The kite runner sparknotes5/29/2023 ![]() Cowardly and conformist, Kamal helps Assef rape Hassan. KamalĪ boy from Amir’s and Hassan’s neighborhood. She obeys her husband without question and wants nothing more than to see her daughter married. Jamila plays the part of the typical Afghan wife and mother. General Taheri’s wife and Soraya’s mother. He is in many ways the stereotypical Afghan male, both in his roles as a father and husband. General Taheri is proud to the point of arrogance at times, and he places great value on upholding Afghan traditions. She can be strong-willed like her father, General Taheri, and deplores the way women are often treated in Afghan culture. Soraya is steady, intelligent, and always there for Amir when he needs her. Though Sanaubar is infamously immoral in her youth and abandons Hassan just after he is born, she proves herself a caring grandmother to Sohrab when she reappears later in the novel. Hassan’s mother and Ali’s wife for a time. He is missing toes and fingers from a landmine explosion and represents the difficulties that many Afghans faced in the years of warfare that ravaged the country. But he becomes a valuable and loyal friend to Amir in Amir’s search to find and rescue Sohrab. A former mujahedin fighter, Farid is at first gruff and unfriendly. For Amir, he serves a father figure, often giving Amir the attention he craves and filling the holes left by Baba’s emotional distance. ![]() Rahim Khan is Baba’s closest confidant, and the one man who knows all of Baba’s secrets. Read an in-depth analysis of Assef Rahim Khanįriend of Baba and Amir. A racist who wishes to rid Afghanistan of Hazaras, he is incapable of remorse and enjoys inflicting violence and sexual abuse on those who are powerless. Assef represents all things wrong in Afghanistan. Hassan’s and Sohrab’s rapist and the novel’s antagonist. Read an in-depth analysis of Sohrab Assef His character arc takes him from being a normal little boy to the traumatized victim of sexual and physical abuse, and he goes from speaking very little to not at all. He is also an ethnic Hazara and is great with a slingshot. In many ways, Sohrab acts as a substitute for Hassan in the novel, and he is a central focus of the plot in the later sections of the book. Poor and an ethnic Hazara, he suffers from partial paralysis of his face and walks with a limp caused by polio. He loves Hassan deeply, though he rarely expresses his emotions outwardly. Ali is defined by his modesty more than anything, and he works diligently as Baba’s servant. Because he cannot love Hassan openly, he is somewhat distant toward Amir and is often hard on him, though he undoubtedly loves him.Īcting father to Hassan and a servant of Baba’s. Yet his shame at having a child with a Hazara woman leads him to hide the fact that Hassan is his son. When necessary, he is even willing to risk his life for what he believes in. Although he distrusts religious fundamentalism, he follows his own moral code and acts with self-assurance and bravery. He also never lets anyone’s lack of belief in him stop him from accomplishing his goals. Baba believes first and foremost in doing what is right and thinking for oneself, and he tries to impart these qualities to Amir. His rape is an early catalyst in the story, and even though he is not present in a significant portion of the novel, he plays a major role throughout.įather of Amir and Hassan and a wealthy, well-respected businessman. He is Baba’s illegitimate child, though he is not aware of this fact, and he grows up with Ali acting as his father. As a poor ethnic Hazara, he is considered an inferior in Afghan society, and he is the victim of racism throughout the novel as a result. His defining traits are bravery, selflessness, and intelligence, though his smarts are more instinctual than bookish, largely because he is uneducated. Hassan proves himself a loyal friend to Amir repeatedly, defending Amir when he is attacked and always being ready to listen. Ultimately he does so through courage and self-sacrifice, and he tells his story as a form of penance.Īmir’s best friend and half-brother as well as a servant of Baba’s. From that point forward, he is driven by his feelings of guilt as he searches to find a way to redeem himself. His great desire to please his father is the primary motivation for his behavior early in the novel, and it is the main reason he allows Hassan to be raped. Amir is a gifted storyteller and grows from aspiring writer to published novelist. His best friend is Hassan, and he goes back and forth between acting as a loyal friend and attacking Hassan out of jealousy whenever Hassan receives Amir’s father’s affection. Amir is the sensitive and intelligent son of a well-to-do businessman in Kabul, and he grows up with a sense of entitlement. The narrator and the protagonist of the story.
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