PLOT

The novel opens with Amir as a grown man reflecting on his childhood. Provide a detailed description of the opening scene of the novel. 

In the opening scene, Amir talks about his past in Afganistan, about how he had made a mistake and it has haunted him since 1975. This chapter is small but gives us knowledge of what may happen further in the book including things such as characters names, Rahim Khan calling Amir saying “there is a way to be good again”, and that Amir was a bi-stander to something that happened in an alleyway that has affected him since. It also hints to us it may include kites as when he looked up at them in the San Fransisco sky and he said that Amir said it gave him an instant thought of Hassan saying “for you a thousand times over”. Chapter one gives us an insight of future things that may happen in the book and we can see how remorseful Amir is. This gives us an instant feeling to like him. Because of the early insight into the book, it gives the urge to keep reading.

The novel ends with Amir and Sohrab in the park together. Provide a detailed description of the final scene of the novel. 

In the final scene, Amir and Sohrab have their first happy moment since they arrived in America. This happened in the same park where he went when Rahim Khan insisted he came to Afganistan again. In the park, Amir bought himself and Sohrab a kite to fly. Sohrab still didn’t speak to him but he gave Amir a smile and Amir said that was all he needed because ” when spring comes it melts one flake at a time, and maybe I just witnessed the first flake melting”. This scene has once again featured the kite although now instead of it representing guilt it resembles that Amir has fixed his sins of the past and can move on with his life.

Reflect on Hosseini’s intentions when framing the novel like this. Consider how the novels key themes are established and developed by these scenes. Reflect on the position the reader is placed in by Hosseini’s deliberate framing of the text in this way. 

The author structured the text by putting this future thought of Amir sitting in the park thinking about his friends, family, talking about kites and his sins of the past at the start of the book. Hosseini may have structured the novel this way in order to create

Describe three other scenes in the novel that you consider to be significant. Explain why these scenes are significant in regards to the development of character and theme development

Another important scene in the book is where Amir and Hassan are at the pomegranate tree. There is plenty of scenes where they go here but there is a specific one. During this scene, Amir asks Hassan how loyal he is by testing whether or not he would eat dirt for him.

CLASS DISCUSSION

establishes foreshadowing by putting this at the start of the book meaning we look for the clues. It sets up tension because we know something is happening. Sets him up to not seem as bad

Even though the last seen was nostalgic it almost feels like he is only doing it for himself.

Framed like this so we can..

Key themes developed in the book

• the ability to find your own redemption
• can never get rid of your past
• guilt

Important scene

• Amir looking for Sohrab, finding him with Assef. Finally finds peace between it. Feels like needs to be physically hurt. One-eyed Assef.
• a scene in where Hassan is raped
• pomegranate tree
• Sohrab in the bathtub

CHARACTER

Provide a description of the persona of the following characters. Identify their role in the text and locate three quotes you could use to highlight who they are. 

Amir – Is the main character and narrator of the kite runner. Amir is the son of a well-to-do businessman in Kabul, and he grows up with a sense of entitlement. His best friend is Hassan, and he goes back and forth between acting as a loyal friend and attacking Hassan out of jealousy whenever Hassan receives Amir’s father’s affection. Amir is a gifted storyteller and grows from aspiring writer to published novelist. His great desire to please his father is the primary motivation for his behaviour early in the novel, and it is the main reason he allows Hassan to be raped. From that point forward, he is driven by his feelings of guilt as he searches to find a way to redeem himself. Ultimately he does so through courage and self-sacrifice, and he tells his story as a form of penance. 3 quotes from Amir include:

“For you, a thousand times over”
“It may be unfair, but what happens in a few days, sometimes even a single day, can change the course of a whole lifetime…”
“And that’s the thing about people who mean everything they say. They think everyone else does too.”

Hassan – Amir’s best friend and half-brother as well as a servant of Baba’s. Hassan proves himself a loyal friend to Amir repeatedly, defending Amir when he is attacked and always being ready to listen. His defining traits are bravery, selflessness, and intelligence, though his smarts are more instinctual than bookish, largely because he is uneducated. As a poor ethnic Hazara, he is considered inferior in Afghan society, and he is the victim of racism throughout the novel as a result. He is Baba’s illegitimate child, though he is not aware of this fact, and he grows up with Ali acting as his father. His rape is an early catalyst in the story, and even though he is not present in a significant portion of the novel, he plays a major role throughout.

“Then Hassan did pick up the pomegranate. He walked toward me. He opened it and crushed it against his own forehead. ‘There,’ he croaked, red dripping down his face like blood. ‘Are you satisfied? Do you feel better?’ He turned around and started down the hill.” “For you, a thousand times over!”

Baba – Father of Amir and Hassan and a wealthy, well-respected businessman. Baba believes first and foremost in doing what is right and thinking for oneself, and he tries to impart these qualities to Amir. He also never lets anyone’s lack of belief in him stop him from accomplishing his goals. Although he distrusts religious fundamentalism, he follows his own moral code and acts with self-assurance and bravery. When necessary, he is even willing to risk his life for what he believes in. Yet his shame at having a child with a Hazara woman leads him to hide the fact that Hassan is his son. Because he cannot love Hassan openly, he is somewhat distant toward Amir and is often hard on him, though he undoubtedly loves him.

QUOTES

Ali – Acting father to Hassan and a servant of Baba’s. Ali is defined by his modesty more than anything, and he works diligently as Baba’s servant. He loves Hassan deeply, though he rarely expresses his emotions outwardly. Poor and an ethnic Hazara, he suffers from partial paralysis of his face and walks with a limp caused by polio.

QUOTES

Sohrab – Son of Hassan and Farzana. In many ways, Sohrab acts as a substitute for Hassan in the novel, and he is a central focus of the plot in the later sections of the book. He is also an ethnic Hazara and is great with a slingshot. His character arc takes him from being a normal little boy to the traumatized victim of sexual and physical abuse, and he goes from speaking very little to not at all.

QUOTES

Identify three key relationships in that are developed in the text. For each, explore what is ‘key’ about them for the characters involved and what kind of impact the relationship has on both characters development.

Consider the narrator of the novel, Amir. Explain how he fulfils the expected characteristics of the antihero. Discuss the ways that he changes throughout the novel and how, given he is is the one that is telling the story, the audience is positioned to view him. 

Reflect on the purpose of telling this story, a story of redemption and reconciling your past, from the antihero perspective. Why have our narrator as a character whom we grow to respect rather than establishing them as ‘honourable’ right from the beginning?

THEMES AND IDEAS

GUILT

Identify three quotations in which Amir details the extent that guilt is a controlling force in his life. Explain how they present an idea about ‘guilt’. 

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 looking into that deserted alleyway for the last twenty-six years.” In this quote, Amir is referring to the day which caused him guilt for his life, the day where he saw Hassan being raped. Throughout the last 26 years, Amir has been trying to ‘bury’ this memory although massive guilt hangs over him. Amir has tried to put it into a deep hole and bury it so he can no longer see it and it begins to be forgotten however it is always torn out to hurt the most. Because of this guilt, Amir has never looked away from the alleyway as he has always been thinking of it and what it caused.

“I finally had what I’d wanted all those years. Except now that I had it, I felt as empty as this unkempt pool I was dangling my legs into.” This quote was said by Amir when he bought the kite back to Baba. Praise and acknowledgment surrounded Amir from Baba however this happens just after he had seen Hassan being raped. Amir had chosen the kite over his friendship, therefore, allowed it to happen and because of this he now has feelings of guilt. In order to get the kite for what he thought would be the only thing for Baba’s approval cost him his friendship and if he had helped it meant he would let down the chance he wanted for Baba’s acceptance he had craved forever. Now that he does have it though he has guilt because he got in in the wrong way. By referring to feeling empty as an unkempt pool, the metaphor suggests that because of the situation Amir feels crude and dirty for doing this he doesn’t get the satisfaction as a new pool would. He feels empty.

“A pair of steel hands closed around my windpipe at the sound of Hassan’s name.” This quote is said after Amir has graduated. Baba and Amir are sitting in his new car and Baba wishes Amir were there. This was the first time someone had spoken his name in years. When Amir uses steel to describe the hands wrapped around his windpipe it gives the image of it being a strong, hard force wrapped around him when he hears the name, Hassan.

Comment on the ‘event’ that Amir is constantly referring to as being the thing that rules his life- do you believe he deserves to suffer like this? Why/why not? Why do you think the guilt from this one wrong action causes him to commit more ‘crimes’?

