The Kite Runner

The Kite Runner

1. main character

   • Amir, Hassan,Baba,Assef,Sohrab

2. what happened to hassan in the alley ?

   • Hassan ran the last kite for Amir. When he caught the kite when he saw Assef. He refused to handover the kite and Assef pins him onto the ground and rapes him.
     • While Hassan begin raped is the centre of the novel the word “rape” appears only once. Amir once says in the middle of the night when everyone is sleeping that he watched Hassan’s rape, but no one is awake to hear his confession. Amir realizes this secret he must carry is his “new curse” and spends the rest of the novel struggling with hid new found secret.

3. What was the importance of Ail's first wife ?

   • Rahim Khan once tells Amir about Ail's first wife and how she was never able for a child with Ail, but beaame pregrant mulitple times after she re-married .
     • This statement shows that Ali was not able to be the father for the children and could not possibly be the Father of dear Hassan.Amir understands that Baba slept with Sanaubar, and that Hassan is actually his half-brother.

4. Why do Amir and Baba go America?

   • After the Russians invade Afghanistan Amir and Baba flee Kabul.While the characters find safety in California, Baba becomes frustrated by his misunderstandings of American customs and takes great insult at his lower social status. Amir assimilates far more easily, describing America as “a river, roaring along, unmindful of the past.” Amir views his American life as an opportunity to start over and free himself from his sins against Hassan in Afghanistan.

5. Why does Amir sometimes treat Hassan badly in childhood?

   • As a child, Amir sometimes treats Hassan badly partly because of class distinctions. Amir is an upper-class Pashtun, and Hassan is a Hazara, a member of an ethnic group considered inferior by Pashtuns. Amir sees Hassan as his servant and feels no need to treat him well. Amir also treats Hassan badly because he resents and is jealous of Baba’s affection for Hassan; Baba doesn’t express much affection for Amir, and his feeling of rejection brings out the worst in him.

6. Why doesn’t Amir help Hassan in the alley?

   • Amir tells himself he doesn’t help Hassan because he’s afraid of being hurt by Assef if he intervenes: “I ran because I was a coward. I was afraid of Assef and what he would do to me.” But Amir heard Assef tell Hassan that he will let him keep the kite so it will remind him of the rape. Amir then admits that he doesn’t help Hassan because he wants to get the kite to bring back to his father, a gesture that he believes will cause his father to finally love and accept him: “Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba.”

7. Why does Amir want Hassan to hit him with pomegranates?

   • Amir wants Hassan to hit him with pomegranates to punish himself for not helping Hassan in the alley. Amir feels incredible guilt over sacrificing Hassan in order to get the blue kite, the kite he believed would cause his father to finally love him. Amir even throws pomegranates at Hassan while yelling at him, trying to make Hassan angry enough to throw pomegranates at him in return. Amir explains, “I wished he’d give me the punishment I craved, so maybe I’d finally sleep at night.”