Theme: that betrayal and mistrust can ruin a relationship



Theme: that betrayal and mistrust can ruin a relationship

Scene 1: The rape scene

What the character learns from the theme – Amir learns that his actions of betrayal and mistrust change his relationship with Hassan forever.

What the audience learns from the theme – that betrayal and mistrust can ruin a relationship and that loyalty and trust are vital in any relationship. Friends should be able to trust friends to be there for tem during their time of need.

Quotes:

“Or I could run, in the end I ran.”

“I ran because I was a coward.”

“But he is not my friend, he is my servant.”

“Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay in order to win Baba.”

Additional – Hassan has so much loyalty to Amir that he is willing to sacrifice himself just to get Amir what he wants. There views of one another are very different – Amir is willing to sacrifice Hassan just to get what he wants, Hassan would never do that.

Scene 2: Amir frames Hassan

What the characters learn from the theme – Amir learns that making Hassan leave does not change what he did or make his relationship with Hassan any better.

What the audience learns from the scene – by hiding the past from sight doesn’t mean you can forget about it in your mind

Quotes –

“I was sorry but I didn’t cry and I didn’t chase the car.”

“The next time I saw him smile unabashedly like that was 26 years later in a Polaroid picture.”

“I watched Baba’s car pull away from the curb, taking with it the person whose first spoken word had been my name.”

Additional - Amir tried to hide his betrayal and get rid of those involved so he wouldn’t have to deal with it.

Scene 3: Baba’s betrayal

What the characters learn – Amir learns that Baba is not as good a man as he seems. He betrayed Ali.

Baba learnt that they are other ways of seeking redemption besides confronting the problem.

What the audience learn – That the problem will never be solved until you front up to it.

Quotes:

“Baba had been a thief and a thief of the worst kind, because the things he had stolen had been sacred, from me the right to know I had a brother, from Hassan his identity and from Ali his honour.”

Additional – Baba made up for his betrayal by doing kind and good things.

Overall message to audience – Relationships must be equal – both must give and take equally or else there will be a breakdown in the relationship. Friends and family should be able to rely on one another.

Theme: that we can be corrupted by our own desires.

Scene 1: Amir’s jealousy of Hassan’s relationship with Baba.

Amir is jealous of Hassan because Baba enjoys spending time with Hassan, so he lies to Baba in order to keep them apart so that he can have one on one time with Baba.

What the characters learn from this event – Amir learns that leads to his deception, which ultimately leads to him losing his friendship with Hassan

What the audience learns from the event – The audience learns that jealousy can often lead to deception.

Quotes:

“He asked me to fetch Hassan. But I lied and told him he had the runs.”

“I wanted Baba to myself.”

“I was so proud of Baba, of us.”

Scene 2: The rape scene

Because of Amir’s desire to please Baba he was blindsided to the consequences of not standing up for Hassan and let him be sacrificed so that he could get the Kite and Baba would be proud of him.

What the characters learn from this event – Amir learns that his obsession with pleasing Baba has caused him to betray his best friend. He also learns that he should have defended his best friend from the bully Assef and then he might not have spent his entire life looking for redemption.

What the audience learns from the event – The audience learns that acting on corrupted desires can lead to serious consequences that can affect you for the rest of your life.

Quotes –

“I imagine the animal sees that its imminent demise is for a higher purpose.”

“In the end I ran, I ran because I was a coward.”

“Nothing was free in this world. Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba.”

“He was just a Hazara wasn’t he?”

Scene 3: Baba’s betrayal.

Baba betrayed his dear friend and servant Ali by sleeping with his wife. He let her good looks tempt him to betray his one true friend. By not admitting to this he also betrayed Hassan and Amir who never knew that they were brothers.

What the characters learn – Amir learns that Baba is not the man he thought he was – he too was hiding a secret that would have caused him great pain throughout his lifetime.

What the audience learns from the event – The audience learns that if you let your temptations corrupt you, you can often end up hurting those closest to you.

Quotes –

Her good looks “tempted countless men into sin.”

“There is only one sin, that is theft.”

