Amir and Hassan grow up together in Afghanistan. They are from totally different backgrounds. It doesn't matter to this boy but once in a while, Amir will talk down to his friend who is a Hazara. Then he catches himself and feels bad about it. They are like family and grew up together. Amir is the privileged son of a well to do Pashtun business person. Amir is educated and can read. Hassan, whose father is a servant, is illiterate and has a harelip too. One thing that they have in common is, neither of them has a mother at home and they both are excellent kite runners.
In Afghanistan, kite running is a very competitive sport. Hassan is a very good runner and helps his friend many times, since he has the gift of being able to calculate in his head exactly where the kite will land. He doesn't need to keep his eyes glued to the kite like most need to do. He is Amir's trusted assistant and friend and very clever at the game. Amir, knowing where the kite will land is a valuable asset and helps them to successfully win races and beat out other competitors. This lucky day, Amir and Hassan had won the local tournament by working together. Baba who rarely gave his son praise, gave much praise to Amir that day. He couldn't stop bragging about him for a change.
Meanwhile, Hassan goes to fetch the cut kite that is their main prize. Unfortunately, Hassan runs into the local bully who was always picking on the two younger boys. Assef didn't like Hassan mainly because he was a Hazara. Their tribe and religion was considered inferior to the proud Pashtun's. Of course, he didn't like Amir either because he hung around with the Hazara boy.
That day, Assef and two of his friends caught Hassan as he was about to retrive the trophy kite. Hassan refused to turn the kite over to him so Assef attacked the younger boy. He was assaulted and raped by the mean bully who was also a pervert. Wondering where his friend was, Amir ran into the rubble of Kabul to find him. He searched everywhere. When he hears the voice of Assef, he hides in fear. He is a witness to the assalt of his friend but he is too scared to do anything. Amir felt ashamed.
Amir's father loved both the boys although he usually puts down his son for not being brave. Amir also fears his father's blame is because his mother died giving birth to him. Rahim Khan, his father's friend, better understood how Amir acted and tries to compensate and make him feel good about himself. He supports his interests in writing which had been another source of his father's disappointment. Right then, he was receiving the praise from his dad. This was something that he always had hoped for, but on the inside, he was feeling really bad right now for other reasons. He had seen a horrible act being done to his best friend and he did nothing. He was frozen. Assef, the notoriously mean and violent older boy who had sadistic tendencies, had violated his friend. He also remembered a day in the past when Assef was going to hurt him. Hassan stood up for him that day with his trusty sling shot and threatened to shoot Assef's eye out if he touched his friend. Assef backed off that day but promised to get his revenge.
For some time after, Amir couldn't look his friend in the eye and Hassan doesn't mention the incident. Amir feels ashamed and unsure of himself and also can't understand why Hassan said nothing. Amir begins to wonder if Hassan may know that he knows just what had happened. Amir starts to avoid him. He is also annoyed that his Baba pays so much attention to Hassan. He secretly decides Hassan needs to go away and he then works up a plan.
Amir frames his friend as a thief and Hassan confesses to the false charge. His father still forgave the boy and didn't want him to have to go away. Hassan and his father named Ali, leave the property anyway. Baba had previously told Hassan and his father that there would always be a place for them there. Once Hassan leaves, Amir no longer is reminded of his being a coward but the guilt remains.
In a few years, the Russians come to Afghanistan and Amir and his father go to Peshawar and eventually to California and freedom. Amir always remembers what he did back there. They miss their nice home in Kabul but they surround themselves with other Afghan people who have also gone to America. Their housing is now a rundown apartment building. His father works at a filling station and they supplement their income with sales at the Sunday flea market where they see other countrymen. Amir takes classes at a community college to build up his writing skills. One Sunday he meets a girl there and eventually it develops into a romance.
Soraya and her family are kind to Amir and his father. Amir's father is then diagnosed with a terminal illness and goes down fast. Nearly on his deathbed, he tells his son that he will ask Soraya's father for permission for his son to take her hand in marriage. This is how it is done back home in Afghanistan. Amir is delighted that his father is able to do this for him before he dies. Soraya's father accepts the arrangement and the two of them marry. Not long after, Baba dies. Still later, Amir and Soraya discover that they can not have children.
Amir then becomes a successful author. Years later, Amir receives a phone call from Rahim Khan, who is also near the end of his life. His one dying wish is that Amir will come to see him one last time in his native land. He tells Amir that he will tell him how he can be good again. Amir goes, not knowing exactly what he meant by that.
Rahim Khan fills him in on all the things that have happened back in Afghanistan and about Ali and Hassan. Ali was killed and Hassan had a wife and son. The son is named Sohrab. Rahim returned to his father's house to care for it and invited Ali and Hassan back. The Taliban made him leave and took over the house. Hassan refused to give up the house and both he and his wife were killed. The son was the only one who survived besides Khan.
Rahim then tells him that Ali was not Hassan's real father but Baba was. Hassan was your half brother. He thought he should know. Amir felt terrible. Then Khan tells him the real reason he called him to come back there.He wanted Amir to go to Kabul and rescue Hassan's son, from an orphanage. Amir's head was spinning by this time. Khan assured him that since Sohrab was his blood relative, he needed to do the right thing. He also told Amir that he knew what happened to Hassan and this was his chance to make things right and feel good again. He knew it bothered Amir all these years. Amir went reluctantly although he knew it was the right thing to do.
Amir returns to Taliban Kabul with a travel guide. Farid and Amir search all the orphanages looking for Sohrab. They finally find where he had been. He discovers that a Taliban official had taken him from the home. Amir had to go to a soccer match to look for a man who took the boy. The guide Farid had managed to get an appointment at the official's home and said they had business to discuss.
Amir came wearing a fake beard and a pair of sunglasses. Amir met with the official who recognized him even in his disguise. The official is Assef from his childhood. Assef asks about Hassan, Ali and Baba. Sohrab is being held captive at his house dressed like a little girl and Amir wondered if he was being assaulted by the man. Amir asked him to set the boy free and he would take him out of there. Assef agreed to let him go provided Amir could beat him as they would fight over the child. Amir fought hard but was losing at it. Sohrab used his slingshot that his dad had taught him to use. The rock knocked out Assef's left eye. Amir and the boy escaped and drove away with Farid.
Sohrab and Amir head to America. He promises the boy that he will never have to go to an orphanage again, following a long adjustment period, Sohrab refused to speak or even look at his new mother. He was finally coming around. They had had a terrible time. Sohrab had been emotionally hurt deep inside and it took a long time before he felt good about himself again.
Amir had spent a great deal of time talking about his father and one day, he started to respond to them. He finally had a chance to be renewed and whole again. During their kite running in America, Sohrab began to interact with him. Amir takes the kite one day and looks at Sohrab and says "For you, a thousand times over." This is a phrase that Hassan had said many years before and more recently to his own son. Almost a smile came to the boys face. Now there was hope. Amir now had a son and he felt good again.
John Sprague hails from Hampden Maine. He is presently in Iraq working as a contractor. They say it is safe over here now but only time will tell. In my free time, I do a lot of reading and enjoy writing. Please let me know what you think of my writing and if you enjoy any of my work. Let me know if I can be of help to you. Please email me or visit my picture website at http://johnsprague.ws.
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