On page 232 the taxi cab driver tells Amir that his whole life in Afghanistan has been a vacation of sorts, which I think it really true. Amir grew up in a nice home with servants and only now is he getting to see the true Afghanistan. He was shielded from all the hatred and violence and never really got a true understanding of how his "home country" really was and still is. Does anyone else agree?
On page 247, Amir says, "Diesel. Remember what this street smelled like in the old ddays? Farid smiled."Kabob....The only people in Kabul who get to eat lamb now are the Taliban." Do you think this relates to the banning of kite running and taking away of their tradition?
Jay, I think it relates to taking EVERYTHING they love and cherish away. Kabobs and kites are nice things that were probably taken for granted and now the Taliban has taken them away.
Cody- i think he understood why he was giving away kids but he was a little mad inside and they are going to find that officer guy and confront him and one of them will die.
I think that he was very upset that thhe pattern was repeating itself. amir felt horribe that this could have happened again and even more upsetting, it happening to Hassan's son after it had happened to him when he was a kid.
Brenden- I agree that Amir has always been a tourist in his own country. He grew up living a fancy life and didn't really get a view of what the real life was like. But I also think that his country has changed since he has been there and that is a reason why he feels like the place isn't his home.
Jay- I think it does relate to taking away kiterunning because they don't want the people to have fun they want them to suffer. So the taliban wants the meat so they can be superior and to make the people weak.
landon- I think Amir made the right choice because all his life he had not done one thing good for Hassan. Now Amir can try to right his wrongs and do something good in his life for Hassan.
Cody, I do think that Amir may have been a little upset about Zaman giving away children, but at the same time I think Amir realizes that living under the Taliban was dangerous, especially for children, so in the end Zaman made the correct choice.
Brendan, I agree with you, Amir didn't actually experience true Afghanistan, he just just lived there, he didn't have to put up with poverty and war unlike most of the other denizens there.
Andy- i agree with you about the pattern repeating itself and now it has happened to Hassan's son but just like Rahim Khan said at the beginning, "there is a way to be good again." he can go back and make things right by helping the last piece that is left of Hassan.
I think the taliban are just absolutely mad with power- Even though they are Afghans themselves, They eat great food, live luxuriously, and prosper at their own peoples tragic expense. I mean, really, if you had the option, would you eat a delicious meal meant for someone else if there was absolutely no way you could get caught?
Brendan- I agree with you in the fact that Amir is and has been sheltered from the real world. His great life in Afganistan changed his views on the way that everything is. He thinks the world is a horrible place, but its the exact same, he just hasn't witnessed it.
Zaman is in a tough position. He has too many children to take care of and not enough money or food. So he gives some of the children away to feed the rest but in that process he is in a sense "selling" them. He just loses either way. Although I don't think he is a bad person, he is trying his best to do the right thing.
Jacob- I think Amir tries to protects his father's reputation as an honorable man because that is what people knew him for. He did almost anything to help anyone out. Although Amir found out that his father had lied to him his whole life, he was still a great man to the Afghan community.
Landon- Amir definitely made the right choice by going to Kabul, because it gives him a chance to redeem himself partially, and he was able to learn a little bit about his mother. If he had decided not to go then he would still have overwhelming guilt over Hassan.
What message do you think the author, Khaled Hosseini, was trying to send to the reader when Wahid's children were staring at Amirs watch in chapter 19?
Jacob- Well think about it he wanted people to see his father has he did a good man not a sinful thief and like Amir probabily feels guilty for his father so he's trying to make it up to him even though he is died
Kevin- I agree with you about the talaban, they get to do what ever they want to, eat well, live well, and steal things. and there is absolutly no way that they can get caught, because its their job.
Jacob- Amir wants everyone else to think that Baba was a good man. He was his father, i bet you wouldn't go around talking trash about your father to people who think he is a good man. Amir knows that Baba is a liar and thief but nobody else knows or needs to know.
Does anyone think that Amir is honorable for going to save Sohrab, or do you think it is just a selfish act to try and get rid of the guilt he had from letting Hassan get violated?
