2650968
Description
Flashcards by samanthaball.x, updated more than 1 year ago
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Created by samanthaball.x
almost 9 years ago
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| Question | Answer |
| The Search for Redemption | - Amir’s quest to redeem himself makes up the heart of the novel - As a child tries to redeem himself in Baba’s eyes as he feels responsible for mothers death - Thinks he must win the kite tournament - As a boy he fails to stand up for himself - As an adult, he can only redeem himself by proving he has courage to stand up for what is right |
| The Love and Tension Between Fathers and Sons | - Amir has complex relationship with Baba, he loves him but rare feels Baba fully loves him back - Baba has own difficulty connecting with Amir feels guilty treating him well when can’t acknowledge Hassan as his son - He's hard on Amir and can only show his love for Hassan indirectly |
| The Intersection of Political Events and Private Lives | - Amir’s recollections of childhood we see the calm state of Kabul during the monarchy - Then watch as Soviet invasion and infighting between rival Afghan groups ruin the country - Assefs opportunity to harass Amir because Assef’s father knows the new president - Destruction of Kabul means A+B move to california - Taliban take over and murder Hassan and give Assef a position that lets him indulge his sadism without repercussions - Amir’s redemption by confronting Assef, implying Afghanistan will have its own redemption |
| The Persistence of the Past (Theme) | - All the characters feel the influence of past, but none like Amir and Sohrab Sohrab - Past has been so traumatizing that it affects all his behavior and flinches at a touch - Fears abandonment he experienced when parents died and attempts suicide when Amir says he may go back to an orphanage Amir - Past always with him as he defines himself as his past - His guilt motivates him - Feels responsible for Taliban murdering Hassanas he thinks he set events that led to Hassan’s death when when he pushed Hassan and Ali out of Baba’s house |
| Rape (Motifs) | - Most significant instances of rape are Assef’s rape of Hassan and later rape of Sohrab - Hassan’s rape source of Amir’s guilt, which motivates search for redemption, stopping Sohrab’s rape is way of redeeming himself - Baba stopping the rape of the woman in the truck - Kamal was raped - Physically violent, but also attack on the victim’s emotions and dignity - Rape in this sense represents complete physical and mental domination of those who don’t have power by those who do |
| Irony (Motifs) | - Adult A recognizes ironies in own story - Grasped irony in his writing as a child - Greatest but tragic irony centers on Amir’s choice not to stop Hassan’s rape - Doesn’t intervene wants Baba’s approval can only earn by bringing home the kite and proving he's a winner - By not stopping he becomes the coward Baba didn't want him to be - Further irony when Amir realizes how much he resembles Baba when he discovers that Baba conceived Hassan with Sanaubar, Ali’s wife - Wanted to share his best traits but shared the betrayal of friends - Irony stems from Amir recognizing the unintended consequences of his actions or desires. |
| Regressing in Time (Motifs) | - Does not exactly have flashbacks - Repeatedly moves the story back in time to give a history of what he is talking about - Provides critical information about character’s history, it reinforces thematic idea that the past defines the present. |
| The Cleft Lip (Symbols) | - Most representative features as a child, and the feature Amir refers most in describing him - Marks his status in society and signifies his poverty - Pays a surgeon to repair Hassan’s lip as birthday gift, signifying secret fatherly love - Assef splits Amir’s lip as he beats him, leaving Amir with a permanent scar |
| Kites (Symbols) | - Symbol of Amir’s happiness and guilt - Recollections after the rape portray the kite as a sign of his betrayal - Amir does not fly a kite again until he does so with Sohrab at the end of the novel |
| The Lamb (Symbols) | - In Islam, as in Christianity, the lamb signifies the sacrifice of an innocent - Hassan and Sohrab as looking like lambs waiting to be slaughtered. - Assef put mascara on Sohrab’s eyes, just as Amir says the mullah used to do to the sheep before slitting its throat - Sacrifice is portrayed as the exploitation of an innocent. |
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