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Kite Runner: Chapter 8
Element

Notes

Plot summary Ali questions Amir (who is in denial) about Hassan’s
now-reclusive nature - he sleeps all day and hasn’t spoken to
Amir
...
Amir vomits on the bumpy car
journey, something which embarasses Baba, as he is sickened
by the guilt of not intervening in Hassan’s rape - he feels like a
monster
...
At his 13th birthday party, Amir receives a copy of
Hitler’s biography from Assef
...

Characters

Ali, Hassan, Baba, Assef and Rahim Khan
...
Amir then
insists that Baba doesn’t invite Hassan to their cinema trip in
Jalalabad
...

Amir sees himself as a ​“monster” ​and he cannot get the image of
“Hassan’s brown corduroy pants discarded on a pile of old bricks
in the alley” ​out of his mind
...
Amir feels the burden
of the rape intensly and clearly wants to get it off his mind
...

The reader feels sympathy towards Hassan as he has ​“puffed up
eyes” ​and ​“he’d lost weight”
...
Amir feels like he is pretending to be close to Hassan,
as he can no longer read his stories and cannot wait for spring and school - to come round
...
Amir also gets a headache every time he
talks to Hassan, who is ​“harassing” ​him
...
​Baba’s curt reply is

enhanced by the fact that Ali has been in his family for forty years
and ​“Hassan’s not going anywhere”
...
This seems to be the nail in
the coffin for Baba and Amir’s relationship - it has returned to its
normal coldness
...

As Amir hurls a pomegranate at Hassan, his cry is ​“pregnant with
surprise and pain”
...
The undeserved, cruel, short and violent act
against Hassan mirrors the rape, in fact
...
Hassan’s maturity is also
seen once again in how he crushes the pomegranate against his
own forehead - he is sick of being manipulated and controlled by
Amir, but his loyalty is unwavering
...
This presents Baba as popular
and well-loved - indeed, although he hires people to help with the
preparations, many of them refuse payment
...
Amir recognises that Baba is ​“the real star of the
show” ​and the party is used to show-off his wealth
...

Assef’s parents are described with adjectives like ​“short”, “small”
and ​“nervous” ​which contrasts Assef and presents him as Baba’s
perfect son
...
He appears to
dominate and even frighten his weak parents, as his good looks
and sociable personality win over Baba (signalled with how he
calls him ​“jan” ​- a term of endearment which he doesn’t use with
Amir)
...

Rahim Khan’s birthday gift to Amir is a leather notebook, which is
much more thoughtful than Baba’s gift to him
...
Khan describes his forbidden
love (reminiscent of Baba’s affair with Sanuabar) with a Hazara
girl, stating that the ​“world always wins”
...
Rahim Khan states that ​“you
don’t order someone to polish your shoes one day and call them

“sister” the next”, ​highlighting the unavoidable and historic divides
between Pashtuns and Hazaras
...
This reinforces Hassan’s status and the cruel
way in which he is treated
...

Context

Narrative style:
Symbolism of Mein Kampf - Hitler influence foreshadows the
adult Assef, genocide, the “Aryan” race and belief that
Afghanistan should be for Pashtuns only
...

Racial divide extended through Rahim's story of his love for a
Hazara girl (family reaction typical of the shame/disgust felt about
mixed-racial relationships - link to Baba and his secret about
Hassan)
...

Khaka ​= term of affection like “Uncle”
...

Tandoor​ = clay oven
...




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