Cody- So Amir did good for Hassan. He also played with Hassan. That is doing good. Hassan was Amir only friend. They always did everything together. I don't think it's true that Amir never did any good for Hassan.
On page 249 Amir meets a beggar that has some memories about Amir's mother. Why do you think the oonly information Amir could get about his mother is from this stranger?
Jacob- Rape in other countries is a show of strength and though we think it is gay and makes you look like a queer people might think he is a very strong and powerful person.
Landon- I think it was sending a message saying that they didn't know what modern things where like. Also the kids ended up to not be staring at the watch but at the food because they were so hungry.
Landon, I think he was trying to convey the idea that not all afghan children and pickpockets and thieves, although sometimes they have to be to stay alive. All they wanted was food they could care less about the shiny expensive watch. It must haver been painful to sit there watching Amir eating knowing you weren't getting any food.
Every civilization has its own defect. The people of the civilization do the decisions to make the civilization work. So some people make decisions to do things like raping people or do other things.
Responding to the question from the inner circle, "Is rape a part of Afghani culture?" I would have to say no. Just because we have seen multiple instances of rape in the Kite Runner doesn't mean that it happens all the time. The same thing happens in American culture but it is not talked about as often.
-Gage I think its like the whole thing of getting away the guilt because he thinks he should just make up for the time that he should of helped someone in trouble and stuff
Brendan- I agree with you about Zaman not being a bad guy, he has to many tough choices to make about having to feed the children and if that meant "selling" one to save the many then that is the right choice. In a way the child could be considered a hero because he is giving himself up to help the others just like in many super hero stories.
Justin- I thought it was very weird that the most information he gets about his mother is from a guy he didn't know. Could it possibly be because his mother was a stranger from him so the only way to learn about a stranger is from another stranger?
Justin- I think he could only get information from the beggar because his father did not like to talk about his mother because he cheated on her. Also maybe he didn't talk about her because he missed her so much.
Justin- I think Amir was able to learn about his mother only from this stranger because for the stranger it wasn't hard to talk about, he had good memories of her, where as Baba would have been to sad to really talk about her because of her sudden and sad death.
Justin- I think Amir believed he couldn't trust anyone close to him anymore, so he believed that he could get information from someone who had no reason to lie to him.
Andy- I don't understand why Pakistan accepts the Taliban to do these crimes. Is the Taliban like Pakistan's Armed force or something. Because it seems more of a army or dictatorship rather then a job
The reason Amir has to get his information is no one he knows knows anything about her and so he has to go outside of his friends and family to get info about his mother.
Gage, I think that Amir went to save Sohrab because it was the right thing to do. instead of sohrab being put in a horrible orphanage, he will have shelter, food, and a life.
I agree with you because its not the culture to rape its the people that rape. People could not care for the culture of other people so they do things on their own.
Anthony You make a good point. Amir probably respects Baba very much so because he was a good father and Amir looked up to him. If he was a bad father, I bet he would disgrace his fathers name just a little more
Assef once said that his role model is Hitler and the Nazis and the Taliban seem very similar. So do you think Assef plays a major role in the Taliban?
Jake- I understand where you are coming from, I was only agreeing with Kevin's statement. I used the wrong word, its not their job, but they kinda relate to the German Nazis in the fact that they can just go aroung killing them.
Does anyone remember good ol' Assef from so far back? Enemies like him in books like these never just go away- what do you thing happened to him? Where is he now?
Inner Circle- I think Mat made a good point in saying that Assef is probably the Aristocrat, I think once Assef got a taste of rape, he couldn't stop, therefor causing him to buy kids for his own disgusting uses. What does everyone else think?
Dominic- I don't think it was brought up ever. I also think Baba didn't know how to tell Amir. I don't understand why he wouldn't tell Amir either. Maybe it was degrading because Hassan was a Hazara and Amir wasn't.
