1. Talk Assessment -The Change In Amir BY MCCAULEY HEADLEY

2. Amir childhood - Summary  Amir is a young, Pashtun, Afghan boy, son of Baba, a wealthy and popular Afghan. He is best friends with the family’s servant, Hassan.  He enjoyed a very rich and privileged upbringing.  He spends most of his childhood with Hassan.  Although being best friends with Hassan, he is embarrassed about it in front of other kids because Hassan’s religion is looked down upon.  His desire in life is to be loved by his dad, Baba and for his father to be proud of him.  He feels that his dad is disappointed in him growing up.  Amir is very cowardly and never stands up for himself or his friend.

3. Amir at the start of the novel At the start of the novel we are taken back to Amir’s past where we find out about him spending most of his childhood with his best friend and servant; Hassan, although Amir doesn't always like to admit this. When confronted by other children he knows, he hides the fact that he is friends with Hassan mainly because he is Hazara. Hassan is a much better friend to Amir than Amir is to Hassan. Amir wants Baba to be proud of him so is blind to Hassan at times as he is so obsessed with trying to make his father happy. Amir allows his obsession with trying to please his father get in the way of his friendship with Hassan.

4. The kite competition and the incident in the alleyway One of the most defining moments in the novel is the repercussions of the kite competition. Amir and Hassan had just won the kite competition together, which Amir wanted so badly just so Baba could be proud of him. Amir started to show signs of being a better friend by including him in the victory when he said “we did it!”. After the competition Hassan ‘ran the kite’ for Amir, while he was celebrating with his father. During the ’kite run’ Hassan was chased into an alleyway by three older boys and threatened. Amir eventually went looking for Hassan, only to discover the dangerous position he was in and decided to cowardly hide next to the alleyway and watch on. Hassan was threatened with either giving them the kite or being “punished”. Hassan, being the good friend that he was, didn't give them the kite because he knew how much it meant to Amir so the leader of the 3 boys, Assef, began to inflict the horrendous punishment on Hassan, Assef raped him.

5. The guilt The guilt that Amir feels after the incident in the alleyway is key to the change in Amir. After the incident Amir tries to block out the guilt by ignoring Hassan, which only makes it worse. The guilt eventually causes insomnia for Amir as he cannot face or deal with his actions on that day. Amir feels the only way to end his guilt is to get rid of Hassan so suggests to his father they get new servants, only to get a very angry response from Baba, which Amir is most surprised about. Amir decides he has no options but to frame Hassan, and get rid of him once and for all so Amir hides his new watch, a birthday gift, in Hassan’s room, framing him for the theft. Again surprisingly Baba forgave Hassan however by this point Hassan and his father Ali decided that they had no choice but to leave. Their departure did make it a bit better for Amir, but it never erased the memory that had been haunting him.

6. The break out of war When the soviets invade Afghanistan, Amir and Baba are forced to leave their home and flee to America, they get there by truck along with other Afghan families. On the way to America, their driver is stopped, for their truck to be inspected. The soldier threatens to kill one of the men in the truck but Baba stands up against the soldiers. Amir tries to tell his father to sit down, showing his cowardliness once again.

7. Amir – grown up After moving to America Amir starts to forget about his past. He gets married to Soraya, a girl he met at a market. When they get married, Soraya tells Amir about her secret, about her running away with her boyfriend years previous to meeting Amir. This reminds Amir of his secret and guilt about what happened in the Alleyway in Afghanistan, but he keeps it quiet. This is until he receives a very important phone call.

8. The Phone Call and visit to Pakistan  Amir is phoned by his fathers friend Rahim Khan.  He tells Amir that there is a way to be good again.  He tells Amir to come and visit him in Pakistan, and that he is very ill.  Amir tells Soraya that he must go, alone.  When he arrives at Rahim Khans house in Pakistan, he is told news that he didn’t want to hear. He is told that Hassan was not just his childhood best friend and servant, but was also his brother.  This changes everything for Amir as he is now trying to rescue his nephew. It also make the incident that happened in the alleyway a lot harder for Amir to live with.

9. Amir at the end of the novel Amir travelled back to Afghanistan to rescue his brother's son, Sohrab. This would need Amir to put all his fears a side. The cowardly Amir had to travel through Taliban Afghanistan and try and rescue his nephew. He faced his greatest fear by confronting Assef, who was a Taliban official. Assef had held Sohrab prisoner and had used him for his sociopathic pleasures. Amir received a beat down at the hands of Assef, which eased his guilt as he finally felt that he got what he deserved after what he allowed to happen to Hassan in the alleyway. Sohrab saved Amir by shooting Assef in the eye with a slingshot. Amir grabbed Sohrab and took him to safety and then eventually after a long time, was able to take Sohrab back to America to live with him and Soraya.

10. Overall comparison Amir at the beginning  Amir started of as a very cowardly character, he doesn't stand up for himself or anyone else.  He is willing to go to any lengths to please his father.  He can be seen as a bad character for some of the things he done throughout the story, although you can understand why he reacted the way he did. Amir at the end  After going on his “quest for redemption” he is no longer a coward and can face up to his fears.  The importance of Hassan to Amir makes him change into a much better person.  He tries his best to put the past to rest and although there are signs of it he will still have a lot more to do but has shown good signs of change.