The Kite Runner Study Guide

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Chapter Summaries: Chapters 1–5

CHAPTER 1
It is December 2001, and the narrator, Amir, reflects on growing up in Afghanistan during the “frigid winter” of 1975.
It was a time that made Amir who he is today. He says that he has realized over time that the past always finds a
way of “claw[ing]” its way back to him. The previous summer, Amir received a phone call from an old friend, Rahim
Khan, who was living in Afghanistan. Amir goes to take a walk along Spreckels Lake in San Francisco and sees two
kites soaring above the skyline. He immediately remembers his childhood friend Hassan, “the harelipped kite
runner.”

CHAPTER 2
Amir and Hassan spend their childhood climbing poplar trees and playing together. Amir often talks Hassan into
playing tricks, like pelting the neighbor’s one-eyed dog with walnuts, but Hassan always covers for Amir if they are
caught. Amir lives with his father, Baba, in “the most beautiful house” in their district of Kabul, while Hassan and his
father, Ali, work as their servants and live in a mud hut. Both Amir and Hassan are motherless. Amir’s mother died
during childbirth, while Hassan’s mother ran away with travelers, a fate most Afghans consider worse than death.

Hassan’s mother and father were an unlikely match. His mother, Sanaubar, was considered beautiful but
dishonorable and was nineteen years Ali’s junior. Ali, on the other hand, suffers from congenital paralysis of his
lower face, rendering his expressions emotionless.

Hassan and Ali are Hazaras, members of a persecuted ethnic minority in Afghanistan. In the nineteenth century,
Hazaras rose up against the Pashtun majority, and the Pashtuns retaliated with acts of “unspeakable violence.” Amir
reveals that his teachers failed to mention many of these historical facts and that derogatory terms are still leveled at
Hazaras today. The reason for this century-long persecution, he explains, is that Pashtuns are Sunni Muslims and
Hazaras are Shi’a.

Ali and Sanaubar were first cousins, and their marriage may have been arranged to restore Sanaubar’s reputation.
After Sanaubar left, Hassan became the center of Ali’s world. Baba later hired the same wet nurse to feed Amir—a
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blue-eyed Hazara woman with a sweet singing voice. Ali reminds the boys that there is “a brotherhood between
people who had fed from the same breast, a kinship that not even time could break.”

CHAPTER 3
Amir describes his father as a larger-than-life character with a thick beard, unruly hair, and a petrifying glare. It is
even rumored that he once wrestled a bear. In the 1960s, Baba began building an orphanage. Rahim Khan recalled
that people were skeptical of Baba’s vision, as he has no architectural knowledge, but Baba proved them wrong by
funding the orphanage himself and becoming one of the most successful businessmen in Kabul.

People believed that Baba would never marry well, but he again proved them wrong by wedding Sofia Akrami. Sofia
was a highly educated woman, universally lauded for her virtue and beauty, who descended from a royal bloodline.

When Amir sees Baba drinking a glass of whiskey, he recalls how a teacher called Mullah Fatiullah Khan taught the
class that drinking was a “terrible sin.” According to Baba, however, there is only true sin: theft. Every other sin is a
variation of theft—murdering a man involves stealing his life, while lying to someone deprives them of the truth. Baba
insists that Afghanistan will go to ruin if “bearded idiots” like Mullah Fatiullah Khan are left in charge.

Such intimate moments between father and son are a rarity, and Amir sometimes thinks that his father hates him. He
believes Baba blames him for “killing” his beloved wife and that he wishes Amir had turned out more like him.

Baba is a Buzkashi enthusiast and takes Amir to watch the annual tournament, which involves participants trying to
place an animal carcass in a scoring circle while other riders chase him in pursuit of the carcass. During the
tournament, a man is trampled to death by the melee. Amir cries at the sight of the dead man, but Baba is
unsympathetic and ashamed of his son’s sensitivity.

CHAPTER 4
In 1933, Baba was born, and Zahir Shah began his forty-year reign over Afghanistan. That same year, Ali’s parents
were killed in a car crash by two drunk drivers. Amir’s grandfather took the orphaned Ali in and educated him. Like
Amir and Hassan, Ali and Baba grew up together, but Baba never referred to Ali as a friend.

