The Kite Runner Flashcards
AQA Paper 2 Revision
Khaled Hosseini was born in which country?
Afghanistan
How old was Hosseini when he moved to France?
11
Why was Hosseini unable to return to Afghanistan later in life?
Because of the Soviet War
How old was Hosseini when he returned to Afghanistan?
38
Who overthrew King Zahir Shah in 1973?
Daoud Khan
Who did the US supply arms to during the Soviet War?
The mujahideen guerillas
After the fall of the Soviet Union, what did Afghanistan become officially known as?
The Islamic State of Afghanistan
What year did the Taliban come to power?
1996
What did the Taliban ban that led Hosseini to writing a short story that would greatly influence this novel?
Kite flying
Who is Hassan’s father?
Baba (though Ali raised him)
Why do Baba and Amir flee Kabul?
Due to the Soviet invasion in 1981
Which sin does Baba spend the rest of his life trying to make up for?
Adultery
What is Sohrab’s story a symbol for?
The awful things that have happened to Afghanistan and its people as a result of war.
What is Sohrab’s ending arguably a symbol for?
Hope for the future.
Why does General Taheri refuse to work in America?
Because the labour is below the station he held in Afghanistan.
Why does Amir believe his father hates him?
Because his mother (Sofia Akrami) died in childbirth.
Ali and Hassan belong to which ethnic group?
Hazaras
Baba and Amir belong to which ethnic group
Pashtuns
What two contrasting ideas might kites symbolise in the novel?
- the happiness of the past and childhood
- The betrayal of Hassan and the memory of guilt
The fact that Sohrab and Amir are flying a kite at the end of the novel, could symbolise what?
Hope for redemption and the future.
Which two people could the monster in Hassan’s dream represent?
Aseef - because of what he does to Hassan
Amir - because he is the monster who betrays Hassan
Hassan’s cleft lip could be a symbol of what?
The social and economic disparity between Amir and Hassan
Arguably, why does Baba fix Hassan’s cleft lip?
Because of a secret paternal love for his illegitimate son.
What might Aseef’s splitting of Amir’s lip symbolise?
That Amir has finally becomes like Hassan - brave enough to stand up for someone else.
‘but it’s wrong what they say about __ ____, about how you can bury it. Because ___ _____ claws its way out.’ (Chapter 1)
the past
What theme is highlighted by the opening line about the ‘past claw[ing] its way out’?
Guilt and regret
‘I have been peeking into that ______ ______ for the last twenty six years.’ (Chapter 1)
deserted alley
What type of narrative is indicated by ‘I’ve been peeking into that deserted alley for the last-twenty six years’? (Chapter 1)
Retrospective
‘I always felt like Baba ______ me a little.’ (Chapter 3)
hated
How is ‘the least I could have done was to have the decency to have turned out a little more like him’ somewhat ironic? (Chapter 3)
Because Amir’s sense of regret and desire to make up for his past sins is extremely similar to his father, who is trying to make up for his sin of adultery.
‘A boy who won’t stand up for himself becomes a ____ who can’t stand up to anything?’ (Chapter 3)
man
Who says ‘A boy who won’t stand up for himself becomes a man who can’t stand up for anything’?
Baba in Chapter 3
Rahim Khan in Chapter 17.
‘I _____ thought of Hassan and me as friends either’ (Chapter 4)
never
What does ‘I never thought of Hassan and me as friends either’ signify? (Chapter 4)
The divide between the two because of their ethnic differences.
‘In the end, I was _____ and he was a ______, I was Sunni and he was Shi’a, and nothing was ever going to change that.’ (Chapter 4)
Pashtun/Hazara
What technique does Hosseini use to symbolise difference the Hassan and Amir in ‘I was Pashtun and he was a Hazara, I was Sunni and he was Shi’a’? (Chapter 4)
Parallel clauses
What does ‘Then I’d bring it home and show it to Baba’ show us about Amir? (Chapter 6)
His deep desire to please his father.
‘Show him once and for all that his son was ______/.’ (Chapter 6)
worthy
How might ‘show him once and for all that his son was worthy’ be linked to Amir’s decision not to intervene with what Aseef was doing to Hassan?
Amir could arguably also be fleeing because his desire to please his father is more important to him than his desire to help Hassan.
