Chapter 10

Question 1

What happens in the opening of Chapter 10?

Answer 1

an 18 year old Amir and his father leave Kabul in the middle of the night to the relative safety of Pakistan

Question 2

Amir’s cowardice is a source of _________ for Baba

Answer 2

embarrassment

Question 3

Where is the truck that Baba and Amir are traveling in taking them to?

Answer 3

Peshawar

Question 4

What is revealed about Kamal, one of Assef’s companions who was there for the rape, and what happens to him in this chapter?

Answer 4

Kamal had an encounter with 4 men who, Hosseini strongly hints was similarly raped and eventually killed by gas trying to escape the Soviet Russian’s rule of his home country and Kabul.

Question 5

How does Amir sum up the total of Baba’s existence in Pakistan in this chapter?

Answer 5

“One disappointing son and two suitcase”

Question 6

How does this chapter end?

Answer 6

with Kamal’s father committing suicide after the death of his son

Question 7

What does the 5 year time shift from chapter 9 to chapter 10 suggest about Amir?

Answer 7

that his personal life has become stagnant, frozen in the moment of the winter of 1975, Hassan’s rape. And that nothing of major significance has occurred in Amir’s life between the time he betrayed Hassan and the escape

Question 8

Why is it hurtful to Amir that Baba stands up for a woman to a Russia soldier on the travel to Pakistan?

Answer 8

as he is unable to demonstrate his son in compassion, decency and understanding, which he could for a total stranger.

Question 9

What does Baba believe in?

Answer 9

bravery, honour, pride and decency

Question 10

While Baba demonstrates bravery, honour, pride and decency which makes him a great man, what does this not make him?

Answer 10

this does not make him a great father

Question 11

What is a quagmire?

Answer 11

an awkward, complex, or hazardous situation

Question 12

What is Baba caught in due to not being able to identity Ali and Hassan as anything more than loyal servants?

Answer 12

a cultural quagmire (an awkward, complex, or hazardous situation)

Question 13

What is the only advise Baba could give Amir when in the fuel tanker which is the greatest show of paternal love he has shown his son, and demonstrates he is a morally ambiguous character?

Answer 13

“think of something good”

Question 14

Although Ali, Hassan and Amir had contrasting lives in Afghanistan, what is significant about the two suitcases that Amir and Baba takes to Pakistan?

Answer 14

The only difference between them all leaving their longtime home, Baba and Amir have one more suitcase

Question 15

What does the episode about Kamal and his father symbolise?

Answer 15

it symbolises that there is a volatile nature of power and those ruling Afghanistan and demonstrates that when power shifts occur, those who are the abusers may become abused
“bleeding down there”

Question 16

What have some critics suggested about Kamal’s life?

Answer 16

that it is an example of divine justice

Question 17

What is suggested from the fact that Kamal suffered greatly?

Answer 17

that while the leaders cause the evil, it is their minions and servants that suffer for the decisions of those in power

Question 18

What is important about the fact Kamal’s father killed himself after the death of his son?

Answer 18

this yet again builds on the emotional relationship between father and son that Amir has never had

Question 19

Why does Baba attack and almost kill Karim, the man who transported him from Kabul?

Answer 19

as he told them all that the truck they needed broke last week

Question 20

Baba’s power is centred around his persona in Kabul, when does this power begin to falter?

Answer 20

In Chapter 10 when he almost kills Karim over lack of self control

Question 21

What year did the communist left in Afghanistan overthrow President Daoud Khan?

Answer 21

1978

Question 22

What did the coup which overthrew Daoud Khan in 1978 do to Afghanistan?

Answer 22

this led to numerous executions and widespread paranoia

Question 23

What happened to regular Afghans after the coup of Daoud Khan?

Answer 23

they were encouraged or forced to turn in anyone who might be an enemy of the ruling faction, which is why Baba and Amir fled

Question 24

When did Russia invade which plunged the country into even greater turmoil?

Answer 24

1979-1989

Question 25

What are examples of how the rule of law had essentially collapsed by 1978?

Answer 25

the atrocities described from the Russian guards attempt of rape and Kamal’s hinted rape

Question 26

What does Baba say becomes more important during times of war?

Answer 26

decency

Question 27

Although the war forced Baba and Amir to leave their home and possessions behind, Baba only beliebers more strongly in the necessity of acting with dignity and decency, why then does he attack Kamir?

Answer 27

as Kamir lied about the truck waiting to take them to Pakistan; he was attempting to preserve the honour of not just Kamir, but all of Afghanistan.

Question 28

What theme is built on in this chapter from the potential rape of the woman in the truck, and Kamal?

Answer 28

the theme of the powerless against the powerful

Question 29

Baba defends the woman’s rape from the Russian guard, in turn what does this contrast?

Answer 29

his bravery and honour contrasts to Amir’s own cowardice in allowing Hassan’s rape

Question 30

What part of the novel does the man in the truck kissing Baba’s hand contrast to?

Answer 30

to the chapter whereby Baba becomes infuriated by the lack of honour and trust in America. The culture of respect he had once been the pinnacle of no longer exists, along with the social stature which Baba once had.