Plot of the Kite Runner Novel

Amir remembers an event that had happened twenty-six years ago when he was a little boy in Afghanistan. Before this event took place, Amir lived in a beautiful house in Kabul with his Baba (which means father), their servant Ali and his son Hassan. Rahim Khan, Babar's close friend, was often at their house too. Amirr's mother died after giving birth to him and a year later Hassanr's mother left home after giving birth to him. Ali and Hassan were both Hazaras which is another ethnicity in Afghanistan. One day Afghanistanr's king was overthrown and from that day on everything changed. Amir and Hassan were best friends, the only difference was that Amirr's father was rich and people respected him, but Hassan was their servant and a Hazara. Amir and Hassan were outside playing around when they bumped into Assef, Wali, and Kamal. Assef makes fun of Amir for hanging out with a Hazara and tries to beat him up and thatr's when Hassan hits Assef in the face using his slingshot. That same winter, Amir and Hassan participated in the kite running tournament. This is a competition where boys cover their strings in glass and battle to see who can sever the string of the opposing kite. When a kite loses, the boys chase and retrieve it. This was the year that Amir had finally won. Hassan had taken off to look for the losing kite. Amir, filled with joy, ran to find Hassan and when he did Amir completely changed. When he found Hassan, Assef was raping him. Amir had no clue what to do and he was too afraid to save Hassan, so he ran home. When Hassan comes home with the kite Amir pretended like he didnt see anything. After that, things between Hassan and Amir were never the same. Amir felt very guilty and decided that one of them had to leave. Amir took some money and a watch, puts it under Hassanr's pillow, and tells Baba that he stole it. Since Hassan is a servant and knew that no matter what he will lose, he admitted that he did steal the money and watch. Baba forgives Hassan, but Ali said he couldnt live in house anymore and they moved away. Baba was really upset and begged them not to move away. Baba cried for the first time and this really concerned Amir. The story moves on to March 1981. Kabul was invaded by the Soviets and became a war zone. This is when Amir and Baba packed their bags, left the house without telling anyone, but Rahim Khan, and escaped from Afghanistan. Their journey to Pakistan was horrible. They were stuck in the back of trucks, lack of food and water, bad smell, and had lots of trouble getting through military checkpoints. After two years of living and Pakistan, Baba and Amir move to Fremont, California. Amir finished high school and goes to college and Baba got a job at the gas station. On Sundays Amir and Baba would go to the Flea Market to sell things and make some money. One day Baba found an old friend, General Taheri, at the market. General Taheri had a daughter named Soraya and Amir had fallen in love with her. He never had the guts to go talk to her because in the Afghan culture it looks bad. Finally, one day Amir gathered the courage and went to talk to Soraya. As they were talking General Taheri caught them and told Amir that there is a more formal way to do things. A while later they find out that Baba is diagnosed with lung cancer and he doesnt have much time left. Amir asks Baba if he could get General Taherir's consent to marry Soraya and Taheri accepts the proposal. Due to Babar's health, they had the wedding sooner than usual. A month later Baba dies. While Amir works on his writing, they try to have a baby but find out that they cant. Pretty soon Amir receives a call from Rahim Khan. Rahim Khan states that he is very sick and needs to meet Amir as soon as possible in Pakistan. Amir leaves for Pakistan in a week. Rahim Khan talks about how after they drove the Soviets out of Kabul everything got worse because now the Taliban rule by violence. Rahim said that after they had left Afghanistan, he was getting very lonely and wasnt able to take care of the house, so he went to find Hassan. He persuaded Hassan and his wife Farzana to come back to Kabul and live with him. Soon Hassanr's mother, Sanaubar, had come back and asked him to forgive her and eventually he did. Sanaubar delivered Hassanr's son Sohrab. Sanaubar never left Sohrab alone. She always made clothes for him and played with him but when he was four years old, Sanaubar died. Rahim Khan also got very sick and left for Pakistan to get medical treatment leaving Hassan and his family alone. One day Rahim Khan received a call from a neighbor in Kabul saying that the Taliban found out there was a Hazara family living in a nice big house. Hassan tried to tell them that he is just a servant and the owner is coming soon but they killed him and Farzana and sent Sohrab to an orphanage. Rahim Khan told Amir that there is a couple in Pakistan who can take care of Sohrob and he wants Amir to go to Kabul and find him. He also told Amir that Hassan is actually Babar's son, Amirr's half brother. Amir was very shocked and didnt know what to do. He was also very mad because his whole life was a lie. Finally, he agreed to go find Sohrob. When Amir goes to Afghanistan he is very sad and surprised. He said that he feels like a tourist in his own country. He finds the orphanage where Sohrab was but when he got there the director told him that the Taliban took Sohrab a month earlier. They told him that he will find the Taliban at the soccer game which was being held the next day. When Amir went to the game, he set up a meeting with the official through one of the guards. The day of their meeting Amir tells the official that he is looking for Sohrab. When they brought Sohrab in the official said Whatever happened to old Babalu, anyway? (Babalu is what everyone used to call Ali because he suffered from partial paralysis of his face and walked with a limp caused by polio.) Amir was shocked. The taliban official was Assef. Assef beats Amir with his brass knuckles. He broke Amirr's ribs and split his lips. Sohrab comes in front of Assef with his slingshot, just like Hassan. When Assef tried to hit Hassan, he shot him in the eye and escaped with Amir. While Amir was recovering in a hospital in Pakistan he finds out that Rahim Khan died. He also found out that Rahim Khan lied and there was never really a couple wanted to take care of Sohrab. Amir thought for a while and asked Sohrab to move with him to America. After a few days, Sohrab agrees. When Amir recovered he went to Islamabad. Amir tried all he can but the adoption officials said that because they cannot prove that Sohrabr's parents are actually dead it will be impossible to get him out of the country. Amir tells Sohrab that he might have to go back to the orphanage. When Amir tells Soraya she told him that she found a way to bring Sohrab to America. When Amir went to tell him, he found that Sohrab tried to kill himself. Luckily Sohrab was unsuccessful in trying to commit suicide but after that day he never spoke, even when they brought him to California. For Sawl-e-Nau, the Afghan New Yearr's Day, all the Afghans had a gathering at the park. They had a kite running tournament and Amir bought one and convinced Sohrab to fly it with him. Using Hassanr's tricks they won. That was the day that Sohrab finally smiled and Amir runs to get the losing kite for Sohrab.

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