Kite runner characters summary

Amir

Sensetive and astute son of a business man in Kabul with entitlement complex.

Goes back and forth with Hassan when Baba shows him more affection

Amir’s desire

aspiring writer to published novelist his motivation and zeal comes from pleasing his father which makes him allow Hassan to be ra—ed

Amir represents

Afgh privileged Pashtun ethnicity embodies a society of internal divisions and class disparities and shows the national struggle for redemption just as Amir struggles for redemption and confronts injustices in society

After Hassans assult Amir is driven by

penitence and guilt finds a way to redeem himself.. he does so by self sacrifice, his story is a form of penance

Hassan

Amirs best friend and Babas servant

Proves himself as loyal to Hassan repeatedly. Brave,selfless and instincutal smart rather than bookish

Hassan background

Penurious ethnic Hazara makes him inferior in Afghan society and is a victim of racism throughout. Unaware Baba is his father not Ali .His ra—e is a catalyst in the story plays a major role but is not always present represented as prey

Hassan represents

opressed margianlized Hazara minority who experience prejudice but are innocent, loyal and victimized, irreproachable

Baba

Hassan and Amirs dad who is affluent and opulent and wants Amir to be righteous, he distrusts religious fundamentalists, following own moral code with valiance. Chagrined to have a child with a Hazara makes him conceal that Hassan is his son so can’t love him openly

Baba represents

Pre soviet Afgh and eminent idea of masculinity, embodying wealth and self made moral code clashing with religious conservatives in society. looses it in America and becomes a gas station worker

Ali

Hassans psuedo father and is Babas servant and loves Hassan dearly. Destitute ethnic Hazara and walks with a limp because of polio and has partial paralysis

Ali represents

Persecuted Hazaras who endure faith, loyalty and resilience and self sacrifice whilst being betrayed by Baba. Similar to Amir betraying Hassan

Sohrab

Farzana and Hassan’s son acts as a subsitute for Hassan in the novel. Ethnic Hazara with slingshot skill who goes from a normal child to traumatied assult victim and speaks little to not at all

Sohrab represents

Afgh youth lost innocence enduring anguish and torment under the Taliban , Tragic past of assult to glimmer of hope in America, opposite to Baba’s experience. Adoption by Amir represents chance for redemption. Recieves emancipation in the USA

Assef

Hassan and Sohrabs assulter and antagonist, represents all problems with afghanistan. Racist who wants to eradicate Hazaras incapable of remorse and takes Hitler as a role model

Assef represents

Everyting wrong with Afgh particularly extremists who want an ethnic cleansing of Hazaras

Rahim Khan

Baba and Amirs friends and knows Babas secrets and is Amirs father figure who gives him attention that Baba did’nt

Farid

Amir’s friend and driver, former fighter

Farid character arc

starts of gruff and unfriendly but becomes valuable and loyal to Amir when searching for Sohrab

Farid represents what

Adversities that Afghanistan faced in warfare as he is missing toes and fingers from landmine explosion, lost his daughters too

Sanauabar

Hassan’s mother and Ali’s wife for some time, immoral at youth and abandons and forsakes Hassan but is caring to Sohrab later on

Sunabar represents

sovereignty of redemption and critique for rigid social norms in Afgh . Even outcasts can find paths to atonement

Soraya

Amir’s wife who is always there for him when she is needed, cannot concieve

Soraya represents

struggles faced by Afgh women, the unfair double standards om sexuality and reputation, tension between traditional societal expectations and individual desire for freedom and fulfillment. She also embodies hope, demonstrating resilience and the potential for a more equal partnership with Amir

Why does Soraya represent this

Shows women aren’t tainted by their past as tells Amir secret that she made a mistake running away with another man that couldv’e destroyed her reputation and chance of marriage, unconvetional but she looks conventional Afgh woman but yearns for more than housewife like being a teacher

General Taheri

Sorayas father and friend of Baba is proud to be arrogant sometimes and sometimes uses racist language to Sohrab

Jamila

Genreal Taheri’s wife and Sorayas mother

Jamila represents

quintessential Afg mother who stays at home and wants Soraya to be archetypal too

Sharif

Sorayas uncle helps Sohrab get to the US

Sofia Akrami

Amir’s mother who died at birth. Amir knows she loved literature as he does and he seeks info about her in the novel

Sofia Akrami represents

Amir’s great desire to understand himself, where he comes from and what his character is made of

Farzana

Hassans wife and Sohrabs wife but only appears breifly as loving mother shows danger of Hazara women as she is killed

Wahid

Farid’s brother, represents hopeful, compassionate aspect of Afghan society that survived turmoil of war and opression and is antitheical to the cynicism of Farid who uses his limited resources to provide refuge to others