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"The other present Baba gave me – and he didn't wait around for me to open this one – was a wristwatch. It had a blue face with gold hands in the shape of lightning bolts. I didn't even try it on. I tossed it on the pile of toys in the corner. The only gift I didn't toss on that mound was Rahim Khan's leather-bound notebook. That was the only one that didn't feel like blood money" (102).

Amir's discontent with his father is clear. The price of a birthday present couldn't have meant less to him and it seems like he didn't expect much from his father, but still hoped for more.

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"Hassan was standing at the blind end of the alley in a defiant stance: fists curled, legs slightly apart. Behind him, sitting on piles of scrap and rubble, was the blue kite. My key to Baba's heart" (71).

This quote is an important turning point in the Kite Runner. Amir betrays Hassan by allowing him to be raped by Assef so he could gain his father's approval and keep the blue kite.

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Amir is a Sunni Muslim as well as a Pashtun. He is often jealous of the way his father treats his half-brother Hassan. In chapter 6 it states, "I'd change my mind and ask for a bigger and fancier kite, Baba would buy it for me - but then he'd buy it for Hassan too. Sometimes I wish he wouldn't do that. I wish he'd let me be the favorite" (45).

Throughout the course of the novel he struggles with his abandonment of his close friend Hassan, whom his relationship with could only be described as unsteady. Whether it be because of his cowardice, his belief that Hassan is inferior to him, or his want of Baba's love all for himself - Amir stands by while Hassan is brutally raped by Assef, the neighborhood bully.

As Amir grows older, a substantial change occurs in his country. To escape the conflicts in Afghanistan, Amir and Baba move to California.

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Rahim Khan is Baba's close friend as well as his business partner. With the absence of support from Baba, Rahim often was a father figure for Amir and supported his writing. This is clear when Amir returns to see him after living in America and Rahim tells him, "there is a way to be good again".

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At a young age, Hassan's mother left him. Yet through thick and thin he remains to be kind and help Amir, even when the power his half brother has over him is abused.

It is clear how much the weight of being part of the lower half of society weighs on him when he states that he is simply "just a Hazara".

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Ali is the source of constant abuse through the entirety of the novel. He has a notable limp due to suffering from polio. Just like his "son" Hassan, he is Hazara. However it does not seem like he lets this get to him as much as his son does.

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In Afghanistan Baba has social standing and is very well known. He is described by Rahim Khan as "Mr. Hurricane". His "untouchable-ness" is part of the reason Amir betrays Hassan, simply because he is almost unattainable - even to his own son. However, after Baba and Amir move to America he works long hours and his strength diminishes, until it is clear that he is extremely ill. After a visit to a doctor, he is faced with the inevitable truth of cancer.

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Sanaubar is Hassan's mother. She is a Shi'a Muslims as well as a Hazara. She is bitter about her marriage to Ali, who is also her second cousin, and leaves soon after Hassan is born.

She was described as extremely beautiful, as despite being married to Ali, accepted the advances of many men. Sanaubar holds a bitter resentment for her husband, so when her son was born with a harelip she refused to even hold him. Days after Hassan's birth she runs off with a vagabond group of troupe dancers.

Her story is a small part in the theme of redemption in the Kite Runner. After being gone for many years she returns to plead for forgiveness and eventually helps raise her grandson. She helps take care of

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Assef is a Pashtun. He starts out as simply a neighborhood bully, picking on Hassan and Amir. However, his cruelty escalates throughout the novel.

In the beginning of the book we know him as the boy who rapes Hassan. Though eventually his character develops into something more than a person,

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"When I was in fifth grade, we had a mullah who taught us about Islam. His name was Mullah Fatiullah Khan, a short, stubby man with a face full of acne scars and a gruff voice. He lectured us about the virtues of zakat and the duty of hadj; he taught us the intricacies of performing the five daily namaz prayers, and made us memorize verses from the Koran – and though he never translated the words for us, he did stress, sometimes with the help of a stripped willow branch, that we had to pronounce the Arabic words correctly so God would hear us better. He told us one day that Islam considered drinking a terrible sin; those who drank would answer for their sin on the day of Qiyamat, Judgment Day". Mullah Fatiullah Khan was one of Amir's strict, foreboding teachers when he was in school.

