the kite runner

“In the Name of Allah, The Mighty, The Merciful, The Omnipotent, The Omnipresent who bestowed on me the power of speaking”

“The Kite Runner”

About Novel The Kite Runner is Hosseini’s first novel.

It is also the first novel published in English by an Afghan.

The novel was the number three best seller for 2005 in

the United States.

Background on The Author

Khalid Hosseini was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, where much of the book takes pace. He later moved to California and become a doctor. Husseini wrote “The Kite Runner” in 2001, and is currently working on his second novel, which is also placed in Afghanistan

The novel, tells the story of two young boys in an Afghanistan that precedes the bloody communist achievement and the rise of the Taliban.

The novel crosses decades—and continents—bringing American readers into a world they’ve rarely seen, of violence and lack and tragic disloyalty. At the same time, it’s a universal tale of friendship, redemption and profound hope.

Contents Two main national people Major character Minor character Overall Character Relation Among Character Summary Comments

Two main national people Pashtu

nAmir

Baba

Assef

Rahim Khan

Hazara

Ali

Hassan (till

end)Sanoba

r

Farzana

Major characters

Amir Hassan Assef Baba Ali

Minor characters Iqbal Taheri Soraya Ali Wali Zaman Dr.Armand Faruqi Farid Khala jamila

Overall characterization

Pashtun

Hazaras Afghani

Important Places● Kabul, Afghanistan-Amir grew up here and it

was the first influence on him.● San Francisco, America-The area that Amir

moved to when he left Afghanistan. This is where he attempts to drown himself in the American culture to forget his past.

Amir 

The protagonist. And narrator of the novel. A wealthy boy who grows up in Kabul. Afghanistan along with his father, Baba. Amir abuses his privileges over his servant and

loyal friend, Hassan. And then fails to come to his aid when Hassan is

being raped. The rest of the novel deals with Amir’s guilt, his

growing maturity (as he and Baba move to the U.S.)

Baba Amir’s father, a larger-than-life figure with wild

hair and a loud voice. Who works hard and succeeds at all of his

endeavors, but stands by his strict moral principles.

Baba’s great sin is committing adultery with Ali’s wife.

He is Hassan’s real father. Baba’s many works of charity and the orphanage

he builds are part of his attempts to redeem himself.

Hassan Amir’s childhood playmate and companion, a

Hazara boy with a cleft lip. Hassan is an excellent kite runner. He is naturally intelligent, but illiterate because

of his social class. He is always loyal to Amir, even when Amir

betrays him. Hassan eventually marries Farzana, and has a

son named Sohrab.

Sohrab Hassan’s son, a boy who is sent to an orphanage

when Hassan and Farzana are killed. He is then taken from the orphanage and sexually

abused by Assef, until Amir comes for him and brings him back to America.

Sohrab is a symbol of all the terrible things that have happened to both the characters and the country of Afghanistan.

He also offers a chance for hope and redemption.

Sohrab

Sohrab

Farzana

Reason

Hassan

Amir

Ali Hassan’s father, a Hazara who was orphaned as a

boy. Then taken in by Baba’s father and raised as

Baba’s playmate and servant. The lower half of Ali’s face is paralyzed. He was crippled in one leg by polio, but Ali

remains cheerful and kind.

Ali

Baba’s Servant

Paralyzed

Religious

=

Assef The antagonist of the novel. A blue-eyed, cruel boy who idolizes Hitler. Torments children with his self-confidence

knuckles, and later rapes Hassan. As an adult Assef joins the Taliban, where he is

given free reign to exercise his violent and pedophilic nature.

Soraya The daughter of General Taheri. As a young woman Soraya ran away with an

Afghan man, “dishonor” herself.  Amir falls in love with her and they get married,

and Soraya later becomes a teacher.

Rahim Khan  Baba’s close friend and business associate. A kind man who often seems to understand the

young Amir better than Baba does. Rahim Khan encourages Amir’s writing. As an old man he summons Amir back to

Afghanistan for a chance to redeem himself by rescuing Sohrab from Afghanistan.

General Taheri

 Soraya’s father and Baba’s friend, a former general in the old pre-soviet regime of Afghanistan.

He is a traditional. Traditional Afghan man who in the United States

collects welfare and refuses to labor beneath his station in America.

Farid A man who drives Amir back to Afghanistan

from Pakistan. At first Farid is unpleasant and sarcastic towards

Amir. He learns about Sohrab Farid becomes a loyal

friend and helps Amir on his journey.

Sanaubar Hassan’s mother and Ali’s wife. Sanaubar had a “dishonorable” reputation as a

young woman. She hates Ali and leaves after Hassan is born. Returns as an older woman to take care

of Sohrab.

Wahid Farid’s brother, a man who is very poor and

whose children are starving. Who’s hospitality is such that he nonetheless

feeds Amir before his own children.

Sofia Akrami Amir’s mother and Baba’s wife, a college

professor of royal blood. Who dies giving birth to Amir. Amir always believes that his father secretly

hates him. Amir considers that he is responsible of his

mother’s death.

Summary The Kite Runner is an inspiring book about the life of a young Pashtun boy named Amir as he copes with his childhood decisions 26 years prior. Living in a lavish house in the richest district of Kabul, Afghanistan, Amir has everything he could ever wish for, except the loving attention and acceptance of his father, Baba. Ali and his son Hassan are their servants, both being of the Hazara minority ethnicity. Throughout his childhood, Hassan was always by Amir’s side as a loyal and dedicated best friend; they did everything together including Kite running.

Each year it was a tradition for the Afghan community to hold a festival of kites during the winter and each year a single victor would arise amongst hundreds, being the only kite left in the sky after a long day of cutting. There were those who ran and fought the kites and then those who were the kite runners. Amir was an incredible kite flyer and Hassan was the best kite runner there was. Promising to fetch the prized blue kite that Amir defeated to win the festival, Hassan ran off into the streets of Kabul

When he did not return, Amir went looking for Hassan and discovered him cornered by Assef, a sociopathic bully, and his two followers. It was there that Amir hit an all time low and cowardice as he watched his best friend get beaten and raped and did nothing. It was the guilt of this decision that made him the man that he is.

Years later after Hassan and Ali leave, the Roussi army attacked, forcing Baba and an 18 year old Amir to flee the country to California, America. It is here where he is still haunted by Hassan’s rape each day while attended high school and college to become a writer. When Baba becomes very ill with cancer, Amir asks Soraya, a fellow Afghan refugee to marry him and she becomes his rock of stability. Shortly after they get married Baba dies.

Soraya and Amir try having kids but fail and it is then when Amir receives a call from a man who was more of a father to him than his own, Rahim Khan. Rahim tells Amir of the unfortunate shooting of Hassan and his wife but that their son is now in an orphanage. This is a chance for Amir to make amends and atone his “sin” adopting their son.

The End

Ultimately, The Kite Runner is a novel about relationships — specifically the relationships between Amir and Hassan, Baba, Rahim Khan, Soraya, and Sohrab — and how the complex relationships in our lives overlap and connect to make us the people we are.

Moral

The moral of the novel is forgetting and correcting the past.

Amir realized that he could not run from the past forever, and so he corrected it by going back Kabul and confronting Assef adopting Hassan’s son Sohrab

Feedback

“I read this book with a class, I think it was very well written. Excellent work by the author” -Mutombo

“I read this book for a class and I thought it was one of the best books that I have read in a long time” -Frenzy

Thank You

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