The Kite Runner, Chapters 1-5

What is Assef's vision?

"Afghanistan for Pashtuns"

What does Rahim Khan say in his note to Amir?

"God has granted you a special talent."

What does Baba say about Amir at the end of Chapter 3? (hint: "If I hadn't seen the doctor...")

"If I hadn't seen the doctor pull him out of my wife with my own eyes, I'd never believe he's my son."

What reason does Amir give for not thinking of Hassan as a friend?

"In the end, I was a Pashtun and he was a Hazara [...] and nothing was ever going to change that."

What does Baba say to Amir about the Mullahs?

"You'll never learn anything of value from those bearded idiots."

What was Amir's story about?

'A man who found a magic cup and learned that if he wept into the cup, his tears turned into pearls.'

What did Amir talk Hassan into doing when they were kids?

'Firing walnuts with his slingshot at the neighbour's one-eyed German shepherd'

What is the opening line of the novel? (What is its significance?)

'I became what I am today at the age of twelve, on a frigid overcast day in the Winter of 1975.'

What happened to Hassan's mother?

'She ran off with a clan of travelling singers and dancers.'

What does Rahim Khan say just before he hangs up?

'There is a way to be good again.'

What does Amir think about Hassan in reaction to his criticism?

'What does he know, that illiterate Hazara? He'll never be anything but a cook. How dare he criticise you?'

What are the final two lines of Chapter 5?

'Which is ironic. Because that was the winter that Hassan stopped smiling.'

Where do Hassan and Ali live?

'a modest little mud hut'

What does Amir see when he walks through Golden Gate Park? (What authorial method is used here?)

'a pair of kites, red with long blue tails, soaring in the sky' (motif)

According to the history book, what did people call Hazaras?

'mice-eating, flat-nosed, load-carrying donkeys'

What does Amir do when reading to Hassan and he reaches a big word?

'tease him, expose his ignorance'

What does Amir call Hassan?

'the harelipped kite runner'

According to lore, what is Baba said to have done?

'wrestled a black bear in Baluchistan with his bare hands.'

In which year was Baba born/did Zahir Shah begin his 40 year reign of Afghanistan?

1933

Eid

3 days of celebration after Ramadan

What historical event takes place at the start of Chapter 5 (1973)?

A bloodless coup, led by General Daoud Khan

What happens when Hassan and Amir take a walk from the house to the cinema?

A soldier harasses Hassan about his mother

Kite Fighting

A sport in which the competitors strive to cut each others kite strings

Laaf

Afghan tendency to exaggerate

Who is Ali? What do the neighborhood children call him? What does it mean? Why do they call him this?

Ali (Hassan's dad) was called Babalu, or Boogeyman, by the kids. He had polio, so he walked with difficulty and had paralysis on the lower part of his face that prevented him from smiling.

Why is Baba 'disgusted' with Amir?

Amir cried at the Buzkashi tournament when a chapandaz was trampled

Why would Amir wish he had some kind of scar like Hassan? He says," It wasn't fair."

Amir is so desperate for his father's attention and sympathy that he wishes something like a cleft lip upon himself. He is jealous of Baba's caring nature toward Hassan.

What does the book in Amir's dad's study tell him about the history of Hazara and Pashtun?

Amir learns that Pashtuns oppressed the Hazaras because Pashtuns were Sunni Muslims, while Hazaras were Shi'a. People refer to Hazaras as mice-eating, flat-nosed, load-carrying donkeys.

How does Amir feel about his father in these chapters?

Amir refers to him as a force of nature and describes his glare as something that would "drop the devil to his knees begging for mercy." Amir respects Baba's ability to build and open an orphanage on his own. Amir loves Baba but also fears him.

Baba

Amir's father. Bear like man (6'5) businessman. Built an orphanage

What was Hassan's first word? Why do you think that may be important?

Amir. This demonstrates the loyalty that Hassan has to Amir. His unfaltering love and obedience are crucial to the story.

Hazara

An ethnic group known as Shi'a Muslims

What did Baba build?

An orphanage

Hassan

Anir's friend, harelipped kite runner, he has a cleft lip. He is a Shi'a Muslim/ Hazara. His first word was Amir and his mother left him

Explain how the metaphor on page 21 describes Baba's feelings toward Amir: "Children aren't coloring books. You don't get to fill them with your favorite colors."

Baba sees Amir as a disappointment. The thought that Amir's birth could be viewed as a sin (stealing his mother's life) is disheartening. Amir overhears Rahim Kahn trying to convince Baba to accept Amir for who he is, instead of pressuring Amir to be just like him.

Rahim Khan

Baba's best friend, father figure to Amir, tells Amir that he and Hassan are brothers

What is ironic about Hassan's birthday present?

Baba's gift of surgery to fix Hassan's cleft lip allows him to smile. Ironically, Hassan's scar is almost fully faded the winter he stops smiling.

What was Amir's first word? What was Hassan's first word?

Baba, Amir

Kabul

Capital of Afghanistan

When is Chapter 1 set?

December 2001

What supposed sin does Mullah Fatiullah Khan teach Amir about that Baba commits?

Drinking

What punishment did the two Pashtun men receive for killing Ali's parents?

Enlist in the army for one year

What is Baba's birthday gift to Hassan?

Fixing his harelip

Inshallah

God willing

Who is Hassan? Describe him physically.

Harelipped kite runner - childhood playmate of the narrator (Amir); round face like a China doll; flat, broad nose; slanting, narrow eyes that looked gold, green, even sapphire in the right sunlight; tiny, low-set ears; pointed stub chin that looked like a meaty appendage (unusual projecting part); cleft lip

Ali

Hassan's father and Baba's servant, husband of Sanaubar and she let him 5 days after Hassan was born

Who is Sanaubar? How is she contrasted to Amir's mother?

