Themes

Betrayal

Betrayal is a major theme in the kite runner. Essentially, it is what causes the domino effect in the book; events preceding are rooted back to the betrayal that occurred between characters. Amir betrays Hassan after the kite tournament by running away after seeing Hassan getting raped by Assef in an alleyway. He had not stood up for his friend despite all the times Hassan stood up for him. With the immense guilt hanging over Amir, he plants his birthday money and watch under Hassan’s mattress. Hassan knows he is framed by Amir, however he stays loyal to him, admitting to Baba that he stole from Amir when he had not. This drives Hassan and Ali to leave the house. Although Amir did not directly kill Hassan, he caused his exile which kills him. Amir’s betrayal brings him to search for redemption as he grows older. The guilt from his actions never left Amir until Assef beats him years later when he returns to Afghanistan. Another example of betrayal in the book is Baba betraying Ali in the worst way by sleeping with his wife and conceiving Hassan.

"...How had Baba brought himself to look Ali in the eye? How had Ali lived in that house, day in and day out, knowing he had been dishonored by his master in the single worst way an Afghan man can be dishonored? “Page 225

Redemption

After the incident in the alleyway and Hassan’s exile, Amir grows up plagued with guilt because of his betrayal. Even with his new life in America he still feels the guilt from his past. Upon receiving the call from Rahim Khan, Amir flies back 20 years later to the now crumbling Kabul to rescue Sohrab. “There is a way to be good again”page 2, said by Rahim Khan, and saving Sohrab was the way. Amir was beaten up by Assef while saving Sohrab and found relief through it. “I hadn’t been happy and I hadn’t felt better, not at all. But I did now. My body was broken- just how badly I wouldn’t find out until later- but I felt healed. Healed at last. I laughed.” Page 303. He feels that he has finally paid for his faults. Amir as a boy who could not stand up for himself or others was redeemed by the grown Amir who finally had the courage to stand up for what is right. Redemption can also be found in Baba. His betrayal of Ali caused him to redeem himself by "feeding the poor on the streets, building the orphanage, giving money to friends in need."page 316.  

Ethnic Discrimination

Afghanistan is made up of two ethnicities, Hazaras and Pashtuns. The Hazaras are Persian speaking people Shia muslims whereas Pashtuns are eastern Iranian Sunni Islams. The Hazaras are supposedly the inferior race and the minority in Afghanistan. In the book there is a division between Baba and Amir, and Ali and Hassan because of this ethnic difference. Although there is a clear bond between the fathers and sons, Ali and Hassan are still Baba and Amir’s servants. They live in a mud hut and do all the cooking and cleaning for Baba and Amir.

“The curious thing was, I never thought of Hassan and me as friends either. Not in the usual sense, anyhow. Never mind that we taught each other to ride a bicycle with no hands, or to build a fully functional homemade camera out of a cardboard box. Never mind that we spent entire winters flying kites, running kites. Never mind that to me, the face of Afghanistan is that of a boy with a thin-boned frame, a shaved head, and low-set ears, a boy with a Chinese doll face perpetually lit by a harelipped smile.
Never mind any of those things. Because history isn't easy to overcome. Neither is religion. In the end, I was a Pashtun and he was a Hazara, I was Sunni and he was Shi'a, and nothing was ever going to change that. Nothing. “page 27.

In the story, Hassan and Ali had also been bullied because of their ethnicity by Pashtun children especially Assef who later becomes the leader of the Taliban group.

The Taliban discriminate specifically the Hazaras but also everyone else. They believe that "Afghanistan is like a beautiful mansion littered with garbage, and someone has to take out the garbage." Page 298.