Later, however, he becomes instrumental in helping to get Sohrab into the United States. Though Sofia died during childbirth, Amir knows she loved literature as he does.
Amir seeks information about her at various points in the novel. Farzana appears only briefly, but in that time she is portrayed as a loving mother. One of the boys from the neighborhood who helps Assef to rape Hassan. Wali is depicted as a conformist. Ace your assignments with our guide to The Kite Runner! SparkTeach Teacher's Handbook. What happened to Hassan in the alley? Why does Rahim Khan lie about the American couple? Why are Ali and Hassan both deformed?
Why do Amir and Baba go to America? Why does Amir sometimes treat Hassan badly in childhood? Why does Amir want Hassan to hit him with pomegranates? Why does Amir accept Soraya even after she tells him of her past? Why did Baba lie about Hassan being his son? Why does Rahim Khan disappear? Does Amir redeem himself?
Characters Character List. Amir The narrator and the protagonist of the story. Read an in-depth analysis of Amir. Read an in-depth analysis of Hassan. Baba Father of Amir and Hassan and a wealthy, well-respected businessman. There obviously were major changes in Afghanistan, the details of which are only alluded to here but are made more apparent later in the novel.
It is quite significant that when Baba instructs Amir to think of something happy, the thoughts are of a time before the winter of , suggesting that the past five years have not been happy ones. The memory that sustains Amir during the ride in the tank of a fuel truck symbolizes Amir's childhood and innocence. Amir doesn't remember the exact month or even year because a child's sense of time isn't the same as an adult's.
But clearly Amir's childhood was better than his young adulthood, and the implication is that it was better than most of his adult life, too. The episode with the Russian soldier reveals the complexity of Baba's character.
What he is unable to demonstrate toward his son in compassion, decency, and understanding, he shows toward a total stranger. Baba has a code of honor, of righteousness, of virtue, and of strength. He believes in bravery, honor, pride, decency, and understanding. All of these are the marks of a hero, and that is why many other characters in the novel consider Baba to be a great man.
But being a great man does not make one a great father, and most of the reader's knowledge of Baba has come from Amir's skewed perspective. Baba is also caught in a cultural quagmire, not being able to identify Ali and Hassan as anything more than loyal servants, even after all they have experienced together.
And although Baba had purchased many things for Amir, his simple advice in the fuel tanker to "think of something good" is his greatest show of paternal love yet for his son. Clearly, Baba is also a morally ambiguous character. The detail about the two suitcases is significant because although their lives in Afghanistan were extremely different from one another's, the only difference between Ali and Hassan's leaving of their longtime home and Baba and Amir's leaving is one suitcase.
He thinks Baba wishes Amir were more like him, and that Baba holds him responsible for killing his mother, who died during his birth.
His relationship with Hassan only exacerbates this. At the same time, Amir never learns to assert himself against anyone else because Hassan always defends him. After allowing Hassan to be raped, Amir is not any happier. On the contrary, his guilt is relentless, and he recognizes his selfishness cost him his happiness rather than increasing it.
Once Amir has married and established a career, only two things prevent his complete happiness: his guilt and his inability to have a child with Soraya. Sohrab, who acts as a substitute for Hassan to Amir, actually becomes a solution to both problems. Amir describes Sohrab as looking like a sacrificial lamb during his confrontation with Assef, but it is actually himself that Amir courageously sacrifices.
In doing this, as Hassan once did for him, Amir redeems himself, which is why he feels relief even as Assef beats him.
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