I have just started to read The Kite Runner and I am 5 chapters in, here is a small summary of what I have read so far.
In chapter one we are introduced to the protagonist, Amir and we find out the time period he is speaking in is in 2001 however the story so far is about his time as a twelve year old child in 1975 in Afghanistan. Amir lives in San Francisco at the time and when he is taking a walk he sees some kites in the sky and refers to his friend Hassan. Hassan is a boy from Pakistan and we find out he has a cleft lip, Amir calls him a kite runner.
Chapter two gives the reader a much more detailed look at the relationship between Amir and Hassan as children. He explains how they used to use shards of a mirror to reflect sun into the neighbours houses whilst they were in a tree. We find out that Hassan and his father Ali lives with Amir and his father Baba as Ali works for Baba as a servant. Also both Hassan and Amir have lost their mothers but for different reasons. Amir's died when giving birth to him and Hassan's ran of a week after he was born. The reader also finds out that Ali is very week and does not have good health. The reader also finds out the difference between the Hazaras and the Pashtun and how they are treated differently. Hassan is a Hazara and gets treated badly because of this. The theme of class is shown here.
In Chapter three we are introduced to Baba more as a character and we find out he has built an orphanage and we are introduced to his appearance. Amir always looks up to Baba and just wants to please him. He tries to take up football, Baba's favourite sport but finds he is no good at playing or watching it, which upsets Baba. We then see Baba's worry for Amir as he does not stand up for himself when he needs to.
Chapter four goes back to 1933 and the reader then sees how Baba and Ali first met. They did everything together like friends but Baba never called Ali his friend due to class issues. We then find that Amir and Hassan's relationship is quite the same to Baba and Ali's. Amir reads to Hassan underneath a pomegranate tree next to a cemetery as Hassan loves stories and Amir loves to read. We see that Amir uses Hassan's illiterate mind to play tricks on him when reading. Amir makes up his own story and writes it down eager to show Baba but he is not interested, however Baba's friend Rahim Khan reads his story and writes a note for him to say how good it was. He then tells the story to Hassan but he comes up with a more logical explanation for part of the plot which Amir didn't like as it outsmarted him.
In chapter five there is gunshots heard from the streets as there is a war going on between the republicans and royalists due to the new republic government. After Amir and Hassan decide to go to the pomegranate tree but are stopped by the street bully Assef. He threatens to beat up Amir and Hassan but Hassan pulls out his slingshot, protecting Amir and making them walk away. Several times did Assef make insulting remarks to Hassan about being a Hazara. The reader then finds out that Baba is very nice to Hassan and gives him a Christman present every year and this year he had hired a Doctor, Dr. Kumar to fix his cleft lip. The chapter ends with irony as because when the scar healed, Amir describes the winter that "Hassan stopped smiling."
