Word Watcher

perpetually: continuing or enduring forever; everlasting.

Affluent: having an abundance of wealth, property, or other material goods; prosperous; rich.

intricate: having many interrelated parts or facets; entangled or involved: an intricate maze.

vehemently: characterized by rancor or anger; violent.

foyer: a vestibule or entrance hall in a house or apartment.

obstinacy: unyielding or stubborn adherence to one's purpose, opinion, etc.

imminent: likely to occur at any moment; impending.

embody: to give a concrete form to; express, personify, or exemplify in concrete form.

trepidation: tremulous fear, alarm, or agitation; perturbation.

bazaar: a marketplace or shopping quarter, especially one in the Middle East.

Cretin: a stupid, obtuse, or mentally defective person.

permeate: to pass into or through every part of.

carcinoma: a malignant and invasive epithelial tumor that spreads by metastasis and often recurs after excision; cancer.

palliate: to relieve or lessen without curing; mitigate; alleviate.

chastise: to discipline, especially by corporal punishment.

incessant: continuing without interruption; ceaseless; unending.

presumptuous: assumption of something as true.

dismissive: indicating dismissal or rejection; having the purpose or effect of dismissing, as from one's presence or from consideration.

burlap: a plain-woven, coarse fabric of jute, hemp, or the like; gunny.

Tote: to carry, as on one's back or in one's arms.

morbidly: suggesting an unhealthy mental state or attitude; unwholesomely gloomy, sensitive, extreme, etc.

paunchy: having a large and protruding belly; potbellied.

Irrevocably: not to be revoked or recalled; unable to be repealed or annulled; unalterable.

teeming: abounding or swarming with something, as with people.

eccentric: deviating from the recognized or customary character, practice, etc.; irregular; erratic; peculiar; odd.

25 words

-Nicholas Maiolo

*Warning Spoilers!*

Towards the end of the book I noticed a very important point in the story that shocked me more then anything. The part in which Amir goes to meet the man that lead the torture of the two people that apparently commited adultery earlier. After reading that passage I am amazed how much corage Amir had to go up to his headquaters and request to see Hassan's son Sohrab who they had caputered earlier.

Another thing I was shocked about, was ow Amir held in his anger and disgust when the leader of the Taiban held Sohrab in a certain way in-which a normal child should be held (its a little to graphic for words) and called him "his boy". Pg-279

Another pasage that shocked me was when The Tabiban man named Assef, who was cruel to Amir when he was little, and even destroyed the realtionship that Hassan and Amir,said when Amir said he wanted Soharb

(Assef)"What do you want to do with him?" he said. Then a coy smile. "Or to him."

(Amir)"Thats disgusting," I said

(Assef) "How do you know?Have you tired it ?" Page-285

This passage was a turning point in the book for me. I think Amir was more disgraced then he was years ago when the same fate had happened to Hassan years ago. His fate meaning to be raped and disgraced by the same excat person, Assef. If I was Amir in that situation I would feel like I let Hassan down again, after all Soharb was his half-nephew.

In respoding to what I hear on the news the situation of Afganistan wasnt the same after the end of the Cold War. Like in Amir's descriptions, nothing was the same as it was when he was young. I can come to the conclusion that Assef has problems, or he is just plain evil. It

Amir's First Story

I found a lot of symbolism in the first story that Amir wrote. It was about a man who had a cup that turned his tears into pearls. The man grew greedy and tried to find ways to make himself cry as much as possible. It ended with him sitting on top of a mountain of pearls, holding his wife's slain body.

for those of you that haven't finished chapter seven in the kite runner, do NOT read this post.

