Chaptre 17

I hope I didn't read the questions too literally. Oh well. Chaptre 16 will be here shortly.

-Anjolenna :)

161. Hassan’s letter first tells Amir to thank Rahim Khan and says that he wants to read a letter from Amir soon. Hassan says his wife and son enjoy hearing about Amir and Hassan’s childhood. Next Hassan tells Amir about what Kabul is like now, (which is described on question 163), then talks about Sohrab and how he will be smart. Then he tells Amir about the pomegranate tree. Hassan then tells Amir how sick Rahim Khan is. Hassan says he dreams a lot. He dreams nightmares, that Rahim Khan will get better, that his son will be a free person, that Kabul will be peaceful again, and that Amir will visit “the land of our childhood”. It ends with “may Allah be with you always.”

162. The letter makes Amir feel remorseful. He reads it twice to fully remember Hassan.

163. Hassan says fear is everywhere in Kabul. The savage rulers don’t care about human decency. Women aren’t allowed to talk loud and Taliban members can do whatever they want. Hazaras are not allowed to fight back. Life is scary and threatening to Hazaras.

164. The pomegranate tree is fruitless. Droughts dried up the hill it sits on and it hasn’t bore fruits for years. This symbolizes Hassan’s and Amir’s relationship with each other. It hasn’t “bore fruit” for a long, long time.

165. We learn that after Rahim Khan left, the Taliban learned that Hazaras were living in the house. They came and interrogated Hassan. Hassan argued and they shot him in the back of the head. Hassan’s wife “attacked” the people who shot Hassan and they shot her.

166. Amir keeps saying “no. no .no.” Amir thinks about when Baba, Ali, Rahim Khan, and he were huddled around Hassan’s bed after his lip surgery. He thought about how everyone in the room was dying or dead except for him. He also thought about the man who shot Hassan. He says “Hassan slumps to the asphalt, his life of unrequited loyalty drifting from him like the windblown kites he used to chase.”

167. Rahim Khan wants Amir to go to Kabul and free Sohrab from an orphanage and bring him to Pakistan to live with an American couple. Amir reacts by saying “You can’t be serious.” He says he can’t and doesn’t want to go to Kabul. Amir is just very surprised and is still in shock from learning about Hassan’s death.

168. Rahim Khan interjects with “A boy who can’t stand up for himself becomes a man who can’t stand up to anything.” Amir responds after pondering with “Maybe Baba was right.”

169. Rahim Khan tells Amir that Ali has a wife before Sanaubar. She left him childless then got married again and bore three girls. Ali was sterile. We can assume that Sanaubar had Hassan with Baba but they didn’t tell anyone because Ali would lose his honor. Amir freaks out and asks why they would hide this from him and Hassan. He says “I’m thirty eight years old and I’ve just found out my whole life is one big f***ing lie!” After that, he storms out of the apartment. 

Hehehe! It's a rainbow!!!!! :D

I'm confused on why teachers say "don't say bad words" then they make us read a book with tons of bad words.  Hmm.

Chapter 2

1.      Hassan is a loyal friend to Amir and also one of the family’s servants. He is discriminated against for being a Hazara.

2.      Hassan lives in a servant hut, while Amir lives in a house with several bedrooms and other details of higher wealth.

3.      Hassan’s mother was named Sanaubar and ran off with a clan of traveling singers and dancers after Hassan’s birth. She had a dishonorable reputation and was 19 years younger than Ali. Also she was a Shi’a Muslim who was very attractive.

4.      Amir and Hassan run into a soldier when they take the forbidden shortcut. He taunts Hassan and he is crying when they have walked past the soldier. Amir tries to comfort him.

5.      Ali acts as a father towards Hassan and is a loyal servant to Baba. He has a limp in one leg.

6.      The main reason that the Hazaras and Pashtuns don’t get along is because one is Shi’a Muslim and the other is Sunni. The differences of the two groups in the past carried on to modern day where they were still treated differently. Hassan is treated poorly because he is a Hazara while Amir is treated better.

7.      Amir and Hassan became good friends, because they grew up together and did everything together. It was also said that those who fed from the same breasts had a brotherhood and kinship that time couldn’t break.

8.      “People say that eyes are windows to the soul.” This demonstrates that you can tell what someone is feeling through the expressions in their eyes.

Chapter 1

1.      Amir is a young boy growing up in Afghanistan. He is a talented storyteller and strives to please his father.

2.      Hassan’s voice whispers “For you, a thousand times over.”

3.      Rahim Khan asks Amir to come see him and his final words are “There is a way to be good again.”

4.      The past claws its way out – personification, floating side by side like a pair of eyes looking down on San Francisco.  - simile

Chapter 9

79. Amir knows Baba would not have thrown him such an extravagent party if he had not one the kite tournament. And his victory was connected to Hassan's rape so when he looks at all the gifts he sees Hassans blood shed on them.


