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John-red
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1. Describe the relationship between Amir and his father, Baba. Describe the relationship between Baba and Hassan.
2. Why doesn't Amir refer to Hassan as his friend?
3. What effect does Baba's success have on his expectations of Amir?
4. What attitude does Amir's family show towards Hassan's? Why do they act like this?
1.Amir's relationship with Baba is a complex and complicated one. On one hand Baba loves Amir because he is his only son, but he also feels that Amir is the cause for his wife's death. On the other side Amir is nothing like his father. While Baba is strong and self sufficient, Amir is a coward and is not able to hold his own.
ReplyDelete2. Amir's family treats Hassan's family like servants because they are from different social classes, the Hazara, or servant class which is Hassan's class and the class which is Amir's class and the upper class.
3.Baba's success in various fields puts a lot of pressure on Amir. He feels that he has to live up to his father which is what Baba expects him to do. However Amir is not that type of person and is incapable of doing the things his father did.
4. Amir doesn't refer to Hassan as his friend because they are from opposite social classes and it is forbidden for these two classes to be close to each other. However, Amir feels close to Hassan but still refuses to express his feelings. There is no reason to hide this though.
John Cronin-
ReplyDelete1. Amir's relationship with baba is loving but tense. Baba has very high expectations of Amir and this creates friction between them
2. Being called someone's friend suggests equality and mutual respect. These are things Amir is not expected to feel for a lower class person such as Hassan
3.Baba's success creates pressure on Amir to match his achievements. This is something that Amir is not such he can achieve and it puts stress on their relationship.
4. Amir and his family are kind and respectful to Hassan and his family , but there is always a vague sense of aloofness and superiority.
1. The relationship between Amir and his father, Baba is complex. While Baba loves his son, he puts a lot of pressure on him to succeed. Baba has certain expectations for Amir to be, which Amir has trouble living up to. Amir loves and admires his father for his courage and attempts to be accepted by his father throughout the novel. Hassan is more like the son Baba always wanted, and Baba gives him presents despite that Hassan is a servant.
ReplyDelete2. Since Amir and Hassan are from different social classes, they are not supposed to be friends. Amir is from a wealthy social class and is secretly embarrassed of being friends with a poorer servant boy.
3. Baba’s success creates pressure for Amir to have equal achievement. Baba gets frustrated easily with Amir since they have different interests.
4. Amir’s family is kind towards Hassan’s family, even though they are in different social classes. However, Amir’s family will always be superior to Hassan’s despite their kindness towards Hassan and Ali.
1.Baba and Amir have a mixed relationship. Amir does everything he can to impress his father, but he never seems to notice. His father has short bursts where they seem to get along, but they don't happen very father. Baba has a better relationship with Hassan, as in the example with skipping stones, when Hassan gets more skips, resulting in a pat on the back.
ReplyDelete2. Amir doesn't refer to Hassan as his friend because he doesn't think he is allowed too. Baba has a great time with Ali, but never refers to him as a friend. Because Hassan is of a persecuted ethnicity, Amir doesn't think that they are allowed to be friends.
3. Baba has so much success that Amir thinks he is required to have that much success also. Amir lives his life trying to impress his father, and with the kites, even though he won, Baba wasn't impressed by it. Baba's negative expressions drive Amir to try to be more successful, but they are usually to no avail.
4. Amir's family has a great time with Hassan's, but they don't refer to them as friends. This is because they are servants, which is almost a silent code that says servants can't mingle with their owners. Hassan's ethnicity also effects him, because being a Hazara is looked down upon, which Baba and Amir silently show.