Landon- i think he felt bad because he was taking the food away from children and he sees that the way things are going they probably wouldn't get much food anyway so when he left he put a lot of money under the bed so they could give the kids food.
Landon- I think he felt really guilty. Amir thought the kids were looking at his watch but they were really looking at his food. Amir still hasn't adapted to Afgani life, so he still takes things like food for granted.
Gage- I don't think that it has that much to do with rape. Assef isn't addicted to raping people. I'm not exactly sure what Assef does with the kids, he could rape them, but it's not told for sure.
Kevin- I think Assef is going to end up being that officer that keeps taking kids away, because this book is all about redemption and maybe the way Amir gets redemption is that he kills Assef because of all the evil things that he has done.
Andy- Okay... I know what you are saying now. I also agree that the Taliban are much like the Nazi's. But do you know if the Taliban is like Pakistan's Armed force... although the Taliban is taking over there own country?
I think Assef is more addicted to power than rape. Its possible that he rapes the kids but I just think that he is a very small man and the only man he can feel powerful is when he controls children.
Jay- thats a very good point, saying Assef is addicted to rape isn't written in stone, but you have to admit it would be very possible because of Assef's past.
To answer Mrs.Leclaire's question about Amir is hesitant to get Sorhab and to bring him in as his own is because he feels guilty that he say Hassan getting raped when he was a child so he ask himself a question we'll he stand up for his Child?
How do you think Amir felt when he found out that Hassan's son had been raped?
ReplyDeleteOn page 232 the taxi cab driver tells Amir that his whole life in Afghanistan has been a vacation of sorts, which I think it really true. Amir grew up in a nice home with servants and only now is he getting to see the true Afghanistan. He was shielded from all the hatred and violence and never really got a true understanding of how his "home country" really was and still is. Does anyone else agree?
ReplyDeleteDo you think Amir was mad that Zaman was giving away children? Or do you think he understood why he was giving the kids away?
ReplyDeleteOn page 247, Amir says, "Diesel. Remember what this street smelled like in the old ddays? Farid smiled."Kabob....The only people in Kabul who get to eat lamb now are the Taliban." Do you think this relates to the banning of kite running and taking away of their tradition?
ReplyDeletecarlos his son wasn't raped he was taken away.
ReplyDeleteCody-
ReplyDeleteI think he was mad like really mad but he understood how an why it had to happen so little of both the way I see it
Cody- I think Amir understood that the taliban was dangerous and he would have done the same thing if he were in Zaman's position.
ReplyDeleteDo you think in chapter 18 that Amir made the right choice by going to Kabul?
ReplyDeleteHe may have felt responsible-like Hassan getting raped all over again.
ReplyDeleteJay, I think it relates to taking EVERYTHING they love and cherish away. Kabobs and kites are nice things that were probably taken for granted and now the Taliban has taken them away.
ReplyDeleteCody-
ReplyDeletei think he understood why he was giving away kids but he was a little mad inside and they are going to find that officer guy and confront him and one of them will die.
I think that he was very upset that thhe pattern was repeating itself. amir felt horribe that this could have happened again and even more upsetting, it happening to Hassan's son after it had happened to him when he was a kid.
ReplyDeleteBrenden-
ReplyDeleteI agree that Amir has always been a tourist in his own country. He grew up living a fancy life and didn't really get a view of what the real life was like. But I also think that his country has changed since he has been there and that is a reason why he feels like the place isn't his home.
Jay- I think it does relate to taking away kiterunning because they don't want the people to have fun they want them to suffer. So the taliban wants the meat so they can be superior and to make the people weak.
ReplyDeleteOK I'm confused was Hassan's son raped or not I thought he was just taken away.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Anthony if the taliban were close and my kids survival depended on them leaving with someone else i would do it.
ReplyDeleteWith the question in the inner circle what do you think of how he would react with the whole orphanage
ReplyDeleteBrendan
ReplyDeleteI agree with you because Amir never knew what was happening in Afghanistan because Baba didn't want Amir to live in fear.
