Questions for pgs 1-79:

Question #1: Amir and Hassan are good friends but Amir is always making fun of him or teasing him. For example, when Hassan did not know the meaning of the word imbecile Amir told him "It means smart, intelligent."(Houseini p.29) and then Amir would feel guilty. Why would Amir do this to Hassan and do people still do this to other people today for the same reason/s? - Lacey Shol 9/12/08

Question #2:  After Amir and Hassan won the kit tournament they were both rejoicing. Amir stated, “Then I saw Baba on our roof. He was standing on the edge, pumping both of his fits. Hollering and clapping. And that right there was the single greatest moment of my twelve years of life, seeing Baba on that roof, proud of me at last,” (Hosseini, 66). What was the significance of this moment? Do you think this was truly the first time that Baba had felt proud of Amir? How would this connection that Amir and his father affect their future relationship or was this moment simply just a moment? -MyahW 9/12/08

Question #3: "There were two brothers, young men from a wealthy family in Kabul.  They got into their father's Ford Roadster.  They were high on hashish and french wine.  They ended up killing a Hazara husband and wife which left an orphan boy," (Husseini, 21).  Amir's grandfather ordered the two young men to enlist in the Army for one year.  Why did everyone think this punishment was too harsh when these two men took two human lives? Would people's opinions be differently today?  Darlene Stanton 9/15/08

Question #4:  While reading this story Amir makes the statement "After all, didn't all fathers in their secrect hearts harbor a desire to kill their sons?" (Hosseini, p.29) Why would Amir think this way and are there any passages that would prove or disprove this question?-Lacey Shol 9/12/08

Submitted by Group 6: Amy Schothorst, Darlene Stanton, Erica Weatherford, Myah Wiltermuth, and Lacey Shol

Questions for pgs 80-194:

Question #1: From the start of chapter one, and than reading on through the end of chapter fourteen, the role between Baba and Amir has changed. While living in Kabul, Amir was dependent on Baba. Now, they have moved to the United States, and eventually Baba grew to become dependent on Amir. One example of Baba's dependence was described after Soraya moved in to help"Just before midnight, Baba asked us to help him into bed. Soraya and I placed his arms on our shoulders and wrapped ours around his back. When we lowered him, he had Soraya turn off the bedside lamp. He asked us to lean in, gave us each a kiss" (173). In what ways do you think that moving to the United States and having to take responsibilty of his dad, did Amir change and take on the process of growing into a man? -Cassandra Mikel 10/05/08

Why does Amir really not want to tell Soraya his secret about Hassan and what happened on the day of the kite tournament? Even when Soraya says " You need to know. I don't want us to start with secrets. And I'd rather you hear it from me" (p164).-Krista Olson 10/06/08  

 Throught the book, Amir is trying to rid himself of the guilt he carries of his relationship with Hassan. At one point he tell Hassan to leave him alone thinking that by having Hassan go away, it will relieve some of the guilt.  "I want you to stop harassing me.  I want you to go away." (88)  Two years later Amir arrives in America and is still hoping to relieve himself of the guilt he has carried of Hassan.  "Someplace with no ghosts, no memories, and no sins."  (136)  Does Amir ever find a way to make the guilt go away?  - Kiff Peterson  10/7/08 

Question #4: Planning to have a child is a huge part in anybodys's life. Making the decision to want a child is the first step. After Soraya and Amir tried to get pregnant and couldn't, Amir began to hae many doubtful thoughts."Maybe this was my punishment, and perhaps justly so." (188) Secretly, did Amir really not want to be a father? Did he know deep down he could never be a great man like his Baba? -Sheila Kennebeck

Questions for pgs 195-292:

Question #1: Why do you think that Rahim Khan choose Amir to go get Hassan's both from the orphanage? Page 221 Amir says "Why me? Why can't you pay someone here to go? I'll pay for it if it's a matter of money." And to that Rahim told him "It isn't about the money, Amir!"(Hosseini 221).  Why do you think he refused to pay someone else to get the child even when Amir offered to pay for someone else to do it for him?

Question #2: Do you think it was coincidences that Assef is the bad man who ended up taking Sohrab, and the man who is killing a lot of people? Why is this meeting Assef again so important to Amir’s life?

