The Kite Runner Chapter Questions # 1-25

In the novel The Kite Runner the text explores many different ways the relationships and people surrounding a person can shape one's self, this is most prevalent in Amir. During Amir's childhood, he is constantly vying for Baba's attention and affection. Amir's cowardice is seen through many different examples in the novel, mainly Assef and his violent actions bring forth his cowardice in many forms. Hassan is Amir's best friend in the beginning of the novel, he is also a role model to Amir.

The illegitimate son of Baba and Amir’s half-brother (which he didn’t knew until after Hassan’s death), Hassan was a truly good and beautiful person even though he's had his fair share of hard times. In my opinion, Hassan has it tougher than Amir from the beginning. Not only did Hassan lose his mother (like Amir), his mother flat-out rejected him But Hassan, unlike Amir, is a selfless and joy-filled creature. They spent most their childhood together playing games, reading books and flying kites until that fateful day where he was deprived of his pride. Hassan had a very good relation with Baba as it would later prove out to be his father as well. After the war stricken years, Rahim Khan asked him to come back to the house in Kabul and agrees after thinking about it. He felt that he was near Amir by living in that house and that he’s loyal. His loyalty and integrity are the essence of his character. He and his wife were slaughtered by the Talibans in the earlier part of 2000, thus ending the life on an inspiring individual.

As a foreword, the story of The Kite Runner focuses on a man named Amir. In his childhood, he enjoyed a high-class life in Kabul, Afghanistan, living with his father Baba. They have two servants, Ali and his son Hassan. They are Hazaras, a lower class ethnic minority in Afghanistan. In one Winter of their childhood, Amir and Hassan participate in a kite-fighting tournament; the goal is to be the last kite flying. When a kite is cut, boys chase after it as a

-Amir enters the annual kite fighting contest in order to earn his father 's love, and wins.

This is very hard on Amir because he ends up growing up without a real parental figure in his life and blames himself for his mother’s passing, for she had died giving birth to him. A few days before the day of the kite flying competition, Baba takes Amir and Hassan to buy kites from an old blind man. “If I changed my mind and asked for a bigger and fancier kite, Baba would buy it for me - but then he'd buy it for Hassan too. Sometimes I wished he wouldn't do that. Wished he'd let me be the favorite” (chapter 5). This displays Amir’s jealousy for his father’s interest in Hassan due to the fact that Baba treats Hassan like his own son and not him, leaving Amir feeling neglected and alone. At the kite fighting competition the next day, it came down to Amir and a blue kite, fighting for first place. When Amir wins the competition the blue kite fly’s off; so Hassan, Amir’s loyal best friend offers to go find the blue kite and return it to Amir. In the processes of looking for the kite, Hassan ends up getting cornered in an alley with three vicious bullies. Amir stumbles upon them in the alley but instead of stepping in, he thinks of how badly he wants the kite as well as his father’s approval so he chooses not to step in, as a result he watches his best

The third section of this chapter mentions the winter of 1975 and Amir reveals ”I saw Hassan run a kite for the last time” revealing that the terrible event that Amir has been foreshadowing so far in the novel, has a relation to Hassan. Four days prior to the start of the tournament, Baba hints that Amir might win the tournament this year stating “I think maybe you’ll win the tournament this year”. This is the statement fuels Amir's determination to win Baba’s love and what has impacts on his choices on what's right and wrong in the future chapters of the

    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”

5. After Amir wins the kite running tournament, his relationship with Baba undergoes significant change. However, while they form a bond of friendship, Amir is still unhappy. What causes this unhappiness and how has Baba contributed to Amir's state of mind? Eventually, the relationship between the two returns to the way it was before

The boys tells him to hands over the kite, but Hassan refuses. Hassan is beating up with no help from his best friend Amir, Amir is totally only watchs, “I realized I still hadn’t breathed out. I exhaled, slowly, quietly, i felt paralyzed. I watched them close in on the boy i’d grown up with, the boy whose harelipped face had been my first memory” (Hosseini 71). Hassan has always stands up for Amir, but Amir do not return the favor when Hassan needs him. Amir remember that he and Hassan are more than a friends they were fed from the same breast. Later on Hassan comes to Amir and he is bleeding he gives Amir the kite without saying a word, Amir either does not say anything “I opened my mouth, almost said something. Almost. The rest of my life might have turned out differently if I had. But I didn’t. I just watched” (Hosseini 79). From day to another Amir realizes his guilt for not standing for his loyal friend. ِAssef do not feels sorry for what he’s done and he says Hassan deserve it because he is a Hazara.

