The Kite Runner Questions (Chapters 11-25)

1. Chapter 11 has a new setting. What is it?

Fremont, California, the United States.

2.  “America was different. America was a river roaring along, unmindful of the

past. I could wade into this river, let my sins drown to the bottom, let the

waters carry me someplace far.” This quote from Chapter 11 is said by whom?

What does it reveal? What does this metaphor mean?

It was said by Amir, two years since they arrived to USA. It shows that America seems to be the new country, were Amir can be free of all the problems that were taking place in Kabul. It can also be considered as a reborn for Amir, in which he can forget his sins (Hassan's rape, maybe).

3. What does Baba give Amir as a graduation present? What is Amir feeling at this

moment? What is Baba feeling?

The gift was a Ford Gran Torino. He felt very excited and happy about the kindness that Baba showed, because he knew how hard was to get a car.

4. What does Amir tell his father he wants to study in college? What is Baba’s

reaction?

He says he wants to be a writer. Baba, in some way, accepted it and felt that he was going to be a very good writer (At least, he tells so to General Taheri). However, Baba didn't feel happy for it and he thought his degree would be wasted. 

5. Baba observes that “It may be unfair, but what happens in a single day can

change the course of a whole lifetime.” Whom is he speaking about? Why?

What else might be significant about that quote?

He is speaking to Amir about the General's daughter, as Amir asked about the stories floating around her. It means that one action at one moment can change the whole future of a person.

7. In 1989, what is going on in Afghanistan? Who are the Mujahedin? Who is in

charge?

In 1989, the Shorawi or Soviets left Afghanistan. The Mujahedin are that afghan muslins that are fighting against the soviert-puppet government of Najubullah.

8. Chapter 14 brings us back to the opening of the book: the telephone call from

Rahim Khan. What is Rahim asking Amir to do?

Amir has to go to Pakistan because Rahim Khan is very sick. He also says that there's something pending in his life. 

10. Who is Farzana? Sohrab?

Farzana is Hassan's wife, while Sohrab is their only son.

12. In Chapter 17, Rahim gives Amir a letter from Hassan, who wrote it six months

before. What is the tone of this letter? How does Amir react?

The tone in the letter is quite sad and negative. Although Hassan explains that the situation in Kabul is horrible, he also seems to be happier when he refers to his son Sohrab. In fact, he would like Amir to meet him. Also, Hassan is preccupied  by Rahim's health.

13. In Chapter 18, Amir finds out that both Hassan and his wife were shot by the

Taliban trying to protect Baba’s house, orphaning their son. Rahim tells Amir

it is his job to find Sohrab in Karteh-Seh, Afghanistan, and take him to an

orphanage in Peshawar, Pakistan. What is Amir’s reaction? Do you think

Rahim’s dying wish is unfair? Why or why not?
At first, Amir didn't want to go, probably because he had a comfortable life in America. Then he started to feel the responsibility (Maybe for the rape?). Rahim asked this as his last wish, as he would die soon. I think he is just being honest and that he want to end his life in peace, contributing to save Sohrab. After that, Rahim told him about his brotherhood with Hassan. At that moment, Amir broke and he rushed out of the apartment ("I'm thirty-eight years old and I've just found out my whole life is one big fucking lie!").

14. In Chapter 19, Farid is engaged to drive Amir from Peshawar to Afghanistan.

Describe his first impression of Amir. When Farid said, “You’ve always been a

tourist here, you just didn’t know it,” (p. 232), what did he mean? What is

Farid’s impression of emigrant Afghans who return to visit Afghanistan?

Farid gave him a dismissive look. The quote could mean that Amir never got into Afhganistan reality, as he was from a wealthy family. He also seems to think that returning afghans are coward people who escaped with the money they had and didn't had the courage to defend the country.

15. In Chapter 20, the director of the orphanage, Zaman, tells Amir that Sohrab

was taken by a Taliban official, who takes children, usually girls, about once a

month, for his “sexual pleasure.” The official gives Zaman a great deal of cash.

How does Zaman defend his actions?