Baba is drinking a class of whiskey while Amir recounts this tale to him. Baba ridicules the teacher for this, and goes on to say that "all sins are theft"

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The majority of the world's Muslims are Sunni, there are close to 1.6 billion. They have a religious hierarchy that is less complex than the Shi'a. They are typically located in West Africa to Indonesia.

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The Farsi term for Soviets. This term is mentioned after Amir and Baba have moved to America. "And when Reagan went on TV and called the Shorawi 'the evil empire,' Baba went out and bought a picture of the grinning president giving a thumbs up"(126).

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They compose a smaller portion of the Muslim religion, around 200 million. They are centrally located in Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Syria, and Lebanon.

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One of Afghanistan's largest ethnic groups. They often feel persecuted in their own country, especially by Pashtuns. They are descendants of Mongol settlers. They are also stereotyped as the "lower class" Shi'a Muslims. In the book characters majorly classified as Hazara were Hassan, Ali, and Sohrab.

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Pashtuns follow Sunni Muslim. They are the majority group in Afghanistan and form a minority group in Pakistan called the Pathans. They are most well known as the upper class portion of the Sunni Muslim religion.

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Since the time he was very young, Amir has always struggled to gain affection from his father. According to Baba, Amir never stands up for himself. While they were children Amir always relied on Hassan's help.

Baba is speaking to Rahim Khan when he says this, "Self-defense has nothing to do with meanness. You know what always happens when the neighborhood boys tease him? Hassan steps in and fends them off. I've seen it with my own eyes. And when they come home, I say to him, 'How did Hassan get that scrape on his face?' And he says, 'He fell down.' I'm telling you, Rahim, there is something missing in that boy".

It is clear that the affection Amir struggles for from his father is not given to him because of Baba's want for him to be a certain type of person.

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After witnessing Hassan being raped by Assef, and not standing up for him, Amir relentlessly wrestles with guilt for his entire life.

Especially with his father's words, "A boy who won't stand up for himself because a man who can't stand up to anything". Amir struggles with this even as an adult. He finds it difficult to be on his own, and this is clear when we learn that Baba has cancer. As he was slipping the key into the lobby door, I said, "I wish you’d give the chemo a chance, Baba."
Baba pocketed the keys, pulled me out of the rain and under the building’s striped awning. He kneaded me on the chest with the hand holding the cigarette. "Bas! I’ve made my decision."
"What about me, Baba? What am I supposed to do?" I said, my eyes welling up. A look of disgust swept across his rain-soaked face. It was the same look he’d given me when, as a kid, I’d fall, scrape me knees, and cry. It was the crying that brought it on then, the crying that brought it on now. 'You’re twenty-two years old, Amir! A grown man! You…" he opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again, reconsidered. Above us, rain drummed on the canvas awning. 'What’s going to happen to you, you say? All those years, that’s what I was trying to teach you, how to never have to ask that question." (156–157) Baba is obviously frustrated with Amir because of his constant battle with himself. Baba believes he is weak and that even now in his twenties, he would be useless without a shoulder to lean on.

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We see the character vs. society element of conflict in the Kite Runner when Amir and his father are in Afghanistan. As well as when they move to America. In Afghanistan there is a clear difference in social status whether you are a Sunni Muslim or a Shi'a. However in America there is a clear difference in social hierarchy if you are a Muslim.

When Baba works for a gas station it is clear that he is being underpaid, despite working 12 hour shifts. Despite this, he refuses to confront his boss because of his honor.

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In the Kite Runner it is clear that Amir is constantly desperate for Baba's affection. Even though he rarely receives it. This is extremely evident during the kite festival.

