The Kite Runner
by Khaled Hosseini
This is a novel about relationships and how people are defined by relationships.
What are your thoughts about each of the following relationships? How is each pair defined by the other?
Amir and Hassan
Amir and Baba
Hassan and Ali
Ali and Baba
Rahim Khan and Amir
“I see you’ve confused what you’re learning in school with actual education.” (Baba, p. 16) Is there a difference between the two? If so, what is it?
“If you asked, I would.”…“But
I wonder, he added. “Would you ever ask me to do such a thing?
And just like that, he had thrown at me his own little test. If I was going to toy with him and challenge his loyalty, then he’d toy with me, test my integrity. (Amir and Hassan, p 54) What do you think of this exchange?
5. “I watched Hassan get raped,” I said to no one. Baba stirred in his sleep. Kaka Homayoun grunted. A part of me was hoping someone would wake up and hear, so I wouldn’t have to live with this lie anymore. But no one woke up and in the silence that followed, I understood the nature of my new curse. I was going to get away with it. ( Amir, p 87) How is this a defining moment?
“Come. There is a way to be good again.” (Rahim Khan, p 192) What does Rahim Khan know about Amir? To what degree does he know him?
“Then I realized something” That last thought had brought no sting with it. Closing Sohrab’s door, I wondered if that was how forgiveness budded, not with the fanfare of epiphany, but with pain gathering its things, packing up, and slipping away unannounced in the middle of the night.” (Amir, p 359) What do you think of Amir’s perception of forgiveness?
How does the author use scars as a motif in this novel?