Christopher Nicklin

1671595
5/21/12
Kite Runner

The novel I read was Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. There are many different

characters that have very specific roles to play in Kite Runner. The main character is

Amir. He is Pashtun, the dominant race in Afghanistan. His family is well off. Amir is a

great storyteller and is always trying to please his father. His best friend is Hassan. Amir

often was hot and cold with Hassan out of jealousy that Hassan got attention from Amir’s

father. Later on when he is older he tries to pay penance for letting what happened to

Hassan happen. Hassan is Amir’s best friend. He is a servant to Amir’s family and is

extremely loyal. He is a Hazara, the lower ethnicity in the book. Because of this he had

been a victim of racism. Hassan is extremely intelligent. However, his intelligence is not

book smarts but more of his comprehension of things. Both boys are around eight to

twelve in the novel.

Baba is the father of Amir and Hassan. He is also Pashtun and is well off. He talks

a lot about honor and morals. He had an affair with Hassan’s mother so Hassan is his son.

He cannot openly love him because of the race difference. However, whenever he could

show affection he would. Ali is the faithful servant of Baba. He had polio that distorted

his face. He is very quiet. However, he shows lot of affection toward Hassan it is just

apparent because he does not really show it externally. Rahim Khan is a friend and

business partner of Baba. He loves Amir and often gives the attention to Amir that he

wants. Soraya is an Afghan woman that Amir meets at a flea market when he moves to
America. Eventually he marries her. She cannot have children. General Taheri and Jamila

are Soraya’s parents. They play the typical traditional role of Afghani parents.

Farid is the diver of Amir when he comes back to Afghanistan. He is a very

abrasive person. Two of his children had been killed by land mines. Sohrab is the son of

Hassan. He is very quiet and once he is abuse by Assef he becomes silent. Sohrab looks

almost exactly like Hassan. In fact in the story he acts as the replacement to Hassan.

Assef is the neighborhood bully. He is Afghani and German. On his Afghani side he is

Pashtun. He does many terrible things like rape and kill. He eventually joins the Taliban.

Kite Runner is set during the time when Afghanistan is going through major

changes. Amir is the main character of the book. His father, Baba, has two servants. They

are Ali and Hassan. Amir and Hassan spend lot of time with each other. Amir would read

stories to Hassan. In Amir’s first encounter with Assef they threaten and almost start

beating him up. However, Hassan uses his slingshot and they get away. Then the kite

festival comes. Amir and Hassan work together to battle and win against the other kites

by cutting them out of the sky. Hassan goes and grabs the kites when they are cut down.

This is known as the runner. When he goes to get the kite they won Assef and his friends

corner Hassan. Amir finds them and can do something but decides not to. Because of this,

Hassan gets raped. After that the two do not get along anymore. Amir acts terrible toward

him. He eventually frames Hassan by putting money under Hassan’s mattress. Amir tells

his father and Hassan admits to it, even though he did not do it. Baba tells them they have

to leave. Amir never sees Hassan again.

Eventually Afghanistan starts to fall apart. Amir and Baba get smuggled out.

Eventually they make it to California where they start a new life. Amir finishes high
school and college. Baba starts to work at a gas station. It is a far cry from his old life in

Afghanistan. On the weekends Amir and Baba go to the flea market in order to sell things

and make money. It is there that Amir meets a girl named Soryana. It ends up being

General Taheri’s daughter, an acquaintance of Baba’s. As Baba gets more and more sick

with lung cancer he asks if Soryana and Amir are going to get married. They do and it is

only after a month that Amir’s father dies.

Soryana and Amir as enjoying their life as a couple. Amir is working being a

writer. However, they are unable to have child. Eventually Rahim Khan, Amir’s father

figure, calls had says he need to come to Pakistan. Their Rahim Khan divulges details

about Amir’s father and how Hassan got shot and Amir needs to save his child. Amir goes

to Afghanistan where he meets Farid who helps him get in. He goes to a soccer game in

order to meet an official. After terrible things that happen at the game he sets up a

meeting. There he finds out the official has the boy. However, Amir soon realizes that the

official is Assef. Assef then proceeds to start beating up Amir. It is only when Sohrab

shoots Assef in the eye that they are able to make a run for it. Amir then is at a hospital

recovering from the beating and asks Sohrab if he wants to go live with him. Sohrab says

yes, but almost kills himself at one point. He is clearly traumatized. Eventually they make

it to California. Sohrab still does not talk. The book then ends with Amir and Sohrab

going to a kite festival and them cutting down a cut. However, this time Amir runs for

Sohrab.

This book is more of a contrast to my life than it is something where things relate

to me. The novel is absolutely amazing. It is one of my three favorite books. However,

the life is so different from my own. These characters go through hell being upper class in
Afghanistan and then loosing it all to come to America and be safe and they are

considered the lucky ones. As for myself I guess I can identify more with the earlier life

style being where I live. In America we live a life of luxury so I can understand that life

style a little better. I can see where Amir is coming from when it comes to getting

attention from his father so much so that he craves it. My sister is a handful to deal with

he emotions so my family often focuses on her and tries to manage her. However, often I

am forgotten about and feel that need of affirmation from my family. Also Amir is a

storyteller and as for my self I score a lot of music to picture so I also have that kinship to

the story telling aspect of the book. It is just in a slightly different way.

I do not really think that this book has changed my thoughts on stereotypes. I do

think that stereotypes have some merit because people to not make stuff up. For example,

in the Chinese culture academics are important so in general Chinese people are very

innovative and smart. However, I do believe that not everyone fits into a stereotype. I use

stereotypes has a loose guide in order to make predictions and decisions more accurately.

However, I find my bias and stereotyping very open and malleable. Stereotyping is just a

tool and should not define your opinions until you know someone. That is what goes

wrong in this book with the people. Pashtun’s define Hazara people because of

stereotypes and they do not let that definition get influenced by who the person actually

it. Every person is different and not everyone will fit into a stereotype. That is one thing

this novel shows. Often traditions are so powerful that people cannot figure out that the

people are more important than the tradition. For example, it was more important for

Baba to save face than love Hassan fully. It should not matter but apparently class matters

more in the Afghani culture. What I am going to take away from this is to not let class
affect my love or define my thoughts about other people no matter what class they come

from.