The Kite Runner Connections

College Prep English
“The Kite Runner”
Ashley Wheeler

|Pg # |Notes from text: |Explanation: |
| | | |
|1-21 |“That was a long time ago, but it’s wrong what they say about |Foreshadowing and hinting at what might be explained later in |
| |the past, I’ve learned, about how you can bury it. Because the |the book. |
| |past claws its way out.” | |
| | | |
| | “A boy who won’t stand up for himself becomes a man who can’t | |
|22-35 |stand up to anything.” |This is when Baba was talking about how Amir was a coward and |
| | |because of this Amir is constantly seeking Baba’s approval. |
| | | |
| |“…None of us had any notion that a way of life had ended. Our |More foreshadowing on the future of the novel, implying that the|
|36-76 |way of life” |luxurious life they were living right now had come to an end. |
| | |The way of life they know right now would be a thing of the |
| | |past, with explosions and scary things being their new lives. |
| | | |
| | |Even though he knew it was wrong and was going to regret it |
| | |later, if not now, he still needed a reason to put his heart at |
| |“I actually aspired to cowardice, because the alternative, the |rest. Its what he needed to win Baba’s approval, was that blue |
|77-95 |real reason I was running, was that Hassan was right: Nothing |kite, and he didn’t care how he got. He didn’t need Hassan |
| |was free in this world. Maybe Hassan was the price I had to |stealing his moment that Baba would be proud of him. |
| |pay, … to win Baba.” | |
| | |Amir feels like he can never impress his father, and the fact |
| | |the Hassan can do it so easily makes him mad. Amir feels like he|
| | |would do anything to get the treatment Hassan gets. Like ignore |
| |“I tried to fake a smile, but all I could manage was a feeble |a very horrific event. |
| |upturning of the corners of my mouth--my stomach was turning at| |
|96-109 |the sight of my father bonding with Hassan.” |Amir can never live up to the expectations his father expects of|
| | |him. It hurts Amir to see his father embarrassed of him but he |
| | |can’t help it. |
| |“Baba never said so, but I knew he saw my car sickness as yet | |
| |another of my array of weakness—I saw it on his embarrassed | |
| |face a couple times my stomach had clenched so hard I had |The first time he had seen Soraya he was at a loss for words. It|
|110-139 |moaned.” |was almost explained as love at first sight, and immediate |
| | |connection. |
| |“Her eyes, walnut brown and shaded by fanned lashes, met mine. | |
| |Held for a moment. Flew away.” | |
| | | |
|140-154 | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |

|Pg # |Notes from text: |Explanation: |
| | | |
|155-187 |“’I don’t care where he was born, he’s a Roussi,’ Baba said, |The stereotypes that Baba was hearing made him say no to a |
| |grimacing like it was a dirty word. ‘His parents were Roussi, |treatment as if they were dirty people. It really shows what |
| |his grandparents were Roussi, I swear on your mothers face I |times were like back then. |
| |will break his arm if he tries to touch me.’” | |
| | | |
| |“People here [in America] marry for love, family name and | |
|188-205 |ancestry never even come into the equation. They adopt that |This just shows how completely different America is to |
| |way, too. As long as the baby is healthy, everyone is happy. |Afghanistan. But its not like they think one is better or more |
| |But we are Afghans.” |right than the other, it’s just the only way they know. |
| | | |
| |“Hassan dropped his gaze. He told me that Ali and his cousin | |
| |had been killed by a land mine… ‘Is there a more Afghan way of |It just shows how typical it was for this type of thing to |
|206-227 |dying, Amir Jan?’” |happen on the daily, it was almost expected. |
| | | |
| |“Again, the car sickness… Something inside my stomach churned |I feel like this incident would have made him think back to all|
| |and twisted. Farid, my driver threw me a cold glance. There was|the times Baba was embarrassed by his car sickness, and the way|
|228-288 |no empathy in his eyes.” |the driver looked at him only made him more upset than he |
| | |already was. |
| |“My body was broken—just how badly I wouldn’t find out until | |
| |later—but I felt healed. Healed at last. I laughed.” |After all the years he hated himself for doing that to Hassan, |
| | |he was finally feeling healed because he felt like he deserved |
|289-323 | |it, and this beating was almost the closure he was looking for |
| | |his entire life, ever since a child. The guilt had been eating |
| | |him alive, and this helped him with the coping. |
| |“His tears were soaking the pillow. He didn’t say anything for | |
| |a long time. Then his hand squeezed mine back. And he nodded. |He felt the need to take care of Sohrab. Almost like it was his|
| |He nodded.” |responsibility now that Hassan was gone. But he also knew that |
| | |he had to, like it was his duty. |
|324-350 | | |
| |“I had laughed at him. But now I wonder, had I really fallen |He’s blaming himself for Sohrab’s attempted suicide. He feels |
| |asleep after I had given Sohrab the news he had feared most?” |like its his fault for acting like he didn’t care after he had |
| | |given the news he had promised Sohrab’s he wouldn’t give him. |
| | | |
|351-371 | | |

