TOPIC: CHARACTERIZATIO

N IN “THE KITE RUNNER”

Design by Naseem Hasrat

PRESENTED BY Naseem hasrat Basharat Ali Ishaq Noori

CONTENTS Division of character through charts. Character chart Major character Minor character Protagonist Antagonist

OVERALL CHARACTERIZATION

Pashtun

Hazaras

Afghani

TWO MAIN RACIAL TRIBES Pashtun

Amir

Baba

Assef

Rahim Khan

MAJOR CHARACTERS Amir Hassan Assef Baba Ali

MINOR CHARACTERS General Tahiri Soraya Ali

AMIR – The protagonist. And narrator of the novel. A wealthy boy who grows up in Kabul. Afghanistan along with his father, Baba. Amir abuses his privileges over his servant

and loyal friend, Hassan. And then fails to come to his aid when

Hassan is being raped. The rest of the novel deals with Amir’s guilt,

his growing maturity (as he and Baba move to the U.S.),

His quest for redemption.

AMIR

Amir

BABA Amir’s father, a larger-than-life figure

with wild hair and a loud voice. Who works hard and succeeds at all of

his endeavors, but stands by his strict moral principles.

Baba’s great sin is committing adultery with Ali’s wife.

He is Hassan’s real father. Baba’s many works of charity and the

orphanage he builds are part of his attempts to redeem himself.

BABABaba

Sanobar

Hassan

Sofia

Amir

Ali

HASSAN Amir’s childhood playmate and

companion, a Hazara boy with a cleft lip. Hassan is an excellent kite runner. He is naturally intelligent, but illiterate

because of his social class. He is always loyal to Amir, even when

Amir betrays him. Hassan eventually marries Farzana,

and has a son named Sohrab.

HASSAN

victim

Hazara

Good friend

of Amir

Selfless

SOHRAB Hassan’s son, a boy who is sent to an

orphanage when Hassan and Farzana are killed.

He is then taken from the orphanage and sexually abused by Assef, until Amir comes for him and brings him back to America.

Sohrab is a symbol of all the terrible things that have happened to both the characters and the country of Afghanistan.

He also offers a chance for hope and redemption.

SOHRAB

Sohrab

Farzana

Reason

Hassan

Amir

ALI Hassan’s father, a Hazara who was

orphaned as a boy. Then taken in by Baba’s father and

raised as Baba’s playmate and servant. The lower half of Ali’s face is paralyzed. He was crippled in one leg by polio, but

Ali remains cheerful and kind.

ALI

Baba’s Servant

Paralyzed

Religious

=

ASSEF The antagonist of the novel. A blue-eyed, sadistic boy who idolizes

Hitler. Torments children with his brass

knuckles, and later rapes Hassan. As an adult Assef joins the Taliban,

where he is given free reign to exercise his violent and pedophilic nature.

ASSEF

Antagonist

Taliban official

Rapist Half

German

SORAYA The daughter of General Taheri. As a young woman Soraya ran away

with an Afghan man, “dishonor” herself.  Amir falls in love with her and they get

married, and Soraya later becomes a teacher.

RAHIM KHAN  Baba’s close friend and business

associate. A kind man who often seems to

understand the young Amir better than Baba does.

Rahim Khan encourages Amir’s writing. As an old man he summons Amir back

to Afghanistan for a chance to redeem himself by rescuing Sohrab from Afghanistan.

GENERAL TAHERI  Soraya’s father and Baba’s friend, a

former general in the old pre-soviet regime of Afghanistan.

He is a conservative. Traditional Afghan man who in the

United States collects welfare and refuses to labor beneath his station in America.

FARID A man who drives Amir back to

Afghanistan from Pakistan. At first Farid is bitter and sarcastic

towards Amir. He learns about Sohrab Farid becomes

a loyal friend and helps Amir on his journey.

SANAUBAR Hassan’s mother and Ali’s wife. Sanaubar had a “dishonorable”

reputation as a young woman. She despises Ali and leaves after

Hassan is born. Returns as an older woman to take care

of Sohrab.

WAHID Farid’s brother, a man who is very poor

and whose children are starving. Who’s hospitality is such that he

nonetheless feeds Amir before his own children.

SOFIA AKRAMI Amir’s mother and Baba’s wife, a

college professor of royal blood. Who dies giving birth to Amir. Amir always believes that his father

secretly hates him. Amir considers that he is responsible of

his mother’s death.

SAKINA

Sakina

AmirHassan