The event that happened in the past that is still constantly ruling Amir’s life is the scene where he sees Hassan getting raped in order to protect the kite for Amir. In this scene Amir does not help Hassan in any way, he just watched and then walked away. When this ‘event’ occurred as much as we thought we knew Amir, I think we also need to remember how young he was. I don’t believe that Amir should have suffered for the rest of his life because of this decision that was obviously dreadful especially for a little boy, however, for the following actions he did. This included being rude to Hassan and framing him for theft which got him kicked out of the house, this is what I think he should have consequences for. I don’t believe that Amir does or doesn’t have to suffer for these actions for the rest of his life though. The guilt will be there with him forever but I think the longer he chooses to not amend what he did is the length that is should rule his life.

Explain what happens when Amir attempts to run away from the guilt in his past. Why do you think he cannot escape it?

The cause of Amir’s guilt from in the past was due to running away from it. As soon as he had run away from Hassan in the alleyway he felt guilt and it followed him for a very long time. Over the many years, Amir tries to forget and let himself fall into his new life in America; “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. Someplace with no ghosts, no memories, and no sins. ”Amir cannot escape his guilt of the past because he has never chosen to do anything about it and just tried to forget until when tries to find and save Sohrab. Once he has found, adopted and cared for Sohrab for many years he realises his sins are gone. Amir could not escape his guilt from the past because he always chose to run away from it, and when he chose to run toward the problem and fix his sins with time it worked.

Reflect on the presentation of ‘guilt’ in this text. What do you think the big things the author wants us to learn about the effects of guilt on living a normal life are?

Guilt in the Kite Runner is portrayed that you can not run away from or just forget about it. In order to overcome guilt, you need to make things better in any way shape or form. Hosseini may want us to use this in normal life situations aswell

REDEMPTION

Guilt and redemption work unison. Can’t be redeemed without guilt. Needs to redeem himself from leaving Hassan in the alley way then framed him to get away. Half brother makes it worse because he did this to family.

Explain why the fight scene allows Amir to feel healed. Why do you think he needed to endure physical pain and suffering in order to balance the scales?

• needs to feel like this because this would have happened if he got beaten in the alleyway
• Full circle moment
• He knew that would be the fate if he stood up for him but didn’t do it. So he is doing what he would have done for his son. Parallel moment
• Punishment got what we deserved. He feels like because he has got this he can move on because he has paid the price to feel redeemed.
• Only chance to make things right because there hasn’t and most likely be another chance like this
• After the alleyway scene, Amir tried to make Hassan beat him up at the pomegranate tree to try and balance the scales so Hassan feels bad too and make Amir feel better. Once again trying to get the punishment he needs to feel redeemed
• More powerful because he knows they are blood-related
• Page 265 “What was so funny was that, for the first time since the winter of 1975, I felt at peace. I laughed because I saw that, in some hidden nook in a corner of my mind, I’d been looking forward to this.” he feels he is finally at peace. He felt like he needed this to feel even
• need to feel the pain Hassan felt
• If we do something wrong we must be punished what we have been taught
• “my body was broken-just how badly, I wouldn’t find out until later but I felt healed. Healed at last.”

Describe how Amir believes he can redeem himself for Baba. Explain the reality of this after Amir achieves what he set out to. Why does it not work out?

• Amir and Baba never had a strong relationship due to the theft of his mother, interests etc
• Amir believes that winning the Kite tournament will win Baba over as it is what Baba imagines his son winning as it is a big deal in Afghanistan and he will become the son Baba has always wanted
• Quote about theft
• Quote described looking up at Baba sitting on the rooftop “Then I saw Baba on our roof. He was standing on the edge, pumping both of his fists. Hollering and clapping. And that right there was the single greatest moment of my twelve years of life, seeing Baba on that roof, proud of me at last.” chapter 7
• “I was going to win, and I was going to run that last kite. Then I’d bring it home and show Baba. Show him once and for all that his son was worthy”
• Everything gets worse after this, although with Baba things are great for a while as he feels respected and acknowledged.
• “It happened just the way I’d imagined. I opened the door to the smoky study and stepped in. Baba and Rahim Khan were drinking tea and listening to the news crackling on the radio. Their heads turned. Then a smile played on my father’s lips. He opened his arms. I put the kite down and walked into his thick hairy arms. I buried my face in the warmth of his chest and wept. Baba held me close to him, rocking me back and forth. In his arms, I forgot what I’d done. And that was good.”
• “I finally had what I wanted after all of these years ” he has had to let someone down to get this
• This golden period is temporary as you can’t fix all the underlying issues with just winning a materialistic thing such as the kite flying tournament it would take starting off with a meaningful conversation.
• Baba afraid of looking like a hypocrite because he has stolen amirs truth
• “But all I heard–all I willed myself to hear–was the thudding of blood in my head. All I saw was the blue kite. All I smelled was victory. Salvation. Redemption. If Baba was wrong and there was a God like they said in school, then He’d let me win.”
• quote, legs dangling over empty fall
• he is trying to redeem himself in the eyes of somebody else