Brendan-
ReplyDeleteI thought Hassan's son was only taken away, it doesn't say anything about him being raped.
landon- I think Amir made the right choice because all his life he had not done one thing good for Hassan. Now Amir can try to right his wrongs and do something good in his life for Hassan.
ReplyDeleteCody,
ReplyDeleteI do think that Amir may have been a little upset about Zaman giving away children, but at the same time I think Amir realizes that living under the Taliban was dangerous, especially for children, so in the end Zaman made the correct choice.
Brendan, I agree with you, Amir didn't actually experience true Afghanistan, he just just lived there, he didn't have to put up with poverty and war unlike most of the other denizens there.
ReplyDeleteCody-
ReplyDeleteAmir never did anything good for Hassan?
Why does Amir still try to protect his father's reputation as a honorable man and not a sinful thief?
ReplyDeleteJay-
ReplyDeleteYa Hassan's son was only taken away he wasn't raped
Andy-
ReplyDeletei agree with you about the pattern repeating itself and now it has happened to Hassan's son but just like Rahim Khan said at the beginning, "there is a way to be good again." he can go back and make things right by helping the last piece that is left of Hassan.
I think the taliban are just absolutely mad with power- Even though they are Afghans themselves, They eat great food, live luxuriously, and prosper at their own peoples tragic expense. I mean, really, if you had the option, would you eat a delicious meal meant for someone else if there was absolutely no way you could get caught?
ReplyDeleteBecause Amir thinks very highly of his father and does not want his reputation and the things he did tarnished.
ReplyDeleteBrendan-
ReplyDeleteI agree with you in the fact that Amir is and has been sheltered from the real world. His great life in Afganistan changed his views on the way that everything is. He thinks the world is a horrible place, but its the exact same, he just hasn't witnessed it.
Zaman is in a tough position. He has too many children to take care of and not enough money or food. So he gives some of the children away to feed the rest but in that process he is in a sense "selling" them. He just loses either way. Although I don't think he is a bad person, he is trying his best to do the right thing.
ReplyDeleteJacob-
ReplyDeleteI think Amir tries to protects his father's reputation as an honorable man because that is what people knew him for. He did almost anything to help anyone out. Although Amir found out that his father had lied to him his whole life, he was still a great man to the Afghan community.
Jay-
ReplyDeleteI also thought he was taken by the taliban. Also why was he get raped?
Jay- If you think about it the only think Amir did good was read to Hassan, while Hassan always stood up for Amir and took the punishments for Amir.
ReplyDeleteLandon- Amir definitely made the right choice by going to Kabul, because it gives him a chance to redeem himself partially, and he was able to learn a little bit about his mother. If he had decided not to go then he would still have overwhelming guilt over Hassan.
ReplyDeleteWhat message do you think the author, Khaled Hosseini, was trying to send to the reader when Wahid's children were staring at Amirs watch in chapter 19?
ReplyDeleteJacob-
ReplyDeleteWell think about it he wanted people to see his father has he did a good man not a sinful thief and like Amir probabily feels guilty for his father so he's trying to make it up to him even though he is died
Is rape apart of the Afghanistan culture or is it just a fluke? Hassan, Kamal, Sorab; how many more?
ReplyDeleteKevin-
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about the talaban, they get to do what ever they want to, eat well, live well, and steal things. and there is absolutly no way that they can get caught, because its their job.
to jacob2012
ReplyDeleteHis father is his father. he probably doesn't want to protect his fathers rep., but his family's reputation all together
Jacob- Amir wants everyone else to think that Baba was a good man. He was his father, i bet you wouldn't go around talking trash about your father to people who think he is a good man. Amir knows that Baba is a liar and thief but nobody else knows or needs to know.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone think that Amir is honorable for going to save Sohrab, or do you think it is just a selfish act to try and get rid of the guilt he had from letting Hassan get violated?
ReplyDeleteCody-
ReplyDeleteSo Amir did good for Hassan. He also played with Hassan. That is doing good. Hassan was Amir only friend. They always did everything together. I don't think it's true that Amir never did any good for Hassan.
