The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

The novel begins with a flashback in order layout for the reader about Amir’s life before he had moved to San Francisco. Amir’s flashback allows the reader to understand that in the winter of 1975, everything had changed and shaped him into who he is today. It states how he has been trying to avoid his past, but it always finds a way to claw out. In addition, he received a phone call from Rahim Khan: a person who brings the narrator memories of past and his sins. Finally, you learn that the narrator has a friend named, Hassan, who he recalls saying that he would do anything for him. Hassan is Ali’s son who grew up serving Amir’s family.

The two boys grew up together with Amir living in Baba’s mansion and Hassan in a mud shack. Hassan has an almost perfectly rounded faced which is compared to a Chinese doll. He has a flat broad nose and slanting narrow eyes compared to bamboo leaves and sapphire. In addition, he has a low set of tiny ears and a cleft lip: a birth defect. Hassan has a mother named, Sanaubar, who had banned him for a group of singers and dancers. His first word is Amir which is important because it shows his relationship with the protagonist. He had come to Amir’s life because Ali and Baba had grown up together after Ali’s parents were killed by a car accident. For example, Baba’s father took in Ali, who is now an orphan, and raised him as his own. Like Baba and Ali who grew up to be childhood playmates, Hassan and Amir are similar.

Amir lives with a more wealthy lifestyle, in contrast, Hassan is a servant. To be a Hazara is to be a mice-eating, flat-nosed, or load carrying donkeys. This is because of their history when the Hazara were oppressed by the Pashtun. They were killed with unspeakable violence when trying to fight back. The Pashtun took away their land, burned their homes and sold off women. Hassan’s family, Hassan, Ali and Sanaubar are Hazaras. To be a Pashtun is to be the more dominated and stronger group within the Muslim religion. They had oppressed and persecuted the Khazars killing them. Therefore with their history, they feel more superior as they are known to be the majority group in their country.

Amir’s family including his mother Baba and himself are Pashtun. Later in the story, the reader finds out by Assef is a Pashtun. Amir describes his home as this beautiful house in the community of Wair Akbar Khan district with a lot of details to back up his reasoning. Leading up to the house a is a wide entryway lined with rose bushes. The house has marble flooring and gold tapestries. Amir bedroom is located upstairs along with Baby’s room and his “smoking room.” He elaborates this description to show how everyone considers it a beautiful house. In addition, a big house usually correlates with parents working hard in order to earn such wealth, therefore shows the lack of bond between Amir and Baba. The details of his family photo shows the relationship between Amir and Baba. Baba is next to his smiling wife in one photo and then not smiling in the next photo when he is holding his son. Later on in the book, Amir makes the connection that he has caused Baba to dislike him before he stole his mother life away when she was giving birth.

Amir is holding Rahim Khan’s pinky finger in the photo which shows that he has a more stronger and closer relationship with his dad’s best friend. Sanaubar is Hassan’s mother and Ali’s wife. She is a beautiful yet a notoriously unscrupulous nineteen years old women. Like her husband, she is a Shi’a Muslim and an ethnic Hazara too. Ali and Sanaubar got married because they were first cousins. However, they were nothing alike. Ali was a strong religious man who followed the Koran while Sanaubar tempted men into doing sinful things. In 1964 on a cold winter day, she gave birth to Hassan in a small shack but later left him to join a clan of singers and dancers. In contrast to Amir’s mother who died when she has giving birth to her son. Ali is Hassan’s father as well as a servant to Baba and Amir.

The neighborhood children call him Babalu which means the Boogeyman to mock him. They call him this because Ali face and his walk due to the effect of polio caused some of the younger children to be scared. Amir feels like he is not worthy to his father and his feelings were confirmed when he had overheard his father conversation with Rahmid Khan. For example, Baba stated that if he had not seen the doctor pull him out, he wouldn’t believe that Amir is his son. Baba is disappointed that Amir did not inherit his athletic ability, but rather his mothers interest in literature. Baba is also disappointed that Amir can not stand up and fight for himself. Amir also feels the need to fight for his father’s attention. Anything he says to his father, his father seems to take no interest in.

