The Kite Runner Book Review

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The Kite Runner Book Review Summary: The Kite Runner is about the story of Amir, a Sunni Muslim that recalls a series of traumatic childhood events that he claims has defined him to be who he is. The story starts with Amir as an adult in present-day United States and then flashes back to Amir’s childhood in Afghanistan. Amir lived in a nice home Kabul, Afghanistan, with Baba, his father and their two servants, Ali and his son, Hassan. Amir’s mother died while giving birth to him and Hassan’s mother left him a few days after he was born. Amir’s father, Baba, has a close friend named Rahim Khan and he is also around often. Rahim Khan understands Amir better than Baba does and supports Amir’s interest in writing. Baba loves Amir but seems critical of Amir for not being manly enough. Throughout the story, Amir tries to find ways to impress his father and earn his respect One day, Amir and Hassan are playing when they run into three older boys, Assef, Wali, and Kamal. Assef is notoriously mean and violent. Assef threatens to beat up Amir for hanging out with Hassan, a Hazara which is an inferior race according to Assef. Assef goes to strike Amir, but Hassan stands up to him by threatening Assef with is slingshot. The boys run off but Assef says he will take his revenge. The story moves to winter, when the kite fighting tournament occurs. In the tournament, the boys cover their kite strings in glass and battle to see who can cut the string of the opposing kite. When a kite is cut, boys chase after it and retrieve it, this is called kite running. Hassan is a successful kite runner for Amir; he knows where the kite will land without even watching it. When Amir wins the tournament he earns Baba’s praise. Hassan goes to retrieve the last cu... ... middle of paper ... ..., Baba told him that a boy that doesn’t stand up for himself becomes a man who can’t stand up for anything. As a boy, Amir fails to stand up for himself. But, Amir redeems himself as an adult by showing he has the courage to stand up for what is right. Amir travels back to Kabul so that he can right the wrongs of his childhood. In Kabul, Amir stands up to Assef and rescues Hassan’s son, Sohrab. Amir and Soraya were not able to have children despite their many attempts. They were ready for parenthood, but, were not given the chance to become parents until they were given the option to adopt Sohrab. The adoption of Sohrab allowed Amir and Soraya to enter parenthood and allowed Amir to give Sohrab the life that Hassan wanted for him, but could not give Sohrab. If Amir uses the same parenting style as his father, then Amir will have a authoritative style of parenting.

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