History Literature / TheKiteRunner

The story begins in Afghanistan in the 1960's, and follows Amir, a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pashtun Pashtun]] and a member of the Kabul upper class. His father's servant, Hassan, is a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hazara_people Hazara]], one of the North Afghan tribes (the Pashtuns inhabit the south, along with related regions in Pakistan and Iran). Amir and Hassan are best friends and treat each other like brothers, despite their socio-economic differences. One day, Hassan is subjected to a traumatizing event; Amir witnesses this but due to his cowardice, does nothing to help his friend. This causes a rift between the two, and eventually they part ways.

* ReligionIsWrong: How it is presented for quite a bit of the novel, especially when Baba and [[spoiler:the Taliban]] are around, but on the flip side it is widely accepted as a part of everyone's lives, and Amir prays to Allah towards the very end.

* SchoolyardBullyAllGrownUp: Assef is a pretty typical example.

* SoHappyTogether: Amir is told by a [[RichesToRags former professor now a beggar]] who knew his mother that during her pregnancy she was so happy that she was scared. She thought that one could be so happy only when a tragedy impends. [[DeathByChildbirth She was right]].

* [[BigBrotherMentor Step-Father Mentor]]: Rahim Khan to Amir.

* TooHappyToLive: Amir's mother was ''scared'' for her happiness.

* TroubledChild: Sohrab, which isn't too surprising considering all the shit he had been through even before Amir meets him.

* ParentalFavoritism: [[spoiler:Amir often feels that Baba likes Hassan better than Amir himself; specifically, Baba seems to care for Hassan by default, while Amir is constantly left feeling like he has to earn his father's affection. Becomes this trope when it's revealed that Hassan was Baba's illegitimate son.]]

* ParentalFavoritism: [[spoiler:Amir often feels that Baba likes Hassan better than Amir himself; specifically, Baba seems to care for Hassan by default, while Amir is constantly left feeling like he has to earn his father's esteem. Becomes this trope when it's revealed that Hassan was Baba's illegitimate son.]]

* ParentalFavoritism: [[spoiler:Amir often feels that Baba cares more about Hassan than Amir himself. It's eventually revealed that Hassan was Baba's illegitimate son.]]

** Antagonist: Hassan's child Sohrab is kept captive [[spoiler: as a child SexSlave by none other than Assef, Amir and Hassan's childhood bully who raped Hassan himself.]]

* MissingMom: Both Amir and Hassan lost their mothers, Amir's died of childbirth, Hassan's ran away after giving birth [[spoiler: and came back many years after.]]

* OrphanageOfFear: Where Sohrab is sent. Subverted in that it may have been really an OrphanageOfLove, since
// the one who manages it is trying his hardest to keep it that way but, due to circumstances, he is forced to make sacrifices against his will. It's only the horrible state it is in because of the horrible conditions outside.

* AbusiveParents: Baba can come off as this, [[WellDoneSonGuy ignoring most of Amir's achievements,]] because Amir is more interested in poetry and Baba is an [[RatedMForManly extremely physical and manly man who has scars from wrestling a bear, builds orphanages on a whim, stands up to an armed soldier who wants to rape a man's wife, and is so intimidating everyone in the room notices him the moment he steps in.]]

* BittersweetEnding: See HopeSpot.

* HopeSpot: [[spoiler: The novel ends with the mute Sohrab giving Amir a small smile. Grim as the novel has been, this actually gives it the tiniest hope of a happy ending one day.]]

* BlackAndGreyMorality: Amir's cowardice partway through the novel is weighed against the behavior of more intensely and obviously evil characters like Hassan, his cronies, and members of the Taliban.

* HonoraryUncle: At one point in the book, Amir and Baba travel some distance to visit with adult friends of Baba's. In narration, Amir says it what's customary to address adult familiars as "Aunt" and "Uncle".

* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: [[spoiler:Amir's attempts at full redemption for allowing Hassan to be raped. As an adult, Amir returns to Afghanistan and learns that Hassan was killed by the Taliban before he could atone for failing to come to Hassan's defense and prevent his rape when they were children ]]
* FireForgedFriendship: Amir and Farid eventually. Although Farid bears some prejudice towards Amir (a bourgeois whose family could afford to escape for safety in America), he comes to respect him after learning that his purpose is to rescue his nephew. He takes a great deal of risk to help Amir in his quest, and it's implied it wasn't just for the money.

The story begins in Afghanistan in the 1960's, and follows Amir, a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pashtun Pashtun]] and a member of the Kabul upper class. His father's servant, Hassan, is a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hazara_people Hazara]], one of the North Afghan tribes (the Pashtuns inhabit the south, along with related regions in Pakistan and Iran). Amir and Hassan are best friends and treat each other like brothers, despite their socio-economic differences. One day, Hassan is subjected to a traumatizing event; Amir witnesses this but due to his cowardice, does nothing to help his friend. This causes a rift between the two and eventually they separate ways.

Many years later, Amir is married and has a relatively good life in the United States, having tucked away his guilt and past. One day he receives a phone call from his father's good friend, asking him to return to Kabul as an important matter awaits him there. It becomes apparent that he finally has to face his wrongdoings and somehow make amends by taking this journey.

* HonoraryUncle: At one point in the book, Amir and Baba travel some distance to visit with adult friends of Baba's. In narration, Amir says it what's customary to address adult familiars as "Aunt" "Uncle".

* EarnYourHappyEnding: Or at least Earn Your Bittersweet Ending. [[spoiler: Baba is dead, Rahim Khan is dead also, and Hassan has died pointlessly killed by Talibans, ruining every chance of ever reconcile with Amir. But at least Amir has earned redemption by rescuing Sohrab from war-torn Afghanistan and it's hinted that Sohrab may one day recover from his many traumas.]]

