Character
1. Identify one character in the text who changes over the course of the novel. Discuss how and why they change and what the importance of this change is. Use quotations to support your answer.

At the start Amir is selfish as he is privileged and wealthy. He is passive aggressive towards Hassan and finds himself always competing against Hassan over Baba’s love and attention. Amir is ashamed to be seen with Hassan but acts as his friend in private. “I actually aspire to cowardice, because the alternative, the real reason I was running, was that Assef was right: nothing was free in the world. Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba.” But the end Amir kind of redeems himself in a way. He also becomes a less selfish and more caring person. He is slightly relieved as he finally feels like his guilt has been lifted off him. “My body was broken – just how badly I wouldn’t find out until later – but I felt healed. Healed at last. I laughed.

2. Discuss how two types of conflict are used in the novel to present a major theme. Use quotations to support your answer. Note: There are 5 ways conflict can be classified. Check your notes to make sure you are clear on “The Big Five”.

3. Examine how narration is used in the story: who is the narrator, why does Hosseini use this character to tell the story, how does this support the presentation of a major theme and how does it impact on the reader’s experience of the novel. Use quotations to support your answer.

Amir narrates that story showing everything that happens from his perspective. Hosseini uses Amir as it supports the major theme of guilt within the book. It lets us be able to know what he is feeling and the guilt he gains from the decisions that he makes. It impacts on the readers experience as they get insights into the mind of Amir and how he deals with and redeems himself. “I was the snake in the grass, the monster in the lake. I wasn’t worthy of this sacrifice; I was a liar, a cheat, and a thief. And I would have told, except that a part of me was glad. Glad that this would all be over with soon. Baba would dismiss them, there would be some pain, but life would move on. I wanted that, to move on, to forget, to start with a clean slate. I wanted to be able to breathe again.”

Setting

1. Describe three ways in which the social context of the novel reflects the real life
situation in Afghanistan at the time the novel takes place. Support your answer with quotations from the novel and facts/knowledge from our examination of real life Afghanistan.

2. Discuss how two settings in the novel help to relay at least 1 major theme to the
reader. Use quotations to support your answer.