Articles:

After Guantánamo, Another Injustice

John Grisham
ABOUT two months ago I learned that some of my books had been banned at Guantánamo Bay. Apparently detainees were requesting them, and their lawyers were delivering them to the prison, but they were not being allowed in because of “impermissible content.”
I became curious and tracked down a detainee who enjoys my books. His name is Nabil Hadjarab, and he is a 34-year-old Algerian who grew up in France. He learned to speak French before he learned to speak Arabic. He has close family and friends in France, but not in Algeria. As a kid growing up near Lyon, he was a gifted soccer player and dreamed of playing for Paris St.-Germain, or another top French club.
Tragically for Nabil, he has spent the past 11 years as a prisoner at Guantánamo, much of the time in solitary confinement. Starting in February, he participated in a hunger strike, which led to his being force-fed.
For reasons that had nothing to do with terror, war or criminal behavior, Nabil was living peacefully in an Algerian guesthouse in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Sept. 11, 2001. Following the United States invasion, word spread among the Arab communities that the Afghan Northern Alliance was rounding up and killing foreign Arabs. Nabil and many others headed for Pakistan in a desperate effort to escape the danger. En route, he said, he was wounded in a bombing raid and woke up in a hospital in Jalalabad.
At that time, the United States was throwing money at anyone who could deliver an out-of-town Arab found in the region. Nabil was sold to the United States for a bounty of $5,000 and taken to an underground prison in Kabul. There he experienced torture for the first time. To house the prisoners of its war on terror, the United States military put up a makeshift prison at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. Bagram would quickly become notorious, and make Guantánamo look like a church camp. When Nabil arrived there in January 2002, as one of the first prisoners, there were no walls, only razor-wire cages. In the bitter cold, Nabil was forced to sleep on concrete floors without cover. Food and water were scarce. To and from his frequent interrogations, Nabil was beaten by United States soldiers and dragged up and down concrete stairs. Other prisoners died. After a month in Bagram, Nabil was transferred to a prison at Kandahar, where the abuse continued.
Throughout his incarceration in Afghanistan, Nabil strenuously denied any connection to Al Qaeda, the Taliban or anyone or any organization remotely linked to the 9/11 attacks. And the Americans had no proof of his involvement, save for bogus claims implicating him from other prisoners extracted in a Kabul torture chamber. Several United States interrogators told him his was a case of mistaken identity. Nonetheless, the United States had adopted strict rules for Arabs in custody — all were to be sent to Guantánamo. On Feb. 15, 2002, Nabil was flown to Cuba; shackled, bound and hooded.
Since then, Nabil has been subjected to all the horrors of the Gitmo handbook: sleep deprivation, sensory deprivation, temperature extremes, prolonged isolation, lack of access to sunlight, almost no recreation and limited medical care. In 11 years, he has never been permitted a visit from a family member. For reasons known only to the men who run the prison, Nabil has never been water boarded. His lawyer believes this is because he knows nothing and has nothing to give.
The United States government says otherwise. In documents, military prosecutors say that Nabil was staying at a guesthouse run by people with ties to Al Qaeda and that others named him as someone affiliated with terrorists. But Nabil has never been charged with a crime. Indeed, on two occasions he has been cleared for a “transfer,” or release. In 2007, a review board established by President George W. Bush recommended his release. Nothing happened. In 2009, another review board established by President Obama recommended his transfer. Nothing happened.
According to his guards, Nabil is a model prisoner. He keeps his head down and avoids trouble. He has perfected his English and insists on speaking the language with his British lawyers. He writes in flawless English. As much as possible, under rather dire circumstances, he has fought to preserve his physical health and mental stability.

Cite:

Grisham, John. After Guantánamo, Another Injustice. N.p., 10 Aug. 2013. Web. 12 Aug. 2013.

Connections with Similar Issues:

Article: After Guantánamo, Another Injustice