Saturday, September 14, 2013

Fishbowl #4: Chapters 17 and 18 of The Kite Runner

Welcome to your fourth fishbowl!

A few reminders if you're looking for an A for the day:

(A) Bring at least one quotation and/or page reference into at least one of your responses.
 
(B) Explain your thinking thoughtfully and thoroughly (try to avoid the one-sentence response).

(C) Keep it professional, including the usage of proper grammar and spelling.

(D) Comment frequently from the beginning of the conversation to the end.


Remember also that you're welcome to get into a hotseat in the inner circle for a little while and earn some of your daily participation points there.


Enjoy!

100 comments:

  1. What do you guys think about Amir's complicated life so far?

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  2. Were you surprised that Baba was the father of Hassan?

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    1. I was surprised but I think there was a lot of foreshadowing, Baba always treated Hassan like his own son and he was really torn up after Ali and Hassan left.

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    2. I think it makes sense because he has always treated him like his own child and payed really close attention to him.

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  3. On page 225 "Baba never missing Hassan's birthday." I think on this quote Baba knew that Hassan was his father in the book.

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  4. In some kind of way is responsible for Hassan's death?

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  5. In what way is all the characters tied together as a whole?

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    1. All the characters are tied together as a whole because they all have something in common, they all have secrets and guilt in the end they are the same people.

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  6. Why was amir so upset when he found out hassan is his brother?

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    1. Because once again, that makes it even worse that Baba preferred Hassan to him.

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    2. I think it is because they are great friends and just finding out that they are brothers could ruin that relationship

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    3. I think he's sad because he always considered Hassan a servant and a "back-up friend" rather than a brother.

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    4. I think that Amir was so upset because his whole life was a lie. He treated Hassan as a servant his whole life, when he was really his equal the whole time. I think he feels bad for everything happened to Hassan that one night in the alley, Amir finally realizes that that is why Baba was always to caring and paid so much attention to Hassan.

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  7. Why did the author make Hassan die so brutally. On page 219 the killing is detailed. "So they took him to the street...and ordered him to kneel...And shot him in the back of the head."

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    1. Maybe he made it so graphic and descriptive because the author wanted to show what it is like to be there in that time

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    2. I think the author made Hassan die brutally to show the full affect of Amir's decisions. The author is trying to show how Amir changed the lives of Ali and Hassan just because he did not tell anyone about the alley. If he had done so, Hassan and Ali most likely would not have died.

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  8. Why dont the Taliban believe that the hazaras are people

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    1. They are saying Hazaras are not people just because they don't have the same religion and seeing them as servants only. It is like Chapter 7 when Assef is saying the rape is not wrong, and it is just putting him in his place.

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  9. Why did the author make Hassan die so brutally? "So they took him to the street...and ordered him to kneel...And shot him in the back of the head." pg. 219

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    1. Well I don't know if it was as brutal as it could have been because that was how they executed all of the Hazaras but sometimes it was in large groups because on page 213 it says, "They massacred the Hazaras in Mazar-i-Sharif."

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    2. I think that the author really wanted us to get the point of what happened

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    3. I think the author had Hassan die so brutally so that we could finally see how much Amir did care for him. On page 219 when Rahim Khan was telling Amir about the way Hassan died he was yelling "No" the whole time. We finally saw on that page how much Amir really did care for him.

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  10. pg 219 when Amir is surprised by the death of Hassan. Does Amir regret not talking to Hassan after his death and why?

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    1. I think the guilt is creeping up on him from him finding out hassan is his brother and that he let him get raped

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    2. I think so. He is feeling guilty for not treating Hassan right and by letting Hassan be in a horrible situation without helping him when he could have. He feels even worse now that he has found out Hassan is his brother.

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    3. Yes I do feel Amir feels guilty. On page 219, Amir quoted, "No, no, no," He is certainly guilty about Hassan's death.

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  11. Why does Amir feel that Baba robbed Amir of a brother?

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    1. I think that he is upset the Hassan is his brother which proves that baba loved Hassan more

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  12. How did Baba deal with his son (Hassan) being a servant?

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    1. I think buying him birthday presents and treating him so well helped that feeling of being a father.

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    2. Baba made Hassan feel like he was a father figure to him by spending time with him and obviously treating him more of a son than Amir. I also agree with Sarah about him giving him treats.

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    3. I think it was hard for him since it was his son and having to see him everyday cleaning his house and doing chores and pretty much being a slave, so it must have been hard for him.

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    4. It was hard because he had dead and now they cant really act like they were related.

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  13. Do you think Baba preferred Hassan to Amir because he couldn't really show fatherly affection to Hassan?
    It's like giving one child candy every day, and giving another child candy only for certain reasons. Which one do you think the child is going to act more grateful to? *I don't know if that's worded how I wanted it to be but you get it*

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    1. I think that Baba had more in common with Hassan but he couldn't give him all that he gave Amir because he was probably ashamed that he slept with his servants wife.

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  14. Doesn't Amir feel terrible now that he knows that he ruined the relationship between him and his step brother along with the fact that he's now dead and he will never be able to be forgiven by him.

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  15. How much does your family affect your decisions? Will Baba's approval of Hassan serve as even more of a reflection point for Amir now?

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    1. Family affects your decisions a lot. You don't want to really be judged by your family. They're the people that are in your life until the end. You don't want to do something to ruin that.

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  16. "Hazara family was living alone in the big house in Wazir Akbar Khan, or so the Taliban came." this ties in with what we were doing with the power point quotes. They didn't like Hazaras so they weren't going to let them live in a big house.

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  17. How is the Taliban affecting the lives of the Afghan people?

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    1. The Taliban is effecting the lives of the Afghan people by killing them for having different beliefs. Population goes down

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  18. What makes Amir realize that he needs to start standing up for himself?

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    1. I think that it was letting Hassan die and get raped, that makes Amir feel that he needs to start standing up for things.

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  19. The parallel between the taliban and the Holocaust was a really good point to make. I think the relationship shows the true hostility of both situations. The sexism, and the prejudice towards religions are so similar, that the comparison would be difficult not to make.

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    1. I agree, but to me it is just unimaginable that some people simply believe that if a certain race or group of people "don't fit in" with their society that the way to deal with them is to "exterminate them."

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    1. The author wanted to show that it was a big deal and what it was like.

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  21. Would have life actually been different if Amir had never set up Hassan and they got over the problem of Hassan getting raped?

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    1. I think Baba and Amir still would have moved to the US and Ali and Hassan would have taken care of the house. Ali and Hassan would have probably still been killed though.

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    2. Their lives would be different because they wouldn't be scared and Amir wouldnt feel bad.

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  22. On Page 218 Rahim Khan talks about when Hassan and Ali got shot. Why did the Talibans hate them so much?

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    1. They have a natural dislike for Hazara's

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    2. They don't see them as equals but instead see them as slaves.

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    3. Its just like when Hitler had power in Germany and the Holocaust began. It's not that there is an actual problem with Hazara's, just as there was no real problem with Jews. It's just the fact that Hazaras are looked down upon because of their low ranking in the class-system.

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  23. Why won't Amir go to Kabul to get Sohrab?

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  24. Rahim Khan said,"I remember he said to me,' Rahim a boy who wont stand up for himself becomes a man who cant stand up to anything.' I wonder, is that what you have become?" What does this quote say about Amir?

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  25. Did Hassan have any idea that he was related to Amir?

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    1. I don't think so because I don't think he knew that Baba was his dad

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  26. On page 222 it is explaining how Hassan isn't Ali's child, he is actually Baba's. Do you think that Amir will ever forgive everyone for lying to him? And also do you believe that Amir will ever really except it?

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    1. I think Amir will accept eventuall accept it after awhile but he is shocked at first. I think he will love Hassan in the end after all they went through.

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  27. In the beginning of chapter 17 Amir receives an envelope. What is the importance of the envelope since it only contains a photograph and a letter?

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    1. I think the envelope symbolizes the stoic nature of the novel thus far. With such simple things within it, it shows how simple things can have a complex meaning to people.

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  28. I do not believe that Amir is responsible or should feel so for the deaths, but I do believe that he will see it as a sin and use it in stride to make himself better because Amir seems to be a person who uses reflection to better themselves, a very poetic way to think, something that we can only assume came from his mother and all of the books and literature he read as a child. Do you think that Amir is more secure in himself because he realizes he has sins, or secure in himself?

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    1. If you are talking about the death of Farzana and Hassan I think that he should feel guilty. If he wouldn't have driven Hassan and Ali out then Baba might have been able to smuggle them out of Afghanistan with them, and they could live in America and have a successful life. Although Hassan would have never met Farzana and would have never have Sohrab

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  29. Would Hassan still be alive if Amir told everyone the truth and made up with Hassan?

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  30. Do you think Hassan knew that Amir was his brother? He always stuck out for him and lied about that he stole Amir's stuff.

