Main Characters
Amir Amir is the protagonist and narrator of the book. He is the son Baba, an intelligent business man, and is like his deceased mother in his love for poetry and literature. Due to his talented writing abilities, Amir is a dissapointment and coward in his fathers eyes. But none the less Amir grows up with a sense of entitlement and is constantly jealous when his best friend and servant, Hassan, receives attention from Baba. Although Hassan is loyal and dedicated to him, Amir falters with friendship due to his jealousy and mean streak. It is because of his desire to please his father and gain forgiveness for stealing the life of Baba's wife at childbirth that Amir allows Hassan to get raped. Guilt stricken, Amir must live with the consequences if his actions and find retribution in Hassan's son Sohrab.
Baba Baba is Amir's father and an extremely intelligent business man. He is driven to prove other people wrong when they tell him he is not capable. He capitalised a business from the ground up, built one of the most beautiful houses in the district as well as an orphanage and married a royal lineage. However, Baba is constantly disappoint and embarrassed by Amir who is more feminine and cowardly. At one point he questions that if he had not watched his wife give birth to Amir, if Amir could really be his son. Baba is the silver lining; the moral setting of the story. Throughout his final years Baba becomes closer to Amir and dies relatively happy of cancer.
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Hassan Hassan is Amir's best friend and servant. He is Ali's son who is also a servant of Baba and Amir. Both Hassan and his father are treated like family. Hassan remains throughout the book, a loyal, forgiving and kind soul right up until his death. While Amir goes to school, Hassan does chores and helps out his father. He realises that it is his duty in life to sacrifice himself for others. Hassan is the best kite runner that there is, locating the kites with ease. Even after being raped and knowing that Amir witnessed it, Hassan does nothing. He even takes the blame of stealing money and a watch that he was not guilty of so that Amir will not be hated by his father.
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