Amir and Hassan spend much time in each other’s company and watch their first Western, Rio Bravo, together. One
day, they climb to the top of a hill near Baba’s house, and Amir carves “Amir and Hassan, the sultans of Kabul” into a
tree.

Despite his illiteracy, Hassan is enchanted by stories, and Amir often reads to him. Hassan’s favorite book is the
story of Rostam and Sohrab, in which Rostam mortally wounds Sohrab in battle, only to find out that Sohrab is his
son. One summer day, Amir makes up his own story for Hassan, who says it is one of the best stories he has ever
heard. That night, Amir crafts his first short story. It tells the tale of a man whose tears turn to pearls. To become
rich, the man finds different ways to make himself cry, and the story concludes with him sitting atop a mountain as
he sobs over his dead wife’s body.

Baba shows no interest in the story, but Rahim Khan offers to read it and later sends Amir a note congratulating him
on his talent and encouraging him to write more. Buoyed by Rahim Khan’s enthusiasm, Amir goes downstairs and
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wakes Hassan so he can share his story with him. Hassan is in awe of the story and predicts that Amir will one day
be a famous writer. However, he has just one question—he wonders why the old man could not have just smelled an
onion to induce tears. Amir is stunned, as he had not thought of such a simple solution.

CHAPTER 5
That night, something “roar[s] like thunder,” and Ali, Hassan, and Amir shelter in the house from gunfire. It transpires
that the monarch has been overthrown, and Afghanistan has changed forever.

While walking outside, Amir and Hassan are approached by Assef, the neighborhood bully, and two of his friends.
Assef calls Hassan derogatory names, including “fag” and “Flat-Nose,” in an attempt to provoke him before asking if
they have heard about the Republic. He brags about his father knowing Daoud Khan and claims that he is excited to
talk to Daoud Khan about Hitler and ethnically cleansing Afghanistan of Hazaras. When they try to leave, Assef
draws his brass knuckles. He aims to hit Amir but freezes when he realizes Hassan has his slingshot aimed at him.
Hassan threatens to shoot him in the eye, which leads Assef to back down, but he warns that this will not be the end.

After the coup, life largely returns to normal. The following winter marks Hassan’s birthday, and Ali calls Hassan
inside. Instead of presents, Hassan finds a man named Dr. Kumar, a plastic surgeon of great repute. Dr. Kumar
explains that he fixes people’s faces and has come to repair Hassan’s cleft palate. After healing from the surgery,
Hassan smiles. Amir goes on to warn that this was the winter Hassan stopped smiling.

Chapter Summaries: Chapters 6–10

CHAPTER 6
Amir remembers the joy of winter in Afghanistan. The schools close during the snowfall, and the boys are free to
spend their days playing cards, flying kites, and building snowmen. It is also the only time of year that the tension
between Amir and Baba eases. This is because of the kite-fighting tournament held in Kabul. Amir and Hassan try
making their own kites with little success, so Baba takes them to buy kites from an old blind man who sells the best
kites in the city.

The tournament is an Afghan tradition and the highlight of the winter season. When a kite is cut, the kite runner
chases the losing kite before delivering it to the winner as a trophy. Hassan is the greatest kite runner Amir has ever
seen and seems to have an “inner compass” as to where the kite will land that defies all logic.

In the winter of 1975, Amir watches Hassan run his last kite.

After Amir hears Baba comment that he thinks Amir could win the kite-fighting tournament that year, he becomes
convinced that he will succeed in the tournament and win Baba’s love.

CHAPTER 7
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The boys arrive at the tournament, and Amir sees Baba and Rahim Khan sitting on the rooftop. After spending all
day kite-fighting, Amir’s conviction that he will win returns to him, and he cuts the last blue kite and emerges
victorious. The crowd roars, and Baba jumps to his feet, pumping the air. Amir tells Hassan to go and run the blue
kite for him.

When Hassan fails to return, Amir goes looking for him and finds Hassan in a desolate alleyway, surrounded by
Assef and his accomplices. Assef demands that Hassan hand over the kite, but Hassan insists that Amir won the
tournament fairly and refuses to give it up. Assef sneers, saying Hassan is “as loyal as a dog” and that Amir would
not do the same for him. Hassan retaliates, saying that he and Amir are friends. Assef hits Hassan with a rock and
tells him he can keep the kite as a memory of what Assef is about to do.

