circle’ ending is that it creates a similar situation to Hassan being raped in the alleyway by Assef all of those years ago. Sohrab is a living piece of Hassan and that fact that Assef is too, sexually abusing him allows for Amir to repay Hassan by stepping in and putting an end to Assef’s horrible treatment of his half-nephew. 

1. What is your reaction to Rahim Khan’s letter to Amir? Should the letter have been presented to him earlier? Do you feel that Baba was a good man? 

In my own opinion I feel as if the letter was justification of the way that Baba treated Amir and Hassan. It shows that the harsh treatment of Amir and the nice treatment of Hassan was simply a misunderstanding. I feel as if it leaves Amir with closure because he never understood why his father would disregard him as insignificant, that he didn’t actually hate Amir for killing his mother in childbirth but rather seeing Amir reminded him of himself and he was ashamed of the person that he was. He is trying to convince Amir to forgive his father and release all of the guilt that he has been feeling since he was 12 years old. He tells us that Baba felt so guilty and full of regret that he took out his anger on Amir for not being able to accept Hassan as his other son. He wants Amir to tie up loose ends and be able to grow from the situation as the fact that he suffered  and felt this weighted feeling of guilt and regret for what he did to Hassan even though he didn’t know that he was his half brother shows that he has goodness in his heart just like Baba did so that he can forgive himself and move on just like everyone else involved in the story did. “A man with no conscience, no goodness, does not suffer.” I think that it should not have been presented to him earlier as Amir had to get redemption for what he did before he could forgive himself. He would never truly be able to forgive himself unless he got redemption so it being given to him in the hospital was perfect timing. I do believe that Baba is a good person deep down, we all make mistakes like lying to Amir and Hassan to protect himself and Ali but Baba tried to redeem himself by doing so many good things which makes him a good person as he has realized that he has made mistakes and has tried to fix them. 

1. Chapter 24 continues the falling action of the plot. Why do Sohrab and Amir travel to Islamabad? Amir says “There are a lot of children in Afghanistan, but little childhood.” What does he mean? How can you relate this to Hassan and Sohrab? 

Amir and Sohrab travel to Islamabad because the Taliban would be looking for Amir after Sohrab but Assef’s eye out and then he and Amir escaped. So they travel to Islamabad for cover and to be safe from the Taliban for as long as they could for Amir to recover and for Sohrab to be able to get a visa so that he can go to America with Amir and live with him and his wife, Soraya where it is safe and he will be able to have a better life. 

The quotation “There are a lot of children in Afghanistan, but little childhood” means that there are so many children in Afghanistan, yet they are so poor and tortured by war and the Taliban that they do not get to experience the activities that children do in other countries. They have been forced to grow up in a non-peaceful society where they are always on alert that they never got to experience that childhood innocence about the world that makes them children. They have basically been forced into emotional maturity from a young age and see and have to deal with adult things and decisions too early in life compared to other countries. This is related to Hassan and Sohrab as they are both Hazaras that have been shunned for their race. However, his son Sohrab had to witness his parents both being killed at a young age, as well as his entire life being stripped from him. He then becomes sexually assaulted by Assef. All three things that a child should never have to cope with at such a young age. 

1. What promise does Amir break to Sohrab? What does Sohrab do in response to this? Why might this be significant? 

Amir promises to never put Sohrab back in an orphanage. However, when he realizes that he has no other option but to do so in order to get Sohrab a visa into America, he breaks this promise to Sohrab. In Response to this Sohrab tries to commit suicide as he would rather die than go back to an orphanage. He locks himself in the bathroom and slits his wrists on the razors that were complimentary of the hotel that that they had been staying in and Amir had been using those razors to shave with. Sohrab’s daily 1 hour bath is a metaphorical attempt at cleansing his perceived sins; scrubbing in the tub is Sohrab’s outward effort to deal with the guilt and shame he feels about everything he was forced to do and endure. The detail of the razor that Amir uses to shave is significant and foreshadows Sohrab’s suicide attempt. In the pink scars on his wrists, he is left with a permanent mark of his trauma. Like everyone in the novel, he may move beyond the past, but he can never undo it. 

1. What happens as Amir runs the kite for Sohrab? How is this the final ‘full circle’ moment in the novel?

After Amir asks Sohrab if he wants him to run the kite for him, Sohrab nods. Amir then say’s “For you a thousand times over” which is exactly the same statement that Hassan say’s before running the kite for Amir back when he was a child, however, despite the fact that the last time these words appeared in the book (not counting when Farid said them to Amir when he thanked him for everything that he has done), this hopeful tone in Amir’s voice suggests that Amir has finally been able to gain redemption and forgive himself for what he has done and has paid off the past that haunted him for over 25 years up until he was in his 30s.