The Kite Runner is a novel by the author Khaled
Hosseini. Published in 2003 by Bloomsbury Publishing plc, it is
Hosseini's first novel,
[1]
and was adapted into a film of the same name in 2007.
The Kite
Runner By Khaled Hosseini
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Introduction
The Kite Runner tells the story of Amir, a young boy
from the Wazir Akbar Khan district of Kabul, who betrayed his
best friend Hassan, the son of his father's Hazara servant, and
lives in regret. The story is set against a backdrop of
tumultuous events, from the fall of the monarchy in Afghanistan
through the Soviet invasion, the mass exodus of refugees to
Pakistan and the United States, and the rise of the Taliban
regime.
Plot
Part I
Amir, a well-to-do Pashtun boy, and Hassan, a Hazara and the
son of Amir's father's servant, Ali, spend their days in a
peaceful Kabul, kite fighting, roaming through the streets and
being boys. Amir’s father (who is generally referred to as
Baba, "daddy", throughout the book) loves both the
boys, but seems critical of Amir for not being manly enough.
Amir secretly fears his father blaming him for his mother’s
death during childbirth. However, he has a kind father figure in
the form of Rahim Khan, Baba’s friend, who understands Amir
better, and is supportive of his interest in writing stories.
Amir tells us that his first word was 'Baba' and Hassan's
"Amir,' suggesting that Amir looked up most to Baba, while
Hassan looked up to Amir.
Assef, a notoriously mean and violent older boy with sadistic
tendencies, blames Amir for socializing with a Hazara, which is,
according to Assef, an inferior race that should only live in
Hazarajat. He prepares to attack Amir with his brass knuckles,
but Hassan bravely stands up to him, threatening to shoot out
Assef's left eye with his slingshot. Assef and his henchmen back
off, but Assef says he will take revenge.
Hassan is a successful "kite runner" for Amir, knowing
where the kite will land without even watching it. One
triumphant day, Amir wins the local tournament, and finally
Baba's praise. Hassan goes to run the last cut kite, a great
trophy, for Amir saying "For you, a thousand times over."
Unfortunately, Hassan runs into Assef and his two friends.
Hassan refuses to give up Amir's kite, so Assef exacts his
revenge by sexually assaulting Hassan. Hassan did not give up
the kite because he wanted Amir's respect. Wondering why Hassan
is taking so long, Amir searches for Hassan and hides when he
hears Assef's voice. He witnesses the rape but is too scared to
intervene. He thinks to himself "he is just a slave, it doesn't
matter". Afterwards, for some time Hassan and Amir keep a
distance from each other. Amir reacts indifferently because he
feels ashamed, and is frustrated by Hassan's saint-like
behaviour. Already jealous of Baba's love for Hassan, he worries
if Baba knew how bravely Hassan defended Amir's kite, and how
cowardly Amir acted, that Baba's love for Hassan would grow even
more.
To force Hassan to leave, Amir frames him by planting a watch
and some money under Hassan's mattress; he falsely confesses.
Baba forgives him, despite the fact that, as he explained
earlier, he believes that "there is no act more wretched than
stealing." Hassan and his father Ali, to Baba's extreme
sorrow, leave anyway. Hassan's departure frees Amir of the daily
reminder of his cowardice and betrayal, but he still lives in
their shadow and his guilt.
Part II
Five years later, the Soviets invade Afghanistan. Amir and
Baba escape to Peshawar, Pakistan and then to Fremont,
California, USA, where Amir and Baba, who lived in luxury in an
expansive mansion in Afghanistan, settle in a run-down apartment
and Baba begins work at a gas station. Amir eventually takes
classes at a local community college to develop his writing
skills. Every Sunday, Baba and Amir make extra money selling
used goods at a flea market in San Jose. There, Amir meets
fellow refugee Soraya Taheri and her family; Soraya's father,
who was a high-ranking officer in Afghanistan, has contempt of
Amir's literary aspiration. Baba is diagnosed with terminal oat
cell carcinoma but is still capable of granting Amir one last
favor: he asks Soraya's father's permission for Amir to marry
her. He agrees and the two marry. Shortly thereafter Baba dies.
Amir and Soraya settle down in a happy marriage, but to their
sorrow learn that they cannot have children.
Amir embarks on a successful career as a novelist. Fifteen
years after his wedding, Amir receives a call from Rahim Khan,
who is dying from an illness. Rahim Khan asks Amir to come to
Pakistan. He enigmatically tells Amir "there is a way to be
good again." Amir goes.
