This is my eleventh year as a library media specialist at Norton High School. Prior to that I taught science for five years at Southeastern Regional, but started my post-college life doing chromosome analysis in the cytogenetics lab at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. When I'm not at school I enjoy spending time with my husband and two boys.
Why was Amir laughing as Assef was beating him? Why was he thinking about Hassan and the pomegranates? Use quotes to support your answer?
18 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Amir was laughing as Assef was beating him because he found peace, on page 289 he says "what was so funny was that, for the first time since the winter of 1975, i felt at peace. i laughed because i saw that, in some hidden nook in the corner of my mind, i'd even been looking forward to this." He was thinking about Hassan and the pomegranates because he had tried to provoke Hassan to fight him, to beat him up but Hassan wouldnt do that, instead Hassan started to hit himself with the pomegranates. Amir hadnt felt any better, in fact he had felt worse, but now as he was getting beat up by Assef he was feeling better, he was feeling healed. I also think he was thinking about Hassan as well because i think he felt equal now, that Hassan got raped by Assef and Amir was not getting the life beaten out of him by Assef, i think his mind was finally letting go of that horrible situation years ago and that Amir was feeling healed from the image, as if he had suffered something just as bad.
Amir was laughing during his fight with Assef because he finally felt at peace with himself. Amir reflects back on the day on the hill with Hassan. He mentions how Hassan smashed the pomegranate on his forehead. Amir feels that he is healed due to the punishment Assef is enflicting on him. Amir states that "in a corner of my mind, i'd even been looking foward to this" (Hosseini 289). This demonstrates that Amir feels better knowing this is what he deserves after all the bad things he did to Hassan.
Amir could not help but laugh while Assef beat him up. Finally, someone was rebuking him for what he had done so long ago (although Assef did not know that he was rebuking him...); finally Amir was being punished for his sins. For the first time since Amir saw Hassan being raped, he felt completely at peace (289), feeling as if his sins had finally been atoned for. Atoned for making fun of Hassan's illiteracy; atoned for lying to Hassan; atoned for throwing pomegranites at Hassan; atoned for not helping Hassan escape from Assef's sexual torture.
Hassan refused to retaliate against Amir's attempts to force a reaction. "For you a thousand times over," echoed repeatedly in Amir's head as he was being beaten. Finally, Amir was repaying Hassan..."a thousand times over" for Sohrab. Amir could not repay Hassan directly, but he could redeem himself by taking care of Sohrab, by letting Assef beat him up.
Finally, Amir's guilt has been lifted by his redemption.
Amir said that "...for the first time since winter of 1975, I felt at peace". (289) He felt at peace because he felt that he was getting what he deserved. After all of those years of hurting Hassan, karma finally got him. He was starting to feel better. Now that this was happening to him, perhaps he could let go of some of his guilt. Or maybe he felt that Assef didn't have anything against Hassan if he was hurting him as well? There is a possiblity that Assef is just messed up. He hurt the two boys even though they were completely different people.
Amir was beginning to let go of his haunting past.
"What was so funny was that, for the first time since the winter of 1975, I felt at peace" (289). He was laughing because he had actually been waiting for this moment of Assef beating him up. He was waiting for something to justify what he had done to Hassan all those years ago.
He remembered how he was pelting Hassan with pomegranates because he felt at this point, he was being paid back for it. He did not feel good about it then, but now that Assef was beating him, he felt that he could finally let go of it. He felt that it was being justified for him to be beat to a pulp for everything wrong he had done to Hassan back then. Therefore, he felt "healed at last" (289).
Amir was laughing because he was finally getting what he felt he had coming. He wanted someone to get back at him since the day he witnessed Hassan's assault. Amir knows that he should have stuck up for Hassan, but if he had stuck up for him, Amir would have gotten beaten as well. Now, decades later, Amir defends Sohrab, Hassan's only child, against the same person who assaulted Hassan. It is like Amir is getting a chance to redeem himself, and the situation is almost exactly as it had been years earlier, except Amir finally found his courage. During the pomegranate scene earlier in the novel, Hassan asked Amir, after the pelting, "are you satisfied now? Do you feel better?" (93) The answer was no, because Amir felt like Hassan should have gotten revenge. In the readings in chapter 22, Assef asks the same two questions, yet, this time, Amir does feel satisfied. He finally feels like his guilt can be lifted because he is trying to rescue Sohrab. After a quarter century, Amir's guilt is finally being lifted. "A man with no conscience, no goodness, would not suffer," nor wait so many years for a chance at redemption.(301)
Amir was laughing because he was able to find peace with himself. He felt that he was finally getting what he deserved for what he did to Hassan. He kept thinking about when he threw the pomegrantits at Hassan because he wanted Hassan to beat him up then. He wanted Hassan to be the one to punish him.
