Kite Runner Discussion Questions

4. We begin to understand early in the novel that Amir is constantly vying for Baba's attention and often feels like an outsider in his father's life, as seen in the following passage: "He'd close the door, leave me to wonder why it was always grown-ups time with him. I'd sit by the door, knees drawn to my chest. Sometimes I sat there for an hour, sometimes two, listening to their laughter, their chatter." Discuss Amir's relationship with Baba.

In the book The Kite Runner, there are many conflicts that the characters have to face. The story was based on a young boy named Amir. He lives in the country of Afghanistan with his father, Baba. There were many conflicts in the story. Many about adolescent decisions, his relationship with his baba, and his shia’ muslim servant, Hassan.

Hosseini also states that Hassan’s lip symbolizes the cultural and social differences throughout the novel, and how Amir's slingshot symbolizes the loyalty, their childhood, and explains standing up for what is right. The Kite Runner is a story of about an Afghan­American boy named Amir who has flashbacks that visually depict how his life was when he was just a young boy living in Afghanistan. It was a time of injustice as he searches for a redemption of his past guilts. Hosseini shows readers how Amir matures, and how he felt about different experiences during his life back in Afghanistan. The Kite Runner employs symbolism to show the experiences and moments in Amir’s life that have meaning to him and have left an impact on his life forever. By using symbolism, Hosseini makes readers think about how much earlier experiences and moments have shaped Amir’s life in The Kite Runner.

Amirs father, Baba, is a strong man very set in his ways. He represents the independent culture of old Afghanistan. He instills his ideals of masculinity on Amir, and believes he should be stronger, more sports oriented, and able to stand up for himself. “Of

The Kite Runner is the first novel of Afghan-American author Khaled Hosseini. It tells the story of Amir, a boy from Kabul, Afghanistan, whose closest friend is Hassan, a young Hazara servant. Novel turns around these two characters and Baba, Amir’s father, by telling their tragic stories, guilt and redemption that are woven throughout the novel. Even in the difficult moments, characters build up to their guilt and later on to their redemption. Their sins and faults alter the lives of innocent people. First, Amir and Baba fail to take action on the path to justice for Ali and Hassan. Moreover, Amir and Baba continue to build up their guilt due to their decisions and actions. Although Amir builds up more guilt than Baba throughout the novel, he eventually succeeds in the road to redemption unlike his father. After all, Amir and Baba have many chances to fix their atonements but Baba chooses not to and Amir does. Baba uses his wealth to cover up his sins but never atone himself while Amir decides to stand up and save Sohrab and finally finds peace. Amir and Baba’s reaction to sins essentially indicate their peace of mind and how they react to guilt and injustice.

First, Amir’s relationship with his father, Baba, helped create Amir’s identity. Their intricate relationship often left Amir feeling worthless as if he could not live up to the standards of a Pashtun. This negatively impacted Amir growing up; his values constantly changed as he tried to form a close bond with his father. Baba raised Amir to believe that everyone in Afghanistan had a certain role to play in life, but they should all be treated with respect. Baba’s values made Amir think he had disappointed his father. The high expectations that Baba had for Amir showed that he cared about their reputation. Being the child Amir was, he translated Baba’s hardness as though his father were unhappy to have a child such as Amir. Amir recounts the emotion displayed on his father’s face after an afternoon together; he laments, “Mostly I will never forget Baba’s valiant efforts to conceal the disgusted

He has traveled to Afghanistan to save his nephew he never knew. At this point Amir knows the dangers he faces in the war riddled country but he must seek a way to forgive himself for what he did to Hassan. In his quest to make things right again, Amir confronts Assef, ““WHAT’S SO FUNNY?" Assef bellowed. Another rib snapped, this time left lower. 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 even been looking forward to this.” (Pg. 289) This is a large turning point in the novel. Amir can finally feel like he is doing right by everyone and gaining redemption for his

Throughout the novel, Amir endeavors to be approved by his father, Baba, who is admired by people in Kabul. Unfortunately, Baba believes that Amir, unlike him, is very unmanly “and [that he] never fights back. He just... drops his head ” (Hosseini 24). Since Baba wishes for a son who would stand up for himself, he can’t help but observe that Amir’s friend Hassan, as the guy who “steps in and fends the [bullies] off” (Hosseini 24) is his idea of the ideal son. Though aware of his father’s expectations, Amir is unable to change himself and instead envies Hassan and the fact that Baba treats him like his own son by“[patting]Hassan on the back. [and even putting] his arm around his shoulder [like a fatherly figure]”(Hosseini 15). Despite the manifestation of this hatred in Amir, he continues to recognize the bond that he shares with Hassan, “ brotherhood between people who had fed from the same breast” (Hosseini 11) which is because both their mothers died during birth. The confusing emotions he feels for Hassan has Amir face a situation in which he acts inappropriately and allows the guilt to manifest upon him. After winning a very important kite tournament for the first time and “seeing Baba on that roof, proud of [him] at last” (Hosseini 71) Amir begins to search for Hassan who had gone to run his kite earlier. Finally, Amir finds him in a dark alley and as he “peeks around the corner” (Hosseini 75) he witnesses a sight that eradicated not only his relationship with Hassan but also Baba’s brotherly relationship with Ali, Hassan’s father. Peeking through the corner of the alley, like a bystander, he watches his one and only friend getting raped. The guilt that came upon him was for two reason; one, his lack of courage to stand up to

Amir and Baba never got along, which caused Amir to believe that all father-son relationships are like his. Amir does not understand that parents are supposed to unconditionally love their children, like the love Hassan receives from Ali. Showing the differences in Amir and Hassan’s reactions to this story due to their relationships with their fathers explains the significance of having a bond between father and son.