In addition, when Baba invited Hassan to go on a trip to the lake, Amir lied to his father that Hassan had the runs in order to be able to spend time alone with him. He wanted to spend time alone with him because Amir has a jealousy feeling when being around Hassan and his father. Hassan was more athletic in throwing rocks down the river and was rewarded with Baba’s arm him, making Amir jealous. His feelings about his father are also present when he states that it was an honor for him to hold his father’s hat when it blew off because it showed to the crowd that that was his father. Zahir Shah’s (the king) cousin is Daoud Khan. He is responsible for the night shots on July 17 1973 that destroyed the Afghanistan’s monarchy. When the king was away, Daoud Khan decided take over and become the new president so he ended his cousin’s forty years reign with a bloodless coup. This new republic had lead to people like Assef to believe that this leader would save Afghanistan from the Hazara and allows the Pashtuns to take over their rightful place.

Baba is Amir’s father and a husband to Sofia Akrami: the most respected women in Kabul. His life revolved around trying to prove many people wrong that had doubted him. Many expected him to study law because his dad was a judge; however, Baba decided to not only run his own business and he becomes the richest merchants in Kabul. In addition, since Sofia is royal in blood, many doubt that Baba would be able to marry such a women. He perceived the world in black and white and decided which is what color. What he believes to be a sin is not drinking, but theft. Stealing away something from someone just stems or branches out to other sins that comes along with theft. He doesn’t believe in such religious people like Mullah Fatiullah, referring them to bearded idiots who recited the Quran but doesn’t understand a word.

In addition, Baba states that they would be in a dangerous situation of Afghanistan where to fill under a self righteous religious monkey. Baba gave Hassan for his birthday a plastic surgery procedure. For example, when Hassan had walked in the house, he was greeted by an Indian man dressed in a brown suit and red tie named Dr. Kumar from New Delhi. This present suggest that Baba has a care and showed sympathy Hassan. Baba states that although it is a weird gift, this gift was a long term gift that would last forever. While Hassan believed that it was not going to hurt, Amir’s reaction was that Hassan was being fooled. Amir related to his past experience with a painful surgery when he got circumcised. In addition, he had hope that he has some kind of scar in order to get such sympathy from his own dad.

Once the swelling had stopped the following winter it was ionic for Hassan to smile because it was that winter that Hassan was no longer smiling this foreshadowing a situation. Assef is known to be the neighborhood bully in the Wazir Akbar Khan section. He is the son of Mohammed: Baba’s friend and an airplane pilot. Assef has a German mother and an Afghan dad therefore his physical appearance of being blonde and blue eyed makes him stand out. He’s famous stainless-steel brass knuckles because of his earned reputation among the kids for savagery. In addition, he was the one that had came up all the names for Ali. HIs political vision is to get rid of all the Hazara with the new president. He wants the Pashtuns to rightly take back the country. He uses Hitler to help create his political perspective but unlike Hitler he believes that the new Afghanistan president can succeed. Wali and Kamal are Assef’s friends who obeys Assef’s orders.

Assef and his friends encounter with Amir and Hassan lead to Hassan threatening them. For example, after many rude comments especially towards Amir, Hassan pulled out his slingshot and threaten them to go away. Although Amir could tell that he was in fear, his voice was convincing enough for the boys to walk away. However, Assef threaten that although he is a patience person, he will be back. He commented that his return will be when Amir is alone so they can face each other without the help of Hassan. This foreshadows that Assef will return again in the story when Hassan is not there by Amir side to protect him as he always does. Amir thinks it’s ironic that he can finally smile “normally” because it was that following winter when Hassan had no longer smiled. Amir wants to tell Assed that they aren’t friends rather Hassan to him is only a servant. Despite almost bursting this out, Amir knows that he treats Hassan as more of a friend, he treats him as a brother but he also acknowledges that he always leaves Hassan out.