Why do you think Amir responds to this phone call the way that he does? He has lived with his sin for 26 years. Why do you think he tries to redeem himself now?

• Almost considered Irony
• Hasn’t forgotten about it but is still there for those 26 years
• “There is a way to be good again”
• Rahim Khan has offered a perfect full-circle moment
• “one time you weren’t around… a boy who can’t stand up for himself becomes a man who can’t stand up to anything” this pushes all of Amirs buttons todo this.
• All selfish motives until after hospital he only goes to save the son for his own benefit he didn’t care about him. He only bought him because there was no orphanage.
• Redemption is not something someone can hand you or give you it is something within yourself
• everything is good but when the phone call comes he gives it all up to try and fix his guilt
• unless you need it as a person the idea of redemption doesn’t mean much or go anywhere
• sometimes selfish actions can lead to selfless things
• he always talks about it but never tries to do anything about it for 36 years but didn’t know until this point how to

discuss what Hosseini is trying to teach the reader about in this novel. What messages/lessons/warnings does he give to the reader about the guilt/redemption cycle? What should we take away from Amir’s story?

• The thing we should pay attention to
• redemption is something within yourself and has to come from your own desires
• Can’t feel redeemed unless you are prepared to do the thing that makes you feel like you are balanced
• How far you have to go
• Journey to find redemption
• Things go a lot deeper for the redemption
• Emotional scarring caused by searching for redemption has a huge impact 26 years looking into the alleyway
• Never going to disappear unless you face it head-on
• can rule who you become
• Quote “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.”
• Quote “I thought about baba, Ali, Kabul
• Quote todo with a lasting impact, internal feelings etc

Do you believe that Amir redeems himself? Does he make up for abandoning Hassan and driving him away from home all those years ago?

• I think that at the end of the book Amir believes that he has finally redeemed himself and gotten over all of the guilt when he finally got a smile from Sohrab.
• it is good that he has personally gotten over this overruling factor from the past 26 years of his life but I feel like everything he did do get this redemption was selfish reasons and to me, redemption is about doing something not for yourself but for the person or thing that has caused you this guilt.
• I think Hassan would have forgiven Amir for taking this long if he were still alive because he has taken his son to a better place and Hassan is a forgiving person but personally I don’t think this should make up for abandoning him for 26 years. But also, in that case, what more could he do.

SYMBOLISM

KITES

-Describe how and when it appears in the text

• Start, Chapter 7, reflects when in the truck, the last scene
• Stay with us throughout the whole book

– Explain the significant meaning added to the text by the symbol. Likely, the symbol will add meaning or develop a theme or character for the readers.

• Childhood isn’t the same over there
• Has a violent edge to it like the book.
• Supposed to represent his youth but has the roughness of childhood like the kite
• The kite triggers past experiences
• develops the character of amir, shows us how he can’t let go of things
• the past is always there floating above us

– Write down 2-3 quotes for the symbol and explain how they could be used to explore the meaning of the symbol. You need to connect these quotes to your answer for the point above.

• “I was going to win I was going to run the last kite…
• “Do you want me to fly that kite for you, his Adam’s apple
• “Walking up at golden gate park quote
• “there were two things leaning against the cast iron
• “Think of something good, something happy

– Discuss what the symbol is and means outside of the text. Comment on how the symbol’s presentation inside of the text is strengthened by your understanding of the ‘real world’ value of the object.

• Reflects the brutal childhood of mostly amir but also hassan
• Childhood toy but has violent thing just like how amir is a child who did something violent.

POMEGRANATE TREE

-Describe how and when it appears in the text

• At the beginning of the book, Amir and Hassan would often go to the tree and Amir would read to Hassan
• Near the end of chapter 8, Amir asked Hassan to go to the pomegranate tree but throws the pomegranates at him
• Chapter 21 when Amir revisits Kabul he goes to the tree

– Explain the significant meaning added to the text by the symbol. Likely, the symbol will add meaning or develop a theme or character for the readers.