Amir foreshadows the main conflict of the novel by giving a background on his reasoning. When he said, “peeking into that deserted alley” we discover that he is talking about him witnessing Hassan getting raped by Assef. He cannot bury the past because it will always follow him in life and it will be imprinted in his mind for life.

The two boys are almost always together and spend much of their free time in the outdoors. They encounter the main antagonist, Assef, who threatens to fight Amir. Hassan aims a slingshot to Assef’s eye and forces Assef to surrender. However, Assef assures the boys that they are not off the hook. Amir and Hassan continue to fly and run kites in preparation of the kite fights. To earn his father’s love and prove that he is good enough, Amir sets out to win a kite-fighting tournament. Hassan and Amir team up to win the winter kite-fighting tournament. Amir successfully cuts down the other kite and awaits for Hassan to chase down the kite. When Hassan seizes the kite finally, he runs into the unexpected enemy: Assef. Amir arrives to Hassan, and to his horror, witnesses Assef raping Hassan. Amir is too cowardly to say anything or stand up for

Throughout the novel, the protagonist and narrator Amir receives many acts of loyalty from his brother and friend Hassan; these acts start off simple and almost meaningless to Amir, but as times get harder, Hassan’s loyalty proves strong. Hassan was very loyal and humble to those close to him and showed his devotion when he listened to everything Amir had to say and did whatever he wanted when he asked. Amir was reminding himself of the past and constantly bring him memories of Hassan and felt guilt at every moment. Amir reminded himself of the days in Afghanistan when Ali scolded Hassan for the things he had asked him to do, “But he never told on me. Never told that the mirror, like shooting walnuts at the neighbor’s dog, was my idea” (4). These actions were created by Hassan’s surroundings as he grew up, he was taught to be a Hazara servant, but once that friendship sparked between the two boys, Hassan didn’t want to lose that, Amir was his only friend. These small acts of loyalty sparked and grew more important to Amir. A major turning point in the novel was during the kite tournament, but upon finishing the race, Hassan tells Amir, “For you a thousand times over!” (67). This statement is a constant reminder throughout the novel that Hassan will forever be with him and that he will constantly put himself in danger for him and the people he loves. The proof of his loyalty increased that very same day when Hassan found the kite in an alley, but being cornered and harassed by Assef and his friends, he chose to stay and run that kite for Amir instead of handing it over. “‘Amir agha won the tournament and I ran this kite for him. I ran it fairly. This is his

As he leaps after the kite, he yells, “For you a thousand times over!” over his shoulder (Hosseini 67). While chasing down the kite, Hassan runs into Assef. Assef demands the kite as payment for previous embarrassments, but after Hassan refuses, Assef decides he will take something even more precious from him. At this point, Amir comes looking for his best friend and his trophy. He witnesses Hassan getting raped and quietly slinks away, not brave enough to protect his protector. Worse, Amir never acknowledges the incident, wounding Hassan deeper than any physical abuse. Ashamed of himself and his cowardice, Amir decides that the best way to be rid of his guilt is to make Hassan leave. He plants money and his watch under Hassan’s mattress with the hope that Baba will throw the thief out. Baba forgives Hassan, but Hassan and his father decide to leave anyway.

In Khaled Hosseini’s novel, ‘The Kite Runner’, it is often thought that symbols and metaphors are used as visual representations to reinforce and put emphasis on important stages in the novel. In can be seen that symbols are used in the novel to highlight particular moments in key relationships. For example Kites, the Pomegranate tree, Scars and the Slingshot are each used to put emphasis on specific moments in the relationships between Amir and Hassan and Amir and Baba. Through using symbolism and metaphor to present these key

Amir stumbles upon an alley. In the alley, he sees the Hassan trap by three boys named Assef, Kamal, and Wali. All they asked of Hassan is to give up the blue kite. However, Hassan’s loyalty and friendship toward Amir prevented Hassan to give up the kite. As the tension built, Assef lets Hassan have the kite, but in-return he does unthinkable. Assef rapes Hassan as Amir watched unnoticeably from the alley (Hosseini 62-66). This was Amir’s chance to prove his true friendship by stepping in to save Hassan. Instead, Amir ran “because I was a coward. I was afraid of Assef and what he could do to me. I was afraid of getting hurt. That’s what I told myself as I turned my back to the alley, to Hassan” (Hosseini 68). According to Amir, “Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba” (Hosseini 68). “He was just a Hazara, wasn’t he?” (Hosseini 68).