Thursday, October 11, 2012

Fishbowl #5: Chapters 19 and 20


Hello, fishbowlers!


If you have questions about Afghanistan you'd like our long-distance friend, Rob, to answer, feel free (as always) to post them here.

You have the same two goals today, my friends:
(A) Bring at least one quotation into your responses.
(B) Keep getting into the hotseats.
(C) Remember that you are expected to use your laptop ONLY for blogging; you should be participating frequently from the beginning of the discussion to the end.


Enjoy, and keep up your strong work!

109 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Why do you think Amir is so worried about whats around the car? He keeps looking in the side mirrors.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think he's is just worried about Taliban or any threats and he's not used to the new Afghanistan.

      Delete
    2. Amir is in a war zone. This place that he used to live in when he was a child is now run by the Taliban, who are monsters in just about everyone's eyes.

      Delete
    3. I think that the Taliban mistook him for the Hazara and are now fallowing him and he does not want to be killed.

      Delete
    4. i agree with Preston, i think he is being extra careful just because of what happened

      Delete
    5. On page 248, the old beggar talks about the Taliban: "They drive around looking. Looking and hoping that someone will provoke them. Sooner or later, someone always obliges." With the Taliban constantly roaming around looking for a fight, plus the story of what they did to Hassan, Amir has ample reason to be looking around.

      Delete
    6. Going through the streets of Afghanistan in war is dangerous their are I.E.D's and Taliban forces all over they will also use any excuse to start violence. He is scared because if he even looks at someone wrong he could potentially be shot.

      Delete
    7. I think it is a metaphor or symbol for Hasaan and Ali when they left the home of Amir and Baba. On 108 and 109 Amir is describing the scene of Hasaan and Ali driving away in Baba's car. He mentions that he is slumped over sitting in the back seat. He does not mention that Hasaan looks back to see Amir. I think that Amir has been looking in the mirrors of the car because he knows there are important things he may be leaving behind. Amir was an important man to Hasaan and Hasaan never looked back.

      Delete
  3. Will Amir find Sohrab safe and sound or will it be too late?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think thats he will find sohrab and he will be safe

      Delete
    2. Well in most books, most the time has ending happy and joyful. In this book I think its going to be the same.

      Delete
  4. Why do you think Amir put money under the mattress? although Sohrab isn't their.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. To help out that family that didn't have much money or food.

      Delete
    2. He put the money there because the family could not afford food.

      Delete
  5. Why have so many people suggested that Amir write about the history and the situation of Afghanistan?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Because he likes to write books.

      Delete
    2. He went to college to be a writer so he would a good candidate to write this history.

      Delete
    3. i think the people in Afghanistan want the rest of the world to know the tragedy thats happening in Afghanistan. they want help from other people.

      Delete
    4. This is a serious subject. People get the GIST of what was going on but no one knew the magnitude of what was really going on. If someone who was a semi-known writer wrote about the changes in his own homeland, then maybe, just maybe people would listen and do something.

      Delete
    5. They want the world to know what is going on in Afghanistan and since Amir writes it would be a good way to spread the word.

      Delete
  6. Do you think that Sohrab will be found in the next few chapters why or why not?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think they will find out a shocking fact like he is dead or he is close to death. Amir has been working very hard lately for a good cause, trying to help others and he has found out many striking things. He went to Afghanistan to help Rahim Khan, he then found out Hasaan was dead. He finds out about Hasaan being his half brother so he tries to help his nephew. So I just think there will be more obstacles for him.

      Delete
    2. I think Sohrab will be found, found growing up into servantry just like Haasan Maybe the past will repeat itself.

      Delete
  7. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Pg 238, "I am proud to have you in our home tonight." Why is it that they did make him feel welcome when they did not know his reason for visiting? Even though they thought he was just trying to sell his fathers land and, "run away like a mouse" why would they care about his business in Afghanistan?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is Afghani custom to feed and give gifts if you have a guest at your house. I think it is also custom to not pry into people's pasts. That is why on page 236, Wahid apologizes for suggesting that Amir write about Afghanistan: "You know best of course. It's not for me to suggest..."

      Delete
  9. "He took Sohrab a month ago," is what the orphanage manager told them about the boy the were looking for. I have multiple questions. When the Talib soldiers take the girl or boy as payment, do they just take them for a short period, like a day? Or do they keep them for an extended period of time like a week or a month? Or do they not return the children at all?

    ReplyDelete
  10. When Amir left the money for the family, will the family feel disrespected?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They might feel disrespected or they will just think that he is a very nice man.

      Delete
    2. I don't think they will feel disrespected because they will be grateful that Amir left them money and it shows that Amir does actually care about the family.

      Delete
    3. I think they might because it's saying that he feels sorry for them.

      Delete
    4. I don't know about you guys but when I find money under my mattress I don't take offense I get excited and go buy stuff with it. Maybe this family won't even suspect it was Amir who left it.