Amir was laughing when Aseef was beating him because he finally got what he truly deserved and he felt at peace with himself. Hassan never threw the pomegranates back at Amir because he was to loyal.. Amir longed for some sort of punishment for what he had done but he never got in trouble or confronted about it. All Amir wanted was to feel some sort of closure for what he did but until now it has been impossible. "My body as broken- just how badly I would not find out until later- but I felt healed. Healed at last." He speaks these words almost like they are a confession of how he truly has felt all these years but he never admit it to himself until now. It is like all his prior sins have been released just because he is finally feeling what Hassan has felt all his life, in one moment of being beat almost to death. Amir is now a true man and for that he has finally grown up mentally.
During these chapters, Amir traveled to retrieve Sohrab from the Taliban official with the sunglasses. However, as Amir negotiated with the official, the man's identity was revealed as Amir's past finally caught up with him. The Taliban official revealed himself as Assef, the bully of Amir's childhood. Eventually, Assef beats Amir, for Assef never fails to fulfill vengeance on those who oppose him. However, Amir laughs as he is beaten by Assef and seems to enjoy the pain of each blow. Amir is feeling this way because he "felt at peace" (289). His nirvana is achieved because he feels that he is finally receiving the punishment that he deserves for betraying Hassan. He reflects back to his betrayal of Hassan and realizes that he is now saving Sohrab by sacrificing himself to Assef like Hassan did for him thirty years prior. Amir finally feels like he is at peace with himself as he is nearly killed by Assef.
When Assef is beating up Amir, Amir realizes that he has been looking forward to this. He starts laughing because all along, he has been looking forward to getting punishment. Now, he can be freed of his guilt. He says "what was so funny was that, for the first time since the winter of 1975, i felt at peace. i laughed because i saw that, in some hidden nook in the corner of my mind, i'd even been looking forward to this." (289) He now feels at peace. He thinks about Hassan and the pomegranates because when Amir was throwing the pomagranates at him and telling Hassan to fight back Hassan instead hit himself in the head with one. All Amir wanted was for Hassan to betray his loyalty to Amir and throw a pomagranate at him. Now, Assef has done the punishing to Amir that he feels he has deserved.
Amir was laughing because "what was so funny was that, for the first time since the winter of 1975, [he] felt at peace."(289) Amir had finally gotten what he felt he deserved. He refers back to when Hassan smashed a pomegrante against his face and asked him "Are you satisfied now?...Do you feel better?" because he hadn't at that time. But he did then, as Assef was beating him. He felt "healed."
He had been "looking forward to this." The day he threw pomegrantes at Hassan, he wanted for Hassan to beat him up so that he would feel healed then, instead, Hassan took the pomegrante and smashed it against himself. The only way Amir felt he would be freed from that day was through a beating and Assef delivered it to him so he felt "healed at last...[and] laughed." (289)
Amir was laughing while Assef beat him, because for the first time since 1975 he had found peace and an a release from his guilt. He feels that finally he gets what he deserved. Hassan never gave Amir the negativity that he wanted to feel absolved from his guilt. The fact that Hassan still treated him with respect was too much for Amir and it made him crazy. Amir says, "My body was broken - just how badly I wouldn't find out until later - but I felt healed. (Hosseini 289). Amir had finally been healed of his lasting guilt and he could finally move past this horrific and shameful period of his life.
Amir was thinking about the day that he pelted Hassan with pomegranates, how he had provoked Hassan to fight with him and Hassan never did. Hassan never treated Amir badly which bothered him. Hassan yelled to Amir, "Are you satisfied now?, do you feel better?" (Hosseini 289.) but Amir did not feel better.