in chapter seven, Amir wins the annual kite fight and Amir wonders if Baba is proud of him or proud of Hassan for winning. Hassan runs after the last kite Amir cut, as Amir plans to present the kite to Baba as a trophy. Hassan starts to look for Amir Amir looks for Hassan and finds him cornered in an alley by (Hassan's and Amir's enemy) Assef and his friends. Assef tells Hassan that he is not really Amir’s friend, but his servant. They start to beat up Hassan as Amir crouches behind a wall because he is too afraid to step in and defend Hassan. Since Amir wants the kite so he can bring it home and finally make his father proud, Hassan would not give up the kite. Assef rapes Hassan as his friends hold him down as Amir runs away. He later meets Hassan (pretending he doesn’t know what happened) and gets the kite from Hassan. Amir still doesn't know at the time if Hassan saw him crouching behind the wall while Assef and his friends were beating up Hassan in the alley. Amir gives the kite to Baba, who is proud of Amir.

The story relates to what happens to Hassan in the alley because like the man in Amir's story sacrificed his wife for the pearls, Amir sacrificed something extremely important to him that he could never get back (Hassan) just so his father could be proud of him for once. Both the man in the story and Amir get riches by sacrificing. another thing that the man in the story and Amir had in common was that before the the man got his "gift", or "blessing", of crying pearls and before Amir showed his kite to his father, they were both overall happy and content with their lives. after they got what they wanted though, they were miserable the rest of their lives. The riches that Amir get is the pride and affection of Baba when he sees that Amir brought home the kite. Both Amir and the man in the story deeply regret what they sacrifice in order to get what they want.

Lets Discuss

Here is something interesting to discuss

I find Amir's bravery in going to save Hassan's son , something I admired very much in him. I am sure when he learned that Hassan was his half brother and he had been killed. I am sure he felt obligated to save his nephew. The friendship that was destroyed all those years could be re-kindled by this one action.

Another thing I was thinking of was that if Amir is successfull in finding Hassan's son would he just pass him to the Americans that have told him they would take him in?
Amir and his wife have been trying to get pregnant every since they had gotten married so is there a possibility that Amir might take him in?

Allison OHagan -Discussion Director

REMINDER!!!!

Just a reminder for those in my group our blog is due on November 13th

So we should be keeping those blog posts coming!!!!!!

I KNOW WE CAN DO THIS!!!! :)

Discussion Director Post

Heres something to think about . . .

Through out the process of reading this book I was noticing some key elements of Amir and Hassan's relationship. I found it pretty interesting how Amir treats Hassan with no respect some of the time. Amir usued Hassans weaknesses against him some of the time. For example Hassan is illiterate (meaning he was never taught how to read and write), when Amir used to read Hassan stories from his mother's library, he would tease Hassan when he would ask Amir what a certain word might be.

Another interesting point would be that Amir would contantly be working to make his father proud and when ever his father , Baba would bring Hassan somewhere with them, or buy him something Amir would always think that Hassan didnt deserve it.

The one thing I can say about their relationship is when Amir learned of Hassan death and the fate of his son , Amir knew he he had to save his son. Amir made the mistake of not helping his beloved friend 25 years earlier, and the result became gulit for the remainer of his young life. Now that he is the man his father invisioned him to grow up to be and the friend he knew Hassan would be proud of.

Posted By:Allison OHagan

illustrating Baba and Amir, differences in personalities.

Amir wants to be accepted by his father, Baba, but in reality they can't get any more different from each other. throughout the book, they are distant from each other even though Amir tries his hardest to make Baba proud. At the dinner table, "the only things that can be heard are the clinking of the silverware against the dishes". This shows that Baba and his son don't have a good relationship.

Baba is...

-good at sports

-aggresive

-great at starting parties

-very social

while Amir is...

-a bookworm

-likes to stay home

-can't fend for himself; counts on Hassan for that

-horrible at sports

Amir thinks that Baba resents him because Baba's wife died of childbirth when Amir was born. An excellent quote by Baba is "A boy who won't stand up for himself becomes a man who can't stand up for anything."

Amir thinks to himself in chapter 6 that if he wins the kite tournament "Maybe, just maybe, I will be pardoned for killing my mother."