And the Mountains Echoed

by

Khaled Hosseini

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on And the Mountains Echoed makes teaching easy.

Timur Bashiri Character Analysis

The loud, charismatic, and somewhat obnoxious cousin of Dr. Idris Bashiri, Timur Bashiri is an ambiguous character, since he’s seen entirely through the eyes of his cousin. Idris deeply dislikes Timur, so it’s not clear if Timur is, as Idris insists, actually a showy, insincere braggart or not. What is clear, however, is that Timur spends large amounts of his time and money caring for other people: beggars, friends in need, and, at the end of Chapter Five, Roshana, the young girl Idris has forgotten about.

Timur Bashiri Quotes in And the Mountains Echoed

The And the Mountains Echoed quotes below are all either spoken by Timur Bashiri or refer to Timur Bashiri. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Interconnectedness Theme Icon
).
Chapter 5 Quotes

It’s true. Timur has embarrassed him. He has behaved like the quintessential ugly Afghan-American, Idris thinks. Tearing through the war-torn city like he belongs here, backslapping locals with great bonhomie and calling them brother, sister, uncle, making a show of handing money to beggars from what he calls the Bakhsheesh bundle, joking with old women he calls mother and talking them into telling their story into his camcorder as he strikes a woebegone expression, pretending he is one of them, like he’s been here all along, like he wasn’t lifting at Gold’s in San Jose, working on his pecs and abs, when these people were getting shelled, murdered, raped. It is hypocritical, and distasteful. And it astonishes Idris that no one seems to see through this act.

Related Characters: Dr. Idris Bashiri, Timur Bashiri
Page Number: 153-154
Explanation and Analysis:

“We leave in a week, bro. You don’t want to get her too attached to you.” Idris nods. He wonders if Timur may not be slightly jealous of his relationship with Roshi, perhaps even resentful that he, Idris, may have robbed him of a spectacular opportunity to play hero. Timur, emerging in slow motion from the blazing building, holding a baby. The crowd exploding in a cheer. Idris is determined not to let Timur parade Roshi in that way.

Related Characters: Timur Bashiri (speaker), Dr. Idris Bashiri, Roshana
Page Number: 162-163
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire And the Mountains Echoed LitChart as a printable PDF.
And the Mountains Echoed PDF

Timur Bashiri Quotes in And the Mountains Echoed

The And the Mountains Echoed quotes below are all either spoken by Timur Bashiri or refer to Timur Bashiri. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Interconnectedness Theme Icon
).
Chapter 5 Quotes

It’s true. Timur has embarrassed him. He has behaved like the quintessential ugly Afghan-American, Idris thinks. Tearing through the war-torn city like he belongs here, backslapping locals with great bonhomie and calling them brother, sister, uncle, making a show of handing money to beggars from what he calls the Bakhsheesh bundle, joking with old women he calls mother and talking them into telling their story into his camcorder as he strikes a woebegone expression, pretending he is one of them, like he’s been here all along, like he wasn’t lifting at Gold’s in San Jose, working on his pecs and abs, when these people were getting shelled, murdered, raped. It is hypocritical, and distasteful. And it astonishes Idris that no one seems to see through this act.

Related Characters: Dr. Idris Bashiri, Timur Bashiri
Page Number: 153-154
Explanation and Analysis:

“We leave in a week, bro. You don’t want to get her too attached to you.” Idris nods. He wonders if Timur may not be slightly jealous of his relationship with Roshi, perhaps even resentful that he, Idris, may have robbed him of a spectacular opportunity to play hero. Timur, emerging in slow motion from the blazing building, holding a baby. The crowd exploding in a cheer. Idris is determined not to let Timur parade Roshi in that way.

Related Characters: Timur Bashiri (speaker), Dr. Idris Bashiri, Roshana
Page Number: 162-163
Explanation and Analysis: