The Kite Runner

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The Kite Runner

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Major Character List

The Kite Runner

• Amir – the main character. He is of the Pashtun tribe and can speak Persian and Pashto. As a young boy, he is friends with Hassan, the house servant. He attends school and develops a love for reading and storytelling. Amir reads stories to Hassan, and Hassan, who cannot read, is captivated. He lives well because his father is a successful and well-liked businessman.
• Hassan – Amir’s kite flying friend and Amir’s house servant. He is from the Shia tribe. His mother left when he was a baby.His father is too poor to send him to school.
• Baba – Amir’s father. He is a wealthy businessman. His wife died during childbirth when Amir was born. Baba treats both Amir and Hassan as sons. When the Taliban take over, Baba decides that he and Amir should leave for Pakistan and ultimately the United States.
• Ali – Baba’s friend from childhood and Hassan’s father. He was stricken with polio so one of his legs is useless.
• Soraya – Amir’s wife. They meet in California. She is Afghan and lives with her parents.
• Sohrab – Hassan’s son. He is orphaned during the war. He becomes Amir and Soraya’s adopted son.
• Assef – the town bully who commits the act of brutal violence against Hassan and then, years later, against Amir.
• Rahim – Baba’s good friend in Afghanistan. It is Rahim who learns that Sohrab is an orphan and decides to contact Amir in the United States.

Discussion Questions

 for The Kite Runner

1. Would you agree Amir has a close relationship with his wife, Soraya? There are so few female characters in Amirs’ childhood. How do you think he gained the skills to develop this relationship?
2. Amir betrays his friend Hassan twice. First, when he did not defend him during the assault and then when he makes it look like Hassan stole money. Is one betrayal worse than the other?
3. Trust is an essential element of friendship. Are Amir and Hassan friends? How much trust is there between them before and after the betrayals?
4. Amir witnesses the assault against his friend. How does this affect their relationship?
5. Baba, Amir’s father, gave Amir little emotional nurturance and support. Do you think Amir can overcome his father’s lack of emotional nurturance and be a truly supportive parent to his son Sohrab?
6. How is it that Assef’s parents are blind to his true character?
7. Do you think shame affects Baba’s relationship with his son? How?
8. Had Amir confided in his father that he did not defend Hassan, what might have been Baba’s reaction? Could he have forgiven Amir? Do you think Hassan forgives Amir?
9. Do you walk away from the story feeling you know something more about Afghanistan, for example, its history and culture, than you did before you read the story? Is this part of the author’s purpose?
10. What chance does Sohrab have of developing a relationship that includes factors such as intimacy and trust?
11. Do think Amir succeeds in being good again? Do you think he succeeds in forgiving himself?