How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #10
I kissed her cheek and pulled away from the curb. As I drove, I wondered why I was different. Maybe it was because I had been raised by men; I hadn't grown up around women and had never been exposed firsthand to the double standard with which Afghan society sometimes treated them. Maybe it was because Baba had been such an unusual Afghan father, a liberal who had lived by his own rules, a maverick who had disregarded or embraced societal customs as he had seen fit. (13.97)
Amir has just dropped off Soraya and wonders about the double standard women are subjected to in Afghan society. It seems like it's OK for men to sleep around before marriage, but it's not OK for women to do the same. (You have to wonder who the men think they're going to sleep with.) We think this passage is important because it points out just how male Amir's household and upbringing were. And since Amir betrays Hassan and is guilty of cowardice, he must have felt all the more isolated in his household. In fact, it seems like Amir craves a feminine mentor in the Kabul house. He reads all his mother's books and writes poetry instead of playing soccer or riding around on a horse with a dead goat in tow.