1. Identify three quotations in which Amir details the extent that guilt is a controlling force in his life. Explain how they present an idea about ‘guilt’. 

– 3 quotes that would be a good example are QUOTES.

2. Comment on the ‘event’ that Amir is constantly referring to as being the thing that rules his life- do you believe he deserves to suffer like this? Why/why not? Why do you think the guilt from this one wrong action causes him to commit more ‘crimes’?

– When Amir watched Hassan get raped in the streets by Assef, that became the event in his life that haunted him every day after regretting his decision feeling an overwhelming about of guilt every day. Since that day it had ruled his life. As a child the most common way to learn and overcome things would be by making mistakes, we would always have guilt or regret after we made a mistake. however depending on the mistake that we made impacts the amount of time that we will spend our life regretting it and feeling guilty. In Amir’s case, he made the biggest mistake of his life and regretted it every single day for years. the most important part of that mistake is that he feels guilty, he seeks redemption in the story but the redemption he was looking for was never given to him by Hassan as he wanted. I believe that he didn’t deserve to suffer for his actions as long as he did because children always make stupid choices to make their parents proud or others situations but Amir just happened to make a really really stupid one. We can’t hold him accountable for it when he was young and naive. during the story, Amir made even more mistakes trying to make up for the big event in his life but made more mistakes on the way. This is caused by the trauma of the experience for him, he now believes that his soul is damned so he can’t commit a worse crime than he already has, however, he still isn’t making it any easier for others and himself to forgive him.

3. Explain what happens when Amir attempts to run away from the guilt in his past. Why do you think he cannot escape it?

– Amir tries to run away from his past and bury it. However, that isn’t possible. The only way that Amir can get away from all the guilt and pain he feels is to find a way to redeem himself otherwise he will feel it for the rest of his life. No matter what everyone else thinks or says it can either make him feel worse or better, but the only way to move on is to forgive yourself, but Amir wasn’t allowing himself to do that, so his past would keep finding him where ever he was. The guilt wasn’t following him it was in him. When he tried to run away it would just keep catching him because of that.

4. Reflect on the presentation of ‘guilt’ in this text. What do you think the big things the author wants us to learn about the effects of guilt on living a normal life are?

– The author was most likely trying to get his readers to gain an understanding of what guilt would feel like and how it impacts life. preparing people for the future. If someone ever comes to a situation where a huge mistake can be made then avoid it and do the right thing so that guilt won’t rule over you as it did to Amir. Guilt can change how a person behaves and how they see the world. the structure of their mind starts to become muddled with an overwhelming about of guilt that is taking over their body. In Amir’s case he started acting out at Hassan because he wanted a beating to help him overcome the guilt, but only made his situation worse. He was no longer a so-called ‘normal’ kid instead he was a kid that let guilt take control of his action. the author is trying to tell us that guilt is a very powerful emotion that can change a person, the best thing to do is try doing the ‘right’ things to not get yourself into those situations. they are a lot harder to get out of then they are to get into so be careful.