The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Amir recalls an event that happened twenty-six years before, when he was still a boy in Afghanistan,
and
says
that that made him who he is. Before the event, he lives in a nice home in Kabul, Afghanistan, with
Baba, his
father. They have two servants, Ali and his son, Hassan, who are Hazaras, an ethnic minority. Baba’s
close
friend, Rahim Khan, is also around often. When Afghanistan’s king is overthrown, things begin to change.
One
day, Amir and Hassan are playing when they run into three boys, Assef, Wali, and Kamal. Assef threatens
to beat
up Amir for hanging around with a Hazara, but Hassan uses his slingshot to stop Assef.
The story skips to winter, when the kite-fighting tournament occurs. Boys cover their kite strings
in glass
and
battle to see who can sever the string of the opposing kite. When a kite loses, boys chase and retrieve
it,
called kite running. When Amir wins the tournament, Hassan sets off to run the losing kite. Amir looks
for him
and finds Hassan trapped at the end of an alley, pinned with his pants down. Wali and Kamal hold him,
and Assef
rapes him. Amir runs away, and when Hassan appears with the kite, Amir pretends he doesn’t know what
happened.
Afterward, Amir and Hassan drift apart. Amir, who is racked by guilt, decides either he or Hassan must
leave. He
stuffs money and a watch under Hassan’s pillow and tells Baba that Hassan stole it. When Baba confronts
them,
Hassan admits to it, though he didn’t do it. Shortly after, Ali and Hassan move away.
The story jumps to March 1981. Baba and Amir are in the back of a truck as they escape from Kabul,
which
was
invaded by the Soviets and has become a war-zone. After a hellish journey, they make it to Pakistan. Two
years
later, Baba and Amir live in Fremont, California. While Baba works at a gas station, Amir finishes high
school
and goes to college. Baba and Amir sell things at a flea market on Sundays, and Baba sees an old friend,
General
Taheri. Amir notices General Taheri’s daughter, Soraya. When Amir finally speaks to her, General Taheri
catches
him and tells him there is a proper way to do things. Not long after, Baba is diagnosed with lung
cancer. Amir
asks Baba if he will get General Taheri’s consent for Amir to marry Soraya. General Taheri accepts the
proposal.
They hold the wedding quickly because of Baba’s health, and Baba dies a month later. Amir and Soraya try
unsuccessfully to have a baby while Amir works on his writing career.
Amir gets a call from Rahim Khan. Rahim Khan is sick and wants Amir to see him in Pakistan. Amir
meets him a
week later, and Rahim Khan tells Amir about the devastation in Kabul. He says things only got worse
after the
Soviets were forced out. Now the Taliban rule by violence. He has a favor to ask of Amir, but first he
needs to
tell him about Hassan. When Baba and Amir left Afghanistan, Rahim Khan watched their house. Out of
loneliness
and because he was getting older, he decided to find Hassan. He convinced Hassan and Hassan’s wife,
Farzana, to
come back to Kabul with him. Farzana and Hassan eventually had a little boy, Sohrab. A few years later
Rahim
Khan went to Pakistan for medical treatment, but he received a call from a neighbor in Kabul. The
Taliban went
to Baba’s house and shot Hassan and Farzana and sent Sohrab to an orphanage.
Rahim Khan wants Amir to go to Kabul and bring Sohrab back to Pakistan, where a couple lives that
will take
care
of him. He tells Amir that Baba was Hassan’s father, and Amir agrees to do it. In Afghanistan, Amir
finds the
orphanage where Sohrab is supposed to be, but he is not there. The orphanage director says a Taliban
official
took Sohrab a month earlier. If Amir wants to find the official, he will be at the soccer stadium during
the
game the next day. Amir goes to the game, and at half-time, the Taliban put a man and a woman in holes
in the
ground and the official Amir is looking for stones them to death. Through one of the Taliban guards,
Amir sets
up a meeting with the official.
When they meet, Amir tells the official he is looking for a boy, Sohrab, and the official tells the
guards
to
bring the boy in. Sohrab is wearing a blue silk outfit and mascara, making him appear more feminine and
suggesting that the men sexually abuse him. The official says something Amir recognizes, and suddenly
Amir
realizes the official is Assef. Assef says he wants to settle some unfinished business. He beats Amir
with brass
knuckles, breaking Amir’s ribs and splitting his lip. Sohrab threatens Assef with his slingshot, and
when Assef
lunges at him, Sohrab shoots him in the eye, allowing Amir and Sohrab to escape. As Amir recovers in the
hospital, he finds out there never was a couple that could care for Sohrab. Amir asks Sohrab to live
with him in
the U.S., and Sohrab accepts.
The adoption officials tell Amir that adopting Sohrab will be impossible since he can’t prove
Sohrab’s
parents
are dead, and Amir tells Sohrab he may have to go back to an orphanage. Amir and Soraya figure out a way
to get
Sohrab to the U.S., but before they can tell Sohrab, Sohrab tries to kill himself. He lives, but he
stops
speaking entirely. Even after they bring Sohrab to California, Sohrab remains withdrawn. One day, they
go to a
park with other Afghans. People are flying kites. Amir buys one and gets Sohrab to fly it with him. They
spot
another kite and battle it. Using one of Hassan’s favorite tricks, they win. Sohrab smiles, and as the
losing
kite flies loose, Amir sets off to run it for Sohrab.
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