How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
As always, it was Rahim Khan who rescued me. He held out his hand and favored me with a smile that had nothing feigned about it. "May I have it, Amir jan? I would very much like to read it." Baba hardly ever used the term of endearment jan when he addressed me. [...]
An hour later, as the evening sky dimmed, the two of them drove off in my father's car to attend a party. On his way out, Rahim Khan hunkered before me and handed me my story and another folded piece of paper. He flashed a smile and winked. "For you. Read it later." Then he paused and added a single word that did more to encourage me to pursue writing than any compliment any editor has ever paid me. That word was Bravo. (4.43-45)
Thank goodness for Rahim Khan. He does more to encourage Amir's writing than Baba ever does. In fact, Baba more or less ignores Amir's interest in writing until Amir decides to major in English in the United States. But – we must add – all this sets up the very moving scene when Soraya reads Amir's stories to Baba. Of course, Rahim Khan could never replace Baba (who is larger than life throughout Amir's boyhood), but in what ways is Rahim Khan a second father to Amir? In what ways is Rahim Khan a better father than Baba? Or does Rahim Khan remain only a literary mentor?
Quote #5
I turned thirteen that summer of 1976, Afghanistan's next to last summer of peace and anonymity. Things between Baba and me were already cooling off again. I think what started it was the stupid comment I'd made the day we were planting tulips, about getting new servants. I regretted saying it – I really did – but I think even if I hadn't, our happy little interlude would have come to an end. Maybe not quite so soon, but it would have. By the end of the summer, the scraping of spoon and fork against the plate had replaced dinner table chatter and Baba had resumed retreating to his study after supper. And closing the door. I'd gone back to thumbing through Hãfez and Khayyám, gnawing my nails down to the cuticles, writing stories. I kept the stories in a stack under my bed, keeping them just in case, though I doubted Baba would ever again ask me to read them to him. (8.94)
Writing becomes a very complex activity here. Amir stacks his short stories under the bed, hoping Baba will someday want to hear them. Amir also compares writing to a nervous habit like biting his nails. Is writing really an anxiety-based habit? What does Amir have to be anxious about at this point in the story? Why would Amir think writing could help his relationship with his father?
Quote #6
The other present Baba gave me – and he didn't wait around for me to open this one – was a wristwatch. It had a blue face with gold hands in the shape of lightning bolts. I didn't even try it on. I tossed it on the pile of toys in the corner. The only gift I didn't toss on that mound was Rahim Khan's leather-bound notebook. That was the only one that didn't feel like blood money. (9.11)
Amir feels like all his father's gifts are "blood money" because, as he says, "Baba would have never thrown me a party like that if I hadn't won the tournament" (9.1). And to win the tournament – or at least to get a hold of the blue kite – Amir betrays Hassan. So, in a way, Baba's gifts result from Amir's regrettable act, his abandonment of Hassan. To earn Baba's love, Amir has to betray Hassan and thus Amir can't revel in his father's love without feeling guilty. That's why Rahim Khan's gift is so special: Rahim Khan's love isn't dependent on Amir's victory in the kite tournament. How does Rahim Khan's gift encourage Amir to become a writer?