Ellie Langton The Kite Runner- Prompt/discussion Questions First impressions: the title the kite runner gave me the first impression that the novel would include a kite flying competition, however now after reading more chapters of the book I have began to realise that there is probably more to the narrative. Personally I think there is more than meets the eye in Baba, Amir, Hassan and Alis relationship. Chapter 11) The past is very important to the narrator and the rest of the novel as this novel needs to refer back in time in order to give context and understanding to the horrific events that occur through Amir and Hassans life, and helps with the solving of why Amir and Hassan are so scared by the events. 2) The physical feature which marks out Hassan is his harelip 3) Yes, it is significant that Rahim Khan is mentioned more than Baba, because it portrays how distant Baba and Amir are as father and son and how much more comfortable Amir feels talking to Rahim Khan. 4) I became what I am today at the age of 12, on a frigid overcast day in the winter of 1975, I thought of the life I had lived until the winter of 1975 came along and changed everything. And made me what I am today. Due to the near enough same sentence being used both at the beginning and end of chapter 1 portrays how scarred Amir must be in relation to what has happened to him, the repetition suggests how much it repeats in his mind. Chapter 2 1) The narrator introduces Hassan as Hassan the harelipped child. This portrays how judgemental society is in this day and age and even years ago. But it also makes you question that if Amir is so rich how his best friend Hassan hasnt been able to afford such an easy and cheap surgery to correct his deformity; this suggests a look into what Hassans life is really like. 2) These 2 paragraphs highlight 2 very different men and cast them both as worlds apart, the 2nd paragraph on page 5 depicts Baba as a very powerful man who came from a very powerful family, and that he was a man to look up to, and Amir did all his life, but also resented him for it. Amir also in this paragraph portrayed himself as an outcast from his family and suggested thats exactly how he felt. However Ali was shown as a weak man, with a weak family background, who wasnt powerful and had no authority, but yet still showed how Amir admired him for his persistence in life. These two paragraphs make it evident that you can have all the wealth and power in the world yet some things you just cant but i.e. a true father and son relationship. 3) The boys lives are very different, yet very similar, it is evident from the beginning that Amir is the rich out of the two and for this reason he lives the life of luxury, unlike Hassan who is basically Amirs servant day in day out. However this professional relationship does not deter them from them being best of friends. Even though Hassan isnt educated and Amir is, it is very obvious that Amir only really likes being friends with him because Hassan makes him look more smart, however this is Amirs insecurities about his own father kicking in as all Amir wants id appreciation from his father. 4) Another theme which I think is present within chapter 2 is >insecurity 5) Because you only find out the name of the narrator at the end of chapter 2 it gives you an idea that they are hesitant to reveal who they really are, is it because they are ashamed? Embarrassed? Of something, It makes the reader ask questions.

Chapter 31) Baba saw the world in black and white, and he got to decide what was black and what was white2) In my opinion I think that in Babas mind he is thinks he is a moral man, he thinks his actions and words are always right, and did find it hard to believe that such a strong, stubborn powerful man would have a religion because it is very apparent that he has his own mind.Quotations from interenet: Morality and religion is the relationship between religious views and morals. Many religions have value frameworks regarding personal behavior meant to guide adherents in determining between right and wrong. These include the Triple Jems of Jainism, Judaism's Halacha, Islam's Sharia, Catholicism's Canon Law, Buddhism's Eightfold Path, and Zoroastrianism's "good thoughts, good words, and good deeds" concept, among others. These frameworks are outlined and interpreted by various sources such as holy books, oral and written traditions, and religious leaders. Many of these share tenets with secular value frameworks such as consequentialism, freethought, and utilitarianism.http://www.islamicity.com/articles/Articles.asp?ref=IC0611-3169#sthash.NL4TtnSv.dpbshttp://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_difference_between_religion_and_moral_belief_system3) Hosseini encourages the reader to be critical of Baba in this chapter by using Amirs voice to explain what Baba is like, this causes the audience to believe that this is the truth because Amir is a member of his family (his son), in this chapter Amir describes his father as someone who rejects his own flesh and blood and a man who is intolerant of other peoples beliefs.4) Rahim has very positive views on Amir in the sense that , Rahim understands Amir and his life, they have similar opinions on life and Amirs father, it would be right to say that Amir would more than likely prefer to refer to Rahim as his father because they have common interests and knowledge. Although Amir looks up to his father Baba, he also looks up to Rahim khan as a more positive role model. Whereas Babas view on Amir is that he is quite a good kid, but he has never connected with him as a son, and it is later revealed in the novel that Baba is so disconnected from Amir that he even questions whether Amirs actually his son.

