The Hazaras originally came from further east in Asia, and their features are more Asian than Arabic. Baba and Amir escape to Peshawar, Pakistan, and then to Fremont, California, where they settle in a run-down apartment. You can view our. You'll be billed after your free trial ends. Friend of Baba and Amir. The final third of the book is full of haunting images: a man, desperate to feed his children, trying to sell his artificial leg in the market; an adulterous couple stoned to death in a stadium during the halftime of a football match; a rouged young boy forced into prostitution, dancing the sort of steps once performed by an organ grinder's monkey. The Kite Runner They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!, This is absolutely THE best teacher resource I have ever purchased. We learn that the boy Amir is sensitive, bookish, sometimes selfish, and a little mischievous. Wali is depicted as a conformist. You may cancel your subscription on your Subscription and Billing page or contact Customer Support at [email protected]. Baba's father took Ali into his house after Ali's parents were killed in an accident. 9. When he finally came to, he found out that he had almost died of a ruptured spleen. Around the same time, Baba got sick. He felt ashamed that he could not bring himself to tell her his secret in return. He does not say what happened, but he says the event made him who he is. The true intent of the statement is Amir's decision to parent Sohrab. His defining traits are bravery, selflessness, and intelligence, though his smarts are more instinctual than bookish, largely because he is uneducated. The Kite Runner Chapter 23 Hassan runs for the last cut kite, a great trophy, saying to Amir, "For you, a thousand times over." Also, in many ways Amir and Hassan act for each other as a kind of substitute parent, looking out for the other and providing companionship. Amirs suspicions were true, and Rahim Khan did know of his betrayal, and asked him to save Sohrab in part to give Amir a way to redeem himself. The repetition of "clean down the middle" followed by the fragment "like a harelip" seems to indicate that readers will not or cannot make the connection on their own. Why doesnt Amir help Hassan in the alley? Yet he feels Baba does not love him because he is not like Baba and because it was during his birth that his mother died. Babas words in Chapter 3 foreshadow the eventual takeover of Afghanistan by the radical Islamic fundamentalists called the Taliban. Sanaubar was nineteen years younger than Ali, beautiful, and reputedly immoral. 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars. WebAmir wins the tournament, and then Hassan goes to retrieve the losing kite. Amir loves parts of his father and resents other parts. One day while the boys are walking, a soldier says to Hassan that he once had sex with Hassans mother, Sanaubar. Why does Hassan lie about stealing Amirs watch? on 2-49 accounts, Save 30% SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4.99/month or $24.99/year as selected above. [20], The American Library Association reported that The Kite Runner was one of its most-challenged books of 2008, with multiple attempts to remove it from libraries due to its "offensive language, sexually explicit [content], and unsuit[ability for] age group. The cleft lip was a sign of Hassans lower social status, but also his purity of heart, as he was Babas other half and inherited his courage and goodness. Neither Amir nor Hassan had a mother. He had an innate sense of where a kite would land. 11. Riverhead Books published The Kite Runner, ordering an initial printing of 50,000 copies in hardback. Amir's closest friend, the harelipped Hassan, was also his servant and a Hazara. Most people thought the marriage was arranged by Sanaubars father as a way to restore honor to his family. Where does Sohrab go when he runs away from the hotel? Amir runs away, and later both he and Hassan pretend nothing has happened. To his chagrin, Ali and Hassan gave him a copy of his and Hassan's favorite book. Amir explains how Ali and Baba knew each other. As children, Amir and Hassan would climb trees and use mirrors to reflect sunlight into a neighbors window, or they would shoot walnuts at the neighbors dog with a slingshot. Amir and Soraya settle down in a happy marriage, but to their sorrow, they learn that they cannot have children. Assef came to the party and gave Amir a book about Hitler. General Taheri stopped asking questions after that. He also received a good deal of money. Among other injuries, Amir suffers from a ruptured spleen, seven broken ribs, a punctured lung, lacerations, and a fracture of the eye socket bone. For Amir, he serves a father figure, often giving Amir the attention he craves and filling the holes left by Babas emotional distance. The story jumps to the present year, 2002. Ultimately he does so through courage and self-sacrifice, and he tells his story as a form of penance. Amir (named Amir Qadiri in 2007 film adaptation, surname is not given in book) is the protagonist and narrator of the novel. The scar on Amirs upper lipreminiscent of Hassans cleft lipand his joy in running the kite for Sohrab are evidence of Amirs redemption. 