themes with quotes

Question 1

themes of prejudice

Answer 1

•Assef- ‘pure Afghans’, Hazaras ‘dirty our blood’
•Assef being young suggests they are ingrained in Afghan society

Question 2

shame and secrecy

Answer 2

•’when you lie, you steal someone’s right to the truth’
•’some things mattered more than the truth’ - Rahim Khan

Question 3

searching for redemption

Answer 3

•there was a ‘way to be good again’
•’true redemption is when guilt leads to good’
•’thorny old barbs of guilt bore into me’

Question 4

love and tension between fathers and sons

Answer 4

•when Baba saw Amir he saw ‘himself… and his guilt’
•hotel owner drives Amir to find Sohrab because ‘I am a father like you’
•’In Kabul, hot water had been like fathers, a rare commodity’

Question 5

Cultural context/ political and private lives

Answer 5

•farsi lexis
•’there were lots of children in Afghanistan, but little childhood’
•the date within the first sentence foregrounds how turmoil in Amir’s life can be linked to the political climate at the time

Question 6

persistence of the past

Answer 6

•the past was ‘clawing it’s way out’

Question 7

male friendship

Answer 7

•’for you, a thousand times over’

Question 8

reputation

Answer 8

•‘some things mattered more than the truth’