~Chapter 8~

At the beginning of Chapter 8, Ali mentions to Amir that Hassan has been acting strange lately. He asks Amir if anything happened to Hassan after the kite tournament and Amir says "how should I know." I think that if Amir was a good friend, he would have told Ali about the boys raping Hassan, but obviously Amir only cares about his reputation and does not want to appear to being a wuss. Baba and Amir's relationship has grown since the kite tournament victory. In a way this is a good thing, because Amir can finally experience the father/son relationship he always longed for, but I have a feeling that it could also turn out bad. Baba could use his son and make it appear as a loving relationship. I find it odd that Hassan was the first to confront Amir about playing together. I would have thought that Hassan would feel awkward and would not want to hang out with Amir. Once again Hassan had to be the bigger person. When Amir confronts his father about the idea of new servants, Baba becomes very hostile and tells him absolutely not. He becomes very upset with his son, which shows that Baba does care and love for Ali and Hassan.
The part that took me by surprise was when Amir is mentioning the metal rod between the fingers of the students that talked in class. He says that because his father is "rich and well-known," he will never have to experience that punishment no matter how much he talks. I feel that this is showing the snobby side of Amir. I think when Amir throws the pomegranate at Hassan he is only trying to get Hassan to stand up for himself. He is trying to teach Hassan to not be put down and not take cruelty, but is contradicting the way he, himself acts. Hassan has no problem standing up for him or Amir. Amir is the one who can't fess up for himself and take care of his own problems.
Amir tells that his father and him do not have the relationship that they once did after he won the kite tournament. I knew that the relationship would not last. Amir is dying for normal father/son relations, such as the relationship between Ali and Hassan. Why does Baba throw Amir a birthday party? I find it awkward that Baba becomes so friendly with Assef and feel that Assef has more in common with Baba than anyone else.

~Question 6~

Amir understands the sacrifice of the sheep to be similar to the rape of Hassan, because he sees them as to be used for a higher purpose. At the Afghan celebration a sheep is to be killed because the people of Afghanistan would like it for a purpose beyond living. Amir says that the sheep understands that this is happening to it, because the sheep knows that it is going to be killed for a good reason. Amir puts parallel the sheep and Hassan because they are both less than the average Afghan citizen and they are both around for another purpose beyond just living. Hassan is a servant for Amir and his father, Baba and when he sees the rape going on in the alleyway he sees the servant in Hassan who is at a lower standard than Assef and his friend. Amir thinks that Hassan is going to be fine with this occurence because he realizes that he is only a "servant" and Assef and his friends are "Pashtun." Even before the incident with Hassan, Amir always saw Hassan as a "servant" when he was around other people, but a "friend" when they were by themselves. Amir does not have the ability to see Hassan as a loyal friend at all times for fear that he will not be accepted by his own kind. I think that this way of thinking plays a big part in both the rape of Hassan and the killing of the sheep. He does not want to feel bad for either of them because they are lower than him. Amir has the being that sees people and things, for the lowest standard they can be, which is one of his major downfalls.

~Chapters 6-7~

Chapter 6 opens up with Amir talking about his favorite pastimes in winter, such as playing cards by the stove with Hassan, watching free Russian movies with Hassan, and the famous act of flying kites with Hassan. Everything he did was with Hassan. He mentions that kite flying tournaments is alot like going to war. You have teams and each team can cut out other teams. He talks about how Hassan and him used to make their own kites, but then Baba would buy each of them a pre-made one. I feel that Amir is jealous of Hassan, because whenever Amir wants a bigger and fancier kite, Hassan gets the same one even if he doesn't ask for it. I also think that this jealousy is going to one day get the best of Amir and something is going to happen. Again Amir is using Hassan to be his kite runner, to do his work for him as it had mentioned earlier in the book. Even though Hassan is very good at being a kite runner, I feel that he should be allowed to fly the kite too and not just have to do the dirty work of the tournament. Amir introduces us to his indecisive thoughts about faith. He says "may God-if he exists," which shows the reader that he is unsure if God is real or not. Amir obviously wants to be the pride and joy of his father and he feels that if he were to win one of these kite flying tournaments, he would finally make his father proud. His father won many tournaments!
Chapter 7 opens with Hassan telling Amir his dream. He tells him that it was about their brave souls swimming out into a river that supposedly had a "monster" in it. I feel that this "monster" the boys talk about is going to foreshadow the awful occurence that happens in the winter of 1975. The whole time that they are flying the kite, Amir is thinking about if his father is cheering for him, thinking about him. I find this sad that Amir is just wanting a little attention from his own father. What is the significance of the red, blue, and yellow kites? I was very excited to see that Amir and Hassan won the kite tournament. Myself as a reader, could tell that Baba was actually proud of his son. When asked what Hassan is to Amir, Amir replies, "He is our servant's son." Why would Amir say that after he had just help him win? It is disgusting what Assef did to Hassan!! I am very upset that Amir would run away and not even confront the boys that were doing disgusting things to Hassan. Amir is a coward and it is going to catch up to him in the end. How could Amir let his friend down like that? Or did Amir even consider Hassan a friend?