In his narration, a horrified Amir has a flashback to the memory of Ali telling them that he and Hassan fed from the
same breast and that there is a lifelong “brotherhood” between such people. In another memory, he dreams of being
lost in a snowstorm. The vision of snow vanishes, and suddenly there is a blue sky filled with kites.

Amir returns to the events in the alleyway. Assef’s friend Wali says that his father said that what they are going to do
to Hassan is sinful, but Assef responds that Hassan is “just a Hazara.” Assef instructs them to hold Hassan down
and removes his own pants before positioning himself behind Hassan. Amir catches a glimpse of Hassan and sees
the look of resignation on his face. Amir weeps and considers intervening but decides to run away.

Twenty minutes later, Amir comes out of hiding and sees Hassan walking toward him. He can see tears in Hassan’s
eyes and blood on his pants, but Amir says nothing. Hassan hands him the blue kite, and the boys made their
separate ways home.

Amir arrives home to Baba and Rahim Khan’s jubilation. Baba wraps him in his arms, and for a moment, Amir can
forget what he has done.

CHAPTER 8
Amir sees little of Hassan in the week following the rape. When Amir sees Ali, he asks after Hassan, but Ali tells him
that all Hassan seems to want to do is sleep.

Baba takes Amir to Jalalabad to stay with Baba’s cousins, the Homayouns. Once at the Homayouns’ house, the
family enjoys a traditional Afghan feast, and Baba continues exalting Amir and talking about the kite tournament.
That evening, as Amir lies down to sleep, he says aloud that he watched Hassan’s rape, but everyone else is
sleeping, so no one hears him. That night, Amir becomes an insomniac.

One day while out in the garden, Amir asks Baba if he would consider replacing the servants. Baba is furious and
tells him that he would never replace Ali or Hassan.

Another afternoon, Amir asks Hassan to climb the hill with him again so he can read Hassan a story. Amir begins to
pelt Hassan with pomegranates and urges him to hurt him back. Instead, Hassan crushes the pomegranates against
his own face and asks Amir Amir if he is “satisfied” now.

In the summer of 1976, Amir turns thirteen. Baba throws a huge party to celebrate and invites most of the
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neighborhood. Assef turns up at the party alongside his parents. He tells Amir that he personally picked a present for
him. When Amir is alone, he opens the gift, which is a biography of Hitler. He hurls it out of sight. Rahim Khan then
comes to find him and tells Amir one of his own secrets: when Rahim Khan was young, he nearly married a Hazara
girl, but he called off the marriage when his parents found out. He says that it was for the best, as he could not have
lived with his parents’ rejection of his wife. Rahim Khan tells Amir that he is always there to listen to him and gives
him a present of a leather-bound notebook.

Fireworks illuminate the party’s guests, and Amir sees Hassan serving Assef and Wali drinks before Assef kneads
Hassan in the chest with his knuckles. Amir is grateful when they are cast into darkness again.

CHAPTER 9
The next day, Amir decides that either he or Hassan has to go. When he comes across Ali later that afternoon, Ali
gives Amir a late birthday present: a new hardback copy of the Shahnameh. The next morning, Amir takes some of
his birthday money and the watch he received from Baba and leaves them under Hassan’s mattress. He goes to tell
Baba that Hassan has stolen from him and witnesses Baba going to confront Ali. Hassan, in his final sacrifice for
Amir, confesses to stealing the gifts, even though he did not. Amir recognizes that Hassan knows that Amir
witnessed his rape. Baba forgives Hassan, but Ali insists they are leaving. Amir realizes from Ali’s “cold, unforgiving
look” that Hassan has told him about the rape.

CHAPTER 10
The story jumps forward to March 1981, as Baba and Amir escape Soviet-occupied Afghanistan in a truck alongside
other refugees. Amir, who is travel-sick, struggles to prevent himself from retching. Amir and Baba are leaving in
secret, as violence and uncertainty in the wake of the communist overthrow of President Daoud Khan, along with the
Soviet occupation, have divided society and made all citizens suspicious of each other. When they reach the
checkpoint, a Soviet soldier demands half an hour with the woman in the truck in exchange for letting them pass.
Baba is outraged at the indecency and nearly shot by the soldier, but another Russian soldier intervenes. The
woman’s husband kisses Baba’s hand to show his gratitude.

