After Rahim Khan went to Pakistan he learned that Hassan and Farzana were executed by the Taliban, and Sohrab was sent to an orphanage. Rahim Khan says he had been watching Baba’s house for a while, but then found Hassan and convinced him and his wife Farzana to come back to Kabul. Once Amir arrives, Rahim Khan tells him about the horrors of the Taliban regime and war-torn Kabul. One day Amir gets a call from Rahim Khan, who is dying and asks Amir to come to Pakistan. Meanwhile, the Soviets are driven out of Afghanistan. Amir gets his first book published and he and Soraya start trying, unsuccessfully, to conceive.

Baba is pleased with Amir’s marriage, and he dies a month later. General Taheri accepts, and Amir and Soraya get married soon after. Amir asks Baba if he will ask General Taheri to let him marry Soraya. Soon afterward Baba is diagnosed with lung cancer. After much delaying, Amir starts courting her. Baba and Amir sell things at a flea market, where Amir starts noticing Soraya, the daughter of Baba’s friend General Taheri. Baba works at a gas station and Amir finishes high school and then studies writing at college. They eventually make it to Pakistan, and months later move to Fremont, California. In 1981, Baba and Amir flee Kabul, which has been invaded by the Soviets. Baba forgives Hassan, but Ali and Hassan leave the household. He hides some money under Hassan’s mattress and tells Baba that he stole it, and Hassan doesn’t deny it. Amir is tormented by guilt, and he decides to make Hassan leave the house. Amir runs away, and later both he and Hassan pretend nothing has happened.Īmir and Hassan soon drift apart. Amir watches as Kamal and Wali hold Hassan down and Assef rapes him. When Amir goes after Hassan he finds him in an alley, trapped by Assef, Wali, and Kamal. Amir wins the tournament, and then Hassan goes to retrieve the losing kite. In the winter there is a big kite-fighting tournament where boys try to cut each other’s kites with glass-covered strings, and then “kite runners” chase after the fallen kites. One day three boys named Assef, Wali, and Kamal threaten Amir, but Hassan scares them away with his slingshot. Amir and Hassan fly kites and read stories together, though Hassan does chores while Amir goes to school. Amir feels he is a disappointing son to Baba, but he is close to Baba’s friend Rahim Khan. They have two Hazara (an ethnic minority) servants, Ali and his son Hassan, who is Amir’s closest playmate. Readers would be wise to remember this seemingly throwaway incident.The narrator, Amir, grows up in a luxurious home in Kabul, Afghanistan, with his father Baba. Amir tightens the one ball that had become loose and wishes his own life could be fixed as easily. While at the samovar house thinking about everything that had transpired, Amir notices that the legs of the table had a ring of brass balls. Amir realizes that Rahim Khan is more like his father than Amir ever realized, and he realizes an opportunity to finally fight for himself.Īn interesting bit of foreshadowing exists in this chapter. Rahim Khan has obviously manipulated Amir, for as Amir ponders the information and request that he received from Rahim Khan, Amir's thoughts run the gamut of guilt, anger, shame, and pride. Others view his decision as a sign of maturity and love, that he is protecting her. Some critics consider Amir's decision curious because he makes it without consulting his wife, citing evidence that as modern as Amir's sensibilities appear to be, he still views women as second-class citizens. Making a decision to do something that impacts another's life, even if it means jeopardizing his own, demonstrates Amir's willingness, for perhaps the first time, to think of another before himself. Although it can be argued that he accepts his inability to sire children as a form of punishment, this is a passive acceptance there is nothing Amir needs to do and, thus, it is not a conscious decision on his part. Amir knows that Rahim Khan called him to Pakistan 'to atone not just for my sins but for Baba's too.' Sohrab, an orphan boy, presents perhaps the only opportunity Amir will ever have to atone for the sins of both generations.Īmir's decision to search for Sohrab is the first active step he takes toward atoning for his past.

Amir realizes that he and Baba were more alike than he never knew when his father was alive. The biggest shock is that Baba had participated in theft - a theft that affected not only Amir, but also Hassan and Ali. Amir has a very difficult time processing this information.

The kite runner summary