Hassan's mother ran off with a clan of traveling singers and dancers after his birth. Amir's mother hemorrhaged during childbirth with him and died. Sanaubar was nineteen years younger than Hassan's dad. She had a dishonorable reputation and was her husband's first cousin. She was beautiful yet scandalous.

Sanaubar

Hassan's mother who gave birth to him and left with a clan of traveling singers and dancers less than 5 days after his birth

Who is Assef? What is his vision for Afghanistan?

He is Pashtun and a bully who has been brainwashed by his father. He beats kids up with brass knuckles to assert his dominance. He tells Amir he is a disgrace to their kind for being friends with Hassan. He says that Hitler had it all right, and it won't be long before Afghanistan can rid their country of Hazara people. He blames Amir and his father for keeping Hassan and his father around. He is about to beat up Amir, but Hassan draws a slingshot and aims it at Assef's face.

What does Hassan's relationship with Amir reveal about his personality?

He is loyal. He never tells on his friend and is easily persuaded to do things, even when he knows his dad would get mad.

What does Assef threaten (foreshadow)?

He will be patient, he will see Amir again, and Amir will be sorry. This threat foreshadows Assef's plans to hurt him in the future.

Sofia/Sophia

Highly educated women, universally regarded as one of Kabul's most respected, beautiful, virtuous lady, tech classic Farsi literature, descendant of the Royal Family, Amir's mom

Why does Amir provide such an elaborate description of his family's home? What do the details of the family pictures in Amir's house reveal?

His vivid description lets the reader see things from his perspective. He is reflecting upon his memories of growing up there. He wants to convey that it was a safe, happy, and wonderful place to live. A series of pictures provide contextual understanding: Grandfather and King Nadir Shah - 1931 - two years before the King's assassination; parents' wedding night - happy picture; Baba (father) and his best friend and business partner standing outside the house - neither of them smiling - Amir is a baby in the picture, and his dad is holding him looking tired and grim (Baba is holding him, but he is holding onto the finger of Rahim Khan)

Which leader does Assef admire?

Hitler

Soviet Union

Invaded Afghanistan in 1979

What is a cleft lip?

It is a birth defect that usually appears as a missing part of the upper lip extended toward the nose. People call this a "harelip," which is now generally considered offensive.

What happened to Ali's parents?

Killed by drunk-drivers

Which political figure is Amir's grandfather pictured with and when was the picture taken? What was the significance of this year?

King Nadir Shah, 1931, two years before the king's assassination

Kofta

Meatball and pickle sandwich

Tandoor

Oven to bake naan

What is the name of Amir's friend who calls from Pakistan?

Rahim Khan

What is Amir and Hassan's favourite story?

Rostam and Sohrab

Where is Chapter 1 set?

San Francisco, California

What is the name of Hassan's mother?

Sanaubar

What is Hassan's favourite book?

Shahnamah

How did Sanaubar react to Hassan when he was born? How did she treat her husband Ali? What impact does this have on Hassan and Ali?

She took one glance at Hassan, saw his cleft lip, and barked a bitter laughter. She refused to even hold him and said to Ali, "Now you have your own idiot child to do all your smiling for you!" She made it clear that she did not love or respect her husband. Ali's self esteem must have suffered greatly. Hassan likely feels a sense of abandonment that affects his sense of self-worth.

What fact did Baba 'playfully rub in skeptics' faces' about Sofia Akrami (his wife)?

She was descendent of the royal family

Russi

Slang name for a Russian soldier

What does Hassan inadvertently teach Amir about?

The Plot Hole

What was Amir and Hassan's favourite place to go after school?

The Pomegranate Tree

What is the purpose of the flashback at the beginning of the novel? What does the reader learn about the narrator?

The description of the winter day in 1975 suggests the narrator is hiding from something. He is trying to bury his past but states that it always claws its way out (foreshadowing). He moved to San Francisco to get away from his past.

What sin does Baba teach Amir about?

Theft

According to Baba, what is the one and only sin?

Theft.

Describe the complicated importance of the word "friend" in Chapter 4.

There are two complex friendships that lay the foundation for this story: Baba and Ali and then Amir and Hassan. Although Ali and Hassan are servants to Baba and Amir, Ali and Hassan do everything together as children, just as "friends" would do. Because of their family history, they do not use the word "friend" because it would be considered a disgrace for Baba and Amir to be friends with Ali and Hassan.

What does it mean to be Hazara (Shi'a Muslim), Afghanistan's minority group? Who, in the story thus far, is Hazara?

They are outcasts who like Chinese/"mongol" people. Ali, Hassan, and Sanaubar are Hazara, which does not go unnoticed.

What does it mean to be Pashtun (Sunni Muslim), Afghanistan's majority group? Who, in the story thus far, is Pashtun?

They are the group who persecutes and oppresses the Hazaras. They also drove them from their lands, burned their homes, and sold their women. Amir's family is Pashtun.

What genre of film did Amir and Hassan love?

Western

What time of year and year does Amir reference in C1?

Winter 1975

Burqua

a long, garment that covers the entire body and has a narrow mesh screen to cover your eyes

Naan

bread

Azan

call to prayer

Watan

homeland

Pashtun

largest ethnic group in Afghanistan, Sunni Muslims

Amir

main character, enjoys poetry and reading, his mother died after birth. Childhood friend is Hassan, he doesn't participates in sports

Bachem

meaning "my child."

Babalu

name they called ali, "boogeyman"

Assef

older than Hassan and Amir, a bully

Sunni

one of the two main branches of orthodox Islam

Namaz

prayer