Khaled Hossseini’s novel the
Kite Runner is filled with themes of friendship,
fear, cowardice, sins, guilt, loss, love, and redemption. The
Kite Runner is the story two boys, Amir and Hassan, growing up in Kabul,
Afghanistan. One boy is the son of a
rich merchant and the other is the son of their Hazaran servant. Both boys lost their mothers when they were young,
but share and unbreakable bond because they nursed from the same women.
The boys are raised in the
same house but live in different worlds. The boys live culturally different
lives. Amir is a Pashtun and Hassan as
Hazaran. Amir lives a privileged life and Hassan the
life of the servant.
Amir is fearful and never
stands up for himself. Hassan fights all
Amir’s fights because of their friendship.
One day the boys encounter an older boy named Assef. Assef is a brutal and racist boy, who has the
nickname Assef the ear eater. Hassan
saves Amir from Assef, but Assef will be back.
Kite fighting plays a major
part in Afghanistan’s winter. Kite
fighting is where the Afghan come together in a competition where they try to
cut each others kites. Kite runners then
run after the kites to catch them.
Hassan is the best kite runner in Kabul.
In the winter of 1975, Hassan runs his last kite. Assef brutally attacks Hassan and Amir
watches but is to cowardly to stop it.
Amir and Hassan go their separate ways because of this and are later separated
by war. Amir goes to America and Hassan
stays in Afghanistan.
Many years later Amir
returns to Afghanistan, where he learns of the lies he and Hassan were
told. Amir learns that there is a way to
redeem what he did to Hassan. Amir learns
that “There is a way to be good again.”
