The Kite Runner Summary: Plot, Characters and Ending
Kabul, the tournament, the alley, America, the call and Sohrab
The Kite Runner is told by Amir, a wealthy boy in 1970s Kabul, whose closest friend is Hassan, the son of his father's servant. After Amir wins a kite tournament, he witnesses a brutal attack on Hassan and does nothing, then drives Hassan's family away to hide his shame. Decades later, living in America, he is called back to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan to make amends by rescuing Hassan's son, Sohrab.
Along the way he learns that Hassan was his half-brother.
How does The Kite Runner begin?
Amir grows up in a grand house in Kabul with his father, Baba, a respected and fearless businessman. Hassan, a Hazara boy from the household's servant family, is his constant companion, and he is fiercely loyal, the best kite runner in the city, able to tell where a cut kite will land. But Amir, desperate for his father's approval and jealous of Baba's affection for Hassan, often treats him unkindly.
↑ Back to the topWhat happens after the kite tournament?
In the winter of 1975 Amir wins the city's great kite-fighting tournament, and Hassan runs to fetch the last kite Amir has cut down. In an alley, the bully Assef and his friends corner Hassan and assault him. Amir sees it from the shadows and runs away. Unable to face Hassan afterwards, he plants money and a watch under Hassan's mattress to make it look as if he stole them. Hassan confesses to save Amir, and Ali and Hassan leave the house forever.
↑ Back to the topWhat happens in America?
In 1981, after the Soviet invasion, Baba and Amir flee Afghanistan hidden in a fuel truck and settle in Fremont, California. Baba works at a gas station and sells at weekend flea markets. There Amir meets Soraya, the daughter of an Afghan general, and they marry not long before Baba dies of cancer. Amir becomes a published novelist, but the memory of the alley never leaves him.
↑ Back to the topWhy does Amir go back?
In 2001 Baba's old friend Rahim Khan, dying in Pakistan, calls and tells Amir that he can still make things right. In Peshawar he reveals the truth: Hassan was Baba's son, Amir's half-brother. Hassan and his wife were killed by the Taliban in Kabul, and their son Sohrab is in an orphanage. Amir agrees to bring him out.
↑ Back to the topHow does The Kite Runner end?
In Kabul Amir learns that Sohrab has been taken by a Taliban official, who turns out to be Assef. Assef beats Amir savagely, and Sohrab saves him by firing a brass ball from his slingshot into Assef's eye. Amir's broken lip leaves a scar like the one Hassan was born with. Getting Sohrab to America proves painfully difficult, and the boy, afraid of being sent back to an orphanage, falls into despair and nearly dies.
Finally in California, Sohrab hardly speaks. In the last scene, at a park, Amir buys a kite and flies it with him. Then he runs to fetch a cut kite for the boy, offering to run for him as many times as he wants, just as Hassan once ran for Amir. Sohrab gives him the smallest smile, and Amir runs.
↑ Back to the topThe cast
| Character | Who they are |
|---|---|
| Amir | Narrator, son of a rich Kabul merchant |
| Hassan | Amir's loyal friend, son of the servant Ali |
| Baba | Amir's larger-than-life father |
| Ali | Baba's servant, Hassan's father |
| Assef | A cruel older boy, later a Taliban official |
| Rahim Khan | Baba's friend and Amir's mentor |
| Soraya | Amir's wife |
| Sohrab | Hassan's son |
More about The Kite Runner
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