The Kite Runner Chapters 1-8
WP #2 Theme: Betrayal
Name _____________________
What does Hosseini suggest about betrayal in this passage? How?
Directions: Work together in your groups to discuss the passages AND answer the questions.
I had one last chance to make a decision. One final opportunity to decide who I was going to be. I could step into that alley, stand up for Hassan--the way he’d stood up for me all those times in the
past--and accept whatever would happen to me. Or I could run.
In the end, I ran.
I ran because I was a coward. I was afraid of Assef and what he would do to me. I was afraid of getting hurt. That’s what I told myself as I turned my back to the alley, to Hassan. That’s what I
made myself believe. I actually aspired to cowardice, because the alternative, the real reason I was running, was that Assef was right: Nothing was free in this world. Maybe Hassan was the
price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba. Was it a fair price? The answer floated to my conscious mind before I could thwart it: He was just a Hazara, wasn’t he?
I ran back the way I’d come. Ran back to the all but deserted bazaar. I lurched to a cubicle and leaned against the padlocked swinging doors. I stood there panting, sweating, wishing things had
turned out some other way (Hosseini 77).
Prompt: Why exactly does Amir not try to help Hassan in the alley and then run away? What might this suggest about betrayal?
A. Question
B. Response
C. Thematic interpretation: What this
may suggest about betrayal
What might Amir mean when he says, “I
actually aspired to cowardice”?
What might Amir mean when he says,
“Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay,
the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba”?
We have agreed that Amir must feel
betrayed by his father’s lack of love and
acceptance, by his father’s unwillingness to
see something good in Amir. To what
extent do you think that Amir attempts to
relieve his feelings of frustration and hurt
by mistreating Hassan? Explain.
What other examples can we find of Amir
mistreating Hassan as a way to feel better
about himself?
Even after the Alley way, what does Amir
do to/against Hassan in an attempt to
improve his situation/standing with his
father?
To what extent can we say that Amir’s
mistreatment of Hassan is due to jealousy
of his father’s favorable treatment of
Hassan?
To what extent can we say that Amir’s
mistreatment of Hassan is due to his
father’s lack of love and acceptance?
To what extend can we say that Amir’s
mistreatment of Hassan is something else?
What? How?
Thematic message: What does Hosseini suggest about betrayal?
Evidence/Quote:
Commentary:
Evidence/Quote:
Commentary: