The story takes place in Afghanistan during the 70s. Amir lived with his father, Baba, in the street where the richest people in Kabul live. Amir’s mother died giving birth to him, and because of that, Amir has always thought his father hated him. The Hazaras’ were considered as ‘mice-eating, flat-nosed, load carrying donkeys’ by the Pashtuns because the Hazaras tried to rise against the Pashtuns in the 19th century and failed. Also, the Pashtuns were Sunni Muslims whereas the Hazaras were Shi’a.
Amir and Baba had two Hazara servants, Ali and Hassan. Amir and Hassan were like brothers. They loved each other. But they could never be true friends because Hassan was a Hazara.
The Kite-Fighting Tournament was an old winter tradition in Afghanistan
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Amir goes to Pakistan and learns from Rahim Khan that Hassan is dead. Hassan was Amir’s half-brother, and Hassan has a son, Sohrab, who is still in Afghanistan. Amir goes to Afghanistan to find Sohrab and finds out that Assef has Sohrab. Seeing Sohrab is suffering, Amir rescues him despite numerous challenges. And in the end, Amir brings Sohrab to America with him.
The most important themes were:
● Forgiveness- Despite knowing what Amir did, Hassan still forgave him. But through the entire novel, Amir couldn’t learn about the nature of forgiving.
● Betrayal- Hassan thought Amir loved him. Maybe he did in his own way. But I can’t imagine someone whom I love betraying me like Amir did and me forgiving him/her like Hassan did.
● Redemption- Throughout the novel, Amir just avoided the guilt. But when Assef almost beat him to death, Amir was happy. Because he knew he deserved it. And when it happened, Amir felt that heavy burden going away a little. The author was so good at describing these scenes, I related to it like it actually happened to me.
● Social class and Religion- Because of the difference in belief and appearences, people discriminated each other. Rich people are more respected than other