The Kite Runner – Chapter 21

Amir returns to his old neighbourhood and at last he realises that he doesn’t want to forget anymore. He is ready to face his past and try to redeem himself. In this chapter there is more evidence of the brutality of the Taliban. The Afghan people are so used to the Taliban and their cruel punishments that the scene of a young man’s dead body hanging means that “hardly anyone seemed to notice.”

The chapter ends with the awful scene of a public execution – a stoning. Hosseini seems to have written the execution to echo a scene at the Colosseum in Ancient Rome. There are the woman’s screams, the gasps from the crowd and the horrible images of the beaten and bloodied corpses. And of course there is the chilling figure of the man in the dark sunglasses in his white robe with his arms “spread like those of Jesus on the cross.”

The Kite Runner – Chapter 20

The picture of Kabul created by Hosseini is devastating. The educated are now beggars as are many of the women and children. The city is a wasteland and we see that the Taliban are not just brutally violent but they are also corrupt. Amir goes to the orphanage to find Sohrab but discovers that the director Zaman has sold him to a member of the Taliban. Zaman is completely corrupt and he justifies his actions by saying that if he didn’t sell the children they would be taken anyway. The implied rape of these children makes the reader remember Hassan’s rape by Assef.

Amir and Farid are told to go to the Ghazi stadium and look for the Talib official who will be “wearing black sunglasses”.

The Kite Runner – Chapter 19

In chapter 19 Amir travels to Kabul with Farid, an ethnic Tajik to find Sohrab. Farid doesn’t have much time for Amir at first because he sees him as privileged and ignorant about the realities of life in Afghanistan. He tells Amir: “That’s the real Afghanistan, Aga sahib. That’s the Afghanistan I know. You? You’ve always been a tourist here, you just didn’t know it.” Hosseini gets the reader to compare Amir’s cushioned and wealthy life with the way in which most Afghanis live. Amir can now see what life in Afghanistan is really like. He starts to understand more about his people when Farid’s family are so hospitable to him and then he discovers that they have gone hungry to feed him. Amir learns that generosity is an important part of the Afghan culture.  It is experiences like this that help Amir reconnect to Afghanistan and aid him on his journey to atone for his past.

The Kite Runner – Chapter 18

A turning point! Amir takes up Rahim Khan’s challenge which gives him the chance of finding forgiveness. It is off to Kabul to bring back Sohrab. Amir has to not only atone for his own sins but also for Baba’s failings – “We had both betrayed the people who would have given their lives for us.”

The Kite Runner – Chapter 17

Chapter 17 is a tragic chapter for two reasons, as we learn of Hassan’s death and that Hassan is also Baba’s son. Amir finds it hard to take in this news and becomes angry. He is so guilty about what happened when they were children and he knows now that he can’t make it up to Hassan personally. Amir finds it so hard to bear that he not only betrayed his friend in the alley but that he betrayed his brother.

In this chapter we are presented with more evidence of the brutality of the Taliban and how they targeted the Hazara in particular. Amir needs to redeem himself by saving Hassan’s son. However, Amir is reluctant to return to Kabul and he seems to have become what his father had feared he might: “a man who can’t stand up to anything.” Rahim Khan pleads with Amir to “grant an old man his dying wish.” Amir feels that Rahim Khan thinks too highly of him and it appears that he still wants to take the easy way out. The announcement that Hassan was Baba’s son changes the central relationships of the novel. The death of the innocent Hassan is devastating and the moral argument of the novel that Amir needs to make amends for his sin makes this a turning point in the novel. Amir’s response will truly determine what sort of man he is.

The Kite Runner – Chapter 17

This chapter is the only one narrated by another character (Rahim Khan) and it covers the events in Kabul since Amir has been gone. A great number of events both political and domestic are covered. Rahim Khan has a different tone than Amir as he is more philosophical about what has happened and he accepts the past. When he talks about Hassan he speaks of him with affection and without guilt.

We also learn about Sanaubar’s return and how hard her life has been. She has paid a terrible price for being a ‘dishonourable’ woman. Sanaubar returns to a traditional role and moral salvation and she is able to die peacefully.