He says that he gives out one child to pay for the food and necesities of all the others. He has a reasonable point, as he doesn't have any money to pay for those children's needs.

16. What is your reaction to Rahim Khan’s letter to Amir? Should the letter have

been presented to him earlier? Do you feel that Baba was a good man?

After reading the letter, I still think Baba was a good man. Living with a hided son and trying to keep the social view of the family was very hard for him, and he did a lot of social actions to be considered good.  Also, we get to know that Rahim knew what happened to Hassan and he understood it, although he thought Amir acted in the incorrect way.

18. Chapter 25 resolves the action with Sohrab and Amir returning to San Francisco.

Describe Sohrab for the first seven months he is in San Francisco.

He was calm and pretty sad, he doesn't speak much. He didn't seem to be happy at all, maybe he felt he betrayed his friends from the orphanage.

19. What happens as Amir runs the kite for Sohrab?

He shouts "For you, a thousand times over", the same phrase that Hassan said many years before. It gives a perfect end to the story, connecting it with Hassan's duty in the kite tournaments.

20. How is this another full circle?

It is very special, because in the 70s Hassan runned kites for Amir. Now, 30 years later, Amir runs a kite for Hassan's son. Maybe, it could be considered as the final redemption of Amir towards Hassan, as he always felt guilty for what happened with Assef.

Europe Trip 2013

Next friday, we are leaving to Europe! We'll be there for about 20 days, and we'll visit Scotland, England, France and Italy. Luckily, I'll also stay with my family to visit Germany, as some of my ancestors were born there. I hope we'll have a great time and many experiences that I'll surely share in this blog. Here is the countdown!

The Kite Runner Graphic Novel Analysis

Last class, I had to present about a specific page of the Graphic Novel inspired in The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini. I spoke about page 98 supported by a Power Point, which I link in this post. I think this was a great activity because we had the chance to learn about the novel by using a completely different text format, a comic.

PPT

Afghanistan in the 60s and 70s

To have a better comprehension of The Kite Runner context, I researched about the country before the war and I found a video with some interesting images.

Summary: The Kite Runner (Chapters 1-10)

As I'm reading The Kite Runner, I thought it would be a good idea to write a small summary of each chapter as I read them. In this post, I'll share my thoughts as I advance with the reading.

Chapter 1

Many characters are introduced, as Amir, Baba, Rahim Khan (who calls by phone to invite Amir to Pakistan) and Ali. After the phone call, Amir went for a walk by the park to think about his life.  Memories from 1975: Something changed in those days.

Chapter 2

The Narrator (Amir) explains his childhood with Hassan. Amir was Pashtun, while Hassan was Hazara. They both lost their mothers and their fathers were Baba and Ali. Ali married with Sanaubar to restore his uncle's honor. Hassan (whose mother run away when he was borned) lived in a small house with his father, near Baba's Mansion. He used to play with Amir and they had a strong relationship, as they were fed by the same breasts. They once met a soldier who said he had a relation with Hassan's mother.

Chapter 3

 Baba built an Orphanage. Against the popular beliefs against his idea, Baba was succesful. Baba was supposed to become a lawyer as is father, but he decided to be a businessman and became one of the richest merchants in Kabul.
Amir had a Islam teacher at the school. Baba thought that teachers weren't good, and he talked to Amir about sins. He believed that all sins were variations from theft. (Amir knew Baba's father was killed by a murder).

Baba felt his son was not like him. Amir tried to enjoy football, but he prefered to read poems. Amir listens Baba talking to Rahim Khan about him.

Chapter 4

Amir explains the relation between Baba and Ali. They had a similar childhood to Amir and Hassan, because Ali's parents died when they were crashed by a car and Baba's father, a famous lawyer, decided to adopt him. Amir also goes deeper referring to his relationship with Hassan and the differences they had, specially in terms of education. Amir used to read stories for Hassan in a tree in the cemetery. Once, he started creating a random story and Hassan, that thought Amir was reading, said it was the best story he had ever heard. Motivated by this, Amir wrote a story about a man who cried pearls, which was only read by Rahim Khan, as Baba didn't show interest in it. When Amir was going to read it to Hassan, something happened. Along this chapter, we can appreciate that Amir has a special rivalry with his friend Hassan, as he always wants to be better than him. For example, he laughed at Hassan because he didn't know some words to show he was "better". 

