The Kite Runner Seminar Questions

4. Consider the way Soraya deals with her “secret” and the way Amir deals with his. Compare

their pain and their humiliation. Whose is greater? Explain.

Amir’s pain and humiliation is greater, because he has hidden it away for so many years and no

one knew about what happened except him. He kept the secret and because he was feeling guilty

about keeping the secret, had Hassan and his father sent away to Hazarajat. Soraya’s secret was a

mistake from her teenage years and it had become gossip and a scandal in the Afghan

community. Soraya told Amir her secret before they got married, so to her, it is not a secret

anymore and it does not weigh down on her anymore.

5. Compare the ways in which Baba fathers Amir and the General fathers Soraya.

Baba fathers Amir in a manner different from the General. Baba is disappointed of Amir

in Afghanistan because he is not “manly” (p.23), but does not force him to be in a certain

profession, and has taught Amir all the values and traditions of the Afghan culture. The General

is the opposite of Baba in some ways, clearly showing his preference of her becoming a lawyer

and may have been too hard on her. This is shown by her running away to live with an Afghan

man when she was 18 and dissenting behind his back whenever he states his opinion and she

disagrees (p.182).

Why does Amir believe that he and Hassan aren’t friends? Predict what would have happened to Amir and Hassan, had Amir told everyone about

what happened to Hassan and not had Hassan and his father sent away. “A boy who won’t stand up for himself becomes a man who can’t stand up to anything.”

(p.22) What does this quote mean for Amir and what does this show about Baba and what he values?