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. Get Annual Plans at a discount when you buy 2 or more! 1200 South Forest Avenue. Why does Amir sometimes treat Hassan badly in childhood? Ali, meanwhile, is dutiful, modest, and quiet. Renews May 8, 2023 Rahim Khan also emphasizes that betrayal does not need to mean only guilt and evil Babas good works. Baba stood up for her even though the soldier was armed. Hassans mother and Alis wife for a time. The Hazara people will take it as an insult. Amir kept Sohrab's past secret from the Taheris until General Taheri called him a "Hazara boy." When defeated kites fell out of the sky, boys chased them to try to bring them home as trophies. Amir understands that Baba slept with Sanaubar, and that Hassan is actually his half-brother. bookmarked pages associated with this title. and any corresponding bookmarks? Khaled Hosseini identifies a number of themes that appear in The Kite Runner, but reviewers have focused on guilt and redemption. Discount, Discount Code Refine any search. He also never lets anyones lack of belief in him stop him from accomplishing his goals. Son of Hassan and Farzana. Farid drove them away and Amir passed out. Find related themes, quotes, symbols, characters, and more. Ali was killed by a land mine, and Hassan was murdered (along with his wife Farzana) after he refused to allow the Taliban to confiscate Baba and Amir's house in Kabul. Later he found Hassan walking home, kite in hand, with blood dripping from his pants. Among other injuries, Amir suffers from a ruptured spleen, seven broken ribs, a punctured lung, lacerations, and a fracture of the eye socket bone. (one code per order). Why does Hassan lie about stealing Amirs watch? Amir is now beginning to positively act for good, like Baba did, to try and amend his past wrongs. Suddenly, Amir realized that he had formed his identity around being "Baba's son." ", "Word-of-mouth success gets reading group vote", "Kite Runner is reading group favourite for second year running", "GeekDad Interview: Khaled Hosseini, Author of, "Top ten most frequently challenged books of 2008, by ALA Office of Intellectual Freedom", "Hollywood Foreign Press Association 2008 Golden Globe Awards", "Review: The Kite Runner/Liverpool Playhouse", Official website of author Khaled Hosseini, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Kite_Runner&oldid=1151733995, Articles with unsourced statements from May 2022, Articles with MusicBrainz release group identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 25 April 2023, at 22:41. Amir tells himself that having Hassan leave Babas household would lessen both Hassans and his own suffering. Why does Amir want Hassan to hit him with pomegranates? We're sorry, SparkNotes Plus isn't available in your country. Why does Amir want Hassan to leave Babas household? WebHe returns to Rahim and tells him he will bring the boy to the Caldwells. Get Annual Plans at a discount when you buy 2 or more! Amir witnesses the act but is too scared to intervene. Amir rocked him to sleep and fell asleep as well. Rahim Khan asks our narrator, whose name is Amir, to come to Pakistan to see him. Dont have an account? He gives him all the money Rahim left, a little over $2,000. The book mentions some of the derogatory names they are called, including mice-eating and flat-nosed, and says part of the reason for the animosity is because the Hazara are Shia Muslim while the Pashtuns are Sunni Muslim. Despite their differences, Amir and Hassan were inseparable. Hassans wife and Sohrabs mother. Amir recalls an event that happened twenty-six years before, when he was still a boy in Afghanistan, and says that that made him who he is. 12. We're sorry, SparkNotes Plus isn't available in your country. [28] Tony Sims from Wired Magazine wrote that the book "reveals the beauty and agony of a tormented nation as it tells the story of an improbable friendship between two boys from opposite ends of society, and of the troubled but enduring relationship between a father and a son". Rahim Khan, who is dying, asks Amir to visit him in Peshawar. Amir was proud of his literacy and lorded it over the unsuspecting, illiterate Hassan. [7], Like Amir, the protagonist of the novel, Hosseini was born in Afghanistan and left the country as a youth, not returning until 2003. Hassan cried all night and in the morning, he and Farzana moved in with Rahim Khan. The period is December 2001, and our narrator, who tells his story in the first person, recalls an event that occurred in 1975, when he was twelve years old and growing up in Afghanistan. They never saw Ali or Hassan again. He even claims Hitler as a role model. WebWhile traveling in a taxi with an Afghan native named Farid whom Rahim Khan put him in contact with, Amir struggles with his car sickness. [25] Said Tayeb Jawad, the 19th Afghan ambassador to the United States, publicly endorsed The Kite Runner, saying that the book would help the American public to better understand Afghan society and culture.