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
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- “A boy who won’t stand up for himself becomes a man who can’t stand up to anything.”
-Khaled Hosseini
- That was a long time ago, but it’s wrong what they say about the past, I’ve learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out. Looking back now, I realize I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years.
-Khaled Hosseini
- Huddled together in the dining room and waiting for the sun to rise, none of us had any notion that a way of life had ended.
-Khaled Hosseini
- My body was broken—just how badly I wouldn’t find out until later—but I felt healed. Healed at last. I laughed.
-Khaled Hosseini
- I opened my mouth, almost said something. Almost. The rest of my life might have turned out differently if I had. But I didn’t. I just watched. Paralyzed.
-Khaled Hosseini
- You’ve always been a tourist here, you just didn’t know it.
-Khaled Hosseini
- Not a word passes between us, not because we have nothing to say, but because we don’t have to say anything
-Khaled Hosseini
- Children aren’t coloring books. You don’t get to fill them with your favorite colors.
-Khaled Hosseini
- It may be unfair, but what happens in a few days, sometimes even a single day, can change the course of a whole lifetime.
-Khaled Hosseini
- But I hope you will heed this: A man who has no conscience, no goodness, does not suffer.
-Khaled Hosseini
- For me America was a place to bury memories. For Baba a place to mourn his.
-Khaled Hosseini
- I wondered if that was how forgiveness budded; not with the fanfare of epiphany, but with pain gathering its things, packing up, and slipping away unannounced in the middle of the night.
-Khaled Hosseini
In the summary of The Kite Runner book, there are 5 key lessons. These lessons include: