1. Tiffany Wallis
THE KITE RUNNER
Chapters: 14, 19, 24

2. SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 14
 We are now in June 2001. At the beginning of this
chapter we see Amir has just got off the phone with
Rahim Khan and discovered that he is sick. We find
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out that Amir has been asked to go to Pakistan. Amir
is very shocked but tells his wife, Soraya that he has
to go.
 A key part of this chapter is when it is revealed that
Rahim Khan had said „Come. There is a way to be
good again.‟ This sticks in Amir‟s mind and brings up
his buried past.
 A week before he leaves for Pakistan, Amir lays in
bed, thinking about his relationship with Soraya.
Then he leaves for Pakistan and the chapter ends
with him on the plane, taxi-ing out of the terminal.

3. CHAPTER 14- QUESTIONS FROM THE BLOG
 Chapter 14 of the Kite Runner: a recapitulation of the kite imagery
 Why does the author describes kites flying again?
 All of Amir‟s past, that he desperately tried so hard to bury has just
surfaced again. He „glances up‟ and see‟s these kites flying, it makes it
seems like it was a chance, or fate that they were there. It links to his
childhood and the author does this to make us remember the times when
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Amir and Hassan flied their kite together. The author does this to show
it has not been forgotten and Amir still recognizes and notice things, like
kite flying, that remind him of his childhood.
 What does Amir realise Rahim Khan knows?
 We discover that as an afterthought, Rahim Khan had quietly said on
the phone, „Come. There is a way to be good again.‟ Amir knew
straightaway what he was talking about. He realizes, that all of those
years, Rahim Khan had known about „Assef, the kite, the money, the
watch with the lightening bolt hands. He had always known‟. Rahim
Khan had knew about Hassan getting raped.
 What does Amir realise his must do to redeem himself?
 Amir knew that he had to go to Pakistan and see Rahim Khan. After
Rahim telling Amir he needs to see him, Amir knows that he has to go to
redeem himself. He needs to go to Pakistan and talk about the „unspoken
secret‟ they both knew about. After the phone conversation, Amir keeps
remembering Hassan saying „for you, a thousand times over!‟ Thinking of
this, he knows he has to go to Pakistan, see Rahim Khan, unbury the
secrets and do whatever he asks to „be good again‟.

4. SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 19
 We know that Rahim Khan has arranged for a friend of his, Farid, to drive Amir to
Kabul. Amir is getting travel sickness. This relates to his past, and reminds him of
when he and Baba had to escape from Kabul. To begin with, Farid was being very
quiet, only „said more than a dozen words‟. Farid and Amir get talking ,when Farid
offers Amir a lemon to help him with his sickness. Rahim Khan had told Amir that
Farid and his father had joined the Jihad against the showari. Amir also had
discovered from Rahim Khan that Farid used to have 7 children and two wives but
now he only has 5 children and he lives in Peshawar. They had to past „two Pakistani
militia‟ and everything was very different from how Amir remembers its. We realize
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that Amir left Rahim Khan straight away to start his journey even though Rahim
had told him to stay longer so they could plan but Amir ignored this and wanted to go
instead of change his mind and we know he was „afraid that id let the waters carry
me away from what I had to do. From Hassan.‟
 On the way, Amir see‟s the poverty stricken villages and towns, and explains that „he
feels like a stranger in his own country.‟
 Farid said that Amir has always been a tourist there and he has never known the
real Afghanistan as it is.
 They stayed with Farid‟s family. Amir tells them about himself, his life and why he is
in Pakistan. The family are shocked with what Amir is going to do and feel proud he
is in their home.
 Throughout the night, Amir has nightmares of what happened to Hassan and can
hardly speak. He discovers that Wahid and his family didn‟t eat at all but fed Amir
and Farid. „they hadn't been staring at my watch at all. They‟d been staring at my
food.‟
 The chapter end with Amir saying, „I did something I had done 26 years earlier: I
planted a fistful of crumpled money under a mattress.

5. CHAPTER 19- QUESTIONS FROM THE BLOG
 Chapter 19 of the Kite Runner: Amir‟s journey into Afghanistan
 What do we know and learn about Farid, Amir‟s driver?
 We learn that at fourteen, Farid and his father had joined the
Jihad against the Shorawi. They fought in the Panjsher Valley
for two years until Farid‟s father got killed. We also learned that
Farid used to have 7 children, but his two youngest daughters
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were killed in a land mine explosion.
 What does Amir reflect upon America and Afghanistan?
 Amir reflects that poverty has stricken Afghanistan. It has been
flooded with Military soldiers and tanks. Amir reflects that his
life in America is so great that he was worried that the fear of
going into Kabul and his old home country would stop him from
doing what he knew he needed to do. He see‟s America as so
much better and safer than the place he used to call home.
 Why was Farid initially hostile towards Amir?
 Farid thought that Amir had came back to Afghanistan to do
what most of the Afghani people that have moved to America do.
They come back to sell their father‟s land and take the money.
Farid initially believed that Amir had come back to collect the
money then return to America.

6. CONTINUED QUESTIONS- CHAPTER 19
 How has Amir “always been a tourist” in Afghanistan?
 Farid believed that Amir never really lived the true Afghanistan
life. He was one of the very few Afghani children that lived a
perfect life. He had a big, gated house and had Hazara servants.
He was rich and his father was respectable. He could have had
anything he wanted. Farid is basically saying to Amir that he has
been ignorant enough and too „rich‟ to not see the real
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Afghanistan. He lived a specialized life that very few did. The
Afghanistan Amir was now witnessing, had always been there but
Amir had been lucky enough, ignorant and too „upper-class‟ to
even notice. He was kept away from it all. He has never known
the real Afghanistan and therefore has always been a tourist.
 Why is the visit to Farid‟s brother‟s house important?
 At Wahid‟s house, Farid learned that Amir was not in
Afghanistan to just sell his father's property and return to
America. He learned that he was there to rescue his illegitimate
half brother‟s son, a Hazara. His mood and relationship changed
from that point on.
 The significance of the family visit was that it enabled Farid to
have a better understanding of Amir and it also serves to remind
Amir of the importance of his life in Afghanistan. It is during his
visit that it is suggested that he write about his homeland.
 He also relived his past when he stuffed some money for Wahid‟s
family under a mattress. A task he was familiar with.

7. SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 24
 Chapter 24 begins with Amir just left the hospital and had found a nice hotel for
himself, Sohrab and Farid to stay in. However, Farid said its time for him to go
back to his family and Amir gives him the gift of over two thousand dollars as a
way of saying thank you for everything he has done for him. Amir is constantly
in pain and has to take his medication frequently. Amir falls asleep, and when
awakes finds that Sohrab is missing. He panics, and after getting awaited help
from the receptionists, finds Sohrab right near the famous Shah Faisal Mosque.
Sohrab completely breaks down and confides in Amir that he feels so terrible as
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he feels as if he is forgetting his parents faces. He expresses his pain for missing
them and worries he will be put into hell for what he did. Amir gives Sohrab the
polaroid of him and his parents, that Rahim Khan had given him.
 Amir asks Sohrab to go back to America with him but he does not get an answer.
 At the park, Amir tells Sohrab that he and his father are brothers, and he had to
explain to him why they were treated differently.
 Sohrab admits he has been thinking about moving with Amir but he is scared.
Amir promises that everything will be okay and that he will never let Sohrab go
to an orphanage ever again. Amir squeezes his hand and Sohrab nods in return
as an approval to go home to America with him.
 Amir finally phones Soraya and admits everything about his past to her, tells
her what has happened the last few weeks and that he wants to adopt his
nephew and bring him back home with him. She is shocked but agrees, very
excited.

8. SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 24 CONTINUED..
 Amir and Sohrab go to the American Embassy in Islamabad. However, they
are faced with bad news as Raymond Andrews says to Amir to „give it up‟. He
tells him it is basically impossible for him to adopt Sohrab and take him back
to America as there is no proof of his parents death and he isn't legally an
orphan. However the man tells him that if he is serious to go to Omar Faisal,
the lawyer. When coming out of the American Embassy, the receptionists
reveals that Raymond hasn‟t been the same since his daughter died of
suicide.
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 Omar Faisal goes to Amir and Sohrab‟s hotel to try to help them. He also
tells them that it is unlikely to happen because of the current immigration
laws, adoption agency policies and the political situation of Afghanistan.
Faisal tells him that his best way to try would be to put Sohrab into an
orphanage, for two years and then to file an orphan petition. Faisal leaves
and Sohrab seems excited to go to America.
 Finally Amir admits to Sohrab that Omar said that he should go into an
orphanage temporarily. Sohrab breaks down and cries as Amir promised he
would never let him go to one of those places again. Sohrab insists that he
will get hurt and is hysterical. After being held by Amir, he withdraws
himself and goes to the bathroom.
 Amir gets a phone call from Soraya who tells Amir that her dad‟s friend has
managed to pull some strings and have figured out a way to get him and
Sohrab back to America safely on a humanitarian visa. Amir is relieved that
he wont have to send Sohrab to the dreaded orphanage and rushes to the
bathroom to tell Sohrab the exciting news.
 Amir calls Sohrab and pushes open the bathroom door. The chapter ends
with Amir collapsing on the floor and screaming in tears of what he has just
witnessed. „later, they say I was still screaming when the ambulance arrived.‟

9. CHAPTER 24-QUESTIONS FROM THE BLOG
 How does Islamabad compare with Kabul?
 Amir says that Islamabad was the city that Kabul could have become.
The streets were much cleaner and wider. The Bazaars were more
organized and the architecture was more elegant and modern than
Kabul.
Where is Sohrab found?
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
 Sohrab is found a few feet away from the famous Shah Faisal Mosque.
 Why does Sohrab feel sinful in the face of God?
 He feels that he will go to hell because of what he did to Assef to save
Amir. He feels sinful because of the ways that Assef and his men had
used and abused Sohrab.
 How does Amir form a bond with Sohrab?
 Amir forms a bond with Sohrab by telling him that he is not sinful and
Assef is a bad person who himself and his father knew when they were
growing up. Amir tells him that Assef was evil to him and his father.
Amir tells Sohrab that his father was a very good man who saved him.
Amir promises to never let anything bad happen to him and „what had
happened in that room had irrevocably bound us‟.
 Why is Amir‟s phone call to Soraya important? What does he confess?
 Amir confessed everything about his and childhood to Soraya. He felt
as if something was lifted off his chest. He told her about Hassan and
Sohrab and that he wants to adopt his nephew.

10. CHAPTER 24- QUESTIONS FROM BLOG CONTINUED
 What obstacles are placed in his way in his wish to adopt Sohrab? Who is
Raymond Andrews and how does Amir treat him? How does the writer create
complexity here?
 At the American Embassy, Raymond Andrews, an embassy official tells Amir to
give up. He tells him it is impossible for him to adopt Sohrab and take him back
to America with him. Amir is very cold to him as a reaction to Raymond seeming
to be cold-hearted and uncaring. Amir questions whether he has any children,
suspecting not because of how he cannot see the urgency and need in his
situation. Amir later finds out that Raymond Andrew‟s daughter died from
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suicide.
 Why does Sohrab attempt suicide?
 Sohrab is so frightened and cannot bare the thought of going back to an
orphanage. He would rather die than go back to one of those horrible, awful
places. Amir had promised that he would never have to go back to one and now
he has said he might have to. This makes Sohrab hysterical and causes him to
attempt suicide.
 How does the writer convey the changing emotions of Sohrab?
 When the two first meet, Sohrab is very wary and suspicious of Amir because he
has been used to being scared of people because of how he has been treated. As
they get closer, Sohrab slowly trusts Amir and opens up to him. He shows this
by his changing body language and being more talkative with Amir.
 What do you think Amir in this chapter?
 In this chapter, we see Amir really caring for Sohrab. We see the connection he
wants. We see that Amir is determined to do the right thing for Hassan‟s son
this time, to make amends for his past. We see Amir get scared and act like a
parent towards Sohrab and he recognizes this. It is obvious how much Amir
cares for him and wants to do the right thing as he knows he is his own flesh
and blood.