When they reach Jalalabad, the driver, Karim, admits that the next truck they need is broken but says that his cousin
owns a fuel truck that will allow the refugees to continue their journey. The refugees spend a week hiding in a
basement, where Amir recognizes Assef’s friend Kamal. Kamal looks ill, and it is implied that he has been raped.

Once the refugees are able to board the fuel truck, the air is so thick that they struggle to breathe. When they arrive
in Pakistan, Kamal’s father screams in horror. Kamal has stopped breathing during the journey and died. His father
is hysterical, and Karim thinks Kamal’s father is going to shoot him, but instead Kamal’s father shoots himself in the
mouth.

Chapter Summaries: Chapters 11–15

CHAPTER 11
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The story moves forward to the 1980s and to Fremont, California, where Baba and Amir settled two years ago.
Although Baba loved the idea of America, he has found it hard to adjust to the drastically different culture and is
forced to work in a gas station to make ends meet. One day Baba overturns a magazine rack in a store because the
owner asked to see his ID card when he tried to pay with a check. Amir understands American customs better than
his father does and tells Baba that they have to ask for ID in the US, but he still feels a strong desire to explain that
Afghanistan had a more trusting culture.

In the summer of 1983, Amir graduates from high school. Baba takes Amir out for dinner that night and then to a bar.
As a present, he gives Amir a car, an old Ford Gran Torino.

Amir later tells Baba that he wants to study creative writing. Baba disapproves, as he believes it would be a
worthless pursuit and not lead to any significant prospects.

In the summer of 1984, Amir turns twenty-one. Baba purchases a Volkswagen van, and they begin selling goods at
the San Jose flea market. The flea market is a hub of Afghan culture and, for Baba, a welcome reminder of the
country he so loves. Amir is introduced to General Taheri and enchanted by the general’s daughter, Soraya. Baba is
reluctant to gossip about Soraya, but after some persuasion, he tells Amir that she was involved with a man, and
things went very badly. She has not had any suitors since. But Amir does not care, and that night he falls asleep
thinking about his “Swap Meet Princess.”

CHAPTER 12
After nearly a year of longing for Soraya, Amir finally approaches her under the guise of looking for her father. He
asks Soraya what she is reading, but he is very aware that their talking may become a topic of gossip for the Afghan
community. He learns that Soraya dreams of being a teacher after being inspired by teaching an illiterate servant to
read.

One day Amir brings Soraya one of his own stories, but just as she is about to begin reading it, General Taheri
appears. Soraya is forced to hand the story to the general, which he discards in the bin. He gives Amir a firm
warning about the inappropriateness of his visits.

Amir has little time to dwell on this, as Baba becomes ill. He is diagnosed with lung cancer but refuses all palliative
treatment.

Baba’s health declines rapidly, and one day at the flea market, he has a seizure and is rushed to the hospital. Amir
asks Baba for one “last fatherly duty”—to ask General Taheri for Soraya’s hand in marriage. General Taheri gives
his consent, but before accepting, Soraya insists on telling Amir about her past. When she was eighteen, she ran
away with an Afghan man. She asks Amir if he still wants to marry her knowing this. Amir admits that her sexual
history does bother him a little but says that nothing could change his desire to marry her.

CHAPTER 13
Amir and Baba go to the Taheris’ house for the traditional ceremony of “giving word,” and Amir and Soraya’s
wedding is hastened because of Baba’s illness. Baba spends his life savings of $35,000 on the wedding ceremony,
including an Afghan banquet hall, rings, and a tuxedo for Amir. Amir remembers snapshots from the wedding day,
6
such as him and Soraya being seated around a table, dressed in green and surrounded by relatives. During the
ceremony, they are covered by a veil but can stare at each other’s reflections in a mirror. It is here that Amir tells
Soraya he loves her for the first time, making her blush.

When Baba dies, a myriad of mourners attend his funeral, all with unique stories about how Baba helped shape their
lives. Amir struggles to think of his identity outside that of being “Baba’s son.”

