History YMMV / TheKiteRunner

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Is Amir a misunderstood boy who [[WellDoneSonGuy wants his father’s affections]]? A coward who always runs from his problems? Or a selfish but still caring person? It seems that everyone sees Amir differently.
* BaseBreakingCharacter: Some people see Amir as a protagonist everyone can relate to who has to tackle the obstacles in his path, while others see him as a spineless jerk who only cares about himself.

* CompleteMonster: [[DepravedBisexual Assef]] begins life as a brass knuckle-brandishing sociopath and a racist {{bully}} with a virulent [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain hatred of the Hazaras]]. Possessed of an admiration for UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler himself and considering him a visionary, Assef is already known as an [[EarAche ear-eating]] savage around his area and shows his true colors by raping Hassan alongside his friends after the boy humiliates him. Assef [[SchoolyardBullyAllGrownUp graduates from bully to a member of the Taliban]] who introduces himself stoning a blindfolded man to death and [[WouldHurtAChild taking orphans to be sold into sexual slavery]], among them the now-deceased Hassan's son Sohrab as his personal SexSlave. Assef is no less adamant about his mission to massacre the Hazaras, and proudly accepts the term "ethnic cleansing" as one he likes. Assef views himself as taking out "garbage" around Afghanistan, but when everything is clear, Assef is little more than a domineering, depraved, remorseless bully from youth to adulthood.
* HollywoodHomely: In the book, Ali is described as having his face muscles damaged by a sickness, and Hassan having a harelip. Neither are present in the film.
* JerkassWoobie: Amir is shown to be stubborn and often outwit on Hassan with tricks for his amusement. But he has a father who doesn’t appreciate the way he is, feels guilt about “killing” his mom when she gave birth to him and Hassan is his only friend. He may be a jerk sometimes, but what Amir had to go through was rough.

* MoralEventHorizon: Assef, see [[spoiler: RapeAsDrama]] on the Main page.

** ''Sohrab.''

* CompleteMonster: Assef [[spoiler:rapes Amir's servant, Hassan, because he wouldn't give him a kite, and then goes on to become a member of the Taliban, where he takes small children from orphanages to become sex slaves, one of them the orphaned son of Hassan!]]. As a cherry on top, he [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain actually ''admires'' Adolf Hitler.]] By that point he's already shown himself to be a nasty villain in many respects.

* BaseBreaker: Some people see Amir as a protagonist everyone can relate to who has to tackle the obstacles in his path, while others see him as a spineless jerk who only cares about himself.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Is Amir a misunderstood boy who [[WellDoneSonGuy wants his father’s affections]]? A coward who always runs from his problems? Or a selfish but still caring person? It seems that everyone sees Amir differently depending on how they view him.

* CompleteMonster: Assef [[spoiler:rapes Amir's servant, Hassan, because he wouldn't give him a kite, and then goes on to become a member of the Taliban, where he takes small children from orphanages to become sex slaves, one of them the orphaned son of Hassan!]]. As a cherry on top, he actually ''admires'' UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler. By that point he's already shown himself to be a nasty villain in many respects.

* UnfortunateImplications: Assef is [[ButNotTooForeign half-German]], has blonde hair and blue eyes and wishes that Hazaras were wiped out of existence. And it’s implied that he sees Hitler as a role model if his birthday present for Amir is anything to go by. This was probably the reason why that changed Assef’s hair brown and never mentioned anything else aside from still being a bully and hating Hazaras.

* CompleteMonster: Assef [[spoiler:rapes Amir's servant, Hassan, because he wouldn't give him a kite, and then goes on to become a member of the Taliban, where he takes small children from orphanages to become sex slaves, one of them the orphaned son of Hassan!]]. As a cherry on top, he actually ''admires'' AdolfHitler. By that point he's already shown himself to be a nasty villain in many respects.

* TearJerker: ''For you, a thousand times over.'' Doubles as a CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming
** [[spoiler:Hassan's]] death, for obvious reasons.

* CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming: Many times throughout the book. Especially the ending.
--> "For you, a thousand times over."

* CompleteMonster: Assef, from childhood bully [[spoiler:to assistant Taliban chief]], he's made quite a career of evil. Plus all the [[spoiler: raping]], Nazism and stuff.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Is Amir a misunderstood boy is [[WellDoneSonGuy wants his father’s affections]]? A coward who always runs from his problems? Or a selfish but still caring person? It seems that everyone sees Amir differently depending on how they view him.

* UnfortunateImplications: Hassan is portrayed as being the kindest of heart, yet early in the book he amuses himself by throwing rocks at dogs. What was that Ghandi said?

* UnfortunateImplications: Hassan is portrayed as being the kindest of heart, yet early in the book he amuses himself by throwing rocks at dogs.

* CompleteMonster: Assef, from childhood bully [[spoiler:to assistant Taliban chief]], he's made quite a career of evil.
** Not to mention all the [[spoiler: raping]], Nazism and stuff.

** Hassan's death, for obvious reasons.

* CompleteMonster: Assef, from childhood bully [[spoiler:to assistant Taliban chief]] he's made quite a career of evil.
** Not to mention all the [[spoiler: raping]] and Nazism and stuff.

** AMIR! He's a self-pitying, manipulative, misguided dick who rarely does anything to help anyone but himself. We're supposed to sympathize with him when he makes a mistake, but he doesn't do anything (that makes sense) to redeem himself.

* MoralEventHorizon: Assef, see RapeAsDrama on the Main page.

** Not to mention all the raping and Nazism and stuff.