The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini, 2003, Riverhead Books
Summary: This is a story about a coward, a coward named Amir. The Kite Runner takes place in Afghanistan around 1975, and the older narrator is looking back when he was "became a man." Amir was young and spent most of his time with his servant Hassan who was also his backdoor best friend. Hassan was considered part of the family; a son to Baba (Amir's father), and Amir finds out 20 some years later that Hassan was actually his half-brother. Which explains a lot considering Baba would always try to include Hassan into their activities and that often made Amir jealous. Jealousy was a big part of this book because it drove Amir to create the mistake that he has to bare for the rest of his life. As a form of gaining his dad's affection, he triumphed in the kite running contest with help of Hassan; shortly after Amir went looking for Hassan that claimed he went to capture the winning kite and found himself hitting a dilemma. Assef, the bully of the block, wanted the kite and Hassan refused to give him it. Which led to Amir witnessing Hassan, the boy who fed from the same breast, whose first words he uttered was 'Amir', get Many years passed and Amir moved to America due to the uprising wars and conflicts in Afghanistan. Just before his dad got diagnosed with cancer and died he married Soraya: a women with a bad reputation. She once ran away with a man and was frowned upon the Afghan society, but Amir accepted her because he "knew all about regret" (Hosseini 180). He never told Soraya about Hassan until 25 years when he had nearly escaped death from Assef in order to save his newly found half-nephew Sohrab from being Assef's sex slave (Sickeningly funny how history repeats itself) and attempts to adopt Sohrab. Since Hassan and his wife got shot when Sohrab was younger and had no death certificates, it was nearly impossible to adopt him. Amir suggested Sohrab go back to the orphanage and Sohrab, so terribly frightened and betrayed (Amir promised to never take him back there) he decided to kill himself. Turns out he survived but Sohrab's trust was never healed and never fully forgave Amir and neither does his voice box, as Sohrab barely said a word in the past year. The book ends with Amir flying a kite for the first time since the winter of 1975 and Sohrab actually smiles at Amir.
Quote: "'We're the same, you and I,' he was saying. 'You nursed with him, but you're my twin'" (Hosseini 307).
Quotation Context: Amir was in the hospital after almost getting killed by Assef, Sohrab saved Amir's life by blinding Assef in the eye and ends up dying. Amir was dreaming and Assef says those words to him. This quote by far is the most accurate to summarize the book because this book clearly categorizes two types of evil people: People who do evil things and people who witness evil things and do nothing about it. Amir was the second one and Assef was the first. Because of his decision, his fate was completely turned. One simple decision to not act on his impulse, to not save the life of his half-brother. "You nursed with him" refers to Hassan, and how they grew together and fed from the same breast. But yet they were completely different; Amir was selfish and Hassan would give his world to Amir, Hassan was pure. Amir knows in his conscious that he's just like Assef, cruel and evil.
