Chapter 1 to 3
Who is Hassan and what is his relationship to Amir?
Hassan is Amir’s childhood servant and closest friend.
What happens after Amir wins the kite tournament?
What traumatic event happens to Hassan in the alley?
Hassan runs to retrieve the last kite as a trophy for Amir.
Assef and his friends assault Hassan while Amir watches but does not intervene.
What job does Baba take in America?
Bonus: for 500 points. Discuss the significance of this.
He works at a gas station.
How does this revelation of Hassan's relation intensify Amir’s sense of guilt?
It deepens his guilt because he realizes Hassan was not just a loyal friend but also his half-brother, making his betrayal even more painful.
Why does Amir compare Baba to a “thief” after learning the truth about Hassan?
Amir realizes Baba stole Hassan’s identity, his right to know his father, and Amir’s chance to grow up knowing his brother.
What sport does Baba enjoy and expect Amir to enjoy too?
Soccer
How does Hassan defend Amir?
What major annual event takes place in Kabul and when?
He threatens Assef with his slingshot.
During winter. The kite-fighting tournament.
Why do Amir and Baba leave Afghanistan?
Where are they going to?
They flee after the Soviet invasion.
Pakistan.
Describe Rahim Khan’s physical condition when Amir meets him in Pakistan. (200) What might this symbolize about the past? (400)
Rahim Khan is extremely weak, frail, and close to death.
His condition symbolizes the fading past and the burden of unresolved truths that Amir must confront.
Explain the significance of Rahim Khan’s statement: “There is a way to be good again.”
It suggests that redemption is possible through courageous actions that confront past mistakes.
Which state in USA is Amir at the beginning of the novel?
Bonus 100: Name the City
Amir is living in California
Bonus: Fremont
What story does Amir read to Hassan that he made up?
Amir reads a story he wrote about a man whose tears turn into pearls.
What does Amir do to push Hassan away and get rid of him?
What does Baba do when Hassan confesses?
He hides money and a watch under Hassan’s mattress and accuses him of stealing.
Baba forgives him.
How does the Taliban’s treatment of Hassan highlight the novel’s themes of injustice and ethnic discrimination?
Hassan, a Hazara, is executed simply for living in Baba’s house. This reflects the historical persecution of Hazaras in Afghanistan.
What internal conflict does Amir experience when Rahim Khan asks him to return to Afghanistan?
Amir is afraid of facing danger and his painful past, but he also feels morally responsible to help Sohrab.
What phone call changes Amir's thoughts about the past? Quote.
Rahim Khan calls Amir and tells him that there is “a way to be good again.”
Who are the bullies that threaten Amir and Hassan?
Assef and his friends Wali and Kamal.
Who is Soraya?
General Taheri's daughter (200) and later Amir's wife (100)
Explain why Baba’s secret about Hassan changes Amir’s understanding of his father.
Amir realizes Baba was not morally perfect. Baba had judged others harshly while hiding his own major wrongdoing, which complicates Amir’s image of him. He was a hypocrite.
What City in Pakistan did Rahim live in?
Peshiwar
What ethnic group is:
1. Amir
2. Hassan
3. Assef
4. Where does Hassan's people originate?
1. Pashtun
2. Hazara
3. German/Pashtun
4. Hazarajat
Why does Amir feel uncomfortable around Hassan afterward?
Bonus: Ask a team a question. If they get it wrong you get half their points. If they get it right they get half of yours.
He feels guilty for not helping him.
What illness does Baba develop?
What important event happens before Baba dies?
He develops lung cancer.
Amir and Soraya get married.
Why does Amir feel both anger and sadness after learning the truth about Hassan?
Amir is angry that his life was shaped by a lie and that Hassan was denied his rightful place in the family. He is also saddened by the lost chance to have a true brother.
What did the Afghanistan people call the Soviet Soldiers?
Roussi