Chapter 5

Suddenly, they heard like a thunder outside. There was a coup and a new republic was established, along with a president. Amir and Hassan went out to read at the tree, when they met Assef, who was famous for his steel knuckles. He talked about Hitler, how he hated the Hazaras and his relation with the new president. Assef blamed Amir for treating the hazara as his friend. Amir and Hassan managed to escape from the knuckles thanks to Hassan's slingshot.

Time later, Hassan received his birthday gift from Baba: Dr Kumar, a surgeon. Amir got his harelip fixed.

Chapter 6

Winter starts. Most of the children in Kabul didn't have to go to school in winter, therefore it was considered the best season. In winter, cities held the Kite Tournaments, in which kite runners also take an important spot. Amir and Hassan used to make their own kites, but as they were better fighters than makers, they started buying them. Also, Hassan was the best kite runner Amir had ever seen. Amir remembers a story in which Hassan caught a kite, in which they had a very special and uncomfortable talk.
In 1975, Amir saw Hassan run a kite for the last time. In that year, Amir's neighborhood held a very big tournament. Baba told Amir that he thought he was going to win it. Amir considered this as a chance to prove he was a good son and decided to win the competition.
The night before the tournament, many men came to Amir's house to talk with Baba. Meanwhile, Amir and Hassan were playing cards. They talk about how iranians were more developed and they way many afghans were envious because iranians were Shi'a muslims. Finally, Hassan said Amir was going to make Baba very proud tomorrow and Amir said he was going to buy a TV for each one day. He then reflected and felt sad on how Hassan accepted he was going to live in his little shack in the yard forever.

Chapter 7

It is the kite tournament day. While Amir was having breakfast, Hassan told him about his dream ("There is no monster, just water"). They went out and saw a lot of people preparing for the competition. At the beginning, Amir thought about don't participating, but Hassan convinced him to go on. After hours of fighting, Amir's kite was the last in the air, and Hassan ran the blue kite for Amir. Amir was congratulated by all the neighbors, including Omar, who was playing soccer with his brother. Amir asked Omar about Hassan, and he said he saw him ran toward the bazaar. Amir started searching for him, and after a chat with an old fruit merchant, he managed to find him in an alley; Hassan had the blue kite, but he was also trapped by Assef and his two friends. Assef offered freedom for the kite, but Hassan wouldn't give it, so Assef tortured him and, at some point, he unzipped his jeans and dropped his underwear. At this moment, Amir saw the eyes of Hassan and remembered the look of the dying sheep in the religious ceremonies. Amir ran away, and hided. When he realized that Assef had left, he came back to Hassan, and saw him tired and his shirt was ripped, but he was holding the kite. Amir took the kite to Baba and the hugged strongly.

Chapter 8

Amir barely saw Hassan in the following weeks. Amir asked Baba to take him to Jalalabad on friday and he accepted, but he took all the family with them. After a fun weekend, they came back home. Hassan kept doing all the chores, but he was sleeping most of the time. By the other side, Amir tried to stay as long as possible in his bedroom to avoid seeing him, and he wanted to return to school. Amir was kind of cruel with Hassan and asked him to go away, but the Hazara would keep on doing the chores and being loyal.
When Amir was planted tulips with Baba, he asked about hiring new servants and Baba got angry at him. After the tense situation, school started. One day, Amir went to the cemetery with Hassan to read him a story. Before he started reading, he started firing pomegranates at Hassan, feeling a mix of emotions: He wanted Hassan to hit him back, but he wouldn't. Again, he showed to be a loyal servant, and that bothered Amir. He felt guilty.
After that, in 1976, Amir's birthday party was organized. Four hundred people was invited, from which Amir barely knew a quarter. Assef and his parents showed up, and he was really kind with Baba. Amir took the present and went out of the house: It was a Hitler's biography. In that moment, Rahim Khan sit  behind him and told him about how he almost married a Hazara when he was 18. When Amir heard the fireworks, he returned to the party and saw Hassan serving drinks to Assef, while he grinned. 