Chapter 41) The death of Alis parents shows us that although the feud in Afghanistan has been going on for years, and they live totally different to us, theyre still are some resemblances for example, Alis parents were killed in a road accident due to drink and drug driving, which would still happen in this country and probably does at least once a day. 2) Because Amir feels so rejected and distanced from his father his only way to off load this is by doing exactly the same to Hassan in order to make him feel just like himself. Amir doesnt like the idea of other people being happy when hes not and he will do everything in his power to prevent this, for example he puts Hassan down just like his own father does to him, because he doesnt know any better. 3) When Amir says I never thought of me and Hassan as friends it could be taken in two completely different ways. Myself personally at this stage of the book when reading this quote I assumed Amir meant he didnt see him Hassan as a friends because he sees himself as too good for him e.g too intellectual, too handsome. Plus after all Hassan is more or less Amirs servant so why would he want to associate himself with him? However if you read more into this quote it could be taken in a way in which Amir could be referring to himself not seeing Hassan as a friend because he seems him as a brother or someone from his family, which could also be accurate because Amir and Hassan have spent every day together since they were born. 4) No Amir and Hassan are both from different denominations of Islam. Amir is Sunni (represent the largest denomination of Islam) and Hassan belongs to the Shia community (the second largest denomination of Islam). Amir is Pashtun and Hassan is Hazzarah. This also gives Amir another reason to treat Hassan differently. 5) As the novel proceeds it is becoming more and more obvious how different the boys actually are in every single way. At this point of the novel, it is apparent that Hassan is the most vulnerable out of the two and Amir is the strongest out of the two. 6) The adjective best is a superlative and is also a hyperbole and an accurate phrase because in general Hassan is over exaggerating, however it could be accurate when talking specifically to him because he could feel it was the best story hes ever read to him.7) Hosseni has a constant theme and motif running throughout these chapters that Amir will always struggle to have a relationship or friendship with his father because it is repeated so vigorously, and everything happening revolves around how Amir is feeling about his father, i.e. jealous of Baba and Hassan.

Chapter 5 1) Afghanistan has changed forever because the reigning king of 40 years is no longer and there is now a presidency instead.2) When Baba bursts through the doors of the house he shouted out Amirs name first, this was a breakthrough for Amir because for so long all he wanted was for his father to show he cared, and by this small gesture it was what Amir needed, and at the end of the day Baba is still his father, ofcourse he cares about him. I think this is very significant to Babas character as well because baba is finally shown to have emotions. This could change our opinion of him. 3) Amir is glad about the coup because he sees his own country suffering and thinks if there is as a stop put to it his life may remain the same, however you could also read it from a point of view that Amir is glad about the coup as he sees it an ending to his own internal suffering and hopes it can change his life, for the better or worse?.4) Hassans persistent questions towards Amir portray how much Hassan looks up to Amir and desperately wants his approval just like Amir wants his fathers. Hassan admires Amir and just wants that feeling to be reflected back but Amirs stubbornness and ignorance causes Hassan to ask so many questions because Hassan I think always feels he is in constant scrutiny. 