      Delete
  11. When Amir finds Sohrab or if he dose will he know who it is and also would have Hassan told Sohrab about the rape and if he did would Sorhab not like Amir anymore because he would not protect his best friend when he was being raped and would Sohrab think maybe he is not trustworthy and not want to go with him and leave Kabal even though if he stayed it could save his life

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think if Hasaan told Sohrab about the rape he probobly would not think much of Amir but if Amir is Hasaan's Half brother so Sohrab might be forgiving of Amir.

      Delete
    2. When or if Amir finds Sohrab i think that he will know who it is and if Hassan told Sohrab about the rape i think that he would forgive him for what he did.

      Delete
  12. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  13. On page 232 When amir says "I feel like a tourist in my own country." Farid snickered. Tossed his cigaret. "You still think of this place as your country." "I think part of me always will." I said more defensivly than entended. "After twenty years of living in america?" Why is the driver Farid not wanting to accept that Amir still thought of Kabul as his country since he was born and grew up there?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Afghanistan is supposed to be a poor people country or something to that effect. Amir didn't really change his lifestyle that much when he moved to America because he was rich in Afghanistan.

      Delete
    2. Because Kabul has made good and bad memories for Amir and he will never forget any of them. People tend to usually return to their place of growing up rather they hate it or not they made memories their.

      Delete
  14. How do you think Amir feels when Farid says that he has been a tourist in his own country his whole life?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think that Amir was mad and did not want to believe it was true but a small part of him new it was true.

      Delete
  15. Why doesn't anything happen to Amir when he stares at the Taliban as they drive by?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nothing happened to Amir because the Taliban probably didnt take it as a threat.

      Delete
    2. I agree with John D. because they didn't see a very big guy and especially the Taliban did not see a gun, so he wasn't much of a threat. Also they saw he wasn't a Hazara.

      Delete
    3. Do you guys think Zaman is doing the right thing by giving away children for food for the other kids?

      Delete
  16. On page 232 ,"you probably lived in a big- or three story house with nice backyard that your gardener filled with flowers and fruit trees. All gated of corse. Your Father drove an american car". Do you think that Amir lived the true Afgan ways?

    ReplyDelete
  17. From page 239 to 240 the book talks about this dream he has what does this dream symbolize?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think it's sort of a flash back to the past and how Amir treated Haasan. Maybe now he is realizing he was treating Hasaan like a servant and not a brother.

      Delete
    2. I think he's having a nightmare of when Hassan got rapped but it's in a different way. It's in a different way because his dream was showing him how Hassan couldn't do anything only Amir could have.

      Delete
    3. The dream symbolizes how Amir felt that if he had stopped Assef from raping Hassan then maybe Hassan's life would have turned out differently instead of ending up dead in the middle of the road. Page 240,"I follow the barrel on its upward arc. I see the face behind the plume of smoke swirling from the muzzle. I am the man in the heringbone vest." (Amir). So Clearly Amir thinks it is somewhat his fault that Hassan died.

      Delete
  18. Has Amir developed a father sort of trait by giving the kids the watch?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Amir knew they were living in poverty and not doing very well the kids were starring at his food not the watch. Amir does carry father traits but in this circumstance I believe that he was just trying to get the kids to look away.

      Delete
    2. That's a really interesting question. It might be part of the duty of a guest to give gifts in Afghanistan, but I really don't know. I think that Amir has, just because he wants to be a father, otherwise he and Soraya would not be trying to have a baby.

      Delete
    3. It is not custom to give gifts as a guest in Afghanistan because when he asks if he could give the children the gift the Father declines the offer at first.

      Delete
    4. I think that Amir has come full circle because if you remember he gave Hassan a watch and money and now he is giving money and a watch\

      Delete
  19. Why do you think Baba didn't tell Amir about this mom and Hassan that his half brother was Amir?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think Baba didn't tell him is because maybe he was scared it would hurt his relationship with Amir.

      Delete
    2. I feel like if he told anyone he would loss his pride and Baba is all about his pride.

      Delete
    3. I agree with Preston, I think that it would hurt his pride. On page 223, which isn't in our chapters (just a heads up), Rahim Khan says: "it was a shameful situation. People would talk. All that a man had back then, all that he was, was his honor, his name, and if people talked... We couldn't tell anyone, surely you can see that." I think that Baba wouldn't want to have his reputation hurt by this lie.

      Delete
  20. When Amir is in Farid's brothers house.. when he explained what he was doing back in Afghanistan. Why did he says he was a true afghan, and why was he so proud to have him in his home?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think that when they realized what he was doing Farid felt bad for saying he wasn't a real afghan in the car. They thought he was just comming to collect his things and sell the house to make money than leave.

