2. The opening of the chapter describes the beginning of Baba and Amir’s journey
to America, ‘I thought of the way we’d left the house where I’d lived my entire
life.’ The Russians have invaded Kabul and it’s got to a stage where its not safe
for Baba and Amir to live in the area anymore.
There is a reoccurring theme of trust and loyalty throughout the scene, which is
constantly referred to, highlighting it’s importance in the time period to the
reader.
When the group of escapees reach the checkpoint on their departure from
Kabul, a Russian guard eyes a young woman in the back of the truck, and
demands ‘a half hour’ with her in the back of the truck. However, Baba takes
great rage in the Russian officer’s cheek and defends the young woman’s
dignity. Baba is represented as being a strong-minded character with strong
morals and values. (This creates a sense of dramatic irony, as his noticeably
courageous behaviour greatly contradicts how Amir dealt with the previous
event of Hassan’s rape, highlighting Amir as being a cowardly character.
Within the closing of the scene, after the group’s extensive trek, Kamal lies lifeless
in his fathers arms, possibly because of the fuel tank and the related fumes.
Kamal’s father is shown in the end of the scene to bring a gun to his own head
because of his son’s death, this introduces the theme of sacrifice.

3.  Why is Kabul now a city of rubble and
curfews?
 How do Baba’s current servants compare
with Ali?
 How does Baba defend the rights of his
group when they arrive in Jalalabad?
 How does Baba and Amir’s relationship
change on their journey?
 Why is Kabul presented in this fashion?

4. Following from the recent invasions from the Russian troops, Kabul has become a
somewhat desolate town. Khaled Hosseini highlights the depth of the destruction
in Kabul through constantly referring to Amir’s previous childhood memories of
Kabul, introducing a contradictory positive tone.
‘After everything he’d built, planned, fought for, fretted over, dreamed of, this
was the summation of his life: one disappointing son and two suitcases.’
The theme of sympathy is introduced here, Khlaed Hosseini provokes the readers
empathy through the inclusion of the emotive adjective ‘disappointing’ used to
describe Amir himself, highlighting to the audience how Amir is desperate for his
father’s approval.
The quote includes the time phrase and adjective ‘after,’ which magnifies all of
Baba’s triumph in Kabul, highlighting to the audience how destructive the
Russian invasion has been to families in the area.

5. Baba refers to his current servants with minimal respect or interest, this juxtaposes
how he treated Ali and Hassan, (E/g when he had Hassan’s clef lip corrected for
his birthday present).
‘Our seventh servant in five years’
The sibilance within the sentence emphasises the masses of servants that have
worked for Baba and Amir, which highlights Ali and Hassan’s considerably rare
long, loyal service to Baba and Amir. This later becomes relevant to the plot line
and is a subtle suggestion that becomes more significant at a later stage in the
novel.
‘We hadn’t told him.’ … ‘The signs of our elopement were subtle.’
Amir refers to the lack of trust and honesty within Kabul, due to the Russian
invasion, and explains how Baba and Amir have purposely left their servants
uninformed of their departure, intentionally making their withdrawal from the
family home as discrete as possible, taking the minimal necessities with them.

6. When the group eventually reach Jalalabad after their somewhat disruptive
journey, the allocated driver, Karim, informs the group that the next truck that
had been organised to take the group on the next leg of their journey, has not
been fully operational for a full week now. Khaled Hosseini has purposely created
this scenario in the novel as an opportunity to expose Baba’s masculine
approach to life, not being afraid to expose his opinions.
‘Wrapped around his neck were Baba’s hands.’
Amir indirectly exhbitis Baba’s anger and resent of Karim, the incorporation of the
dynamic verb ‘wrapped,’ emphasises to the reader how within the time period,
men would commonly express their anger or disagreement through physical
violence. This reinforces the previous exposure of the theme of masculinity,
reinforcing the predominately patriarchal society.

7. ‘Sometimes, I too wondered if I was really Baba’s son.’
Throughout the journey to Kabul, the idea of Baba and Amir’s contradicting
personalities and morals is really emphasised to the audience; this is mainly
shown through Baba’s courageous, confident actions.
‘Heart pounding in my throat, I buried my face in my hands.’
The combination of multiple dynamic verbs such as ‘pounding’ and ‘buried,’
creates a semantic field of apprehension, worry and fear. The inclusion of
dynamic verbs that directy exhibit Amir’s emotions, allows Khaled Hosseini to
display Amir’s dependence on his father, and highlighting his weakness as being
derived from the lack of attention he receives from Baba.

8. Within Chapter 10, Kabul is presented as a country with a distinct lack of hope,
being dominated by the Russian invasion, consequently making local people
feel like strangers in their own country.
‘Lurched to the dusty embankment on the side of the road.’
The descriptive adjective ‘dusty,’ has been incorporated within the description of
the streets of Kabul, and introduces a progressively negative tone,
foreshadowing to the audience how Afghanistan is slowly declining, and is
becoming a country of little hope and prosperity for all of its inhabitants.