The Kite Runner Chapter 10 Quotes
The Kite Runner Chapter 10 Quotes
How we cite the quotes:
Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote 4
That was when Baba stood up. It was my turn to clamp a hand on his thigh, but Baba pried it loose, snatched his leg away. When he stood, he eclipsed the moonlight. "I want you to ask this man something," Baba said. He said it to Karim, but looked directly at the Russian officer. "Ask him where his shame is."
They spoke. "He says this is war. There is no shame in war."
"Tell him he's wrong. War doesn't negate decency. It demands it, even more than in times of peace." (10.18-20)
Well, when a man eclipses the moonlight, you should listen. Notice how Amir doesn't listen, though. An Afghan woman is about to be raped and Amir tries to stop Baba from standing up to the Russian officer. Remind you of something Amir does (or doesn't do) in an earlier chapter? Baba's actions, honorable as they are, must compound Amir's guilt. His father does exactly what Amir failed to do. Amir even tries to stop his father – as if some unconscious part of him wants his father, and the others in the truck, to share his guilt instead of magnifying it.
Quote 5
The Russian soldier thrust his face into the rear of the truck. He was humming the wedding song and drumming his finger on the edge of the tailgate. Even in the dim light of the moon, I saw the glazed look in his eyes as they skipped from passenger to passenger. Despite the cold, sweat streamed from his brow. His eyes settled on the young woman wearing the black shawl. He spoke in Russian to Karim without taking his eyes off her. Karim gave a curt reply in Russian, which the soldier returned with an even curter retort. The Afghan soldier said some thing too, in a low, reasoning voice. But the Russian soldier shouted something that made the other two flinch. I could feel Baba tightening up next to me. Karim cleared his throat, dropped his head. Said the soldier wanted a half hour with the lady in the back of the truck. (10.13)
Eek. The Russian soldier sings a wedding song while he chooses a woman to rape – that's really creepy. Baba, unlike Amir, defends the possible victim and confronts the Russian soldier to prevent a horrific event. We wonder, then, if redemptive acts, like this one from Baba, can return a character to innocence. Don't forget that Baba betrayed Ali by sleeping with Sanaubar. So we wonder if Baba redeems himself, his honor, and something like innocence by standing up to the Russian soldier. Likewise, does Amir regain some measure of innocence? Or does one never regain lost innocence?
Quote 6
He had withered – there was simply no other word for it. His eyes gave me a hollow look and no recognition at all registered in them. His shoulders hunched and his cheeks sagged like they were too tired to cling to the bone beneath. His father, who'd owned a movie theater in Kabul, was telling Baba how, three months before, a stray bullet had struck his wife in the temple and killed her. Then he told Baba about Kamal. I caught only snippets of it: Should have never let him go alone...always so handsome, you know...four of them...tried to fight...God...took him...bleeding down there...his pants...doesn't talk any more...just stares... (10.62)
On their way to Pakistan, Amir and Baba discover that Kamal, one of the boys who stood by as Assef raped Hassan, was raped in wartime Kabul. Kamal's experience mirrors both Hassan's and Sohrab's. Four people are involved in the rape (Amir, Wali, Kamal as bystanders and Assef as the perpetrator). Like Sohrab, Kamal refuses to speak. And, like Hassan, Kamal appears hollow and withdrawn. On a larger scale, though, Hosseini comments on Afghanistan's loss of innocence. War brings about Kamal's tragedy and the tragic loss of Kamal's mother. Often (but not always), the events in the lives of individuals in The Kite Runner can be mapped onto the nation of Afghanistan.