This choice Amir makes shows how changed he is as earlier in his childhood he would never have said this because he would have lost his father’s respect. Even after Amir makes his choice Baba clearly shows his disdain saying it wasn’t “real work”, but Amir realizes the importance of standing his ground and this step towards independence also symbolizes his first steps to happiness. By having Amir become who he wants to be and not needing Baba’s validation anymore it shows that by not conforming to another’s expectations you can be happy and true to yourself. As Amir becomes less obsessive with Baba and more self centered he finds happiness soon after. Amir finds Soraya to be his main source of happiness as his “heart stutters at the thought of her” (142) showing the effects of young love. Because Amir isn’t solely focused on earning Baba’s recognition he is able to open his eyes to other things such as Soraya. This new change in Amir helps him transition into a new man which ultimately depicts the growth/maturity he gains. By showing that over time as the influence lessens on Amir leading him to become happy it shows that instead of conforming to society (Baba) it is more beneficial to become

    Amir had always regretted his actions that day in the alley and wanted to repay Hassan by taking his son Sohrab to America with him. As soon as Amir saw Sohrab, he saw Hassan in him and wanted to do anything he could to help and resolve his guilt. He wanted to take Sohrab back to America with him so he could have a bed, food, shelter, and a good life. Amir knew “there are a lot of children in Afghanistan, but little childhood”

Amir and his father’s weak relationship in Afghanistan changes when Amir finally accomplishes something Baba can be proud about, spreading light of a possible close relationship in the future. At the beginning of the novel, Baba is talking with his friend, Rahim Khan, about his worries for Amir not standing up for himself, when he is being bullied. Khan responds to Baba saying, ““Children aren’t coloring books. You don’t get to fill them in with your favorite colors””(Hosseini 21). This quote illustrates the difficult relationship Amir and his father have with each other because Baba wants to mold him into the ‘perfect’ son, but Amir does not find appreciation in the same things as Baba, causing this ‘mold’ to be ruined. Amir and Baba being polar opposites causes them to naturally separate from each other because Baba likes building luxury to fit his ego, but Amir values the smaller gestures people do in life. Once Amir finally does something that makes Baba proud and improves ‘their’ ego, Baba starts to appreciate Amir more and tries to do more things with him. This is depicted when Hosseini writes, “Baba and I were finally friends” (Hosseini 85). Although Amir thinks they are close, they are not as close as they could be because Baba usually invites friends and family to join them on their outings. Also, when they are alone it is very awkward for the two of them because they do not know each other very well. The reason Amir feels like he is gaining his father’s acceptance is because he is taking him places, rather than ignoring his existence completely, which is a significant step compared to their relationship before. This step in their relationship illustrates they have a chance at becoming even closer in the future.

Amir’s relationship with the past is truly brought up at this point. When he travels back to Kabul, you see how he is trying to make it right after what happened with Hassan. While Amir tries to find Sohrab in the orphanage he meets up with the director, and he tells him he can find Sohrab’s official at a soccer game the next day. Amir notices that the official is Assef, the same man who had raped Hassan. Together Amir and Sohrab try to take down Assef, however Amir ends up in the hospital. It shows the reader how furious Amir was, and how much he cared that he wanted to take out his anger on

Redemption can come in many different forms for different people. In The Kite Runner, written by Khaled Hosseini, a story of an Afghani man’s lifetime and all of the troubles that he has experienced is told. Amir’s childhood takes place in Kabul, Afghanistan alongside Hassan, his Hazara servant and half-brother. The two grow up as best friends until one day when Amir does nothing to help Hassan out of a life changing incident with the town bully. Their friendship is severely affected for the rest of their lives until Amir meets Sohrab, Hassan’s son. After finding out Hassan has passed away, Amir is sent off to retrieve Sohrab and bring him to a better place than the Taliban-ruled Kabul. The connection between the two new acquaintances is like a new beginning for many aspects in Amir’s life. Sohrab and Amir’s relationship acts as a way for Amir to rid himself of guilt from his childhood and provide his wife with a child, supporting the theme of redemption in The Kite Runner.

Social conditions are what shape a country. Over the years, people, not only in Afghanistan, but around the world create norms that define people’s roles in life, their future, and how they should be treated based on their gender and beliefs. Khaled Hosseini’s first novel, The Kite Runner, comments on the social conditions of Afghanistan through telling a story about the lives of two Muslim boys; a privileged Sunni Pashtun, Amir, and his long-time friend and servant, Hassan, a loyal but disadvantaged Shia Hazara. Hosseini expresses Amir’s uncertain feelings toward Hassan which form the decisions he makes throughout the book. These choices result in Amir destroying his relationship with Hassan. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini is a commentary on the social conditions in Afghanistan as shown through the roles of women and men in society and the ideals of Afghan culture. Unfortunately, these problems are still active in most of Afghanistan.