Chapter 5

Question 1

What does Amir say about the night which opens up Chap.5?

Answer 1

that it was the beginning of the end of the Afghanistan they knew

Question 2

What year was the Communist takeover?

Answer 2

1978

Question 3

What year did Russia invade?

Answer 3

1979

Question 4

Who was in control of the coup which took over government?

Answer 4

Daoud Khan, the king’s cousin

Question 5

What does Assef always carry around?

Answer 5

a set of brass knuckles

Question 6

Who does Assef brag that his Dad knows?

Answer 6

Daoud Khan, the cousin of the king whom he overtook in the bloodless coup

Question 7

What does Assef say about HItler?

Answer 7

that he had the right idea about ethnic purity, that Hazaras just pollute the country

Question 8

When Assef claims that Amir is apart of the problem for being friends with a Hazara, what does Assef briefly think?

Answer 8

that he is not his friend, Hassan is his servant

Question 9

What is Hassan’s present?

Answer 9

plastic surgery by Dr. Kumar to rid of his cleft lip

Question 10

What is significant of the fact that Baba is born in 1933 at the same year that Zahir Shah became king?

Answer 10

as this parallels the two indicating the intertwined fates of Babe when Zahir Shah falls in the bloodless coup and all those dependant on him; Ali, Amir, Rahim Khan and Hassan

Question 11

In Chp.5 what hints to the fact that the bloodless coup is going to change Afghanistan for the worst?

Answer 11

Asset’s racist encounter during this chapter which was spirited by the newly founded republic

Question 12

Who personifies the evil to come from the new republic and blood coup which Amir does not understand as a child?

Answer 12

the character Assef, while he does not understand the political and social change of this coup, the reader associates this change to the introduction of the bully. Amir feels uncertain and threatened, as many Afghans did

Question 13

What year was the bloodless coup?

Answer 13

1973

Question 14

What do the local kids call Ali?

Answer 14

Babula

Question 15

After the successful plastic surgery, Hassan looks in the mirror and smiles, what is significant by the following winter?

Answer 15

the following winter there is only a faint scar left and Hassan ceases to smile

Question 16

At the opening of the chapter, Amir has evident jealously towards Ali and Hassan’s relationship which demonstrates the importance of a loving relationship over what?

Answer 16

over material possessions

Question 17

What does Ali’s and Hassan’s emotional connection allow them?

Answer 17

a sense of security

Question 18

Asset’s introduction in this chapter with the coup serves to equate his character to what?

Answer 18

violence and destruction

Question 19

What does Hassan call Assef which is a threat?

Answer 19

“One-Eyed Assef”

Question 20

What does Assef respond to Hassan which is important in demonstrating that the violence in Afghanistan is only the beginning

Answer 20

“This doesn’t end today”

Question 21

explore

“They were foreign sounds to us then”

Answer 21

this is a dramatically powerful comment which resonates with the reader of the 21st century. Hosseini closely positions Kabul as a duplicate of America, allowing the reader to understand the political and social transformation of Afghanistan before war and violence. To reinforce this image which a western audience can understand, Hosseini as well uses Assef’s awe of the Nazi regime to mirror the similar regard of Pashtuns to Hazara’s, to German and Jewish.

Question 22

What does Amir think when Assef claims Hassan is his friend?

Answer 22

“He’s not my friend… he’s my servant”