5) Of all the neighborhood boys who tortured Ali, Assef was the most relentlessNot for the first time it occurred to me that Assef might not be entirely saneYoure part of the problem Amir, if idiots like you and your father didnt take these people in, wed be rid of them by now6) The irony of Assefs remark is that he isnt a true afghan himself because his mother is German, which gives him his blonde hair and blue eyes; therefore he is probably less of one than both Amir and Hassan. It is also ironic that he refers to himself as a true afghan yet refers to Hitler more than his own countries leaders, 7) When Amir has this thought it proves the audiences thoughts of that Amir was ashamed to be friends with Hassan all along just like his father and Ali. Because he refers to Hassan as his servant it shows the true hierarchy of Amir and Hassan and what is always in the back of Amirs mind. 8) I think when Baba revealed that his present for Hassan was to get his harelip fixed, Ali felt inferior to Baba, and because Baba had given his son something Ali had always wanted to give him yet couldnt because of his money troubles. Also because Ali is also hare lipped this was a trait which they both shared and probably bonded over, yet Baba unintentionally had taken that away from him. 9) We are left with a sense of forboding at the end of chapter 5 due to Amirs last sentence. Which was ironic, because that was the winter Hassan stopped smiling this without giving the plot away shows that there is a deeper meaning to this story and it foreshadows events to come. Chapter 61) The sentence at the beginning of chapter 6 is only a one word sentence, because thats all that needed saying, this is what the narrative had been building up to, the awaited moment the book had revolved around. Winter is a constant motif repeated throughout the novel. 2) Yes Amir enjoys winter because he loves the cold weather and he also doesnt have to go to school because the icy winters are too dangerous. He also loves winter because its the time for kite flying competitions.3) Kite flying is so important to Amir because it is the only thing which remotely brings him and his father abit closer, e.g Baba and I lived in the same house, but in different spheres of existence. Kites were the one paper-thin slice of intersection between both spheres4) Hassan is very good kite flyer which no one new, this builds anticipation as this was Amirs one and only thing he had with his dad and now its been taken from him by the one person in the world he didnt want it to, the one person he feels insecure about. 5) The kite runner it Is now apparent that Hassan is a very good , athletic runner yet another talent of which Amir is jealous of. 6) In my opinion I think Hassan starts to click on to the fact that Amir is very jealous and insecure about him, Hassan I think starts to play on this and more and more starts to show Amir up with intention, as he has had years of living in Amirs shadow.

Chapter 7 1) The quote blameless blue is used to describe the sky, yet it could also be used to describe Amirs feelings towards what he witnessed, because he and Hassan are both blameless they didnt see such a catastrophic event occurring, yet blameless could be dramatic irony towards Amir as he didnt do anything to stop it either which could mean he actually is t blame. 2) When Hassan shouted to Amir you won, Amirs reply was so unexpected because of how mean he had been to him previous chapters, however I think it is present how close they are both getting, and Amir is starting to think of them as brothers or family. It was also unexpected because of how insecure Amir is about Hassan but it seems like he has got over that resentment when his reply back is we won. 3) Hosseini uses a description of a memory and dream in between the chapter in order to break up the narrative abit and to also reflect back on whats gone on so far in the novel, so the reader can gather theyre thoughts. 4) It is called juxtaposition when there are two complete opposite contributing factors, the juxtaposition in this chapter is that something so wonderful happens just before something so tragic happens, this is present in this chapter by Amir winning the kite flying competition and Hassan getting raped.5) When Wali and Kamal realise what Assef is about to do neither of them support the idea and are very hesitant, but not because they think its wrong but because hes a Hazzarah, this shows that they have no concept of reality or life. Just before Assef rapes Hassan Wali seems to stand up for himself, but then backs down because hes scared of Assef. Maybe if he had of said something, this terrible act would not have happened. 6) I think in this situation Amir could have stopped what was going on, after all he was probably the reason Hassan was in this predicament because of him. By just showing his face he was able to stop it, however maybe being in that situation is a very hard decsion to make because you obviously wouldnt want it to happen to you. But given how close they were, Amir should have known that the right thing to do was to stop everything. He should of stuck up for Hassan just like Hassan had done for him time after time.