As Amir and Soraya never had an engagement, he knows very little about her family. He learns that Soraya’s
mother, Jamila, was once known for being a wonderful singer, but the general stopped her singing in public when
they married. Soraya tells Amir that on the night her father brought her home from her elopement, he arrived with a
gun. When she came home, she discovered that her mother had suffered a stroke due to stress. The general then
forced Soraya to cut off all her hair.

That summer, Amir is accepted to San Jose State as an English major, and Soraya attends as an Education major a
year later. Amir also writes his first novel and secures a publishing deal. During this time, Amir and Soraya start
trying to conceive a child. After a year of trying, their doctor suggests adoption. When Amir and Soraya share this
idea with General Taheri, however, he is unreceptive. Amir wonders if their infertility is atonement for what he did to
Hassan.

CHAPTER 14
It is June 2001, and Amir has just received a phone call from Rahim Khan, who has become very sick. He has asked
Amir to visit him in Pakistan, and Amir tells Soraya that he must go there. The couple are living in San Francisco,
and Amir drives to Golden Gate Park and takes a walk along the lake. He spots a man who is playing with his young
son and notices a pair of kites in the sky. Amir keeps thinking of what Rahim Khan said to him: “Come. There is a
way to be good again.” It confirms what Amir has long suspected—that Rahim Khan knew Amir’s secret all along.

That night Amir lies in bed with Soraya and thinks about how they used to make love before kissing and talking
about the possibility of a baby. They still make love, but Amir confesses that there is now a “futility” to the act, and he
believes Soraya feels the same way. That night, Amir dreams of Hassan running through the snow, shouting, “For
you, a thousand times over.” A week later, Amir leaves for Pakistan.

CHAPTER 15
Amir lands in Peshawar, Pakistan, where he is driven by Farid, a “sweaty little man” who talks of the travesty that
has befallen Afghanistan. They enter “Afghan town.” It is a place of great poverty, full of carpet shops, tiny
restaurants, and dirty children selling cigarettes.

Amir thinks about the last time he saw Rahim Khan before he and Baba left Kabul. Rahim Khan and Baba had
embraced each other and cried. They stayed in touch, but Amir has not spoken to Rahim Khan since after Baba’s
death. When Amir arrives, he thinks that Rahim Khan looks like a “thing made of skin and bones.” Amir tells him
about his marriage to Soraya and his success as a novelist. Rahim Khan simply smiles and says he never doubted
Amir’s talent.

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Rahim Khan began living in Baba’s old house in 1981, but when the Northern Alliance took over Kabul, a series of
fights between different Afghan factions broke out, and civilians’ homes and lives were destroyed. The Afghan
people were initially relieved when the Taliban took over, as they hoped it would mark an end to the fighting.

Rahim Khan coughs and spits blood into a handkerchief. He is nearing the end of his life. He tells Amir that he was
not alone for all those years in Baba’s house: Hassan was there, too. Rahim Khan has brought Amir to Pakistan to
do something very important, but before he reveals what this is, he wants to tell him about Hassan.

Chapter Summaries: Chapters 16–20

CHAPTER 16
Rahim Khan narrates this chapter in the first person as he speaks to Amir. In 1986, Rahim Khan took the journey to
Harazajat to find Hassan. It was partially loneliness that made him seek out Hassan, but as he aged, he was also
struggling with the upkeep of Baba’s house.

Rahim Khan found Hassan living in a small mud house outside Bamiyan. They greeted each other, and Hassan
introduced Rahim Khan to his wife, Farzana Jan, who was pregnant. Hassan told him how his father, Ali, had been
killed by a landmine two years before. Rahim Khan asked Hassan and his wife to move to Kabul with him. At first
Hassan declined, saying that he had built a life in Bamiyan.

When he discovered that Baba had died, however, Hassan wept “like a child,” and the next day he agreed to move
back to Baba’s old house with Farzana. When they moved, Hassan and Farzana insisted on moving into Ali’s old
mud hut, even though Rahim Khan pleaded with them to live in the house.