‘For you a _______ times over!’ (Chapter 7)
thousand
Who says ‘For you a thousand times over!’?
- Hassan to Amir in Chapter 7 showing his loyalty which is harshly juxtaposed with events later in the chapter.
- Amir to Sohrab at the end of the novel.
Why does Hosseini have Amir repeat the words ‘a thousand times over’ from earlier in the novel at the end?
To show Amir’s redemption has been completed. He now embodies the same characteristics as Hassan.
‘But before you ______ yourself for him’ (Chapter 7)
Sacrifice
‘I’ll tell you Hazara. Because to him, you’re nothing but an ugly ____’ (Chapter 7)
pet
Analyse the use of pet in ‘I’ll you Hazara. Because to him, you’re nothing but an ugly pet.’ (Chapter 7)
On the one hand it shows the dehumanizing attitude towards Hazaras. On the other hand, it shows that Amir should have taken responsibility and used his privilege to protect Hassan.
Why does Hosseini use a simple sentence when he states ‘In the end, I ran.’? (Chapter 7)
To emphasise the horrendous betrayal from Amir. It also shows us that the retrospective narrator provides no excuse for his actions.
‘Maybe Hassan was the _____ I had to pay, the _____ I had to slay, to win Baba’ (Chapter 7)
price/lamb
Why does Hosseini use a question in ‘He was just a Hazara, wasn’t he?’ (Chapter 7)
It shows Amir does not really believe that. In the moment, he is dehumanizing Hassan to excuse his own fear and inability to act (something that could be related to many during times of war and violence).
‘There was a _____ in the lake…I was that _______’ (Chapter 8)
monster
‘Hassan knew…and yet he was rescuing me once again’ – what does this show us about Hassan?
His unflinching loyalty to Amir. Even when wronged he remains loyal and protects Amir.
In Chapter Ten, how does the theme of betrayal move out from the personal to the political? Provide quotation.
‘You couldn’t trust anyone in Kabul anymore.’ (Chapter 10)
Why does Hosseini employ listing in the following quotation: ‘neighbor on neighbor, child on parent, brother on brother, servant on master, friend on friend.’? (Chapter 10)
To emphasise the widespread distrust and betrayal that has engulfed Afghanistan as a result of war.
Why does Hosseini end the following list as he does: ‘neighbor on neighbor, child on parent, brother on brother, servant on master, friend on friend.’? (Chapter 10)
To bring us back to the narrator’s main concern, the betrayal of his friend.
‘Kabul has become a city of ghosts to me. A city of _______ ghosts.’ (Chapter 11)
harelipped
Why does Amir describe Kabul as a ‘a city of harelipped ghosts’? (Chapter 11)
Because the place has become one of regret and shame for Amir. He cannot disassociate the place from his sins.
Using quotation, in Chapter 11, how does Amir describe America in contrast to Afghanistan?
‘Someplace with no ghosts, no memories, and no sins.’
Whereas Kabul is a symbol of betrayal and suffering, what does America represent?
A place of hope and new beginnings.
In Chapter 12, why does Amir envy Soraya?
Because ‘her secret [is] out’ and she is now free from the burden of guilt that he feels.
What is the term used to describe a ‘coming of age’ novel?
Bildungsroman
In terms of the bildungsroman aspect of the novel, why is Baba’s death important?
Because Amir now feels like he has to find the answers on his own.
‘Baba couldn’t show me the way anymore; I’d ___ ___ ___ it on my own.’ (Chapter 13)
have to find
Why is the death of Baba important structurally?
Because it causes of a moment of change in Amir who now has to find out the answers himself.
Why does Soraya says Amir is ‘different from every Afghan guy’? (Chapter 13)
Because he does not care about her past (running away with a man).
‘never been exposed to the ____ _____ with which Afghan society sometimes treated [women]’ (Chapter 13)
double standard
The theme of rape that runs throughout the novel is symbolic of what?
The continued ‘rape of Afghanistan’ and its people. The ethnic divide, the Soviet invasion and the Taliban rule consistently lead to the mistreatment of the people of Afghanistan.
What does Rahim Khan reveal when he states ‘there is a way to be good again’? (Chapter 14)
That he knows what Amir did/or didn’t do to Hassan.