On page 249 Amir meets a beggar that has some memories about Amir's mother. Why do you think the oonly information Amir could get about his mother is from this stranger?
ReplyDeleteJacob-
ReplyDeleteRape in other countries is a show of strength and though we think it is gay and makes you look like a queer people might think he is a very strong and powerful person.
Landon- I think it was sending a message saying that they didn't know what modern things where like. Also the kids ended up to not be staring at the watch but at the food because they were so hungry.
ReplyDeleteLandon, I think he was trying to convey the idea that not all afghan children and pickpockets and thieves, although sometimes they have to be to stay alive. All they wanted was food they could care less about the shiny expensive watch. It must haver been painful to sit there watching Amir eating knowing you weren't getting any food.
ReplyDeleteTanner from inner circle
ReplyDeleteEvery civilization has its own defect. The people of the civilization do the decisions to make the civilization work. So some people make decisions to do things like raping people or do other things.
Responding to the question from the inner circle, "Is rape a part of Afghani culture?" I would have to say no. Just because we have seen multiple instances of rape in the Kite Runner doesn't mean that it happens all the time. The same thing happens in American culture but it is not talked about as often.
ReplyDeleteJacob- I think the rapes are done, but you never know. On the back of the book it says "Moving and Unexpected"-The Denver Post.
ReplyDelete-Gage
ReplyDeleteI think its like the whole thing of getting away the guilt because he thinks he should just make up for the time that he should of helped someone in trouble and stuff
Brendan-
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about Zaman not being a bad guy, he has to many tough choices to make about having to feed the children and if that meant "selling" one to save the many then that is the right choice. In a way the child could be considered a hero because he is giving himself up to help the others just like in many super hero stories.
Justin- I thought it was very weird that the most information he gets about his mother is from a guy he didn't know. Could it possibly be because his mother was a stranger from him so the only way to learn about a stranger is from another stranger?
ReplyDeleteJustin- I think he could only get information from the beggar because his father did not like to talk about his mother because he cheated on her. Also maybe he didn't talk about her because he missed her so much.
ReplyDeleteJay-
ReplyDeleteThats a good way to look at it and its a good saying "learn about a stranger from another stranger"
Justin- I think Amir was able to learn about his mother only from this stranger because for the stranger it wasn't hard to talk about, he had good memories of her, where as Baba would have been to sad to really talk about her because of her sudden and sad death.
ReplyDeleteJustin- I think Amir believed he couldn't trust anyone close to him anymore, so he believed that he could get information from someone who had no reason to lie to him.
ReplyDeleteAndy-
ReplyDeleteI don't understand why Pakistan accepts the Taliban to do these crimes. Is the Taliban like Pakistan's Armed force or something. Because it seems more of a army or dictatorship rather then a job
Justin-
ReplyDeleteMaybe the stranger was dating his mother a long time ago, and so he learned that this stranger has valuable information about his mother.
The reason Amir has to get his information is no one he knows knows anything about her and so he has to go outside of his friends and family to get info about his mother.
ReplyDeleteGage,
ReplyDeleteI think that Amir went to save Sohrab because it was the right thing to do. instead of sohrab being put in a horrible orphanage, he will have shelter, food, and a life.
Landon
ReplyDeleteI agree with you because its not the culture to rape its the people that rape. People could not care for the culture of other people so they do things on their own.
Landon- I agree. Our country just doesn't talk about rape a lot and when it does happen, people get major consequences.
ReplyDeleteAnthony
ReplyDeleteYou make a good point. Amir probably respects Baba very much so because he was a good father and Amir looked up to him. If he was a bad father, I bet he would disgrace his fathers name just a little more
Assef once said that his role model is Hitler and the Nazis and the Taliban seem very similar. So do you think Assef plays a major role in the Taliban?
ReplyDeleteHow do you think Amir felt when he heard Wahid and his wife arguing about giving him food in chapter 19?
ReplyDeleteJake- I think the taliban are like mercenaries they do good then they take everything from the people as their payment.
