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Kite Runner: Chapter 11
Element

Notes

Plot summary

It is now the 1980s and Baba and Amir have lived in Fremont,
California for 2 years
...
He is
also now working long, back-breaking hours in a gas station
...
When Baba is
asked for ID at a convenience store, he flips out
...
Here, we are introduced to the
noble General Taheri and his beautiful - but disgraced - daughter
Soraya
...


Themes and
features

Baba’s pride is shown through the fact that he refuses to go to
English classes, contrasting Amir’s desperate desire to integrate
...
He also only
invites Afghan around to his house
...
He states that ​“no one
trusts anybody” ​whilst smashing up the shop, which reverses the
roles - this time it is Amir being ashamed of and apologising for
his father, instead of the other way round
...

Baba clearly cannot cope with the fact that he has fallen to the
bottom of the hierarchy and he misses the sense of community
and belonging in Kabul: he is in mourning
...

Baba’s pride is also suggested through his refusal to accept food
stamps, which highlights his past life as a man of wealth and
status who used to make loans to his community
...

This is despite the fact that Baba has developed a stomach ulcer
from his long, stressful days and change in diet
...
One of Baba’s rare moments of pride in
Amir is shown at his graduation, where he turns up with a

camera, waving and smiling
...
Baba boasts to other men in the Afghan kabob house and
bar about Amir’s successes and buys them all drinks
...
Baba is
also trying to hold onto his status through the Buick - a large car,
although not as glamorous as his Mustang in Kabul
...
This may also suggest that Baba is trying
to spend all his money by investing in Amir’s future, implying that
he knows he will not be around forever (e
...
due to his excessive
smoking)
...

But Baba’s pride is also tinged with disappointment at Amir’s
decision to major in ​“stories”, w
​ hich he believes will not bring
Amir and his future family financial stability
...
Amir
refuses to conform to Baba’s expectations, as the last time he
did Hassan was raped for the sake of the kite and Baba’s
admiration
...
He finally feels independence
and there are no limits to what he can achieve in the US - their
culture is aspirational and he loves ​“the land of the free”
...
In Kabul, he rarely - if ever - left his neighbourhood but
California opens up new opportunities for him
...
He says
that ​“America was a river, roaring along, unmindful of the past”
...
Baba loves haggling with sellers and receiving a
mark up on the junk he sells - Afghans have formed their own
community and Baba is able to hang onto his businessman past
and skills
...
Baba also introduces General Taheri
through his achievements and title in Kabul - they used to hunt
pheasants together in Jalalabad, suggesting a mutual respect for
one another
...
This once again highlights the
patriarchal society in Afghanistan and how you are supposed to
revere and respect your father
...
The change to lyrical language shows how
Amir is instantly infatuated with Soraya
...
However, General Taheri appears ​“eager
to change the subject” ​away from his daughter
...
Perhaps General Taheri is slightly defensive and
feels like Amir - as a lowly fiction writer - is not worthy of his
daughter
...

This highlights the importance of virginity and women’s purity in
Afghan culture and how backwards the country was in
comparison to America
...
This reflects
the Islamic insistence of no sex before marriage, which contrasts
the Western world’s sexual revolution
...
Nevertheless, Amir
has fallen truly and deeply for Soraya - he also has made serious
mistakes in his past
...
His family also left Afghanistan in the 1980s
and settled here, attending school, college and medical school
...
Afghan vs
...

The Ford Grand Torino given to Amir as a graduation present
from Baba links to Baba’s Ford Mustang in Kabul
...

California is known to be a very liberal and cosmopolitan city, as
well as glamorous
...


Afghan
vocabulary

Moftakhir​ = proud
...

Khanum​ = means ‘queen’ – polite title for a woman in Afghan
culture
...




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