80. The one gift he treasures is the notebook that Rahim Kahn gave him. Rahim Kahn is the one person he can confide in the can feel himself around. Rahim Kahn knows that Amir enjoys writing and Amir recognizes that most people are not encouraging of that hobby.


81. Amir receives a newer copy of the book Shahnamah. This gift only makes him feel more guilty. It shows Hassan's kindness and Amir feels bad because he doesn't return the kindess or loyalty.


82.Amir frames Hassan by asking Baba is he has seen his new watch. When Baba says no he says he cannot find it anywhere. When Ali and Hassan leave for a little Amir puts the watch and some money under Hassan's mattress. Later when Baba asks Hassan if he stole the watch and money Hassan lies for Amir again saying he did it. Amir didn't anticipate him lying so once again feels more guilty. Hassan lies for him though because he is a loyal friend also because Ali probably knows about everything by now and convinced Hassan to lie.


83. When Amir tells Baba about the theft Baba forgives Hassan because Baba treats Hassan like a son and Ali and him had been childhood friends.

84. Amir flinches because Hassan lies for him about stealing the watch and money. Amir realizes that it is his final sacrifice for Amir.


85. Hassan and Ali decide to leave after the incident. They decide to do this most likely because theyre ashamed. Baba is overwhelmed with sadness. Amir said he never saw Baba cry until then.


86. When Ali looks at Amir in his cold unforgiving way he realizes that Ali knows everything. That he just watched Hassan get raped and didn't do anything to stop it. Also he knows that Amir set Hassan up to look like a liar.


87. Baba cries for the first time when he has to part with his childhood friend, Ali. Ali wouldn't let Baba drive him to where they were going he insisted on taking the bus. So it was a goodbye cut short.


88. In the corner of Hassan's shack are all of his toys. Hassan left them all probably trying to symbolize that he doesn't need those things to be happy all he needed was Amir's friendship and more specifically his help that one night.


89. The weather is described as a storm. It symbolizes Baba's tears. Since it was the first time he saw Baba cry it rained during the dry season. It kind of says both events happen rarely if at all.

Chapter 8

66. After the attack, Hassan was no longer himself. He avoided contact with everyone including Amir. Amir would wake up in the morning and find everything already done. His clothes folded and breakfast made.

67. Ali tells Amir that when Hassan came home after the kite tournament, Hassan shirt was torn and he was bloody. He asked Amir if Hassan was keeping something from him. Amir didn't tell him what happened though. Amir told Ali he had no idea what happened to him.

68. A) While in Jalalabad when everyone is sleeping, Amir whispers that he saw Hassan get raped. He feels so guilty that at this point he kind of wants someone else to know. This moment is when his insomnia begins.
B) Amir is first excited to go to Jalalabad because he thinks that it will be just him and his dad, Baba. Then Baba asks if Hassan wants to go which hurts Amir's feelings so Amir tells Baba that Hassan is sick. Later he learns Baba invited two dozen other people which again bums him out.

69. Like I mentioned in the previous question Amir says that he saw Hassan being raped aloud. Yet no one years him. This scene is significant because he feels more and more guilty throughout the book and this is where his insomnia begins.

70. Amir is upset when he sees the pomegranate tree because it has their intials carved into the trunk. This of course brings back his guilt and Amir feels the need to return home immediately.

71. When Hassan asked Amir what he had done wrong Amir told him to stop harassing him. After that Hassan kept his distance.

72. Amir is upset with Hassan loyalty for obvious reasons. Amir is overwhelmed with guilt and the fact that Hassan is still a good friend to him after everything just makes Amir feel even more guilty.

73. Amir asks Baba if he would consider getting new servants. Of course Baba explodes. Baba goes on to say that Ali and Hassan are family and that where they live is their home as well.

74. Amir and Hassan go back out to the pomegranate tree one day and Amir immediately throws one at Hassan. Amir is trying to get Hassan to throw one back at him. He thinks if Hassan hits him with a pomegranate that maybe he won't feel as guilty. Instead Hassan breaks one open and cracks it on his own head.

75. Baba invited several people to Amir's 13th birthday party. He sees Assef there which upsets him. Also he is upset when he sees Hassan serving them. However, Amir feels better when he receives a notebook from Rahim Kahn. The gift makes him feel more understood and accepted.

76. Rahim Kahn tells Amir a story about how he had met a wonderful girl that he wanted to marry but she was a Hazara so his family couldn't accept her. Eventually they were separated but Rahim Kahn was ultimately glad it happened because they would never have been truely happy. Rahim Kahn is trying to let Amir know he can confide in him.

77. Amir almost tells Rahim Kahn about the attack on Hassan because he feels comfortable with him but then feels to ashamed to tell him the truth. He doesn't want to be viewed in a bad light expecialy by someone he can connect with.

78. Amir is upset in the flickering light because the little amount of light provided allowed him to see Hassan serving drinks to Assef. Then he sees Assef playfully punch Hassan in the chest. Before he saw anything else the light faded.