The kite runner: Chapters 5-7

Study Questions

Chapters 5-7

1)    Explain why winter is Amir’s favourite season.
Because is the best time of the year toi fliught kites, and the kites tournament is coming in this season.
2)  Discuss the aftermath of the kite-fighting tournament, and assess Amir’s initial reaction to Assef’s attack on Hassan. Why does Amir decide not to help Hassan?
Because he wasn't that brave to deffend Hassan, and gets interested in what Assef sais about their relation between him and his servant.
3) Do you think Hassan knows that Amir witnessed the rape? Explain. What does Amir’s behaviour in the aftermath of the rape indicate about him?
I believe Hassans knows, because after this episode, their relationship changed, although only Hassan was the victim and Amir was, suposedly, not there.
4) Analyze the metaphor comparing Amir and Hassan’s interaction to the game of  “insect torture.” What is the “other face” Amir sees when he asks Hassan if he would eat dirt for him?
Amir realize that Hassan is a true friend of him, because he would make everything for him, although they both knew that Amir wouldn't.
5)  What emotions does Amir experience before the kite tournament? What is Hassan’s response? Refer to the simile “I felt like a soldier trying to sleep in the trenches the night before a major battle” (50)
Because he really wanted to win and demonstrate everybody that he was really good at something, and refered to himself as a soldier just before battle.

The kite runner: Questions 1-4

Study Questions

Chapters One-Four

1)       Compare and contrast Amir and Hassan, noting their backgrounds, how each boy interacts with his father, and the circumstances surrounding their birth.

Amir comes from a wealthy family, lives in an enormous house and has a very important father. Hassan isn't rich nor wealthy, his father work's for Amir's father. Baba is not very close to his son, instead he is kind of affective with Hassan. Both child hasn't mother, Amir's died in his birth, and Hassan's escaped after she gave birth.

2)       Discuss the origins of the ongoing conflict between Pashtuns and Hazaras. What effect might this have on Amir and Hassan’s relationship?

Amir was a Pashtun, they were the dominant ethnic group, and ruled over the Hazans, from where Hassan and his father belonged. Society maked the difference between both groups and as Amir and Hassan belonged each one to a group, they weren't supposed to be friends.

3)       How does Amir feel about Baba? Examine information about Baba, and discuss how Amir and Baba’s differences affect their relationship.

Baba was a visionary, he made his fortune taking a lot of risks and going against the popular opinion. As a child, he played football, was a marvellous player, he was alsow strong so others boys shouldn't bully him. Instead, Amir was very skinny, other children bullied him, but Hassan protected him. He didn't played or liked football as his father did, he liked reading and writing poetry. This made Baba very disapointed and upset, and his son noticed, to the point that he thought that his father hated him for "killing" his mother in the birth.

4)       What does Baba say is the only sin? Explain his theory and whether Amir is able to understand it.

The only sin that exists according with Baba is to steal, to steal freedom, rights, life. Amir isn't able to understand his father's reflection, so he proceeded to explain it better. With the second explanation Amir is able to understand, as he said that when you killed someone, you stoled his life, his wife's right to a husband, his son's right to a father.

5)       Examine Baba and Ali’s relationship. How is Amir’s relationship similar to theirs? What impact do their ethnic backgrounds have on these relationships?

Baba and Ali had a similar relationship with Amir and Hassan. They were rised together as brothers, both Baba and Amir were Pashtuns as Ali and hassan were Hazans. Both Baba and his son never tought their partners as friends, although they had all the characteristics that friends had, and this was because of they ethnicity.

6)       Discuss the significance of Hassan’s favourite book, the Shahnamah?

This was one of the main activities they had at that time. Hassan admired one of the sotries were a character cried his enemy after he killed him, and was impressed because as his enemy was his son, he overcomed their rivality, they loved each other.

7)       Assess the role Rahim Khan plays in Amir’s early life.

He was more affective than hgis real father, and supported him in his decisions, like writing the short story, Rahim encouraged him to keep going.

Writing Task

Language in Singapore, is it a problem?

Entering in to the roots of Singlish 

   I've travelled through different countries for the past three months, and I had never found such a mix of cultures like here in Singapore. I went to eat to the coast and found myself immersed in a soup of different dialects. So I decided to interview someone who worked in the shore, and founded Shabil-Ash, a local fisherman. He told me he was an Indian descendant; his grand father arrived as an immigrant 75 years ago. I asked him about the peculiar dialect he specked, and answered “is Singlish, a mixture of English and other languages”. I wanted to get deeper in this issue, and asked “Can you identify, while speaking Singlish, if someone is Indian, or Chinese, or Malaysian?” Shabil said “of course, but sometimes is harder with the more ancient descendants”. “And how you recognize them?” I was almost forced to ask. “By their different dialects they use sometimes, for example, Chinese people end their phrases with funny terms like “lah”, “leh”, and “mah”. Sometimes is harder to understand them, but we make the effort.” Whit this information I was satisfied, so I left him with his net and his boat and travelled downtown. There, I realized that there were all kind of religions, but they still remained as the original, there wasn’t any mixture as I expected. Buddhism, Taoism, Muslims, Hindus and even Catholics, all of these different religions and more can be found in the same street. Chinese temples in a corner and a Christian church down the road. I was amazed with such a variety of cultures and religions, and how they convey. If someone comes for holydays, you will feel lost with this peculiar language at the beginning, but the knowledge you will gain justifies the effort. I strongly suggest this destination if you are a cultural tourist, because you have a wide variety of cultures in a 581, 5 km² country.