How does Amir respond to Soraya's revelation? How do you feel about his response. Use lots of supporting quotes from the text to support your analysis!! (164-165).
What do you think about what Soraya did? If she was just a regular girl from America with no Afghani ties, how would her friends/families/potential suitors have responded to her indiscretion?
5 comments:
Hayley Windbigler
Of course, Amir's pride is stung a little by the fact that Soraya "had been with a man, whereas I had never taken a woman to bed." But beyond that, her revelation does little to hinder his opinion of her. If anything, her honesty and courage makes him feel much worse about himself, not about her.
When Soraya came out with her secret, Amir "envied her." He wishes that his secret could be "spoken" and "dealt with." In the end, he chalks it up to the fact that Soraya is simply a better person than himself.
I feel like Soraya's horrible indiscretion could not have been so terrible at all. She was eighteen, a legal adult. She ran away to live with a guy. In American culture, that is not unheard of. In fact, it's not even really frowned upon.
If she weren't Afghani and had still left her druggie boyfriend, she certainly would not have been chastised by her friends and family. I doubt any future boyfriends would have much of a problem that she got a little crazy at age eighteen and lived with a guy for a month. It's startling to see how different Afghani culture is from the laid-back ways of American courtship.
Hayley, nice use of larger quotes and mini quotes.
Katelyn Peters
"Nothing you said changes anything. I want us to marry." This was Amir's response following Soraya's confession concerning her past. Amir doesn't care about Soraya's past, he loves her no matter what mistakes she's made. Considering how Afghans treat women like Soraya, who have disgraced their family, I think Amir was really understanding and accepting. Part of the reason for this is because he has a past of his own. "But I think a big part of the reason I didn't care about Soraya's past was that I had one of my own. I knew all about regret." Amir knows what Soraya is going through and that's why he is so accepting of it.
Soraya's made mistakes but she was young and naive. But this offense is unforgivable in the eyes of her people. If she were just a regular American girl I believe her family and others would have behaved in a similar matter but not as punishing and severe. It's hard to believe what these women go through, where one mistake can ruin you for the rest of your life.
LaTausha:
(to Hayley)Afghani culture is indeed frightening.
(genreal post)I would not enjoy the pain that Soraya had to go through with her father, "We've always had our differences, we still do...". This is so much like any father and daughter relationship. No father and daughter agree on everything. Most fathers are harder on their daughters than their sons. This could only be expected in the Afghani culture as well. The automatic double standards.
Amir's way of handling this was fantastic. He was truthfull with her by answering "a little," but still he was "envious." Yes his pride was stung, but he accepted her faults and still wanted them "to marry."
Katelyn,
Don't let quotes stand alone!!!!
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