Chapter 18
Describe Amir’s feelings after the shocking revelation.
Why was he so disoriented?
Find the questions Amir asked himself. Can you answer them?
Was it wrong of Baba, Ali and Rahim to keep Hassan’s identity a secret?
Do you feel family honor is enough justification for maintaining this secret?
Find one more cliché in the chapter. How does it relate to Baba and Amir?
Why did Amir think such words were appropriate at that point?
How did Amir himself explain his change of mind about Rahim’s dying wish?
What explanation do you find true to life?
Do you think it was his first step towards atoning for his past?
Chapter 19
Introduce a new character, Farid.
Describe his first impression of Amir.
What was his impression of emigrant Afghans who returned to visit Afghanistan?
Comment: “You’ve always been a tourist here”.
Discuss the question of a person’s sense of identity and sense of self raised in the chapter.
What does it mean to be an American, and Afghani?
Is it just the country/origin of birth?
Tell Farid’s story.
What can you say about Afghan customs towards guests.
Take Wahid’s behavior as an example. How did he treat Amir?
Describe Amir’s dream. What was special about it?
Comment in Amir’s actions at the end of the chapter.
What is the similarity between what Amir did then and what he “had done 26 years earlier”?
Why was this moment so important in his journey?
Lesson 7
Chapters 20-22
Chapter 20
In the chapter Amir saw Kabul for the first time since leaving. Describe what he saw.
Identify at least 3 ways in which Kabul had changed since Amir was last there.
Describe the Taliban men appeared in the chapter.
What advice did Farid give Amir regarding one of them?
What was the “improbable coincidence” that involved a beggar on the street?
How can you explain the significance of this chance encounter?
What did Amir learn about his mother due to the conversation?
Describe the scene in the orphanage.
What difficulties of life under the Taliban regime are exposed here?
What impossible choice did Zaman have to make?
What was his excuse for his behaviour? How did he defend his actions?
What would you do if you were in his position?
Chapter 21
What two places did Amir visit at the beginning of the chapter?
How did they change?
What did they make him think about?
List the key things Amir and Farid talked about that night.
Why did Farid find it hard to believe that Amir had come all the way from America to find the boy.
Describe the half-time show for the soccer game.
What happened to the man and the woman at half-time?
What crime did the couple commit? What was their punishment?
Describe the man with whom Amir arranged a meeting.
Chapter 22
Describe Amir’s conversation with “John Lennon”.
Point out the moment when Amir realized who he was talking to.
Give a physical and character description of Sohrab when he first appeared in the novel.
Explain Assef’s “mission”. What does it speak about him as a person?
Describe the fight and Amir’s feelings about it.
Comment: “My body was broken – just how badly I wouldn’t find out until later – but I felt healed. Healed at last. I laughed.”
Was Amir a coward (as he claimed) when confronting with Assef?
Explain how Sohrab’s saving Amir made everything come full circle.
Lesson 8
Chapters 23-25