The Kite Runner Group

Question:

brittanyg92
brittanyg92
Student
High School - 10th Grade

In Kite Runner, why does Hassan thank Allah that he is still alive, according to his letter?

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Posted by brittanyg92 on Thursday April 24, 2008 at 5:05 PM and tagged with chapter 17, characters, hassan, the kite runner.

Answers:


  1. dymatsuoka

    Hassan thanks Allah that he is still alive "not because (he) fear(s) death, but because (his) wife (still) has a husband and (his) son is not an orphan". 

    Hassan is telling Amir that the political and social climate of the country of their birth has changed dramatically with the rise of the Taliban.  He says, "the Afghanistan of our youth is long dead...kindness is gone from the land...in Kabul, fear is everywhere".  He describes a situation where his wife was asking a question of a potato vendor.  When the vendor ignored her, she figured he must not have heard her, so she spoke more loudly.  A Taliban member, hearing her, came over and beat her with a stick, screaming that the Ministry of Vice and Virtue says that a woman may not raise her voice.  Hassan can only stand and watch, because he knows that if he fights back, the extremists will gladly klll him, and then there will be no one to provide for his wife and son.  Women have no status on their own under the new regime, and "the streets are full enough already of hungry orphans" (Chapter 17).

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/kite-runner/

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    Posted by dymatsuoka on Friday May 2, 2008 at 12:02 PM

  2. scarid05
    scarid05 Student
    College - Junior

    Remember Hassan is very committed to his religion.  He is aware of the environment he lives.  He is also an "outcast" considering he is Hazara, (remember how Hazara people are viewed in this culture)

     

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    Posted by scarid05 on Sunday May 4, 2008 at 12:56 PM