The Kite Runner Study Guide

1. Women: In the novel, women were not seen as equals to men. They had to keep themselves conservatively dressed with their faces covered.
Betrayal: Amir and Hassan were raised together. They were breast fed from the same women. They were raised as brothers aside from the fact that Hassan was Amir's servant. Hassan always stood up for
Amir, but when Hassan needed Amir to save him Amir simply ran like a coward. This caused the end of their relationship.
Brothers: Although Hassan and Amir are raised almost like brothers, they never realize thats what they truely are until towards the end of the novel. Hassan never finds out the truth about Amir being his blood, but Amir does. Amir knowing this makes him regret his decisions on how he treated Hassan.
Guilt: Amir suffers with hidden guilt after he sees Hassan gets raped because he did nothing to stop it. Hassan's rape doesn't stay hiddin forever though. Hassan tells his father the whole story, and they both leave. This sort of comforts Amir because he knows someone knows his secret, but Amir's father is still in dark as to why the man who was his servant, friend, brother left.
Redemption: After Amir learns Hassan is dead, he becomes determined to bring Hassan's orphaned son to America to live with him. By doing this, Amir feels set free of the guilt he felt built up toward Hassan.
Exodus: When the Russians invaded Amir's country alot of families, including Amir and his father, leave to find safety. Amir and Baba smuggle themselves into a nearby country, and then leave for America.
Fathers and Sons: Amir and his father are a direct representation of patriarchal society. Amir strives to please his father, but always falls short. His father is always a little bit disappointed that Amir is not like him.
Class distinction: Amir and Hassan were always persecuted becauses of their relationship. Hassan is Hazara, and Amir is Pashtun. Also Hassan was Amir's servant and in those days it was not common to associate with those of different beliefs and different class ranks.



2. Parallelism: Hassan and Amir's friendship can be seen as parallel with the invasion of Afghanistan by the Russians. Their country begins to go downhill while they live together. When they boys friendship reaches its breaking point because of Hassan and Ali leaving, shortly following their country is invaded by the Russians. Character Foils: Amir and his father, Baba, were complete opposites. They were so different that they even questions if they were father and son. Amir wasn't an athlete; he was more interested in writing. He also didn't stand up for himself because he wasn't a fighter. His father was an athletic man. He had power and always stood up for what he believed in.
Forshadowing: In the book, Hassan's first word was Amir, and Amir's first word was Baba. This forshadows Hassan's loyalty to Amir and Amir striving for the approval of his father, Baba.
Flashbacks: Amir always has constant flashbacks of events that occurred with Hassan. He tries to forget about Hassan so his guilt won't surface, but he doesn't accomplish this.
Positives and Negatives: The novel was absolutely great. It really opened my eyes to what the Middle East was like. The author accomplished this without using too much fancy and over-decorative writing. The one downfall of the novel was the grafic scenes it contained. They did need to be written, but once I read them I had to put the book down for awhile.


3. Settings: Kabul, Afghanistan in the 1933-1970s Fremont, California in the 1980s
The role of women in America vs. the role of women in Afghanistan, Pashtun vs. Hazara, Afghanistan under monarchy rule vs. republic rule, Afghanistan before and after the Russian invasion,


4. Minor Characters: Rahim Khan was Baba's best friend. He also understood Amir and helped him with his problems. Ali was Hassan's 'father'. He was also Baba's servant. Baba saw his as a brother; they were both raised together. Ali was the one who took Hassan away after he found out about the rape. Soraya is Amir’s wife. She brought love back into his life, and she covinced him to return to Afghanistan to get Sohrab and bring him to live in the U.S. with them. Sohrab is Hassan's son. He is the key to Amir letting go of his guilt. Assef was the leader of the bullies that tortured and raped Hassan.


5. Symbols: Baba's House symbolizes protection and security. Flying kites was the thing to do in Afghanistan. Kite fighting was hard, and often people were left with scars. Even though people went through alot of pain and hardwork, winning was always worth it. The kite symbolizes endurance. Hassan's slingshot skills were amazing. He used it to save Amir, and Sohrab saved Amir with a slingshot, just like his dad. The slingshot symbolizes courage. The pomegranate tree shows Hassan and Amir's relationship. They carved their names into the tree and it produced fruit. When Hassan died the tree still existed but no longer produced fruit. Sohrab was a symbol of the good that Amir wanted to have in his life.