Question #3: What importance does the beggar on the street play in Amir's life?

Question #4:  Do you feel the director of the orphanage is wrong in letting the Taliban official take a child for his own interest in exchange for money? Explain why.

Question #5: Why would Amir have dreamed that he was the one who shot Hassan?

 Questions Chapters 23-25

Question # 1:  Why is it so difficult to find an international adoption agency which would consider an Afghan adoption?

Question # 2:  What was the promise that Amir made to Sohrab?  Why did Sohrab act as he did, knowing that promise had been broken?

 Gloria Nelson

Question # 3: Rahim Khan asks Amir to go to Kabul and find Sohrab on the condition that when he returns to Peshawar with him there is an American couple named John and Betty Caldwell that will take Sohrab.  After rescuing Sohrab Farid finds out that there is no record of a John and Betty Caldwell in Peshawar.  Do you think it is likely that Rahim Khan made this couple up so that Amir would go to Kabul and find Sohrab and why would he?

Melissa H.

Question # 4: What did both Sobrab and Amir want back?  In the end, how did Amir get his wish? 

Question # 5: What does the phrase, "For you, a thousand times over," mean to Amir? What is Sobrab's significance towards these words? 

Megan Rasmussen

Question #6: What is the signifigance behind Amir's dream that he is wrestling a bear? -Melissa H. 

Question #7:  What did Soraya expect when Amir told her that he was going to bring Sohrab back to the United States with him? Did Sohrab fulfil her dream of being a mother?

Amir and Soraya had been trying to have a child for some time, however, things did not go according to plan. When Amir told Soraya she was extremely surprised. " 'I'm not coming home along. I'm bring a little boy with me.' I paused. 'I want us to adopt him.' 'What?' " (325). " 'But I know this much: You have to bring him home. I want you to.'.......There was a short pause. 'What's he like?' " (326). When Amir and Sohrab arrived back in the United States Soraya picked them up from the airport. "After, she knelt to eye level with Sohrav. She took his hand and smiled at him. 'Salaam, Sohrab jan, I'm your Khala Soraya. We've all been waiting for you.' Looking at her smiling at Sohrab, her eyes tearing over a little, I had a glimpse of the mother she might have been, had her owm womb not betrayed her. Sohrab shifted on his feet and looked away." (358). At first it seemed like Sohrab fulfilled Soraya's dream of being a mother, however, when Sohrab stopped talking, things turned for the worse. "Sohrab's silence was hard on Soraya too. Over that long-distance line to Pakistan, Soraya had told me about the things she was planning for Sohrab. Swimming classes. Soccer. Bowling league. Now she'd walk past Sohrab's room and catch a glimpse of books sitting unopened in the wicker basket, the growth chart unmarked, the jugsaw puzzle unassembled, each item a reminder of a life that could have been, A reminder of a dream that was wilting even as it was budding. But she hadn't been along. I'd had my own dreams for Sohrab." (361-362). In the end of the book when Sohrab smiles, Soraya's dream is renewed to a point because it is the first time that she and Amir had seen him smile in a long time.

Erik Smith

Question #8:  The ending of the book was left open-ended. What impression did the author leave the reader on the last few pages?

The book ends with Amir running a kite for Sohrab in a park. " 'Do you want me to run that kite for you?' His Adam's apple rose and fell as he swallowed. The wind lifted his hair. I thought I saw him nod. 'For you, a thousand times over,' I heard myself say. Than I turned and ran. It was only a smile, nothing more. It didn't make everything all right. It didn't make anything all right. Only a smile. A tiny thing. A leaf in the woods, shaking in the wake of a startled bird's flight. But I'll take it. With open arms. Because when speing comes, it melts the snow one flake at a time, and maybe I just witnessed the first flake melting. I ran. A grown man running with a swarm of screaming children. But I didn't care. i ran with the wind blowing in my face, and a smile as wide as the Valley of Panjsher on my lops. I ran." (371). This ending is a bit open-ended. It does not tell how Sohrab's relationship with Soraya and Amir ended, however, it does suggest that it began to "blossom."

Erik Smith