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dont think you're something more
When Assef wants to show dominance over Hassan he yells your're just an ugly pet to play with when he gets board, " don't ever fool yourdelf into thinking you're something more"(72). Assef is desperate to show his power in any way possible, so he picks anyone vulnerable to target. He has no morals or valuable upbringing, so he feels no empathy when causing others pain. -
theft is a sin
When trying to explain the importance of not staealing, Baba says "Every other sin is a variation of theft. Do you understand that?" (17). Baba is trying to pass along a life lesson to Amir that had his whole life in front of him. In a way, he is trying to make Amir the better person by sticking to his values more than Baba had. -
Killed his beloved wife
When Amir thinks of how he was directly reponsicble for his mothers death he states " the least I could have done was have the decency to turn out a little more like him" (19). He is refering to Baba, his seemingly flawless father, who had never stopped mouring over his wife's death. Consequntly, Amir considers himself the killer and the one to blame beacuse in Babas eyes he had comitted the worst sin. -
Wish I was favorite
Amir is convinced that Baba's kindness to Hassan making him less important saying "Sometimes I wished he wouldn't do that. I wish he'd let me be the favorite"(51). Starting from his upbringing, Amir cannot accept the fact of his father letting his attention spread to others lower than himself. All he wanted was to feel loved by Baba, but he tells himself that no one else should ever be able to have him. -
understood depth of grief
When Hassan admits to a crime Amir had committed he "understood the depth of the pain I had caused , the blackness of the grief I had brought onto everyone, that not even Ali's paralyzed face could mask his sorrow"(107). Amir realizes too late that he had put everyone he was close too in a horribe position instaed of doing the right thing. Instead of speaking up and taking the blame, he once again makes Hassan do something that finally goes past the line. -
life over
Amir watches as Baba pleads to Ali to stay however " when he straightened, I saw him slumping his shoulders that the life I had known since I'd been born was over"(108). As a final attempt to make his practically family stay, Baba would have promised anything to Ali and Hassan eventhough Hassan had taken the blame for stealing. This shocks Amir becasue Baba saw stealing as the worst thing a person could do, but he would forgive Ali and Hassan because they were family. -
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Soviet troops
After Soviet troops fist came to help Barbrak Kamal, they "stayed in the country for more than nine years fighting a conflict that cost them nearly 15,000 lives" ( NYT pg 2). -
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Stable Country
Before the corrupt government in Afghanistan took control, "[t]hree decades ago Afghnistan was a relitively stable and relatively prosperous country" ( New York Times pg 2). -
baba proud
After Amir wins the kite running contest Baba is "[p]roud. His eyes gleamed when he said that and I liked being on the recieving end of that look"(131). Amir, for the first time, feels appreciated by Baba which means the world to him. He had looked at Baba in adoration and he now gets to feel looked at that way. -
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Soviet withdrawl
After yeras of peace talk, " the last Soviets left Afghanistan in Febuary 1989, in what was in effect in unilateral withdrawl" (NYT pg 2). -
dont challenge me
After Baba refuses treatment for his cancer, to a persistant Amir, he snaps saying "[d]on't you challenge me in public, Amir. Ever. Who do you think you are?"(156). Baba has never wanted help from anybody because he doesn't want to seem weak to anybody, especially Amir. However, now Amir feels helpless to help his dying father. -
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pakistan
Even thought the Taliban was very unpopular it "may have withered were it not for the intervention of Pakistan" (NYT, pg 3) -
Baba couldn't show the way
After Baba's death Amir is lost because he was always " 'Baba's son.' Now he was gone . Baba couldn't show me the way anymore; I'd have to find it on my own"(174). It begins to finally hit Amir that he couldn't hide behind his fathers name or status anymore. He wou;d have to earn people's respect on his own and make a life for himself where he could do what he wanted. -
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Taliban take control
After attcks from Al Qaeda, "the Taliban, an extreme Islamic group that had siezed control in 1996 after years of civil war" (New York Times). -
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Taliban student
Originally there to purify the country, "The taliban grew out of the student movement dedicated to purifying the country"(NYT). -
Sanaubar home
When Sanaubar returns to Hassan after years of absense he told her " she could cry if she wanted but she needn't, she was home now"(210). By doing this, Hassan has proven that he could forgive even if he had been hurting for a long time. He has a string set of values, and would always welcome family because he had always known the importance. -
Baba is a thief
Fifteen years after Baba's death, Amir realizes Baba was the worst thief of all, in fact "the things he'd stolen had beeen sacred: from me the right to know I had a brother, from Hassan his identity, and from Ali his honor"(225). Amir learns his father wasn't the perfect idol he had always made him up to be. In a way, Amir never truely knew Baba, because what he said he believed in wasn't what his actions had alined with. -
Atone for Amir and Baba
When Rahim Khan invites Amir to visit him he came to a "realization: that Rahim Khan had summoned me here to atone not just for my sins but for Baba's too"(226). Amir knew Rahim wanted him to rescue Sorhab to balance out what he had done to Hassan. However, he really wanted Amir to come to make all things right that Baba had made a mess of and never got the chance to fix. -
laugh at peace
When Amir engages in a fight with Assef he "felt at peace. I laughed because in some hidden nook in a corner of my mind, I'd been looking forward to this"(289). This was a way for Amir to finally atone for his sins to Hassn and end his constant guilt. He waould do anything to get Hassan back and now knows he must save Sorhab from the same fate. -
Old faithful friend
When Amir reads a letter from Hassan he is shocked to see it say" I dream that one day you will return to Kabul to revisit the land of our childhood. If you do, you will find an old faithful friend waiting for you" (218). Amir cannot beileve that all of the pain he had caused Hassan had been cast aside because he had forgiven a horrible situation. Hassan still considers them best frinds because he knew the meaning of loyalty and would always be willing to welcome Amir back into his life. -
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taliban second
While United States military was distracted with the war in Iraq, "the Taliban regrouped and bagan to extend its influence to southern parts of Afghanastan" (NYT, pg 3). -
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Mohammad
The former king of Afghanastan, Mohammad Zahir Shah, " was named chaiman of an interim governmant that replaced the defeated Taliban, making him the leader of the country" (NYT, pg 3). -
A way to be good again
When Amir realizes that Rahim Khan had always know about Assef and Hassan and how he had stood by, Rahim says "Come. There is a way to be good again"(192). Rahim had always he had faith in Amir to be a good person and that he could atone for his sine beacsue it was the morally right thing to do. He believes people can change. For whatever reason Amir didn't have to confidence to stop Assef that day, he could regain because he knows now what he had done wrong. -
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US invlovement
When the United States decided to take action toward the corrupt Afghan government, "Obama made Afghanastan the central militaruy focus of his administaration" ( New York Times). -
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obamas speech
Trying to bring U.S, troops out of Afganastan, Obama gave a speech, " he vowed to start bringing American forces hime from Afghanistan in the middle of 2011" (NTT, pg 4).