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    1. I think he might of been trying to be a good friend but it could of been that he was his brother. But also why would he keep it from Amir that he would think that he is his brother.

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  31. Why would Baba not tell Amir that he and Hassan are brother?

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    1. He didn't want him to be hurt by the fact that the whole time he had been making his little brother do his house work.

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    2. IT might have hurt hasans feeling

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    3. Because if Baba were to tell Amir he would probably go tell Hassan or Ali and Baba was a bad friend to Ali so it would cause more problems than there already are

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  32. why Is amir going to find hasans son after finding out hasan was his brother and getting so upset

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  33. At the end of chapter 18 when it says "He was gone now, but a little piece of him lived on. Somewhere in Kabul. Waiting." Pg 227 If Amir goes to Kabul and finds Sohrab do you think that he will take in Sohrab as his son after he finds out he's his nephew?

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  34. It made sense now when we discovered that Hassan was Baba's son considering the way he treated Hassan as a child, and how much affection Baba would give him.

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  35. How do you think you would act if you found out that your dad is not your dad, and your real dad is someone you've been slaving away to your whole life?

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  36. If Amir had found out earlier while Hassan was still alive do you think that he would have treated him different? Even after all of those years of him being his servant?

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    1. I think he would have treated him better and respected him more if he knew they were actually brothers.

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  37. What will be the conflict when Amir is in Kabul and tries to smuggle this little Hazara boy out of Afghanistan. From how they killed Hassan on pg 219 won't they have a similar attitude towards Sohrab

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  38. Why didn't Baba let Hassan and Ali live in the big house with them? Aren't they all family?

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    1. I don't think he wanted people to look at him weird for having them in his house. Maybe it could have lowered his social status.

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  39. Do you think Baba ever had the intention to tell Amir about Hassan, or not? Maybe it was good to keep it a secret because these are children, and they dpo have to be treated as such, even in such a harsh society.

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    1. No I do not think Baba had the Intentions of telling Amir that Hassan was his child. I personally believe that Baba thought that it would change Amir's perspective of not only himself but of Ali as well. I think that he would of worried about their bond as father and son.

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  40. Why is Hassan's murder an important part of the story?

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    1. I predict it will start a new section of the book where Amir tries to be a better person and do charity work as tribute to hassan.

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  42. If Amir had known growing up that Hassan was his half brother, would he have treated him differently? Would they have a better friendship?

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    1. I think that if Amir had known that him and Hassan were brother, he would have treated him completely different and the relationship would be very different. He would know they are just as equal and not treat him as poorly.

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  43. Is Amir more like Baba in the fact that they do these unintentional mistakes around their servants?

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  44. Do Amir's actions make him who he is in the novel, or is it how he views them that makes people feel the way we as readers do towards him?

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  45. On page 220 Baba once told Rahim Khan "A boy that cant stand up for himself becomes a man who cant stand up for anything." Reflecting off of this quote, how can the choices you make as a child lead up to what you do as a man?

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  46. Did Baba come up with his rule of that theft is the only sin from sleeping with Sanubar?

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    1. I think he came up with it as a rule for Amir to live by, because Baba had already broken the rule, as it says on pg 18, "When you tell a lie, you steal a man's right to the truth." Because he lied to Amir, he wanted him to be a better person then Himself. That might also be why He liked Hassan more, because hassan was more pure and followed this rule better.

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  47. "Then he would remind us that there was a brotherhood between people who had fed from the same breast, a kinship that not even time could break" pg 11. Is Ali trying to tell them that they are actually brothers? How may clues do you think they have encountered?

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  48. Would things have changed if only Hassan knew that Amir was his half brother and still not know?

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    1. I think Hassan would stand up for himself more and feel less of a servant to Amir. Maybe Hassan would seek counseling for the rape from Amir, and amir could recover from the traumatization.

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  49. Will Amir take Sohrab in as his child now knowing Hassan and him were half-brothers?

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    1. I think so, since Amir still feels a personal debt to Haasan and him and Soraya have wanted a child that feels like their own. If they adopt Sohrab, then the child will feel like it is related to them because Amir and Hassan were half brothers.

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  50. How did Amir feel after he found out Ali and Hassan got shot when he only had a few others left in his life? Did his plans change? What did he think about his future? On Page 219 Amir thought about his past and the people who died.

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  51. What happens when Amir goes to Kabul (like he says he would on page on 227) and he doesn't find Sohrab because the Taliban found him first?

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  52. "Amir Agha, with my deepest respects"

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