Rahim Khan does not tell Amir why he had to come back urgently and there is still more to be told.

The Kite Runner – Chapter 15

Amir arrives in Pakistan and he arrives to find “a thing made of skin and bones pretending to be Rahim Khan.” Amir wants to take him to the U.S. to find “a good doctor” as he is now Western in outlook and he thinks that there could be a cure but Rahim Khan is prepared to accept God’s will. Amir learns about the terrible things that the Taliban has done and Rahim Khan also tells Amir about Hassan and he gives him a chance to “be good again.” Amir can’t ignore Rahim Khan’s dying wishes.

The Kite Runner – Chapter 14

This chapter links to the first chapter because it covers Rahim Khan’s telephone call from Pakistan. At this point in the novel Amir realises that Rahim Khan knows what happened to Hassan. When Amir decides to go to Pakistan this is important as he has a chance to find salvation, a chance “to be good again.” We know that Amir is moving into the last part of his moral quest – his redemption.

The Kite Runner – Chapter 13

The “giving word” ceremony takes place at Soraya’s parents’ house. Amir is happy when Baba tells him that this is the happiest day of his life. A great deal of this chapter is about the customs and culture surrounding Afghan ceremonies. Hosseini explains the significance of these ceremonies. Note that Soraya’s character allows Hosseini to discuss the role of women in Afghan society. Her treatment from the Afghan community highlights the double standards applies to men and women in that community.

Soraya decides that she and Amir will move in with Baba so that she can dedicate herself to his care in his final days. Baba dies and many people mourn his death. When the mourners offer Amir their sympathies, he realises that much of who he is has been defined by Baba and the marks he made on people’s lives. Amir knows that he must know find his own path and he is scared.

“How much of who I was, what I was, had been defined by Baba and the marks he had left on people’s lives. My whole life, I had been ‘Baba’s son’. Now he was gone. Baba couldn’t show me the way anymore; I’d have to find it on my own.”

Amir attends San Jose State University where he studies English and Soraya continues teaching studies, a decision that her father constantly criticises. In 1988 Amir learns that his book is going to be published. Soraya and Amir are elated and Amir wishes that Baba could have seen what he has achieved. Amir reflects on his success and he wonders whether he deserves it.

Amir and Soraya begin trying to have a child but they have no luck. Amir’s guilt about Hassan resurfaces and he feels that maybe they can’t have children because “perhaps something, someone, somewhere, has decided to deny me fatherhood for the things I had done.” As he lies in bed he feels “the emptiness in Soraya’s womb” and it “sleeps between (them) like a newborn child.”

Chapter 13 is really at the mid-point of the novel. This chapter is important for Amir because he crosses from adolescence to adulthood. In a very short time he is married, Baba dies and his first novel is published. Amir meets Soraya and he discovers the ‘tenderness of a woman’. We see that Hassan is never far from his mind, which foreshadows that he will someday atone for what he has done to him as Amir will never really be a man until he shows moral courage.

The Kite Runner – Chapter 12

Amir continues to develop his relationship with Soraya. Baba tells Amir to be careful as General Taheri is a proud Pashtun and he will defend his ‘honour’ and the ‘chastity’ of his daughter.

Much of this chapter is set at the flea market and it shows the Afghan immigrants have set up a small version of their society in America. We are told Taheri is “Pashtun to the root” and that protocol surrounding women in Pahtun society must be followed so as not to disgrace Pashtun men. Note that Soraya’s loss of virginity has destroyed her chances at a respectable marriage.

Baba has cancer and it is terminal and although he is very ill he helps to arrange Amir’s marriage to Soraya. Soraya tells Amir about her past and gives him the chance to pull out of the marriage. He is bothered by her loss of virginity but realises “How could I, of all people, chastise someone for the past.” Amir envies Soraya because her secret is out and his betrayal still eats away at him just as Baba’s cancer is consuming him. Amir thinks Soraya’s courage is “one of many ways” that she is better than him.