~Chapters 4-5~

Chapter 4 opens up with the sentence that says "Zahir Shah began his forty-year reign of Afghanistan." Any country that has the same dictator for forty years must have a very rocky economy. Amir mentions that as he doesn't view Hassan as a friend, neither did his father see Ali as a friend. This comes strange to me because you would think any two young children that spend day after day together, playing would only see each other as best friends. Also the kites came back into the story when Amir says, "Never mind that we spent entire winters flying kites, running kites." I started to see that Amir really does take advantage of Hassan, forcing him to do his dirty work, and allowing him to take the blame for it if caught. Such as when Amir mentions, "I'd make Hassan sit on the Wall of Ailing Corn and fire pebbles with his slingshot at the camels rears." Amir seemed as if he had no problem with Hassan doing everything for him, as he mentions that every morning Hassan would make him breakfast, make his bed, polish his shoes, etc. I understand now why Amir couldn't consider Hassan a friend, he was a slave for him. Amir mentions that when Hassan didn't understand a word he would tease him, why would Hassan stand for that? When Amir did become guilty of what he had done he would give him something old or broken. Not what a friend would do. What did Amir mean when he says, " Didn't all fathers in their secret hearts harbor a desire to kill their sons?" I think it is sweet when Amir hugs Hassan and calls him a prince, saying that he loves him. Amir obviously doesn't feel content around his father because when he shows him the short story he wrote, he says that it felt like an eternity with his glare. Rahim Khan seems like a sweet, genuine man. It is obvious that Amir has more love and admiration for Rahim than for his own father.

Chapter 5 starts out abrupt as the boys hear gunfire. Ali takes both of the boys in his arms and comforts them with his words. Where is Baba? Amir mentions that while Hassan is crying, his father pulls him in closer and Amir becomes jealous. Foreshadowing occurs when Amir mentions, "The generation of Afghan children whose ears would know nothing but the sounds of bombs and gunfire was not yet born." I understand this to say that Afghanistan has just begun war and it will never be the calm and peaceful place it once was. Also you can feel the tension building between the Pashtuns and Hazaras when a rock is thrown at the back of Hassan's head. The boys who threw it are of the Pashtun culture. The King was taken out of his forty year reign, which shows that the beginning of Chapter 4 was foreshadowing this occurence. Amir sees Hassan as a friend when they are alone, but when he is by other Pashtun's he treats Hassan as a servant. Even under a rule of new King, Kabul didn't change all that much. "People still worked Sunday through Thursday and on Fridays they had picnics." I feel that soon in the book the war will begin.

~Chapter 1-3~

In Chapter 1 we are introduced to the protagonist, Amir. He recalls the winter of 1975 and says how people can "never bury the past." I believe this quote to mean that even though something terrible happened to Amir a long time ago, it still comes back to haunt him to this day. As he sits in a park in San Francisco, he sees two kites in the sky and remembers the words that Rahim Khan said before he had hung up the phone the prior night, "There is a way to be good again." I think that he remembers this quote because it is going to foreshadow what happens in the coming chapters. When a book starts in a flashback, it is called a story frame. Did the red and blue colors of the kites mean anything? Are they a symbol of something? I thought that maybe they were colors of his country or maybe red, blue, and the missing white is a symbol of something.

In Chapter 2 we are introduced to Amir's friend, Hassan, who is known as his half-brother. Hassan and Amir were breast fed by the same woman. Hassan also has a cleft lip, most likely from his mother being of some relation to his father. Hassan is a Hazara and a Shi'a Muslim and Amir is a Pashtun and a Sunni Muslim. These boys live very different lifestyles, but them and their father's get along. Baba, Amir's father, is a very well-known man and owns a great estate in a neighborhood of Kabul. His house has beautiful marble floors, a chandelier, and a table that can fit up to 30 people. He is the host of numerous parties and seems to be well liked where he lives. Ali, Hassan's father, is a worker of Baba. He and his son live in a mud shack and is considered much lower living. The only similarity of these two young boys is that neither one of them has a mother. Amir's mother died while giving birth to Amir and Hassan's mother joined a performing group shortly after he was born. I find it odd that she left after having her child and I think that she was ashamed of how he looked, knowing it was her fault and that the arranged marriage forced her to have a son with family. Amir and Hassan have been friends since they were young and grew up together. Amir makes mention of his first word being "Baba" and Hassan's first word being "Amir." I believe this is also going to foreshadow something coming up. Why wouldn't Hassan's first word be "Ali?"

In Chapter 3 we are introduced to the different side of Baba. He tells his son that young children are not allowed in adult conversations and forces him to leave the room. While inside, Baba and a select few of his friends talk poorly about Amir. He overhears his own father talking about how he "can never stand up for himself." Amir feels jealousy towards the relationship between Hassan and Baba. He feels that they share a much more close bond, building homes for orphans together. Why wouldn't Amir be upset? Or is he? Also Amir mentions that his grandfather was murdered when his father was only a young boy. Does this have any effect of foreshadowing?