Amir , the Afghan narrator of the
novel, now lives in San Francisco.
Amir receives a phone call
from his father's old friend,
Rahim Khan, asking him to
come to Pakistan.
The narrator of the novel and the main character.
Phone Call
The phone call occurred looking back six
months to the summer of 2001.
The memory that he got
from this phone call occurred
twenty-six years ago in 1975.
Kites
Reminds him of his boyhood friend
Hassan, a kite runner with a cleft lip.
Reminds him of how the events in
1975 moulded him as a person.
Chapter 2
Hassan
Amir and Hassan were childhood
friends despite Hassan being the son
of Amir's family's Servant, Ali.
Amir and Hassan played together as children
and would annoy the neighbours and their dog.
Hassan and his
father lived in a hut
in the grounds of
Amir's house.
Hassan was recognised by a soldier who claimed to have
had sex with Hassan's mother
Hassan's first word was 'Amir', whilst
Amir's first word was 'Baba'.
Mothers
We learn that Amir's mother dies
in childbirth.
Amir recounts how Hassan's
mother abandoned her family
shortly after giving birth to him.
Hassan was born in the hut just one
year after Amir's mother died giving
birth to him.
Hassan's mother, much younger than Ali, left
her husband just five days after giving birth to
Hassan.
Ethnicity
A history book says that Hazaras, Shi'a Muslims
had long been persecuted by the Pashtuns, who
are Sunni Muslims.
Fathers
Baba built the house that Amir and himself live in.
Chapter 3
Baba
Disappointed by Amir's lack of manly
attributes
He was seen as a great man.
Amir becomes interested
in reading and writing as a way to
escape his father's lack of
interest.
Amir recalls his father wrestling a bear
and how he had three large scars to prove
it.
He built an orphanage and Amir was
immensely proud.
Owns three businesses and a resturant
Baba tells Amir that the only real sin is theft.
Finds it hard to believe that Amir is his own son.
Jealousy
Amir takes out his jealousy on Hassan.
Baba offered for Hassan to come to Gargha Lake as
well, Amir doesn't want him to come, so lies and says
hes ill
Chapter 4
Baba and Ali
Ali was an orphan raised by Baba's father
Amir gives his written story to Baba, but Baba
doesn't take much interest in it.
Amir and Hassan
Hassan acts as Amir's servant
Amir reads books to Hassan under the pomegranate tree, and invents
his own story instead of reading the story he has in his hand.
Amir brings the his story to Hassan who finds a possible hole in the plot. Amir's
response was of anger and spite.
Rahim Khan
Rahim Khan takes a liking into Amir's story and
presents a positive attitude
Chapter 5
Politics and Violence
The king of Afghanistan is overthrown in a coup.
Zahir Shah, the king, was being
overthrown in a coup
Assef
Assef throws a rock that hits
Hassan. Assef and his friends
approach Amir and Hassan.
Assef supports the coup and expresses
praise for Hitler.
Hassan threatens Assef with a slingshot with a
rock in it that would supposedly take out an eye if
fired
Hassan's Birthday
Baba arranged for Hassan's cleft lip to be corrected as a
birthday present.
Chapter 6
Loyalty
Amir tests Hassan's loyalty by asking him if he would eat dirt if commanded to.
Hassan believes that Amir will win the tournament
Kite Fighting
Schools close during the winter due to
ice and snow, and the children take part
in kite fighting tournaments.
Hassan is a gifted kite runner. He is able to predict when and
where a kite will land before it does.
Amir and Baba
Kites are the one thing that bring
Amir and his father together.
Amir jealous that Baba bought the same
kite for Hassan as well as him
Amir is determined to make his
father proud by winning the
tournament.
Chapter 7
Cowardice
Amir is nervous for the
tournament and wished to back
out.
Amir's cowardice stops him
from breaking up the fight or
stepping in and stopping the
attack.
Hassan and Assef
Hassan goes to collect the kite blue that they won after
they won the tournament.
Assef offers to let Hassan free if he gives
up the kite. Hassan refuses, saying its
property of Amir's
Assef prepares to rape Hassan
Dreams and Memories
Amir recalls which
involved there being a
monster in the lake,
Hassan and Amir go in
nevertheless, and
receive praise for it
The story is
interrupted by two
memories and a dream
illustrating Amir's
relationship with
Hassan: their tight
brotherhood and the
barrier between them
Amir's memory recalls the
slaughter of a sheep which
reminds him of the current
event that is taking place with
Hassan
Praise
Amir sees Rahim Khan and his father standing on the
balcony and hopes his father is cheering for him.
Amir runs home after the tournament to
congratulations from Ali.
Chapter 8
Amir's Bitrthday
Assef attends his party, who is flattering
towards Baba, but Amir detects tension
between Assef and his parents.
Assef gives Amir his present, which is a biography of
Hitler.
Afteraffects
Amir hardly sees Hassan
however the chores that he
always did are still carried out,
with the absence of Hassan.
Amir remembers his dream about
the monster in the lake, and then
concludes that he is the monster in
the lake.
Amir and Hassan
Hassan and Amir speak again, they make their way to the pomegranate
tree, but decide to go home halfway
Hassan keeps wanting to make peace with his master, but
Amir doesn't want to, and is mean to Hassan in hope that he
will retaliate.
Hassan throws a pomegranate at Hassan tying to get him to
retaliate, but instead crushes a pomegranate against his own
head to please his master
Rahim Khan
Rahim Khan relates a story of the servant girl he wished to marry and
how the rest of his family prevented it. His moral was that the world
always triumphs over personal wishes.
He gives Amir his present, which is a leather-bound
notepad to write his stories in.
Jalalabad
That night, Amir asks Baba if he will take
him to Jalalabad at the weekend.
Baba offers to take Hassan as well, but Amir lies
and says he's ill as he doesn't want Hassan to be
there.
He is sick in the van. As he recovers, with his
eyes shut, all he can see are Hassan's trousers
discarded in the alley.
Chapter 10
March 1981
Amir and his father, along with other strangers, are leaving
Kabul and escaping Afghanistan
Arrival in Jalalabad
Truck promised to take them out of Afghanistan is broken. Baba angry as
he realises the driver, Karim, has only brought them this far for his cut in
the money
Hide in a basement where Kamal, one of the bullies, is as well.
Kamal had been raped by a number of men
Now being transported in an empty fuel tanker, Kamal gets
out and dies, his father kills himself as well
The Journey
Arrives at a Russian roadblock, one of the
officials wants half an hour with one of the
women
Baba stands up for the woman, and is
disappointed in Amir's lack of courage
Gunshot fired as a warning to the guard by Russian officer, woman is saved
Chapter 9
Ali and Hassan
Ali gives Amir a present from the two of them, it is a
copy of the book that Amir used to read to Hassan
They decide to go to Hazarajat to stay with his cousin
Baba cries and pleads for
them not to leave.
Amir
Amir plants his watch and some money
underneath Hassan's matress
He goes to his father and lies to
him about the servants.
Imagines it as if it was a Hindi movie in which Amir
would run out to the car and hug Hassan and
everything would be better. But he just watches the
car drive away.
Family Meeting
Hassan admits to stealing the watch,
only to protect his master.