Book Review: The Kite Runner
The Kite Runner is a thrilling, yet intimate novel based on a man named Amir and how he found good from his past mistakes.
Young Amir Jan lives in Kabul, Afghanistan. He’s the son of a wealthy and well-known father and lives a comfortable life style. His best friend, Hasaan is the son of a faithful servant who has known Baba (Amir’s father) since childhood, as well. Amir and Hasaan are inseparable; always going to the local cinema to watch Western films, causing mischief around the town and their favorite activity; reading under a pomegranate tree with an engraving on the trunk: Amir and Hasaan- the Sultans of Kabul.
Although the two are practically brothers, Amir can’t help but feel a little jealous of Hasaan and the way he is better at pretty much anything they do. Hasaan is always the one who is protecting Amir in fights with the older kids of the block, playing games and even seemed to be favored by Baba. This causes Amir to sometimes feel discouraged and gives him the urge to get revenge on Hasaan by being rude or testing his loyalty by asking questions like would you eat dirt for me? to make him feel superior and regain his broken confidence.
When Amir wins the annual kite-flying contest, it was a cheerful day for all. His father finally saw him and they both started to get along, Amir finally got what he wanted – to be noticed by his father and be able to gain respect from him. Time went on and before long it was dark and Amir was wandering around the whole town, looking for Hasaan (who was going to retrieve the kite that Amir cut, and declared him his victory of the tournament). He found him in an alley with some Pashtun boys teasing him about his Hazara appearance. They taunted him about being friends with Amir and told him Amir doesn’t care about a Hazara servant like you; you’re just something he plays with when he’s bored. Despite their insults and name-callings, they ended up sexually abusing Hasaan, with Amir looking on and watching. This was the moment that made Amir hate himself the most. As he looks back, he realizes he could have done something to have altered this situation. This was the moment that if Amir had stepped up and done something (like Hasaan always did for him), things would have turned out a different way.
After this incident, Amir and Hasaan were never the same again. Something snapped in Amir and he found himself constantly taunting Hasaan and his father. At one point Amir even asked Baba when they were going to get new servants, which made his father very angry and broke the father-son feeling between them being replaced by, once again, pure silence. While all this was going on, Amir enjoyed being alone and writing fictional stories in his room. His father very much disapproved of this and constantly complained to Amir that he should be doing something useful, which made him feel terrible and lowered his self-esteem even more. Amir found comfort and the urge to continue writing through his father’s good friend, Rahim Khan, who read his stories, provided great feedback and encouraged him to write more. Later on, Hasaan and his father make the decision to leave their duties at the house and move on, leaving Baba feeling sadness and Amir feeling a terrible mixture of pain, guilt and shame.
When communist power comes to Afghanistan, Baba and Amir flee to America where they settle in San Francisco. Baba and Amir live in a small two-bedroom apartment. Though they didn’t have the same luxuries and money like they had in Afghanistan, they still made enough to sustain both of them. Baba worked at a Gas Station and on the weekends, they went to the flea market and sold various things. Several years later, Baba died of cancer and Amir got married.
Years later, Amir is a successful author of fiction and lives in a nice house with his wife. He receives a call from a dying Rahim Khan, asking him to return to Pakistan to see him. In Pakistan, Amir finally sees Rahim Khan after several years and the two of them finally talk. Amir tells him about his life in America, and Rahim Khan tells him about his, which hasn’t been so great. He mentions Hasaan, and how he also got married. Hasaan had a son, named Sohrab. Rahim Khan tells Amir that Hassan went to live with him in Baba’s house (because Baba asked Rahim to care for it while he was away). They lived there happily for a good amount of time, until the Taliban rule came, and Hasaan and his wife got shot. Rahim Khan mentions that Sohrab is in Afghanistan now and wants Amir to find him. Amir resists at first, but Rahim Khan finally tells him the truth: Amir and Hasaan are brothers – literally. Shocked, Amir realizes his whole life has been a lie, and he not only betrayed his only friend, he betrayed his own brother. Amir agrees to find his nephew, Sohrab and leaves immediately.
In Afghanistan Amir feels like he is a tourist in his own country. Everything has changed. Buildings have been demolished, everything is destroyed and there are more people living on the street than the occasional one or two on the side of the block. Finally, Amir is told to go to a location where Sohrab is. While he’s there, he finds Assef- the exact boy (man now) that sexually abused Hasaan and constantly taunted them about their Hazara-Pashtun friendship. Assef claims that if he wants Sohrab he would have to pay for it. Eventually, after several blows to the face, Amir and Sohrab escape back to Pakistan.
After some time of thinking, Amir decides to bring Sohrab back to San Francisco with him, to start a new life.
The Kite Runner is one of my favorite books. It taught me that you have to enjoy life and the people in it. You can’t buy the best things in life – they are free. And sometimes, it’s better not to forget the past, for it can change your future.