Amir finally felt at peace with himself which is shown when he says, "for the first time since the winter of 1975, I felt at peace. He was so guilty of waht he had done 25 years earlier, tat he needed to get in a fight with the same person to understand how much it hurt Hassan in the past. It even said that he was looking forward to this beating. He was looking forward to this because he knew how 'healing' this whole process would be for him. Amir started to remember all the details of Hassan's beating. He remembers the pomegranates and how Hassan could never hurt him and just hit himself with the fruit. Hassan almosts dies at the hands of Assef and it is for this reasons that Amir feels so guilt-free and revived at the fact that Assef is not trying to take his life.
Amir was laughing becuase he felt relieved."what was so funny was that, for the first time since the winter of 1975, i felt at peace. i laughed because i saw that, in some hidden nook in the corner of my mind, i'd even been looking forward to this." For the first time in years he felt he was getting what he deserved, and it felt good. He was thinking of the pomegranates because he was trying to provoke Hassan, and it didnt worl. He ahs felt bad about what he did and he want to make it seem like Hassan had made it better. In Amirs' mind, everything was finally even and peaceful.
Amir was laughing when Assef was hurting him because Amir finally felt at peace with his life. He says , "for the first time since the winter of 1975." He was even looking forward to this beating. This was the healing process for him for all of the guilt he felt about what he did to Hassan.
Amir was laughing while Assef was beeting because it was the beeting that has been waiting for him since he was a kid. Amir is finally standing up for himself and not having anyone protect him. Amir felt guilty all these years for not standing up to Assef, espcailly when he was raping Hassan. So Amir being beaten up his is redemption.
While Assef was beating Amir, Amir kept laughing because finally he felt ok with himself. All of the sins that he has committed over the years, vanished because for once he was getting exactly what he deserved. "What was so funny was that, for the first time... I felt at peace. I laughed because I saw that, in some hidden nook in the corner of my mind, I'd even been looking forward to this."(289) Amir waited all of those years to get rid of the guilt that he has kept inside of him and in a weird way, the beating from Assef was just what he needed. While he was being beat, he thought about the pomegranates and Hassan because he longed for Hassan to just hit him with the pomegranates so that they would be even. Hassan would have been hurting Amir and that would have been Amir's punishment for just letting Hassan get raped. Also, it was Assef who hurt Hassan by raping him, and now it is also Assef who is hurting Amir by beating him. Overall, these last two chapters were what made Amir decide that he needs to get over the past. ~Ashlie LaCivita
18 comments:
Amir was laughing as Assef was beating him because he found peace, on page 289 he says "what was so funny was that, for the first time since the winter of 1975, i felt at peace. i laughed because i saw that, in some hidden nook in the corner of my mind, i'd even been looking forward to this." He was thinking about Hassan and the pomegranates because he had tried to provoke Hassan to fight him, to beat him up but Hassan wouldnt do that, instead Hassan started to hit himself with the pomegranates. Amir hadnt felt any better, in fact he had felt worse, but now as he was getting beat up by Assef he was feeling better, he was feeling healed. I also think he was thinking about Hassan as well because i think he felt equal now, that Hassan got raped by Assef and Amir was not getting the life beaten out of him by Assef, i think his mind was finally letting go of that horrible situation years ago and that Amir was feeling healed from the image, as if he had suffered something just as bad.
- Ariana
Amir was laughing during his fight with Assef because he finally felt at peace with himself. Amir reflects back on the day on the hill with Hassan. He mentions how Hassan smashed the pomegranate on his forehead. Amir feels that he is healed due to the punishment Assef is enflicting on him. Amir states that "in a corner of my mind, i'd even been looking foward to this" (Hosseini 289). This demonstrates that Amir feels better knowing this is what he deserves after all the bad things he did to Hassan.
-Chris Jordan
Amir could not help but laugh while Assef beat him up. Finally, someone was rebuking him for what he had done so long ago (although Assef did not know that he was rebuking him...); finally Amir was being punished for his sins. For the first time since Amir saw Hassan being raped, he felt completely at peace (289), feeling as if his sins had finally been atoned for. Atoned for making fun of Hassan's illiteracy; atoned for lying to Hassan; atoned for throwing pomegranites at Hassan; atoned for not helping Hassan escape from Assef's sexual torture.
Hassan refused to retaliate against Amir's attempts to force a reaction. "For you a thousand times over," echoed repeatedly in Amir's head as he was being beaten. Finally, Amir was repaying Hassan..."a thousand times over" for Sohrab. Amir could not repay Hassan directly, but he could redeem himself by taking care of Sohrab, by letting Assef beat him up.