ReplyDeleteHow come no one told Hassan and Amir that they were half brother?
ReplyDeleteDo you think that if Amir were to find Sohrab, he would love him and take him to America as his own son, since he doesn't have one?
ReplyDeleteJake-
ReplyDeleteI understand where you are coming from, I was only agreeing with Kevin's statement. I used the wrong word, its not their job, but they kinda relate to the German Nazis in the fact that they can just go aroung killing them.
Does anyone remember good ol' Assef from so far back? Enemies like him in books like these never just go away- what do you thing happened to him? Where is he now?
ReplyDeleteLandon- I think Amir felt horrible because he ate their only food and now they are starving, I would have felt that way if that happened to me.
ReplyDeleteInner Circle- I think Mat made a good point in saying that Assef is probably the Aristocrat, I think once Assef got a taste of rape, he couldn't stop, therefor causing him to buy kids for his own disgusting uses. What does everyone else think?
ReplyDeleteDominic-
ReplyDeleteI don't think it was brought up ever. I also think Baba didn't know how to tell Amir. I don't understand why he wouldn't tell Amir either. Maybe it was degrading because Hassan was a Hazara and Amir wasn't.
Landon-
ReplyDeletei think he felt bad because he was taking the food away from children and he sees that the way things are going they probably wouldn't get much food anyway so when he left he put a lot of money under the bed so they could give the kids food.
Dominic-
ReplyDeleteBecause its kinda its not a good time and its not like it needs to be said its kinda of those things you leave only
Anthony,
ReplyDeleteThis seems very logical, I didn't think about that.
Good work
Landon-
ReplyDeleteI think he felt really guilty. Amir thought the kids were looking at his watch but they were really looking at his food. Amir still hasn't adapted to Afgani life, so he still takes things like food for granted.
Gage- I don't think that it has that much to do with rape. Assef isn't addicted to raping people. I'm not exactly sure what Assef does with the kids, he could rape them, but it's not told for sure.
ReplyDeleteKevin-
ReplyDeleteI think Assef is going to end up being that officer that keeps taking kids away, because this book is all about redemption and maybe the way Amir gets redemption is that he kills Assef because of all the evil things that he has done.
Justin-
ReplyDeleteI think that the taliban is very similr to the Nazi people. They can do what ever they please, much like the Nazi do.
Is Assef Gay or just Lustful?
ReplyDeleteAndy-
ReplyDeleteOkay... I know what you are saying now. I also agree that the Taliban are much like the Nazi's. But do you know if the Taliban is like Pakistan's Armed force... although the Taliban is taking over there own country?
Gage,
ReplyDeleteCreepy, but good thought. he might be that aristacrat. that could also be the reason Amir would take in sohrab.
I think Assef is more addicted to power than rape. Its possible that he rapes the kids but I just think that he is a very small man and the only man he can feel powerful is when he controls children.
ReplyDeleteAnthony- I'm almost positive that rape is showing power not because he is a homosexual.
ReplyDeleteJake-
ReplyDeleteI agree with you they are like the Nazi's they way there taking over stuff and killing
Jay- thats a very good point, saying Assef is addicted to rape isn't written in stone, but you have to admit it would be very possible because of Assef's past.
ReplyDeleteJay-
ReplyDeleteI think Assef is addicted to being in power. He uses rape as an ultimate way to demean someone and make them less than him.
Jay- he could rape female, instead of males
ReplyDeleteromo give me back my computer
ReplyDeleteCarlos:
ReplyDeleteSo you think he's part of the taliban? How did he get in, then? I suspect the same thing, but last we checked, he was just a sociopathic teen.
Justin-
ReplyDeleteI agree. Rape is just the way that he shows how powerful he is. And the rape scars them for life.
To answer Mrs.Leclaire's question about Amir is hesitant to get Sorhab and to bring him in as his own is because he feels guilty that he say Hassan getting raped when he was a child so he ask himself a question we'll he stand up for his Child?
ReplyDelete