* EarnYourHappyEnding: Or at least Earn Your Bittersweet Ending. [[spoiler: Baba is dead, Rahim Khan is dead also and Hassan has died pointlessly killed by Talibans, ruining every chance of ever reconcile with Amir. But at least Amir has earned redemption by rescuing Sohrab from war-torn Afghanistan and it's hinted that Sohrab may one day recover from his many traumas.]]

* HonoraryUncle At one point in the book, Amir and Baba travel some distance to visit with adult friends of Baba's. In narration, Amir says it what's customary to address adult familiars as "Aunt" "Uncle".

* BadassIsraeli: Baba has this opinion. He likes forwardness in foreign policy, it seems.

%%* BlackAndGreyMorality: Often the case with Amir and the antagonist(s) in the novel.

* CainAndAbel: Amir to Hassan in childhood, with Baba playing a God who favors Hassan over Amir. They are brothers in spirit, having fed from the same breast and been raised together. And while loved by Hassan, Amir [[spoiler:sacrificed Hassan by failing to intervene in Assef's raping of Hassan. Amir did this so that Hassan could bring home a kite that would bring favor to Amir from Baba. Feeling guilty and also wanting to have Baba to himself, Amir later sacrificed Hassan again, this time by framing Hassan with theft. TheReveal plays this trope even straighter, as Hassan is actually Amir's half-brother.]]

* DuringTheWar: Includes the Soviet Invasion, and takeover of the Taliban of Afghanistan from Rahim Kahn's perspective.

* GuiltComplex: Amir. ''Loads and loads'' of it. [[spoiler: Turns out that his father was also plagued by guilt.]]

* KnightTemplar: Baba seems like this at times, blowing off the Koran for his own interpretation, almost never [[NeverMyFault accepting that his stubbornness causes problems,]] and [[AbusiveParents neglecting Amir]] because Amir is not like him.

* WellDoneSonGuy: Baba, to Amir.

* WillfullyWeak: In physical terms, Hassan and his son Sohrab practically look the same. The difference however is that Hassan doesn't let his sufferings affect him, while Sohrab feels so defeated to the point of [[spoiler:attempting suicide.]]

* BrokenBird: Sohrab, Sohrab, ''Sohrab''. The poor boy is so traumatized he doesn't even talk for the entire final chapter, which note, includes a TimeSkip to the year after.

%%* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: [[spoiler:Amir's attempts at full redemption.]]
* FireForgedFriendship: Amir and Fairs, eventually. Although Farid bears some prejudice towards Amir (a bourgeois whose family could afford to escape for safety in America), he comes to respect him after learning that his purpose is to rescue his nephew. He takes a great deal of risks to help Amir in his quest, and it's implied it wasn't just for the money.

* ForgivenButNotForgotten: What forgiveness that does occur nearly always has this effect.

* KnightTemplar: Baba feels like this at times, blowing off the Koran for his own interpretation, almost never [[NeverMyFault accepting that his stubbornness causes problems,]] and [[AbusiveParents neglecting Amir]] because Amir is not like him.

** [[spoiler: Amir lets loyal Hassan get raped both because he's afraid, and so he can continue his goal of impressing Baba. Years later, Amir gets a severe beating from the rapist. Among his many injuries is a split lip resembling Hassan's harelip. It's a DiscussedTrope by Amir, who notes the deformed lip similarity and feels he got what he deserved all those years]].

* MaskOfSanity: Assef. At his birthday Amir notes how he looks like the perfect son: blonde, blue-eyed, courteous and athletic, with only his eyes giving away hints of his sadism. It's implied that even his parents have noticed something is off with him, judging by their nervousness during his charming charade with Baba and Amir.

* MixedAncestry: Assef has a Pashtun father and a German mother. [[spoiler:And Hassan is the son of the Pashtun Baba and the Hazara Sanaubar.]]

* EarnYourHappyEnding

** When Baba and Amir speak about Soraya's scandal Baba tells that "''what happens in a few days, sometimes even a single day, can change the course of a whole lifetime''". [[spoiler: 50/50 of possibility that he was referring to the time he impregnated Sanaubar with Hassan.]]

* MysteriousPast: No one knows what [[spoiler: Sanaubar]] did all the years [[spoiler: before reuniting with Hassan. Considering how repulsive was the man who taunted about "knowing her" to Hassan, and being a lone young woman fending for herself, she has been very likely a prostitute.]]

* OrphanageOfFear: Where Sohrab is sent. Subverted in that it is really an OrphanageOfLove, and the one who manages it is trying his hardest to keep it that way but, due to circumstances, he is forced to make sacrifices against his will. It's only the horrible state it is in because of the horrible conditions outside.

** ''Ass''ef, he is shortly an ''ass''hole.

** [[spoiler:Baba tries to atone for his betrayal of Ali by impregnating his wife by building philanthropic works and generally good actions.]]
** [[spoiler:Amir atones for both his betrayal of Hassan and Baba's past mistakes by coming back to Afghanistan for a perilous rescue of Hassan's orphaned son.]]

* MixedAncestry: Assef has a Pashtun father and a German mother. [[[spoiler: And Hassan is the son of the Pashtun Baba and the Hazara Sanaubar.]]

** [[spoiler: Baba tries to atone his betrayal of Ali by impregnating his wife building with philanthropic work and generally good actions.]]
** [[spoiler: Amir stones both his betrayal of Hassan and Baba's past mistakes by coming back to Afghanistan for a perilous rescue of Hassan's orphaned son.]]