Finally, Amir's guilt has been lifted by his redemption.
Amir said that "...for the first time since winter of 1975, I felt at peace". (289) He felt at peace because he felt that he was getting what he deserved. After all of those years of hurting Hassan, karma finally got him. He was starting to feel better. Now that this was happening to him, perhaps he could let go of some of his guilt. Or maybe he felt that Assef didn't have anything against Hassan if he was hurting him as well? There is a possiblity that Assef is just messed up. He hurt the two boys even though they were completely different people.
Amir was beginning to let go of his haunting past.
"What was so funny was that, for the first time since the winter of 1975, I felt at peace" (289). He was laughing because he had actually been waiting for this moment of Assef beating him up. He was waiting for something to justify what he had done to Hassan all those years ago.
He remembered how he was pelting Hassan with pomegranates because he felt at this point, he was being paid back for it. He did not feel good about it then, but now that Assef was beating him, he felt that he could finally let go of it. He felt that it was being justified for him to be beat to a pulp for everything wrong he had done to Hassan back then. Therefore, he felt "healed at last" (289).
Amir was laughing because he was finally getting what he felt he had coming. He wanted someone to get back at him since the day he witnessed Hassan's assault. Amir knows that he should have stuck up for Hassan, but if he had stuck up for him, Amir would have gotten beaten as well. Now, decades later, Amir defends Sohrab, Hassan's only child, against the same person who assaulted Hassan. It is like Amir is getting a chance to redeem himself, and the situation is almost exactly as it had been years earlier, except Amir finally found his courage.
During the pomegranate scene earlier in the novel, Hassan asked Amir, after the pelting, "are you satisfied now? Do you feel better?" (93) The answer was no, because Amir felt like Hassan should have gotten revenge. In the readings in chapter 22, Assef asks the same two questions, yet, this time, Amir does feel satisfied. He finally feels like his guilt can be lifted because he is trying to rescue Sohrab. After a quarter century, Amir's guilt is finally being lifted. "A man with no conscience, no goodness, would not suffer," nor wait so many years for a chance at redemption.(301)
Amir was laughing because he was able to find peace with himself. He felt that he was finally getting what he deserved for what he did to Hassan. He kept thinking about when he threw the pomegrantits at Hassan because he wanted Hassan to beat him up then. He wanted Hassan to be the one to punish him.
Amir was laughing when Aseef was beating him because he finally got what he truly deserved and he felt at peace with himself. Hassan never threw the pomegranates back at Amir because he was to loyal.. Amir longed for some sort of punishment for what he had done but he never got in trouble or confronted about it. All Amir wanted was to feel some sort of closure for what he did but until now it has been impossible. "My body as broken- just how badly I would not find out until later- but I felt healed. Healed at last." He speaks these words almost like they are a confession of how he truly has felt all these years but he never admit it to himself until now. It is like all his prior sins have been released just because he is finally feeling what Hassan has felt all his life, in one moment of being beat almost to death. Amir is now a true man and for that he has finally grown up mentally.
-krista
During these chapters, Amir traveled to retrieve Sohrab from the Taliban official with the sunglasses. However, as Amir negotiated with the official, the man's identity was revealed as Amir's past finally caught up with him. The Taliban official revealed himself as Assef, the bully of Amir's childhood. Eventually, Assef beats Amir, for Assef never fails to fulfill vengeance on those who oppose him. However, Amir laughs as he is beaten by Assef and seems to enjoy the pain of each blow. Amir is feeling this way because he "felt at peace" (289). His nirvana is achieved because he feels that he is finally receiving the punishment that he deserves for betraying Hassan. He reflects back to his betrayal of Hassan and realizes that he is now saving Sohrab by sacrificing himself to Assef like Hassan did for him thirty years prior. Amir finally feels like he is at peace with himself as he is nearly killed by Assef.
-Cam
When Assef is beating up Amir, Amir realizes that he has been looking forward to this. He starts laughing because all along, he has been looking forward to getting punishment. Now, he can be freed of his guilt. He says "what was so funny was that, for the first time since the winter of 1975, i felt at peace. i laughed because i saw that, in some hidden nook in the corner of my mind, i'd even been looking forward to this." (289) He now feels at peace. He thinks about Hassan and the pomegranates because when Amir was throwing the pomagranates at him and telling Hassan to fight back Hassan instead hit himself in the head with one. All Amir wanted was for Hassan to betray his loyalty to Amir and throw a pomagranate at him. Now, Assef has done the punishing to Amir that he feels he has deserved.
