“Man’s inhumanity to man”

Amir is the main character of the novel His mother died giving birth to him and for this his father blames him He is an upper class Pashtun with a highly respected father

As a child he occupied himself with his love for story writing His father thinks he is not manly enough At age eighteen, he and his father flee to America due to Soviet invasion in Afghanistan

Assef is the son of an Afghan father and a German mother He believes that Pashtuns, “the pure Afghans”, are a higher class than the “flat-nose” Hazara As a teenager, he is the neighbourhood bully

“[Hitler] was a leader. A great leader. A man with vision” - Assef “…if they had let Hitler finish what he had started, the world would be a better place now.” - Assef Amir describes Assef as a "sociopath" because of his views of Hitler

He is Amir’s Hazara servant Hassan is Amir's closest childhood friend, but Amir has a bad habit of playing mind games with him “Your hazara made a big mistake today, Amir.”- Assef

Baba is Amir’s father Amir looks up to him as an idol and is forever trying to gain his approval He is a wealthy man, who is highly respected by fellow Afghanis

He built an orphanage with his own money He is disappointed in his son, Amir, because he does not think he is man enough Baba is a very kind and generous person except when it comes to his son

Sohrab is the only son of Hassan He has been physically abused by Assef He saves Amir from being killed by Assef He tries to kill himself when Amir breaks his promise

Amir and Hassan win a kite fighting tournament and Hassan runs the last kite - the blue kite Amir becomes concerned at the time it is taking for Hassan to return with the kite Amir searches for Hassan, finally finding him trapped by Assef and his entourage at the end of an alleyway

Amir watches his closest friend, Hassan, being raped in an alleyway by Assef When Hassan finally catches up with Amir again, all Amir can think about is the blue kite “And I can’t lie now and say my eyes didn’t scan it [the blue kite] for any rips.” - Amir

What do you think you would do in this situation? Imagine seeing your best friend being raped. Would you try to help or would you run?

While Baba and Amir are fleeing Afghanistan the truck they are travelling in arrives at a Russian checkpoint The Russian soldier who mans the checkpoint demands half an hour with a woman to let them pass “It’s his price for letting us pass.”

Her husband objects “But we’ve paid a fair price already. He’s getting paid good money.” But the soldier insists “He says … he says every price has a tax.”

Baba attempts to stop the rape, putting his own life on the line Could you do this? Put your life on the line for someone you don’t even know?

The orphanage Baba built was destroyed by the Taliban during the war This worsens the already bad orphan situation due to Taliban rule The Taliban kill anyone who steps out of line

Hassan and Farzana were executed by the Taliban for house sitting Baba’s house This meant that Sohrab was yet another orphan looking for somewhere to stay

Public executions were very popular with the Taliban They were supposed to show citizens the consequences of breaking the law

“How shall we punish those who dishonour the sanctity of marriage?” A man and women were stoned to death at a soccer game in front of thousands of people because they were having an affair “God says that every sinner must be punished in a manner best fitting his sin.”

“Taliban don’t let you be human.” – Rahim Khan Singing is forbidden Dancing is forbidden Playing cards, playing chess, gambling, and kite flying are forbidden

Writing books, watching films, painting pictures are forbidden If you keep parakeets, you will be beaten. Your birds will be killed If you are found guilty of adultery, you will be stoned to death

You will stay inside your homes at all times. It is not proper for women to wander aimlessly about the streets If you are caught alone on the street, you will be beaten and sent home Cosmetics and jewellery are forbidden

You will not wear charming clothes You will not speak unless spoken to You will not make eye contact with men You will not laugh in public. If you do, you will be beaten Hi, I’m Pall

So… What do you think about these Taliban rules?

“This isn’t the end for you either, Amir, someday, I’ll make you face me one on one.” - Assef In Amir’s quest to find Sohrab he meets his childhood enemy, Assef, once again “When it’s all done, only one of us will walk out of this room alive.” - Assef

“If you make a move, they’ll have to change your nickname from Assef ‘the Ear Eater’ to ‘One-Eyed Assef,’ because I have this rock pointed at your left eye.” - Hassan “…Sohrab released the cup. Then Assef was screaming. He put his hand where his left eye had been just a moment ago.”

So in conclusion...

… or is it??? Copyright 2011 © This has been a Jackass Penguin Production