“Baba had been a thief, and a thief of the worst kind. From me the right to know I had a brother, from Hassan his identity and from Ali his honour.”

Overall message for the audience– If you let your corrupt desires overpower you from doing what is the right thing to do then you may end up hurting people. It is better to be honest and stand up for what you believe is right rather than letting poor decisions haunt you for your entire life. Sometimes acting on what seems to be the most desirable thing at the time can end up being a big mistake.

Theme: that you cannot forget about the past.

Some scenes where this theme is scene –

* When Rahim Khan rings Amir after many years and reminds him of his past in Afghanistan.

* When Amir returns to Afghanistan to find Sohrab, he comes face to face with Sohrab, his bully from many years earlier.

* When Amir flashes back to Hassan’s corduroy pants and it reminds him of his betrayal.

* When Soraya tells Amir about her sordid past.

Characters who illustrate the theme include

* Amir – because his past is always popping up in his present even though he has desperately tried to escape it.

* Rahim Khan – does not directly illustrate this theme but he contributes to Amir discovering hidden secrets from the past – he is the secret keeper.

* Soraya – learns that people can accept your past actions no matter how bad they are if you are honest and accepting of the consequences of your actions.

What the characters learn from the theme –

Amir learns that your actions always catch up with you and people can always have a hidden agenda.

Amir learns that running away from your past is not the answer and you will always have to return to it eventually – this happens when he returns to Afghanistan and feels like a stranger in his own country.

Soraya learns that people are willing to accept you for your past mistakes if you are honest.

Amir learns that things always heal over time and “there is a way to be good again” by doing good things to fix the wrongdoings that he committed.

What the audience learns from the theme –

* Everyone has something that they regret from their past.

* Some people are always willing forgive no matter how badly they have been betrayed.

* Living with regret can impact the way that you live the rest of your life.

Quotes

“There is a way to be good again.”

“It was my past of unatoned sins.”

“I was overcome with such sudden guilt that I bolted to the bathroom and vomited in the sink.”

“Because the past claws its way out.”

“When I was certain that no one was watching I did something that I did twenty-six years earlier. I planted a fistful of crumpled money under a mattress.”

“What was the saying about the bad penny, my past was like that, always turning up.”

Overall message to audience –

If you do something that hurts someone else you should do your best to fix the problem at the time, if you don’t it is very likely that the event will haunt you for many years to come. No matter how bad the action there is always a way to fix it and make it better.

Theme – that the truth always come out in the end.

Characters who illustrate the theme – Amir, Rahim Khan, Baba, Ali

Scenes that illustrate the theme –

* Ali finds out the truth about what has happened to Hassan even though he never says anything – it is written on his expression when he looks at Amir

* Rahim Khan reveals the truth to Amir that he is actually Hassan’s brother.

* Amir confides in Soraya about what happened to Hassan in Afghanistan many years earlier. Although they had been married for fifteen years he finally come around and told her the truth.

What the characters learn from the theme –

* Amir learns that people are not always who they appear to be.

* Everyone has something to hide.

* Amir leans that the truth can set you free.

What the audience learns from the theme –

* It is much better to tell the truth yourself rather than letting it stay hidden until someone else if forced to reveal it.

* Sometimes the truth has negative consequences – someone may lose their respect and honour by revealing the truth.

* Sometimes the longer you hide the truth the more complicated it may become and the more regrets you may have.

* By telling the truth and admitting to what you have done you can often feel instantly better.

Quotes –

“I saw that Hassan had told him. He has told him everything… strangely I was glad that someone knew me for who I really was.”

“I did what I hadn’t done in fifteen years of marriage… I told my wife everything… as I spoke I felt something lift off my chest.” – Amir tells Soraya about his betrayal.

“We couldn’t tell anyone surely you could see that.” – Rahim Khan about Baba’s betrayal.

“I’m thirty-eight years old and I’ve just found out that my whole life is one big lie.” – Amir learns that Hassan was his brother.

Overall message to audience –

No matter how hard you try to hide the past you can never escape from it. Your past has shaped you into the person that you are today and you must fix wrongdoings from your past if you are ever going to move on.

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