• Amir and Hassan of their friendship
• Carved names into the tree, cemented their bonds not going to get ruined
• state of the pomegranate tree reflects their relationship, healthy when younger when amir tries to get Hassan to hurt him it begins to die and finally when he goes back the tree is dead but the carving is still there
• The idea that the past is always there

– Write down 2-3 quotes for the symbol and explain how they could be used to explore the meaning of the symbol. You need to connect these quotes to your answer for the point above.

• “One summer day, I used one of Ali’s kitchen knives to carve our names on it: ‘Amir and Hassan, the sultans of Kabul.’
• “I remembered the day on the hill I had pelted Hassan with pomegranates and tried to provoke him. He’d just stood there, doing nothing, red juice soaking through his shirt like blood. Then he’d taken the pomegranate from my hand, crushed it against his forehead. Are you satisfied now? he’d hissed. Do you feel better? I hadn’t been happy and I hadn’t felt better, not at all. But I did now. My body was broken–just how badly I wouldn’t find out until later–but I felt healed. Healed at last.”

– Discuss what the symbol is and means outside of the text. Comment on how the symbol’s presentation inside of the text is strengthened by your understanding of the ‘real world’ value of the object.

• The breaking of a pomegranate, Amir threw a pomegranates at him trying to get him to hit him back
• That’s the explosion of their friendship and helps us understand that hassan will always take the bullet for Amir
• The blood red colour hassan will bleed for amir but it is not a two way street
• The good things created by god meaning of the tree

SCARS

-Describe how and when it appears in the text

• Hassan had a hared lip when he was younger and for a birthday present, he got it fixed and was left with a scar.
• When Amir was fighting for Sohrab against Assef, Amir gains a scar above his lip

– Explain the significant meaning added to the text by the symbol. Likely, the symbol will add meaning or develop a theme or character for the readers

• Hassan always stood up for amir when they were younger. Amir has finally stood up for someone being Sohrab and he is left with the same scar which represents his physical sacrifice for him and contributes to a reminder of the times Hassan stood up for him and that he has finally returned the favour
• Equaliser
• a physical representation of the mental healing
• connects him to Hassan, physical resemblance, like the carving in the tree
• carry something that will always remind him of this and Hassan. Can be considered punishment but also showing he has overcome and healed from something.

– Write down 2-3 quotes for the symbol and explain how they could be used to explore the meaning of the symbol. You need to connect these quotes to your answer for the point above.

• chapter 23 “the impact has cut you lip clear down the middle like a hair lip…
• “I wish I had some scar to earn babas sympathy
• “By the following winter, it was only a faint little scar

– Discuss what the symbol is and means outside of the text. Comment on how the symbol’s presentation inside of the text is strengthened by your understanding of the ‘real world’ value of the object.

THE SLINGSHOT

-Describe how and when it appears in the text

• The slingshot is always by Hassan’s side when he is younger
• When Amir is about to get into an on wayed fight with Assef as little boys Amir has his slingshot and gets them out of the situation
• Hassan never fired the slingshot only when Amir made him shoot them at a neighbour’s one-eyed dog at the beginning of the book. Caught by Ali and Hassan takes the blame doesn’t say it is Amir idea
• At the orphanage when Amir goes to find Sohrab the lady talks about it never leaving his side
• At the fight between Amir and Assef over Sohrab, Sohrab saves Amir as he uses his slingshot for defence

– Explain the significant meaning added to the text by the symbol. Likely, the symbol will add meaning or develop a theme or character for the readers.

• Loyalty
• Hassan will always stand up for amir even if he is in the wrong
• A weapon defending amir
• used by the good characters against the evil characters
• in the right situation can be dangerous just like Hassan and Sohrab
• Childs toy or dangerous weapon

– Write down 2-3 quotes for the symbol and explain how they could be used to explore the meaning of the symbol. You need to connect these quotes to your answer for the point above.

• “one eyed assef
• “where is your slingshot hazara
• “sohrab had the slingshot against

– Discuss what the symbol is and means outside of the text. Comment on how the symbol’s presentation inside of the text is strengthened by your understanding of the ‘real world’ value of the object.

• something quite small can cause a lot of damage
• can be used to fight against evil
• Always out of loyalty with the slingshot