In chapter 6 Amir's dedication is clear. "I was going to win," he tells himself. "I was going to run that last kite. Then I’d bring it home and show it to Baba. Show him once and for all that his son was worthy" (-). Toward the end of chapter 7 Amir says to himself, "I actually aspired to cowardice, because the alternative, the real reason I was running, was that Assef was right: Nothing was free in this world. Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba".

He allowed Assef to rape Hassan because he wanted the blue kite that he believed would help him win Baba's affection. He compares this to sacrificing a lamb. However in this case, Hassan was the sacrifice.

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In the novel Amir constantly feels a guilt for his betrayal of Hassan. He also learns of his father's betrayal, and believes that everything he ever knew about his father was false.
Amir also betrays Hassan's orphan son Sohrab when he tells him that he may live with him, but then admits that he may have to stay in an orphanage for some time. Sohrab responds to this terribly, he says, "'You promised you'd never put me in one of those places, Amir agha,' he said. His voice breaking, tears pooling in his eyes".

When Sohrab asks Amir how long it will take for him to be able to come to America, Amir responds with,
“I don’t know. A while" (340). Then
"Sohrab shrugged and smiled, wider this time. “I don’t mind. I can wait. It’s like the sour apples.”
“Sour apples?”
“One time, when I was really little, I climbed a tree and ate these green, sour apples. My stomach swelled and became hard like a drum, it hurt a lot. Mother said that if I’d just waited for the apples to ripen, I wouldn't have become sick. So now, whenever I really want something, I try to remember what she said about the apples” (340).

In chapter 25 when Amir is speaking to a man at the American Embassy named Raymond Andrews, he tells him that "It's a dangerous business, making promises to kids".

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Though his theme is present mostly in Hassan and his selfless love for Amir. Amir's love for Hassan opposes this. It was born out of selfishness. There is a constant theme that forgiveness is also necessary for love to be honest.

Amir confesses this to Sohrab when he is speaking about his deceased father Hassan. “I loved him because he was my friend, but also because he was a good man, maybe even a great man. And this is what I want you to understand, that good, real good, was born out of your father’s remorse. Sometimes, I think everything he did, feeding the poor on the streets, building the orphanage, giving money to friends in need, it was all his way of redeeming himself. And that, I believe, is what true redemption is, Amir jan, when guilt leads to good” (302).

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At the very start of the story we are greeted with the words, "Looking back now, I realize I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years" (1). This indicates that he is in the present, looking back on a previous time in his life, and reflecting on it.

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On page 43 Assef says to Amir, "This isn't the end for you either, Amir. Someday, I'll make you face me one on one". This was spoken when they were children, but it was never forgotten. Twenty years later and the promise is fulfilled when Amir finds Sohrab with Assef.

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"Hassan's smile wilted. He looked older than I'd remembered. No, not older, old. Was that possible? Lines had etched into his tanned face and creases framed his eyes, his mouth. I might as well have taken a knife and carved those lines myself" (92).

Amir is describing an innocence lost. More specifically being raped has aged Hassan. Amir is describing this sudden aging, and admitting that it is his fault.

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General Taheri is strong-willed. Before they immigrated to America he had a job with the Defense Ministry. He has a racial view of the Hazaras. Especially when Amir brings Sohrab he angrily asks why a "Hazara boy" is living with them (92).

Khanum Taheri is more accepted even though she rarely stands up to her husband.

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Amir meets Soraya at a flea market. She was the daughter of Baba's friend General Taheri.  Amir soon learns why she has not married yet. When she was eighteen and her family lived in Virginia she ran away with an Afghan man. She lived with him for a month before her father arrived to take her home. After that her reputation was "stained" since she had been with another man.

After Soraya and Amir get married she helps Amir care for his dying father. Eventually it is clear that she cannot have children. This changes when Amir and Baba adopt Sohrab.

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Allah is the Arabic word for "God".

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Khanum is typically the term used for a wife/woman of high position and rank. This term is used mostly in Iran and Turkey.

