1. Amir's putting the money under the mattress at Wahid's house.
-"I did something I had done twenty-six years earlier. I planted a fistful of crumpled money under the mattress." Earlier in Amir's life, Amir put a wristwatch and money that he had recieved for his birthday under the mattress of his servant Hassan's bed. He did this out of an act of jealousy and rage. Amir wanted Hassan out of the house, so he framed him to make him look bad in front of Baba. Amir always felt jealous of Hassan, even though Hassan was the servant and Amir was the rich son of a well-known man. He was also upset about what happened to Hassan and figured that if he got rid of the problem, his problems would all go away. Even though Baba did not punish Hassan for the act, Amir always felt guilt of what he had done that day. I think that Amir put the money under the mattress at Wahid's house to purify what he had done years ago and to try and rid of his guilt. This time, he put the money under the mattress out of good will and a good heart. Wahid was very poor and could not afford food for the entire family. The money that Amir gave them, would sure enough give them a little more than they had.
2. The sheep reference to Sohrab.
-"Sohrab's eyes flicked to me. They were slaughter sheep's eyes." Amir looks into Sohrab's eyes and sees the innocent eyes that he once saw when the town was slaughtering the sheep. Back then, Amir thought the sheep knew what was going to happen and that the sheep understood that he was for a "higher purpose." Now he sees this in Sohrab's eyes, the innocent young boy knowing that because he is a Hazara he deserves the pain and lifestyle these Taliban men are giving to him and thinking that this is his "higher purpose." "I thought I saw pleading in Sohrab's eyes." Amir now understands that both the sheep and Sohrab had eyes that were begging for help, eyes that were trying to reach out to someone who could help.
3. Amir's laughter when Assef beats him.
-When Amir arrives at the house of Assef, Assef tells him the story of why he is on a "mission," a mission to kill all of these people. He tells Amir of the story when his father and him were put into jail by the people who were lower than him at one time. Assef had horrible kidney stones that put him in an immense amount of pain. When the guards beat him, they didn't understand that they were actually helping him. Every time they kicked him, he felt relief of his kidney stones. "Oh, the relief!" Assef laughed. The harder they kicked Assef, the harder he laughed. In similarity when Assef was beating Amir, Amir laughed. Amir felt that he too was coming clean of the dirty things inside of him. Finally, he was able to stand up for himself and for what he wanted. He no longer had Hassan there to stick up for him. He was laughing for all the times he had let Hassan take the blame, the pain, and the hurt. He was laughing for all the times he stood there because he was a "Pashtun" and Hassan was a "Hazara." Amir finally felt that he had recieved what he deserved and this gave him a reason of comfort and comic relief.
4. Amir's kite running for Sohrab.
-The kite running at the end of the novel was a foreshadow of what had happened earlier in the story. Amir sat in the park, watching the blue, red, and yellow kite fly among him. He had seen flashbacks of what he came from, but now he was given the chance to have a young boy with him. This conclusion rounds the whole story up. On Independence Day in Afghanistan, Amir and Hassan fly their own kite in the annual Kite Fighting Tournament. Amir is the flyer and Hassan is the kite runner. Hassan was always the runner. In contrary, at the end of the story Amir asks Sohrab if he would like Amir to run the kite for him. Even without saying anything, the smile on Sohrab's face tells it all. Amir now sees the many times that Hassan would "a thousand times over" run the kite for him. Amir now wants the same for Sohrab and he thinks to himself, "a thousand times over."
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Thursday, May 1, 2008
~Afghanistan Women~
What is the role of women in Afghanistan? Early on in the book we read about the mother that breast fed both Amir and Hassan. Immediately we knew that women were the soul provider of children; with their birth, with their nutrition, with their health and safety. Although Amir's mother died and Hassan's mother had run off, as a reader we still had the ability of seeing the role that mother's have in their children's lives. They are not only the soul provider for their children, but for the husband to which most were arranged to marry. They were not given the choice of a life partner, but yet their father was able to choose for them. As in the book, Amir tells his father to ask the General for his daughter's hand. Although, Soraya and Amir are happily married, most Afghani women are not. They live day to day, hidden behind the walls of their home; washing dishes, making beds, and providing food for their family. They are not able to choose a job, a job that they may actually enjoy and be good at. Most are forced to work only in their homes and are able to come out only on occasion. They are not given the opportunity to be active participants in how the government is run. They are not given the opportunity to live the life they dream of living, to be the person they want to be. All women of Afghanistan are forced to be just like every other woman. Each woman is forced to cover her face with a shawl so that her eyes may be the only thing seen. They are forced to wear long outfits so their body is hidden away from people. Before the Taliban, women had many restrictions. They were violated in their freedom of human rights, expression, employment, and education. Although today the restrictions have been lifted to some extent, women of Afghanistan will never live the lives that they fully dream of.
~Adapting to America~
1. Analyze the scene in chapter 11 where Baba fights with the Nguyens in their store. What does this scene show about Baba's character?
-Earlier in the book Amir states, "Do you have to always be the hero? Can't you just let it go for once? These statements seem to be parallel with the character that Baba portrays in the store. He portrays himself as being hard-headed and stubborn. He will only hear what he wants to hear and he will only do what he wants to do. He always has to have the last word in, even if his word is incorrect. He has a very domineering character.
2. Why does Baba come to America?
-Baba comes to America to seek freedom and safety for himself and his son Amir. As mentioned in the book, Karim told the escapees that soon a fuel truck would take them "on to freedom. on to safety." Kabul was not safe ever since the Russians had started a war on Afghanistan and it also did not allow the people living in Kabul the right to live the life they wished to live. Baba did not want to risk his or his son life.
3. Why does Amir have an easier time adapting to American culture than Baba does?
-Amir thinks of America as being a place where he can "bury his past." He sees America as a fresh, new start where he can forget where and what he came from and start a brand new life. Baba on the other hand has lived his whole life in Kabul and does not want to let it go. "Baba was like the widower who remarries but can't let go of his dead wife. He missed the sugarcane fields of Jalalabad and the gardens of Paghman." Baba only could remember the good life in Kabul, the place where all of his happy memories were and where "people knew him, his father, knew his grandfather." Amir remembers Kabul as the place where he could not stand up for himself and the place where he let his own best friend down. "For me, America was a place to bury my memories. For Baba, a place to mourn his." In America Baba could no longer be the higher standard of living and was set to be a gasoline attendant. Babay was no longer the well-known, rich man that lived in Kabul, but a man that lived in an apartment with his son and drove an old beat up "bus."
4. Does Soraya help Amir develop as a character? Why or why not?
-When Amir meets Soraya, he finds her to be the most beautiful thing he has ever seen. The first thing she says that I think makes Amir realize his character is when she tells the story of the hired woman she helped in learning to read. She says, "I was so proud of her and I felt I had really done something worthwhile." Amir thinks to himself, "I used my literacy to ridicule Hassan. I would tease him about not knowing big words." Amir begins to realize that what he did was out of character and I believe that Soraya is teaching him the right way to treat people. He feels very comfortable around Soraya, such as when she came to the hospital. He was glad she was there and was not afraid for her to see his emotions. Both Soraya and Amir have done something wrong in the past, but the difference between them is that Soraya came clean about her secret and Amir did not. She tells Amir, "I don't want us to start with secrets," but yet Amir will not stand up like a man and tell her of his secret with Hassan. I think that Soraya is helping Amir develop in some ways, but overcoming his character in other ways.
-Earlier in the book Amir states, "Do you have to always be the hero? Can't you just let it go for once? These statements seem to be parallel with the character that Baba portrays in the store. He portrays himself as being hard-headed and stubborn. He will only hear what he wants to hear and he will only do what he wants to do. He always has to have the last word in, even if his word is incorrect. He has a very domineering character.
2. Why does Baba come to America?
-Baba comes to America to seek freedom and safety for himself and his son Amir. As mentioned in the book, Karim told the escapees that soon a fuel truck would take them "on to freedom. on to safety." Kabul was not safe ever since the Russians had started a war on Afghanistan and it also did not allow the people living in Kabul the right to live the life they wished to live. Baba did not want to risk his or his son life.
3. Why does Amir have an easier time adapting to American culture than Baba does?
-Amir thinks of America as being a place where he can "bury his past." He sees America as a fresh, new start where he can forget where and what he came from and start a brand new life. Baba on the other hand has lived his whole life in Kabul and does not want to let it go. "Baba was like the widower who remarries but can't let go of his dead wife. He missed the sugarcane fields of Jalalabad and the gardens of Paghman." Baba only could remember the good life in Kabul, the place where all of his happy memories were and where "people knew him, his father, knew his grandfather." Amir remembers Kabul as the place where he could not stand up for himself and the place where he let his own best friend down. "For me, America was a place to bury my memories. For Baba, a place to mourn his." In America Baba could no longer be the higher standard of living and was set to be a gasoline attendant. Babay was no longer the well-known, rich man that lived in Kabul, but a man that lived in an apartment with his son and drove an old beat up "bus."
4. Does Soraya help Amir develop as a character? Why or why not?
-When Amir meets Soraya, he finds her to be the most beautiful thing he has ever seen. The first thing she says that I think makes Amir realize his character is when she tells the story of the hired woman she helped in learning to read. She says, "I was so proud of her and I felt I had really done something worthwhile." Amir thinks to himself, "I used my literacy to ridicule Hassan. I would tease him about not knowing big words." Amir begins to realize that what he did was out of character and I believe that Soraya is teaching him the right way to treat people. He feels very comfortable around Soraya, such as when she came to the hospital. He was glad she was there and was not afraid for her to see his emotions. Both Soraya and Amir have done something wrong in the past, but the difference between them is that Soraya came clean about her secret and Amir did not. She tells Amir, "I don't want us to start with secrets," but yet Amir will not stand up like a man and tell her of his secret with Hassan. I think that Soraya is helping Amir develop in some ways, but overcoming his character in other ways.
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