Chapter 3
The chapter starts off with some more description about Baba, where he tells us about a rumour that Baba "wrestled a bear with his bare hands, and how if the story had been about anyone else, it would have been dismissed as a "laaf" (Afghan tendency to exaggerate). After Amir has described the event, he says "I have dreamt about Baba's wrestling match, and in those dreams I can not tell Baba from the bear.". He is comparing him to an animal, and shows that he must be big, and sometimes quite scary, due to not knowing which was the bear or his father. He also gives us an image of how Baba looks, saying that he had "three parallel scars" on his back. He is also nicknamed "the hurricane", and this shows Khaled Hosseini using the force of nature to describe him, which again shows that he is big and strong, like the bear. But later Amir says that "when all six foot five of him thundered into a room, attention shifted to him like a sunflower turning to the sun.", which uses Pathetic Fallacy to describe the mood. It also shows that he is god like, as he is able to change the weather. The "hurricane" also suggests that he does not stop for anything in his path, which is backed up when Amir says that people doubted him when he was building the orphanage. He proved them wrong by building it, and it being a success. He also proved people wrong when he married a beautiful woman, as people did not expect him to get her.
Some more imagery that is used to describe Baba is when the narrator says "He took a deep breath and exhaled through his nose, the air hissing through his moustache."
"Crushed an ice cube between his teeth". The narrator uses plosive language to help achieve a violent, strong effect, the "crushing" indicates a loud sound, that is attention seeking, and this supports the quote earlier, about the attention shifting to it. He seems to like being in the lime light, and doesn't want to go unnoticed.
One day at school, Amir's teacher tells the class that drinking is a sin, and seeing his father drink whiskey, he questions Baba about what his teacher has said. This is another contextual reference, due to the religion in the country, as Islam is the main religion in the setting. But Baba says that the only sin in stealing, whether it is stealing something that belongs to someone else, or stealing their life. "Now, no matter what the Mullah teachers tell you, there is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft."
Amir feels like he is not living up to his fathers expectations, as he reads a lot, and Baba prefers Soccer. Amir says that he once won a game at school, and he felt proud of this. The game was called "Battle of the poems", and as you can tell, Baba was not as proud of his son as he would have been if he had won something athletic. This then results in Baba talking to Rahim, a business associate, about how he is worried that Amir will not be able to defend himself when he's older, as he isn't able to do it now. Rahim has been mentioned once before, as he is the friend who called Amir when he was living in San Francisco, back in the beginning of chapter one.
'"But he's always buried in those books or shuffling around the house like he's in some kind of dream"
"And?"
"I wasnt like that" Baba sounded frustrated, almost angry'
It seems like Baba wants Amir to be more masculine, and is worried that he won't grow up to be like him, as he is very resilient, and stands up for what he believes in, as was shown earlier by him saying that drinking was not actually a sin.
"A boy who won't stand up for himself becomes a man who can stand up for anything"
There is a lot of Exposition in chapters two and three, as it gives us Background information on a lot of characters, and some on the setting of the place. Even though he is looking back on his past, I wouldn't say this chapter is an analepsis, as that is a flash back, and this seems too long and detailed to be just a flashback. This chapter is reliable in some places, as he is recalling some events, but may not be as reliable when he is recalling Rahim and Baba talking. This is because the conversation is about him, in a negative way, so he may take Baba's comments to mean worse than they were actually meant to be. But front past evidence we were given about Baba, he does seem like quite a proud, outgoing character, so he may be ashamed of having a quieter son, that prefers reading to sport.
Some more imagery that is used to describe Baba is when the narrator says "He took a deep breath and exhaled through his nose, the air hissing through his moustache."
"Crushed an ice cube between his teeth". The narrator uses plosive language to help achieve a violent, strong effect, the "crushing" indicates a loud sound, that is attention seeking, and this supports the quote earlier, about the attention shifting to it. He seems to like being in the lime light, and doesn't want to go unnoticed.
One day at school, Amir's teacher tells the class that drinking is a sin, and seeing his father drink whiskey, he questions Baba about what his teacher has said. This is another contextual reference, due to the religion in the country, as Islam is the main religion in the setting. But Baba says that the only sin in stealing, whether it is stealing something that belongs to someone else, or stealing their life. "Now, no matter what the Mullah teachers tell you, there is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft."
Amir feels like he is not living up to his fathers expectations, as he reads a lot, and Baba prefers Soccer. Amir says that he once won a game at school, and he felt proud of this. The game was called "Battle of the poems", and as you can tell, Baba was not as proud of his son as he would have been if he had won something athletic. This then results in Baba talking to Rahim, a business associate, about how he is worried that Amir will not be able to defend himself when he's older, as he isn't able to do it now. Rahim has been mentioned once before, as he is the friend who called Amir when he was living in San Francisco, back in the beginning of chapter one.
'"But he's always buried in those books or shuffling around the house like he's in some kind of dream"
"And?"
"I wasnt like that" Baba sounded frustrated, almost angry'
It seems like Baba wants Amir to be more masculine, and is worried that he won't grow up to be like him, as he is very resilient, and stands up for what he believes in, as was shown earlier by him saying that drinking was not actually a sin.
"A boy who won't stand up for himself becomes a man who can stand up for anything"
There is a lot of Exposition in chapters two and three, as it gives us Background information on a lot of characters, and some on the setting of the place. Even though he is looking back on his past, I wouldn't say this chapter is an analepsis, as that is a flash back, and this seems too long and detailed to be just a flashback. This chapter is reliable in some places, as he is recalling some events, but may not be as reliable when he is recalling Rahim and Baba talking. This is because the conversation is about him, in a negative way, so he may take Baba's comments to mean worse than they were actually meant to be. But front past evidence we were given about Baba, he does seem like quite a proud, outgoing character, so he may be ashamed of having a quieter son, that prefers reading to sport.
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