The Kite Runner by khaled Hosseini

Hi, the essay is based on the book and the movie you should see the movie. get some thesis and follow the thesis.use at least 3 quotes from the book. Also, compare each characters with others. spicily,Hassan vs. Amir. the topic should be much the essay. and i will attach the study guide and Essay Questions that the professor gave us so you can follow that. thank you! if you have any questions ask me.

The Kite Runner:  Essay Questions

1. Discuss Rahim Khan as a symbolic character and a catalyst for Amir’s moral awakening.  For example, one possibility is that he represents the modern nation of Afghanistan that might have existed if not for the power struggle between the communists and the Taliban.  In that case, he’s a catalyst for Amir’s moral awakening because he has “just enough” traditional Islamic thinking and “just enough” modern democratic liberalism to present a worldview that makes sense to Amir—one he can’t reject.  A second possibility is that he represents the selfless modern man who stays behind when his country falls apart, sacrificing his own future to guard what’s left of his nation.  In that case, he’s a catalyst for Amir’s moral awakening because he sets an example for him and demonstrates the importance of not forgetting the past.  Other possibilities also exist.  Find or invent one and discuss it.  You may also use one of the two options given above if you wish, as long as you can defend it by looking at passages from the text.

1.  Discuss Assef’s role as the villain in this story.  Consider this:  ours is the first time in history when thoroughly evil men have been able to unify traditional religion with modern psychology and sociology to present the public with a warped belief system that justifies their particular brand of repression and cruelty.  What is Assef’s worldview?  Why has it attracted a significant following in this particular place?  What is it about this society that has allowed a worldview like Assef’s to dominate the political landscape?  To answer these questions, use evidence from the text of the story, not evidence from contemporary news, political science, or history.

1. Hassan and Amir seem to have been born to be very different people, yet this is in some ways surprising, since they not only have the same father but grow up in the same house.  Yet Baba is not the same father to both boys; nor is the house the same place.  The central irony of the story is that everything that should have been an advantage for Amir winds up being a disadvantage for him.  And everything that should have been a disadvantage for Hassan winds up being an advantage for him.  This is in part because many of the lessons Baba teaches are inadvertent.  He teaches not just by what he says, but by what he does, and sometimes he teaches what not to do as well as what to do.  Explain. 

1.  What will it take to heal Sohrab?  Base your answer on the written text of the novel, not the film, because Sohrab’s problems are much more significant in the novel in the film.   How can two young intellectuals like Amir and Soraya, with their modern lives and values, give a traditional Muslim orphan like Sohrab what he needs to heal?

1.  Discuss the roles of the women in this story.  As we noted in the study guide, the mothers are significant because of their absence.  How would the story have been different if they had been there?  How would the history of modern Afghanistan have been different if women had played a greater role in the country’s modern history?  Again, answer this question by looking at evidence from the text of the story, not by talking about contemporary news, political science, or history.

Discuss the role of honor in this story.  What is honor?  Does it vary from person to person, or is it always the same thing at bottom?  We don’t talk very much about honor in our modern society.  Are we wrong not to put it at the center of our world, as it was in more traditional societies?  To answer these questions, consider Rahim Khan’s advice:  “There is a way to be good again.”  Consider Baba’s rule, that there is only one crime—theft.  (See pages 16-18, chapter three.)  Here are some more specific scenes you might look at:  Consider Baba’s response to Amir’s question about new servants (pages 88-90, chapter either).  Consider Amir’s failure to try to stop the rape of Hassan (pages 75-8, chapter seven).  Consider why Hassan takes the blame for stealing Amir’s birthday watch (page 108, chapter nine.)  Consider Amir’s feelings as he watches Hassan and Ali leaving the house (pages 108-9, end of chapter nine).  Consider Amir’s explanation of why he and Baba leave Kabul in secret, without even telling their new household servant (page 112, chapter ten).  Consider Baba’s defense of the young mother in the truck on pages 114-17 (chapter ten).  Consider the scene Baba creates in the Fast and Easy convenience store on pages 127-8 (chapter eleven).  Consider the marriage proposal Baba makes to General Taheri, Soraya’s father, followed by the wedding and Baba’s death (pages 162-73, chapters twelve and thirteen).  Consider what Rahim Khan says to Amir when he initially declines to go to Kabul to rescue Sohrab (pages 220-3, chapter seventeen).