That autumn, Farzana gave birth to a stillborn baby girl, who they buried near the sweetbrier bushes. In 1990,
Farzana became pregnant again, and it was during this time that Sanaubar turned up at the house. Her face had
been cut, leaving her disfigured. Over time she and Hassan became close, and Sanaubar delivered their son,
Sohrab, in the winter of that year. The boy became the “center of her existence” until her death.

When some of the violence let up, Hassan took his son on days out and taught him to read, run kites, and shoot a
slingshot. People were jubilant when the Taliban took control in 1996, but just two weeks later, kite-fighting was
banned, and the Taliban began massacring Hazaras.

CHAPTER 17
Amir asks if Hassan is still in Baba’s old house, and Rahim Khan hands him an envelope. It contains a Polaroid
photograph of Hassan with Sohrab and a letter addressed to Amir. The letter warns that the Afghanistan of their
childhood no longer exists, and the country is now governed by fear. Hassan talks about the decline in Rahim
Khan’s health and tells Amir that he hopes the Kabul of their childhood will one day return. Regardless, he promises
Amir that if Amir ever returns to Kabul, he will find a faithful friend in Hassan.

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Rahim Khan says that a month after he left for Pakistan, he received a call from a neighbor saying that the Taliban
turned up at the house and found Hassan and his family living there. They forced Hassan to kneel outside before
shooting him in the head. When Farzana emerged from the house, they shot her as well.

The Taliban moved into the house and sent Sohrab to an orphanage in Karteh-Seh. Rahim Khan admits that this is
why he has summoned Amir: to rescue Sohrab from the orphanage. There is an American couple, Mr. and Mrs.
Caldwell, who care for Afghan orphans and have agreed to adopt Sohrab.

Rahim Khan reveals something else: Ali was not able to have children, and Hassan was the result of an affair
between Baba and Sanaubar. Overwhelmed by the revelation, Amir shouts at Rahim Khan for keeping the truth from
him and Hassan and storms out of the apartment.

CHAPTER 18
Amir walks into a smoky teahouse and thinks about Baba’s behavior around Hassan, how Baba paid for the surgery
on Hassan’s cleft palate and the way he wept when Ali and Hassan left. He wonders how his father could have lied
for so long and how he could have called theft the worst of all sins when he himself had stolen Hassan’s right to his
identity, Amir’s right to a brother, and Ali’s honor. Amir realizes that Rahim Khan has brought him to Pakistan to
atone for Baba’s sins as much as his own.

Amir returns to Rahim Khan’s apartment, where he finds him praying. Once Rahim Khan has finished his prayers,
Amir tells him he is going back to Kabul to find Sohrab.

CHAPTER 19
Amir is driven by a surly man named Farid, who fought the Soviets alongside his father during the occupation. Farid
had seven children, including two girls whom he lost to a landmine blast outside of Jalalabad. It was during this blast
that Farid lost several toes and three fingers.

Amir wears an Afghan hat called a pakol and an artificial beard. They pass through poverty-stricken villages “like
discarded toys amongst the rocks.” Amir remarks to Farid that he feels like a tourist in his own country, and Farid
sniggers at him and accurately guesses that Amir’s upbringing was privileged.

They stay overnight with Farid’s brother, Wahid, who lives in a dilapidated house alongside his wife and children.
Wahid asks Amir what has brought him back to Afghanistan, and Farid interjects contemptuously, suggesting that he
has come back to sell his family’s land and return to the US with the money. Wahid is outraged at his brother for
insulting their guest in his home, but Amir is forgiving. He tells them that he has come to Afghanistan to find a boy,
the son of his illegitimate half-brother. Wahid says he is proud to have him in his home and that he is a “true
Afghan.”

The women serve dinner, saying that the rest of the family ate earlier. Amir notices that Wahid’s boys are staring at
his wristwatch. He offers the boys the watch as a gift, and they pass it between them but quickly lose interest. As
Farid and Amir prepare to sleep, Farid asks why he did not tell him his reason for being in Afghanistan. Farid admits
that it was wrong of him to assume and says he could help Amir find Sohrab.

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That night, Amir has a nightmare that he was the man who shot Hassan. He goes outside for air, and just as he is
about to go back inside, he hears Wahid and his wife arguing about dinner. They gave all their food to Farid and
Amir, so the children have had to go hungry. Amir realizes that the children were not fascinated by the watch but
were staring at his food.