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Although it nearly takes him a whole novel to learn it, Amir learns the nature of forgiveness. Mulitiple people help him on this journey, but the most prominent were Hassan and Rahim Khan. In their own ways they teach him that even though being forgiving by the person you have harmed is important, forgiving yourself is high above all.

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"For you, a thousand times over" (25).

Amir only sees Hassan as an inferior servant, so when Hassan says this he believes that he is saying it in servitude rather than friendship. Rather than being humble Amir believes that this is what he should expect and what he deserves. However, when Amir rescues Sohrab from Assef, he tells him the same thing Hassan told him. This time he knows the meaning and is saying it out of love and friendship.

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"That was when Baba stood up. It was my turn to clamp a hand on his thigh, but Baba pried it loose, snatched his leg away. When he stood, he eclipsed the moonlight. 'I want you to ask this man something,' Baba said. He said it to Karim, but looked directly at the Russian officer. 'Ask him where his shame is.'"
They spoke. “He says this is war. There is no shame in war."
“Tell him he’s wrong. War doesn't negate decency. It demands it, even more than in times of peace.” (115)

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The Kite Runner is told in first person. This makes all of the events that take place very personal, the Soviet Invasion, the death of Baba, immigration to America, and marrying Soraya. This helps the author touch close to the deep parts of guilt and redemption that Amir has to overcome.

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Kites play a big role in the symbolism of the novel. For Amir a kite symbolizes his betrayal of Hassan as well as his childhood happiness. In the end of the story Amir is with Sohrab, Hassan's son, and flies a kite with him. In this context the kite represents Amir's hope for redemption.

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Amir's mother, Sofia Akrami, died giving birth to him. Throughout the novel there are hints that perhaps Baba blames Amir for her death, and this is why it is so hard for him to gain his favor.

Despite her absence, she still has a strong affect on her son's life and his growth as a person. Even when Baba pushes Amir to play "manly" sports, and punch the boys who push him down, Amir would always resort to reading his mother's poetry books.

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Translated from Arabic to English, Salaam means "peace". However it is often used as a greeting.

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Agha is a title for a military officer or civilian that when used is a high honor. Roughly translated to English it means great lord, nobleman, or commander.

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Watan translated is defined as the people you share your country with, or your fellow countrymen.

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In this context, this conflict is mostly one-sided. Quite often Amir belittles Hassan because of his belief that Hassan is inferior to him.

However Amir also despises Hassan because of the attention Baba gives him. Even when Amir allows Assef to rape Hassan he feels guilt, though he only acts upon it in a negative way - causing more pain for all involved.

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Assef is quite possibly one of the biggest challenges Amir has to over come throughout the course of his life in the story. As a boy Amir is troubled by many elements, and these lead up to him overcoming his fears to make things right with Hassan after he stands by while Assef rapes him.

Near the very end of the story we realize the man in the glasses is Assef, and discover that he is the one Amir will face to save deceased Hassan's son Sohrab.

In a way, not only is Assef an horrible, cruel person, he also symbolizes all that is bad in the world. For Amir to overcome him, he would be overcoming his fears and insecurities.

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Instead of being "manly" and standing up for himself, Baba sees Amir as a personal failure. He is ashamed of what his son has become, which basically is just someone who is not like himself.

One night while speaking with Rahim Khan, Baba remarks, “If I hadn't seen the doctor pull him out of my wife with my own eyes, I'd never believe he's my son" (23). Baba copes with this by staying distant from his son, which ultimately results in more conflict.

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There are many evident cases of redemption in the Kite Runner. The main one being Amir redeeming himself to Hassan by saving Sohrab from Assef.

However Sanaubar's return is also a good example. After abandoning her newborn son and husband she is not seen for years, until she returns and helps Hassan care for his son and her grandson Sohrab.

The Kite Runner teaches us that forgiveness and redemption come hand in hand, and you cannot have one without the other.