Amir was laughing because "what was so funny was that, for the first time since the winter of 1975, [he] felt at peace."(289) Amir had finally gotten what he felt he deserved.
He refers back to when Hassan smashed a pomegrante against his face and asked him "Are you satisfied now?...Do you feel better?" because he hadn't at that time. But he did then, as Assef was beating him. He felt "healed."
He had been "looking forward to this." The day he threw pomegrantes at Hassan, he wanted for Hassan to beat him up so that he would feel healed then, instead, Hassan took the pomegrante and smashed it against himself. The only way Amir felt he would be freed from that day was through a beating and Assef delivered it to him so he felt "healed at last...[and] laughed." (289)
Amir was laughing while Assef beat him, because for the first time since 1975 he had found peace and an a release from his guilt. He feels that finally he gets what he deserved. Hassan never gave Amir the negativity that he wanted to feel absolved from his guilt. The fact that Hassan still treated him with respect was too much for Amir and it made him crazy. Amir says, "My body was broken - just how badly I wouldn't find out until later - but I felt healed. (Hosseini 289). Amir had finally been healed of his lasting guilt and he could finally move past this horrific and shameful period of his life.
I forgot to finish the question!!
Amir was thinking about the day that he pelted Hassan with pomegranates, how he had provoked Hassan to fight with him and Hassan never did. Hassan never treated Amir badly which bothered him. Hassan yelled to Amir, "Are you satisfied now?, do you feel better?" (Hosseini 289.) but Amir did not feel better.
Amir finally felt at peace with himself which is shown when he says, "for the first time since the winter of 1975, I felt at peace. He was so guilty of waht he had done 25 years earlier, tat he needed to get in a fight with the same person to understand how much it hurt Hassan in the past. It even said that he was looking forward to this beating. He was looking forward to this because he knew how 'healing' this whole process would be for him. Amir started to remember all the details of Hassan's beating. He remembers the pomegranates and how Hassan could never hurt him and just hit himself with the fruit. Hassan almosts dies at the hands of Assef and it is for this reasons that Amir feels so guilt-free and revived at the fact that Assef is not trying to take his life.
Amir was laughing becuase he felt relieved."what was so funny was that, for the first time since the winter of 1975, i felt at peace. i laughed because i saw that, in some hidden nook in the corner of my mind, i'd even been looking forward to this." For the first time in years he felt he was getting what he deserved, and it felt good.
He was thinking of the pomegranates because he was trying to provoke Hassan, and it didnt worl. He ahs felt bad about what he did and he want to make it seem like Hassan had made it better. In Amirs' mind, everything was finally even and peaceful.
-Cassie Boulay
Amir was laughing when Assef was hurting him because Amir finally felt at peace with his life. He says , "for the first time since the winter of 1975." He was even looking forward to this beating. This was the healing process for him for all of the guilt he felt about what he did to Hassan.
Amir was laughing while Assef was beeting because it was the beeting that has been waiting for him since he was a kid. Amir is finally standing up for himself and not having anyone protect him. Amir felt guilty all these years for not standing up to Assef, espcailly when he was raping Hassan. So Amir being beaten up his is redemption.
While Assef was beating Amir, Amir kept laughing because finally he felt ok with himself. All of the sins that he has committed over the years, vanished because for once he was getting exactly what he deserved. "What was so funny was that, for the first time... I felt at peace. I laughed because I saw that, in some hidden nook in the corner of my mind, I'd even been looking forward to this."(289) Amir waited all of those years to get rid of the guilt that he has kept inside of him and in a weird way, the beating from Assef was just what he needed. While he was being beat, he thought about the pomegranates and Hassan because he longed for Hassan to just hit him with the pomegranates so that they would be even. Hassan would have been hurting Amir and that would have been Amir's punishment for just letting Hassan get raped. Also, it was Assef who hurt Hassan by raping him, and now it is also Assef who is hurting Amir by beating him. Overall, these last two chapters were what made Amir decide that he needs to get over the past.
~Ashlie LaCivita
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