‘There’s going to be peace, inshallah, and happiness and calm…_ ____ _____, the Taliban banned kite fighting. And ____ _____ _____, they massacred the Hazaras in Mazar-i-Sharif.’ (Chapter 16)
A few weeks later
Two years later
How many years after the Taliban take over and Rahim Khan thinks peace will come do they massacre thousands of Hazaras?
Two
What is the significance of banning kite fighting in the novel?
It shows that the new rule of the Taliban was never going to bring happiness with it.
Which quotation in chapter 18 acts as a moment of anagnorisis for Amir?
‘We had both betrayed the people who would have given their lives for us.’
What is anagnorisis?
A moment of sudden realisation, usually for the protagonist of a tragedy.
‘We had both _______ the people who would have given their lives for us.’ (Chapter 18)
betrayed
‘not just for my sins but for ____ too’ (Chapter 18)
Baba’s
How might the quotation ‘not just for my sins but for Baba’s too’ link to the idea of political writing?
It shows the once upper class and privileged who exploited the workers attempting to make up for their behaviour.
‘He pointed to an old man dressed in ragged clothes trudging down a dirt path, a large burlap sack filled with scrub tired to his back. “That’s the ____ _______.’ (Chapter 19)
real Afghanistan
‘You’ve always been a ______ here, you just didn’t know it.’ (Chapter 19)
tourist
‘That’s the real _______, Agha Sahib. That’s the ______ I know.’ (Chapter 19)
Afghanistan
Why does Farid refer to Amir as a tourist in chapter 19?
Because his privileged upbringing meant that he never knew the true suffering of the Afghan people.
‘Nothing that you remember has _______.’ (Chapter 21)
survived
How might ‘nothing that you remember has survived’ (Chapter 21) be symbolic?
It doesn’t just mean the literal places of Afghanistan. It means Hassan too. It means the happiness that was once here.
‘I don’t want to forget anymore’ (Chapter 21) links the narrative to what type of novel?
Bildungsroman
‘What was the old saying about the bad penny? My _____ was like that, always turning up?’ (Chapter 22)
past
Who is being referred to in the quotation: ‘My past was like that, aways turning up’ (Chapter 22)?
Assef
Why does Hosseini return Assef in particular to the novel in Chapter 22?
To symbolise Amir’s atonement through the use of the cyclical structure and to show his character development. This time he faces his attacker.
As Assef is beating Amir he says that he feels at peace for the first time since when? (Chapter 22)
‘the winter of 1975’
‘For the first time since the winter of 1975, I felt at _____.’ (Chapter 22)
Peace
‘good, real good, was born out of your father’s _____’ (Chapter 23)
remorse
‘And that, I believe, is what true _______ is, Amir jan, when guilt leads to good.’ (Chapter 23)
redemption
‘Your father, ____ _____, was a tortured soul’ (Chapter 23)
like you
What is the impact of Amir taking Sohrab with him? (Chapter 25)
He is making amends, making up for not protecting Hassan by protecting his son instead.
‘I looked at Hasan…the _______, _______ half. The half that had inherited what had been pure and novel in baba.’ (Chapter 25)
unentitled, unprivileged
What does Amir believe Hassan represents? (Chapter 25)
The ‘pure and noble’ side of his father.
Analyse the use of pathetic fallacy that ends the novel: ‘Because when spring comes, it melts the snow one flake at a time, and maybe I’ve just witnessed the first flake melting.’ (Chapter 25)
The melting of the ice around Sohrab presents us with a hopeful future, also shown through the arrival of spring.
In terms of protest writing, it perhaps suggests hope that one day these authoritarian governments will be a distant memory.
Which quotation from Chapter 25 perhaps tempers the hopeful ending of the novel?
‘If someone were to ask me today whether the story…ends with happiness, I wouldn’t know what to say.’
What year is the narrator writing the novel from?
2001
What is it that cause the narrator to recall events from his past in Afghanistan?
Two kites flying overhead as he walks around Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.
Why does Amir (as a child) rarely enter Hassan’s hut?
Because the setting of the mansion and the hut present a clear divide between the two in terms of status.
How many days after her sons birth did Sanaubar leave Hassan?
Five
Why did Sanaubar mock her husband and her son?
Due to their facial deformities.
What was Hassan’s first word?
Amir
