“Man’s inhumanity to man”
 Amir is the main character of the novel
 His mother died giving birth to him and for this his
father blames him
 He is an upper class Pashtun with a highly respected
father
 As a child he occupied himself with his love for story
writing
 His father thinks he is not manly enough
 At age eighteen, he and his father flee to America due
to Soviet invasion in Afghanistan
 Assef is the son of an Afghan father and a German
mother
 He believes that Pashtuns, “the pure Afghans”, are a
higher class than the “flat-nose” Hazara
 As a teenager, he is the neighbourhood bully
 “[Hitler] was a leader. A great leader. A man with
vision” - Assef
 “…if they had let Hitler finish what he had started, the
world would be a better place now.” - Assef
 Amir describes Assef as a "sociopath" because of his
views of Hitler
 He is Amir’s Hazara servant
 Hassan is Amir's closest childhood friend, but Amir
has a bad habit of playing mind games with him
 “Your hazara made a big mistake today, Amir.”- Assef
 Baba is Amir’s father
 Amir looks up to him as an idol and is forever trying to
gain his approval
 He is a wealthy man, who is highly respected by fellow
Afghanis
 He built an orphanage with his own money
 He is disappointed in his son, Amir, because he does
not think he is man enough
 Baba is a very kind and generous person except when it
comes to his son
 Sohrab is the only son of Hassan
 He has been physically abused by Assef
 He saves Amir from being killed by Assef
 He tries to kill himself when Amir breaks his promise
 Amir and Hassan win a kite fighting tournament and
Hassan runs the last kite - the blue kite
 Amir becomes concerned at the time it is taking for
Hassan to return with the kite
 Amir searches for Hassan, finally finding him trapped
by Assef and his entourage at the end of an alleyway
 Amir watches his closest friend, Hassan, being raped
in an alleyway by Assef
 When Hassan finally catches up with Amir again, all
Amir can think about is the blue kite
 “And I can’t lie now and say my eyes didn’t scan it [the
blue kite] for any rips.” - Amir
 What do you think you would do in this situation?
 Imagine seeing your best friend being raped. Would
you try to help or would you run?
 While Baba and Amir are fleeing Afghanistan the
truck they are travelling in arrives at a Russian
checkpoint
 The Russian soldier who mans the checkpoint
demands half an hour with a woman to let them pass
 “It’s his price for letting us pass.”
 Her husband objects
 “But we’ve paid a fair price already. He’s getting paid
good money.”
 But the soldier insists
 “He says … he says every price has a tax.”
 Baba attempts to stop the rape, putting his own life on
the line
 Could you do this? Put your life on the line for
someone you don’t even know?
 The orphanage Baba built was destroyed by the
Taliban during the war
 This worsens the already bad orphan situation due to
Taliban rule
 The Taliban kill anyone who steps out of line
 Hassan and Farzana were executed by the Taliban for
house sitting Baba’s house
 This meant that Sohrab was yet another orphan
looking for somewhere to stay
 Public executions were very popular with the Taliban
 They were supposed to show citizens the consequences
of breaking the law
 “How shall we punish those who dishonour the
sanctity of marriage?”
 A man and women were stoned to death at a soccer
game in front of thousands of people because they
were having an affair
 “God says that every sinner must be punished in a
manner best fitting his sin.”
 “Taliban don’t let you be human.” – Rahim Khan
 Singing is forbidden
 Dancing is forbidden
 Playing cards, playing chess, gambling, and kite flying
are forbidden
 Writing books, watching films, painting pictures are
forbidden
 If you keep parakeets, you will be beaten. Your birds
will be killed
 If you are found guilty of adultery, you will be stoned
to death
 You will stay inside your homes at all times. It is not
proper for women to wander aimlessly about the
streets
 If you are caught alone on the street, you will be
beaten and sent home
 Cosmetics and jewellery are forbidden
Hi, I’m
Pall
 You will not wear charming clothes
 You will not speak unless spoken to
 You will not make eye contact with men
 You will not laugh in public. If you do, you will be
beaten
So… What do you think about
these Taliban rules?
 “This isn’t the end for you either, Amir, someday, I’ll
make you face me one on one.” - Assef
 In Amir’s quest to find Sohrab he meets his childhood
enemy, Assef, once again
 “When it’s all done, only one of us will walk out of this
room alive.” - Assef
 “If you make a move, they’ll have to change your
nickname from Assef ‘the Ear Eater’ to ‘One-Eyed
Assef,’ because I have this rock pointed at your left
eye.” - Hassan
 “…Sohrab released the cup. Then Assef was screaming.
He put his hand where his left eye had been just a
moment ago.”
So in conclusion...
… or is it???
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