The next morning, before departing the house, Amir does something that echoes what he did twenty-six years ago:
he stuffs a wad of money under the family’s mattress.

CHAPTER 20
On the drive from Jalalabad to Kabul, Amir notices grim reminders of the violence that has taken place, such as
burnt Soviet trucks and the “charred” remnants of villages. When they arrive in Kabul, the streets are full of rubble,
and there are child beggars on every corner.

The Taliban approaches in a red Toyota truck, and Amir stares at them. One of the men holds Amir’s gaze. Farid
warns him that one should never stare at the Taliban. An old beggar chimes in, agreeing with Farid. It turns out that
the beggar was once a literature professor who knew Amir’s mother, Sofia Akrami. The beggar remembers that
Sofia worried her happiness would soon be taken away. Amir contemplates the fact that he has learned more about
his mother from this old man than he ever did from Baba.

Amir and Farid find the orphanage, which is extremely run-down; there are bed frames without mattresses and rats
skittering about the premises. The director, Zaman, tries to dismiss Amir and Farid until Amir reveals himself as
Sohrab’s half-uncle. Zaman says he knows where Sohrab is but that it might be too late to rescue him. He tells them
that there is a Taliban official who visits once or twice a month and brings cash, typically in exchange for a child. This
official took Sohrab a month ago, but if they go to Ghazi Stadium tomorrow, they should be able to locate the official.

Chapter Summaries: Chapters 21–25

CHAPTER 21
Baba’s home, like everything else in Kabul, is a “picture of fallen splendor.”

Amir hikes up the hill where he used to read stories to Hassan and sees that the carving he made in the tree
remains, although it has faded over the years. As Amir takes in the view of the “city of his childhood,” he hears Farid
honking his horn. Farid then appears and indicates that they must leave.

The next day, they attend a soccer match at Ghazi Stadium, where the pitch is a mass of dirt, with holes and craters
scattered everywhere. At halftime, red pickup trucks appear, and Taliban members unload a man and a woman,
both blindfolded, who have been accused of adultery.

The Taliban bury the man and woman up to the neck in the dirt, and the official stones them to death, delighting in
the brutality. When the soccer game resumes, Farid tells a guard that they have business with the Taliban official,

10
who agrees to meet with them later that day.

CHAPTER 22
Farid drives Amir to a grand house in the Wazir Akbar Khan neighborhood.

The Taliban official enters, sits down, and instructs one of his guards to rip off Amir’s fake beard. He asks Amir if he
enjoyed the display of public justice but laments that Amir could not enjoy the “real show” of 1998. Amir realizes the
official is referring to the massacre of Hazaras in Mazar-i-Sharif.

The guards bring in Sohrab, who is wearing a blue silk outfit, with bells strapped around his ankles. Mascara lines
his eyelashes. Leering, the Taliban force Sohrab to dance. The official suddenly asks what happened to “old
Babalu.” As this was the name Assef used to call Ali, Amir realizes with a jolt that the Taliban official is Assef.

Amir offers to pay for Sohrab, but Assef claims that money is irrelevant to him. Ever since realizing that God is on his
side, he has been on a mission to cleanse Afghanistan of Hazaras. As they are about to leave, Assef tells Amir that
they have unfinished business.

Assef tells Amir and the guards that only one of them will leave alive, and if Amir defeats him, he can leave. Assef
puts on his brass knuckles.

During his fight with Assef, Amir hears the sound of his ribs snapping and Sohrab’s screams, and finds himself
swallowing his own teeth and blood. As Assef beats him, Amir begins to laugh with relief, finally feeling healed from
his past. Sohrab asks Assef to stop hurting Amir and levels a slingshot at him. When Assef persists, Sohrab shoots
him in the left eye. As Assef curses them and shrieks in pain, Amir and Sohrab escape the house.

CHAPTER 23
Amir slips in and out of consciousness and remembers seeing a woman named Aisha and a man with a mustache.
He realizes that he is in a hospital in Peshawar and that the faces he remembers were those of doctors and nurses.
His mouth is wired shut, several of his ribs are broken, and his spleen is ruptured. When Farid and Sohrab visit,
Farid tells Amir that Rahim Khan has “gone” but has left a note.

