The Kite Runner Characters: Amir, Hassan, Baba and Assef
Two boys, one secret father and a bully who comes back
The narrator is Amir, son of a wealthy Kabul businessman called Baba. His childhood friend is Hassan, the son of Baba's servant Ali, and their tormentor is the older boy Assef. In adulthood the key figures are Baba's friend Rahim Khan, Amir's wife Soraya and Hassan's son Sohrab.
The book's great secret is that Hassan is Baba's son too.
Amir
Amir is a sensitive, bookish boy who loves stories and longs for his father's love, which he feels he never quite earns. His great failure comes when he watches Hassan being attacked and runs, and then drives Hassan away to escape his guilt. The whole novel is his confession, and his journey back to Kabul as an adult is his attempt to atone.
↑ Back to the topHassan
Hassan is a Hazara, a member of an ethnic minority long treated as inferior in Afghanistan. He cannot read, but he is brave, honest and loyal beyond reason, and he is the best kite runner in Kabul. He takes the blame for a theft he did not commit rather than expose Amir. As an adult he returns to look after Baba's house, where the Taliban kill him and his wife.
↑ Back to the topBaba
Baba is a huge, fearless man, a successful businessman who built an orphanage with his own money, and a man who despises lies. Amir worships and fears him. In America he goes from wealth to working at a gas station, without complaint. Only after his death does Amir learn that Baba himself hid a great lie: he fathered Hassan with Ali's wife.
↑ Back to the topAssef
Assef is the neighbourhood bully, a boy who carries brass knuckles and despises Hazaras. He is the one who attacks Hassan in the alley. Years later he reappears as a Taliban official holding Sohrab. His fight with Amir, ended by Sohrab's slingshot, becomes a mirror of the moment when Hassan once stood up to him with the same weapon.
↑ Back to the topRahim Khan and Ali
Rahim Khan is Baba's best friend and the only adult who encouraged Amir's writing. Dying in Pakistan, he calls Amir back and tells him the truth. Ali, Baba's servant and lifelong companion, is quiet and dignified despite a damaged leg and the mockery of other children. He raises Hassan as his son and later dies when he steps on a landmine.
↑ Back to the topSoraya, General Taheri and Sohrab
Soraya is the daughter of General Taheri, a proud Afghan exile Amir meets at the flea market. She tells Amir about a painful episode from her own past before they marry, and her honesty shames him. Sohrab, Hassan's son, is a quiet, gentle boy who has survived terrible things; when Amir finally brings him home to California, he slowly begins to trust again.
↑ Back to the topWho's who and what happens to them
| Character | Who they are | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Amir | Narrator, a writer | Rescues Sohrab and adopts him |
| Hassan | Amir's friend and secret half-brother | Killed by the Taliban |
| Baba | Amir's father | Dies of cancer in California |
| Ali | Baba's servant, Hassan's official father | Killed by a landmine |
| Assef | Bully, later a Taliban official | Loses an eye to Sohrab's slingshot |
| Rahim Khan | Baba's friend and Amir's mentor | Dies in Pakistan |
| Soraya | Amir's wife | Welcomes Sohrab into their home |
| Sohrab | Hassan's son | Begins to heal in America |
More about The Kite Runner
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