THE KITE RUNNER
KHALED HOSSEINI
Hassan and Amir are childhood friends. Hassan is contemptuously called “the Hazara boy” in his neighborhood and this name calling has been ingrained in him that it has been a part and parcel of his life and he has accepted to live with it as if it was destined for him.
Amir dislikes the attention his dad gives to Hassan and whenever he can, he tries to divert the attention from Baba (Amir’s father) as far as he could. Between Amir and Hassan, Amir is educated and intelligent whereas the Hazara boy Hassan was not educated. However, Hassan was more courageous and knew the skills of society’s harshness even when he was not educated. However, Amir the educated one lacked such knowledge as the books did not teach him how to react otherwise when threatened.
Baba (Amir’s father) was not a religious man as all Afghan men are known to be. He seems to be a modernist. He consumes alchol and the lesson learnt in this novel is, “stealing is the greatest sin of all”. The climax of the novel occurs during the kit flying festival. This is a triumphant moment when, with the help and skill of Hassan, Amir won the tournament. However, darkness gloomed over the triumph when Amir witnesses Hassan being raped by a rogue, Asef; mainly because he wanted to settle old scores (for hurting Asef when he bullied Amir once) and also because he, being a Hazara boy, had the courage to hurt Asef.
From then onwards, Amir treated Hassan differently. This was because he witnessed the whole incident without helping his best friend. Hassan had helped him numerous times when in need, but Amir could not because he did not have the courage to fight the thugs. After this incident, both friends gradually drifted apart with their own differences. Amir’s guilt overwhelmed him so much that he even attempted to put notes under Hassan’s blanket to frame Hassan for theft. Baba did not believe that Hassan would ever steal but this incident took a turn when Hassan and his father Ali decided to move out.
Once Ali and Hassan moved out, Baba and Hassan moved out too as Afghanistan was not as before and it was getting impossible to live in. They risked their lives by traveling to Pakistan in a crowded, stuffy tank full of people who were all seeking refuge to Pakistan. The next moment, the readers are taken to America where Baba is proud to see Amir graduating. Amir marries but his wife is unable to conceive and he blames himself for being selfish during his childhood days for ill treating his friend Hassan by not helping him when he was in danger.
Rahim Khan, Baba’s business partner invited Amir to Afghanistan to see him for the last time. He broke the news that Hassan is married but is already dead. He was shot at gunpoint by the Taliban leaving his son Sohrab an orphan. Sohrab was living in an orphanage but the orphanage was run under inexplicable condition where there was insufficient money to run the orphanage. As a result, the owner of the orphanage had to resort to sell an orphan or two to the Talibans for money. That was how Sohrab was sold too. Moreover, Amir learnt that Hassan was his half brother and Baba had an affair with Ali’s wife after Baba’s wife had died. Amir was shocked that this truth was kept from him and Hassan throughout their lives. Amir decided that it was time that he does some good deed for Sohrab.
Amir sought to meet the Taliban chief to get Sohrab and found out that it was Asef. Asef wanted to settle old scores in return for Sohrab and they engage in a duel. Sohrab witnessed the fight where Amir was receiving blow after blow and was becoming weak. Sohrab then took a catapult and shot at Asef’s eye. The impact was so great that it made Asef’s eye ball pop out. While Asef was writhing in pain, Amir fleed with Sohrab. Amir was hospitalized for the weeks for the injuries from the fight. Once Amir almost recovered, he and his wife Soraya decided to adopt him. However, as Afghanistan was in turmoil, Amir could not get proof that Hassan and his wife were indeed dead and without which, Afghan law will not allow Sohrab to leave Afghanistan as this will prevent Afghan’s heritage flourishing. The lawyer Amir sought advised that one possibility was to let Sohrab live in an orphanage for a while and then proceed to adopt Sohrab from there. When Sohrab heard this, he was devastated because, he refused to go back to the orphanage as he too, like his father was raped. This let Sohrab to attempt suicide by slashing his wrist with a blade, for which, he almost died.
Soraya did her research from America and found out that it was possible to bring Sohrab to America once visa is granted to him. From America, other aspects were taken care of for his adoption. Sohrab went to America, reluctantly as his heart and soul was in Afghanistan. In America, he appeared to be reserved and kept to himself as if he had lost something in life. Even Amir and Soraya have forgotten how he sounded. Nothing could make him happy, until one day, during an Afghan New Year celebration; kites were flown by the children there. Amir coaxed Sohrab to join him and taught him how to fly the kite and that was the first time Amir saw a slight smile in Sohrab’s face.
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My Comments
I enjoyed reading this novel but one inconvenience was coming across Afghan words in the novel. It would be good if the author had a glossary of words with their meanings or even a footnote to explain the meanings. I know that the meanings of the words are explained, as the story is narrated, but I just seem to forget the words. When I came across the same words as I read along, I seem to forget what the meanings of the words were. So, it would have been good to have a glossary of Afghan words explaining the meanings. I know that this would disrupt the flow of reading the novel but this would enable the readers to remember Afghan words better.
Besides this, this book is a good read that shows an insight of peaceful Afghan life in the 1970s and the segregation of certain groups in the Afghan community. Baba’s character is portrayed as a modernist and this created a twist from the norm. This character of Baba can be subjective, but I liked it. There is a moment when Amir who had not prayed for years starts to pray when Sohrab is hospitalized and when Amir says that God is not everywhere but can only be in hospitals is very insightful. It is true that it is only in the hospitals where we seek God for miracles to happen. Even doctors are regarded as Gods out of desperation.
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