In the note, Rahim Khan admits that he knows everything that happened with Hassan, but he implores Amir not to be
so hard on himself. He also says that Baba’s harsh treatment resulted from Baba’s being a man “torn between two
halves.” He asks Amir to forgive his father but, most importantly, to forgive himself.

When Farid visits later that day, Amir asks him for a favor. Farid responds, “For you, a thousand times over,” which
reduces Amir to tears. He asks Farid to take down the names of the couple who wish to adopt Sohrab.

Amir plans to leave Peshawar, but Farid turns up at the hospital and tells him that the American couple who Rahim
Khan said would adopt Sohrab do not exist. Amir resolves to take Sohrab with him to Islamabad.

CHAPTER 24
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Amir and Sohrab arrive in Islamabad. Amir wakes up from his nap to find that Sohrab has disappeared, and he
eventually locates the boy outside a mosque. Sohrab confesses that he is worried that God will send him to hell for
what he did to Assef. Amir tells him that Hassan would be very proud of Sohrab for saving Amir’s life. Sohrab then
says that he feels “so dirty and full of sin” after being subjected to sexual abuse by the Taliban, and as he cries in
Amir’s arms, Amir asks him to come and live with him in San Francisco.

Some days later, Amir tells Sohrab that he and Hassan were half-brothers but that Hassan was never aware of his
true identity. Sohrab mentions San Francisco but confesses he is worried that Amir and Soraya will tire of him. Amir
promises that will never happen. He calls Soraya to explain what has happened and finally confesses to his past.

The next day, Amir goes to the American Embassy, but he is told that adopting Sohrab may prove impossible, as
there is no evidence that Sohrab is an orphan. Amir speaks to Omar Faisal, an immigration attorney, who offers a
roadmap of options but says they are most likely to succeed if they relinquish Sohrab to an orphanage for the time
being.

That evening, Amir tells Sohrab that he may have to go to an orphanage. Sohrab screams and cries himself to sleep.
Amir is awoken by the sound of the phone ringing. Soraya tells him she has spoken to her relative who works at the
INS, and he is confident that they can acquire an American visa for Sohrab. Amir runs into the bathroom to tell
Sohrab the good news but finds him unconscious and bleeding in the bathtub, having slit his wrists.

CHAPTER 25
An ambulance is called, and Sohrab is rushed to the emergency department. Amir prays for Sohrab’s survival, his
first prayer in fifteen years. Sohrab survives, but when he awakens, he tells Amir he is “tired of everything” and wants
his old life back.

Amir takes Sohrab to San Francisco in August 2001. Sohrab has not said a word since that night in the hospital. One
evening, General Taheri and Khala Jamila come over for dinner. The general asks why Amir has returned from
Pakistan with a “Hazara boy.” Amir reveals that Baba slept with their servant and bore a son, Hassan. Hassan is now
dead, and Sohrab is Hassan’s son and Amir’s nephew. He tells the general to never refer to Sohrab as a “Hazara
boy” again.

Amid all this, the Twin Towers are brought down on 9/11. The US bombs Afghanistan, and the Taliban disperse, but
what Amir finds strangest of all is hearing the “cities of his childhood” frequently discussed by Americans. Amir and
Soraya throw themselves into new jobs helping run and fund a hospital for Afghan refugees overseas.

In March 2002, a miracle occurs. Amir takes Soraya, Jamila, and Sohrab to an Afghan picnic in Fremont. Soraya
points out some kites flying above to Amir. He buys a kite and tells Sohrab that Hassan was the best kite runner in
their district of Kabul. The boy does not respond, so Amir sets about flying the kite solo. When he begins to run the
kite, however, Sohrab comes to join him and takes the string from Amir. Sohrab’s eyes have lost their vacancy,
becoming alert and attentive as he watches Amir. As a green kite approaches theirs, Amir and Sohrab perform
Hassan’s favorite trick, “the old lift and dive,” and the green kite is defeated.

When Amir looks at Sohrab, he notices a half-smile forming on the boy’s lips. He asks Sohrab if he wants Amir to
run the kite for him. When Sohrab nods, Amir runs the kite, shouting, “For you, a thousand times over.”
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