      Delete
    2. It has something to do with the traits that Afghans hold dearest, which one of them I think is a sense of kinship and pride about their country. It is also a very daring deed to go to a war-torn city and put yourself in harms way to save a little boy.

      Delete
  21. Why would she (Farid) get so mad at the official even though she is not doing anything to help?

    ReplyDelete
  22. Did he stuff the money under the mattress because he wanted to help them?

    ReplyDelete
  23. What goes through Amir's mind when he first goes into Kabul, seeing how it is all destroyed and such?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think fear went through Amir's mind because to see Kabul destroyed like it was it took a big effect on how his country is really at war.

      Delete
  24. on page 237 Amir said,"He was my half- brother." Why did Amir tell his Baba's secret that he kept from Amir all his life?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Because he is proud that Hassan was his own blood and he wants to let people know that he was even though Baba would be Devastated.

      Delete
    2. Richard I think he said this because he is finally starting accept all the secrets and things he has he kept hidden.

      Delete
  25. Replies
    1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufism
      It's like a worship to their god.

      Delete
  26. When he is at the orphanage, why does the man refuse to tell him anything till Amir mentioned that he is his half-uncle?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think he said this because he didn't want to tell him about the news of Sohrab being taken.

      Delete
    2. I think he didn't say anything because he wasn't allowed to unless it was family and when Amir said that he is the half uncle it gave the man the right to tell Amir information.

      Delete
  27. In the book Farid says "Sell the land, sell that house, collect the money,and run away like a mouse. Go back to America, spend the money on a vacation to Mexico." Do most Afghans fell this way about outside people?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think that since Amir lived their before they thought he was just coming to make money and get his things but then go back to America. They did not know his true purpose of being there.

      Delete
  28. How could you have an orphanage, and not even have enough supplies to support all the children?

    ReplyDelete
  29. Are their landmines in common places? because it seems like many people die from them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes I think they are in many places because the whole country is at war and landmines are an effective way to kill people.

      Delete
    2. There are land mines every where. The armies and Taliban that move around set land mines every where and didn't pick them up when they left.

      Delete
  30. It was symbolizing the fact that it wasn't the Taliban that killed Hassan, but it was Amir who killed Hassan. "I see the barrel first. Then the man standing behind him. He is tall, dressed in a herringbone vest and a black turban....He takes a step back and raises the barrel....The rifle roars with the deafening crack....I am the man in the herringbone vest."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Now the dream makes sense good interpitation.

      Delete
  31. Describe Farid's family. How come he only has five children now?

    ReplyDelete
  32. Did the Taliban take the child when they came to give the orphanage money?

    ReplyDelete
  33. Does the lamb signify the innocences of the people getting it taken away?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The lamb signifies the sacrifices that people make.

      Delete
  34. Mine was @ Preston

    ReplyDelete
  35. On page 243 Amir is reminded of the first war and as he is driving by and he sees the ruble and carcasses of old tanks. do you think he starting to wonder why this second war took place?

    ReplyDelete
  36. I like an agree with Austins comment about Amirs dream when Hassans being shot that the blind fold shows that Amir dosent want Hassan to see him like when he was getting raped.

    ReplyDelete
  37. I thought that the orphanage was destroyed by a rocket from the alliance?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was. They used a warehouse that hadn't been blown up.

      Delete
  38. What does the word morosely mean? It's on the very bottom of page 244.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The definition of morosely is to express gloom.

      Delete
  39. Why would the people feed the guests the food that they easily could have fed the children who were obviously starving.

    ReplyDelete
  40. When they find out that an official took Sohrab, where they planning on going to the staduim to try and rescue him?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes they were going to see a man who buy's the children and try to get Sohrab back.

      Delete
  41. What were the preparations that Amir had to make in order to go to Kabul?

    ReplyDelete
  42. Do people still get stoned today?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think that in some places they might but it's alot less now.

      Delete
    2. Yes people in some other countries can still be stoned to death you don't hear about it as much and thats because they have forgoten this way

      Delete
  43. Why would they stone people in the middle of public?

    ReplyDelete
  44. How does Amir finally feel about Afghanistan as he steps outside of Wahids place?

    ReplyDelete
  45. What do you think that guy will do when they ask for Sohrib?

    ReplyDelete
  46. Putting the money under the mattress of the family he was staying with was a gesture of him being helpful. Did he really mean to frame Hasaan when he did the same to him or was he being helpful at that point as well?

    ReplyDelete
  47. After what Ms. Leclaire just said about what they do in chapter 21 to the people in the stadium. Why would the Taliban stone the people in the public? was it just a way to make the people feel more humiliated?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They probably do it to show everybody who is in power and that will happen to you if you disrespect the Taliban.

      Delete
  48. Dose his house falling apart maybe represents his life falling apart and how what he used to know is gone because now his family is dead and his brother and best friend is dead and also where he grew up is now in ruins and so is basically his life is in ruins

    ReplyDelete