Part III
From Rahim Khan, Amir learns the fates of Ali and Hassan. Ali
was killed by a land mine. Hassan had a wife and a son, named
Sohrab, and had returned to Baba’s house as a caretaker at Rahim
Khan’s request. One day the Taliban ordered him to give it up
and leave, but he refused, and was murdered, along with his
wife. Rahim Khan reveals that Ali was not really Hassan's
father. Hassan was actually the son of Baba, therefore Amir's
half-brother. Finally, Rahim Khan tells Amir that the true
reason he has called Amir to Pakistan is to go to Kabul to
rescue Hassan's son, Sohrab, from an orphanage.
Amir returns to Taliban-controlled Kabul with a guide, Farid,
and searches for Sohrab at the orphanage. In order to enter
Taliban territory, Amir, who is normally clean shaven, wears a
fake beard and moustache, otherwise the Taliban would exact
Sharia punishment against him. However, he does not find Sohrab
where he was supposed to be: the director of the orphanage tells
them that a Taliban official comes often, brings cash and
usually takes a girl back with him. Once in a while however, he
takes a boy, recently Sohrab. The director tells Amir to go to a
soccer match and the man wearing the John Lennon glasses is the
man who took Sohrab. Farid manages to secure an appointment with
the speaker at his home, by saying that he and Amir have
"personal business" with him.
At the house, Amir has a meeting with the man. The man in
sunglasses reveals himselft to be Assef, Amir's childhood
nemesis. Assef is aware of Amir's identity from the very
beginning, but Amir doesn't realize it is Assef sitting across
from him until Assef starts asking about Ali, Baba and Hassan.
Sohrab is being kept at the home where he is made to dance
dressed in women's clothes, and it seems Assef might have been
raping him. (Sohrab later says, "I'm so dirty and full of sin.
The bad man and the other two did things to me.") Assef agrees
to relinquish him, but only for a price - cruelly beating Amir.
However, Amir is saved when Sohrab uses his slingshot to shoot
out Assef's left eye, fulfilling the threat his father had made
many years before.
Amir tells Sohrab of his plans to take him back to America
and possibly adopt him, and promises that he will never be sent
to an orphanage again. After almost having to break that promise
(after decades of war, paperwork documenting Sohrab's orphan
status, as demanded by the US authorities, is impossible to get)
and Sohrab attempting suicide, Amir manages to take him back to
the United States and introduces him to his wife. However,
Sohrab is emotionally damaged and refuses to speak or even
glance at Soraya. This continues until his frozen emotions are
thawed when Amir reminisces about his father, Hassan, while kite
flying. Amir shows off some of Hassan’s tricks, and Sohrab
begins to interact with Amir again. In the end Sohrab only shows
a lopsided smile, but Amir takes to it with all his heart as he
runs the kite for Sohrab, saying, "For you, a thousand times
over."
Reception
The Kite Runner received the South African Boeke Prize
in 2004. It was the first best seller for 2005 in the United
States, according to Nielsen BookScan.[2]
It was also voted the Reading Group Book of the Year for 2006
and 2007 and headed a list of 60 titles submitted by entrants to
the Penguin/Orange Reading Group prize (UK).[3][4]
However, there have been some critiques of The Kite Runner
(see Miller, "The Kite Runner Critiqued: New Orientalism Goes to
the Big Screen".[1])
In addition to the film adaptation, the novel was also
adapted to the stage by Bay Area playwright Matthew Spangler.[5]
David Ira Goldstein (Arizona Theater Company Artistic Director)
directs a cast that includes Barzin Akhavan as Amir, Demosthenes
Chrysan (General Taheri), Gregor Paslawsky (Rahim Khan) and
James Saba (Ali), all from New York City, Thamos Fiscelle (Baba)
of Los Angeles, and Bay Area actors Craig Piaget (Young Amir),
Lowell Abellon (Young Hassan), Rinabeth Apostol (Soraya), Adam
Yazbeck (Assef), Zarif Kabier Sadiqi, Wahab Shayek, and Lani
Carissa Wong. The cast is joined on stage by Tabla player Salar
Nader.
Controversies
The Kite Runner has been accused of hindering Western
understanding of the Taliban, depicting Taliban members as
representatives of various Western myths of evil.
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