The Kite Runner

Lesson 1. An introduction to Kabul and the two young boys. 

The first few chapters of the novel are dedicated to details about the boys, Amir and Hassan. It recalls a story of their past in Kabul, Afghanistan, flying kites, reflecting sunlight into a neighbor’s window and getting up to every sort of mischief. Both the boys lived with their fathers, Amir’s mother died giving birth to him and Hassan’s mother ran away after giving birth to him. 

Amir recalls the memories of his father, he recalls how ‘baba’ did all the things everyone said he couldn’t do. He never had a business sense, yet he was one of the most successful businessmen in Kabul. He built an orphanage despite not being an architect, he married into the royal bloodline and also wrestled a bear. Amir always looked up to him and wanted to be like him at every opportunity. Although he rarely succeeds in being like his father, he keeps on trying despite all odds. Amir is a sensitive little boy who feels responsible for his mother’s death, who cries when a rider gets trampled during a game. Baba is scared for him and is afraid that Amir would never be able to stand up for himself or what he believes in because of his gentle and sensitive nature.

These chapters establish the primary characters and their backgrounds. It gives the readers a clear picture of the characters in the novel and their relationships with each other. The novel is set in the past, as Amir, now an adult in the United States looks back on his childhood days in Kabul. His past has shaped him to be who he is and carries a recurring guilt deep in his heart. History is an important theme in the story and the story is primarily set in the past, however in the latter half of the book it oscillates between the past and the present. 

We get to know the personalities of the characters and it truly feels like they are people we might have known in real life. Hosseini goes into depth about the characters and the traits that they embody. We get to know that Amir is a sensitive and bookish boy who always looks up to Baba and always strives for his approval in all that he does in life. Hassan, on the other hand, is loyal and courageous. However, he has his own bouts of vulnerability. Both the young boys are motherless and only have their fathers and each other in their lives. The economic divide in the book is well pronounced as on one hand, we see Amir