[9]. Then he called in Sohrab and made him dance for them. Read an in-depth character analysis of Baba. As Amir is recovering, Farid encourages him to leave Peshawar as soon as possible; this triggers Amir's memory of the silent old man, who may be a spy for the Taliban. After the kite tournament, Amir's relationship with his father improved because Baba was so proud of him. Baba did not subscribe to popular belief, preferring to cast his own opinions about issues. Since Baba likes soccer, Amir tries to like it as well, albeit unsuccessfully. WebAmir is the sensitive and intelligent son of a well-to-do businessman in Kabul, and he grows up with a sense of entitlement. Because Baba was so ill, Soraya and Amir decided to forgo the Shirini-kori, the traditional engagement party, as well as the engagement period. May 1, 2023, SNPLUSROCKS20 She obeys her husband without question and wants nothing more than to see her daughter married. In 1986 he went looking for Hassan and found him living in a small village with his pregnant wife, Farzana. Teacher Editions with classroom activities for all 1725 titles we cover. Baba sees Amir as physically weak, even feminine. [9] The news "struck a personal chord" for him, as he had grown up with the sport while living in Afghanistan. Hassan refuses to give up the kite, and Assef humiliates him by assaulting him both physically and sexually. In one way, the two novels are corollaries: The Kite Runner was a father-son story, and A Thousand Splendid Suns can be seen as a mother-daughter story. He is an ethnic Hazara, and is described as having the same eyes as his father. PDFs of modern translations of every Shakespeare play and poem. In each generation, the boys could never truly consider themselves friends because of their class differences. Amir's plan is to leave the hospital, get the money from the bank, and drop Sohrab off at the orphanage run by the Caldwells; however, when Farid arrives, he tells Amir that the Caldwells never existed. Baba is diagnosed with terminal cancer but is still capable of granting Amir one last favor: he asks Soraya's father's permission for Amir to marry her. Dont have an account? Hassan and Farzana insisted on staying in the servants' hut and doing housework. When General Taheri finally forced her to come home, she had to cut off all her hair in shame. Want 100 or more? They had an uprising during the nineteenth century, but it was brutally suppressed by the Pashtuns. He also promised Sohrab that he would never have to go to another orphanage. Khaled Hosseinis main audience for the book is not Afghan, and he familiarizes his readers with life in Afghanistan by explaining some basic facts. He is missing toes and fingers from a landmine explosion and represents the difficulties that many Afghans faced in the years of warfare that ravaged the country. Chapters 1415. for a group? [13] Marketing director Melissa Mytinger remarked, "It's simply an excellent story. He got such an idea from Babas friend, Rahim Khan, who once told Amir of loving a Hazara woman who was then sent away from his family. [1] Published in 2003 by Riverhead Books, it tells the story of Amir, a young boy from the Wazir Akbar Khan district of Kabul. TO CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AND AVOID BEING CHARGED, YOU MUST CANCEL BEFORE THE END OF THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD. Baba begins work at a gas station due to his low social status in America. He dreamed about Baba fighting the bear, and realized that he was Baba. Creating notes and highlights requires a free LitCharts account. He said he hoped Amir would return to Afghanistan and that they would reunite. Amir flitted in and out of consciousness in the Pakistani hospital where Farid took him. SparkNotes PLUS Amir was too ashamed of what he had done to face Hassan and avoided him at all costs. Though nobody thought he would marry well because he wasnt from a prominent family, he married Amirs mother, Sofia Akrami, a beautiful, intelligent woman who came from a royal bloodline. In the winter, schools were closed in Kabul and the boys spent much time kite fighting. [33], Four years after its publication, The Kite Runner was adapted as a motion picture starring Khalid Abdalla as Amir, Homayoun Ershadi as Baba, and Ahmad Khan Mahmoodzada as Hassan. He makes a point of buying Hassan exactly the same things as Amir, to Amir's annoyance. How did Ali become a part of baba's family? He is also an ethnic Hazara and is great with a slingshot. Shortly after, Baba dies peacefully. Save over 50% with a SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan! Farid has become a loyal friend on Amirs journey. Baba was a large man, six feet and five inches tall with a thick beard and wild, curly hair. He felt dirty and sinful from being abused. After he is raped himself, he becomes a symbol of the brutality that destroys Afghanistan. From Rahim Khan, Amir learns that Hassan and Ali are both dead. Complete your free account to access notes and highlights. [8][9] According to Hosseini, the narrative became "much darker" than he originally intended. The author, Khaled Hosseini, spends much more time on characterization than action in this section. During the ride there, Amir dozes. Although he distrusts religious fundamentalism, he follows his own moral code and acts with self-assurance and bravery. Cowardly and conformist, Kamal helps Assef rape Hassan. He had broken his ribs and a bone in his face and he had a punctured lung, among other injuries. You can view our. resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss thenovel. She had once run away with an Afghan man.

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