Chapter 9

The birthday is over. The morning after, Amir looks at his presents, but he is not really happy, although he got an awesome bicicle. After some reflections, he went for a ride and he received a present from Ali: The Shahnamah. After that, he left his watch and some money in Hassan's place, and told Baba Hassan was a thief. This provoked Baba to call them all together. Hassan said he had stolen those things, and Baba decided to forgive him, surprisingly. However, Ali said that they were leaving anyways. Amir was shocked by Hassan's action and loyalty, but he felt it was his final sacrifice. Baba asked them to stay, but the wouldn't, so he drove them to the station in a sad, raining day.

Chapter 10

Baba and Amir escape from Kabul, and they're in there way to Pashwar, in Pakistan. They were travelling with a young couple. Amir felt sick, so Karim had to stop the vehicle for some time. At a checkpoint, a Russian soldier wanted to have half an hour with the lady, but Baba stood firm and refused. He would have been killed if it wasn't for another soldier, who apologized for his partners atitude (He said he was into drugs). After the passed, the husband kissed Baba's hands. When they arrived to Jalalabad they slept in a small house, where they should wait for Toor (Karim's brother) to continue the trip. However, Karim informed they that Toor's truck was broken and that he was waiting for the parts to fix it. When he heard this, Baba almost killed Karim, but the lady stopped him. In the small basement, they met Kamal and his father (Assef friend). After one week waiting, Karim said the truck was not going to be fixed. At last, he offered his cousin fuel tru
ck. That same night, they left in the fuel truck. During the trip, Amir tried to have good thoughts and he remembered some adventures with Hassan. Finally, they arrived to Pakistan. A bus would take them to Peshawar. Amir felt sad for Baba: After all, he only had one disappointing son and two suitcases. Also, he realized that Kamal had died during the trip (He won't breathe!) . At last, they saw how Kamal's father shot at Karim, killing him. 

Article: The Tongue of Singapore

The Tongue of Singapore

In a highly developed asiatic country, English stands as the main language.

Singapore in famous for archieving high development in a few decades. Since their independence from the British Empire, in 1963, Singapore has been considered a cosmopolitan country, in which languages combine and evolve every year. Despite the fact that over 70% of the population is Chinese  English stands as the most important language. Children are taught English in schools, the law is written in English and even the traffic signs are in English! However, the government ensures that young children also learn their ethnic group languages, to conserve the relevant aspects of each culture. This has a great importance in a country that contains Malays, Chinese, Indians and other races in its essence.

As a once British Colony, and now members of the commonwealth, Singapore still has some of the English aspects in its organisation and culture. In this sense, it's interesting to see that the legal system used in Singapore is based on the "Common Law". Therefore, the laws and legal processes in Singapore are all done in English, something astonishing if we consider that the English population is the 2% or 3%. However, the use of English is not just tradition, as it grants some benefits to the country. In fact, when Singapore gained self-government in 1959, the local leaders decided to keep English as the main language to maximize the economic opportunities. 

However, we know that languages evolve. In Singapore, the case hasn't been different, as Singlish emerged in the streets. Singlish is an English-based creole language, which combines Malay, Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese, Tamil, English and other indic languages, and began to be used in the sixties, after Singapore's Independence. Singlish is spoken by the popular communities in the Island, as it is considered a low prestige language by the upper clases. In fact, the government created the "Speak good English movement" to promote the use of Standard English. Also, Singlish is heavily discouraged in the mass media and in schools

As a cosmopolitan country, Singapore resembles the asiatic culture with a clear British influence in its roots. Someone could say that Singapore has taken the best of the Eastern and Western world to achieve a rich and highly developed society, supported in a huge economy with a population of only five millions. In this process, languages were naturally combined to ensure the communication between different ethnic groups.