The Kite Runner, Chapter 13

In chapter 13 Amir and Baba go to Taheri’s house for a “giving word” ceremony. It means that General has to agree that Amir will be in his family, which he does. In the house are two dozen people, but Soraya, as a fiancée, cannot be there.  According to the tradition there’s “eating of the sweets” ceremony which takes a few months, but they skip it, because of Baba’s cancer, he has not that much time. He also spends all his money on Amir’s wedding. Then there is just the final “swearing” ceremony and have their first night.

After wedding is Soraya moving to Amir, because they have to care about sick Baba and few months after wedding Baba dies in sleep. But before he died, he for the first time support Amir’s writing, when Soraya is reading to him Amir’s story.

Amir and Soraya are often meeting her parents, so Amir gets to know them much more. He finds out that General has once a month horrible headaches and that Khanum Taheri was in Kabul a famous singer, but she had to quit when she married General.

On Soraya’s uncle’s wedding two women are talking about Soraya and she get upset and when Amir is talking to her, she tells him more about her live in Virginia. The night the General came for her, he had a gun with him. He said that if Soraya will not go with him he will kill her boyfriend and then himself. After that Soraya decided to go with him and at home he cut off all her hair. 

Because they don’t have to live in the old apartment anymore, they move to one-bedroom apartment. Amir enrolls at San Jose State and declares English as his major and Soraya enrolls a year later and declares Education, but the General isn’t happy about it, because he wanted her to be a lawyer or politician. Amir also finishes his first novel and gets an agent, so he is now a published novelist.

Amir and Soraya are trying to have a baby, but they don’t succeed, so they go to the doctor and have a lot of test. But even after the tests they still don’t know why they cannot get pregnant. The doctor tell them about adoption and they start to thinking about it, but when they say it to General, he starts to talk about family and how the blood is important, so on the end even they don’t want it. On the end of the chapter they’re moving to new house.

Chapter 19

Amir enters Afghanistan with the help of Farid, a man who has contempt for Amir because he was born with privilege. Farid dislikes Amir at first because he believes that the only reason Amir is returning to Afghanistan is so he can sell off property, and then make money. Farid takes Amir to Wahid's house, where Amir is served a dinner, which he offers to share with Wahid's children. Amir notices that the children are staring at his watch. During dinner, Amir reveals to Wahid and his family that he has returned to Afghanistan in order to rescue his half brother's son. This is suprising, because Amir is very reluctant to reveal his father's lack of pride and honor. Later on, he overhears Wahid and his wife arguing that they had to give food to Amir since he was a guest, even though they barely had any food for themselves. Farid thinks better of him when he learns why he is going to Kabul. Farid and Amir leave the house, and Amir gives his watch to one of the children. However, Amir realizes the kids weren't staring at his watch at all, they were staring at his food. At the very end of the chapter, Amir puts money under his matress for the children to find and buy food with. He also realized it had been 26 years since he had put money under someone's bed; the first time, however, was for a terrible purpose. This kind of reveals how much Amir has grown and changed as a man.

Chapter 21

Chapter twenty-one starts with Amir and Farid driving through Pashtunistan Square. While driving Amir gets to see all the damage and changes that have happened to the city since he lived there. This brings back memories about how Kabul used to be. They also drive back to Amir’s old neighbourhood, Wazir Akbar Khan, where Amir is shocked that most of the houses are still in pretty good shape. Farid explains the reason for this is that the people behind Taliban – or the ‘’real brains of the government’’ live here. Amir keeps walking around Baba’s old house and thinks back of how his life used to be.

Later they check into a hotel in Pushtinstan Square, where the toilet is broken, there is no hot water, a bloodstain and a worn out mattress, still he has to pay $75 for the night. They tell each other Mullah Nasruddin jokes until Farid falls asleep.

The next day, they go to a big stadium called Ghazi Stadium where they watch a soccer match. Through the whole game Talib guards roam the aisles for people who cheer to loudly. Halfway through the game, tree red pickups drive into the field. It is the Taliban with two adulteresses, who they place in two holes in the ground, and the Talib start’s to stone them. Once they are killed the guards load them back up in the truck and the soccer game continues.

The chapter ends with Amir and Farid arranging a tree o’clock meeting with the Taliban official. 

The Kite Runner, Chapter 15

Amir arrived in Peshawar, Pakistan. When he saw the town, one of the things he thought about, was that the city reminded him of Kabul. In the taxi, on his way to Rahim Khan, the taxi-driver tells him a lot about the town, and that many Afghans ended up in Peshawar after they fled from Afghanistan. When Amir arrived at Rahim Khans place, he realized that his friend was very ill, and that he was going to die within the nearer future. He wants to take Rahim Khan to America, so that he can see a good doctor and become fine again, but Rahim Khan believes in God’s will, and accepts his "faith".   

The main part of the chapter is dominated by a conversation between Amir and Rahim Khan. They talked about Afghanistan, Amir’s current life in America, his wife and work. After a while the conversation turned over to a more serious dialog. Rahim Khan began to talk about Hassan, and that he lived with Hassan in Baba’s house after the two of them had left Kabul. They talked a lot about what had happened in the past, and Amir learned that Rahim Khan knew everything about what happened that winter of 1975. Rahim Khan had one dying wish at the end of the chapter, and told Amir that he can do something “to be good again”. The chapter ends with Rahim Khan saying that he wants to tell Amir about Hassan, before he tells him what to do. 

Chapter 6

In chapter 6, it's winter and for the boys, the best season of the year. The school closes for the icy season. The winter games is right around the corner and the biggest highlight of the year. Baba takes Amir and Hassan to buy kites from an old blind man which makes the best kites in the city. In the winter games, boys battle kites by covering the stings in broken glass. When the string is cut, the loosing kite flies loose, and the boys called kite runners chase the kites back and forth who tries to catch the kite before it hits the ground. Hassan is the best kite runner in Kabul, and he seems to know exactly where it will land.

The Kite Runner, Chapter 10

It’s March 1981. Amir and Baba are in the back of a truck with several other Afghani people on their way to Pakistan. The uncomfortable ride makes Amir sick, and once again Amir feels like he embarrasses his father. Because of the situation in their homeland, they can no longer trust anyone. Therefore, they left in the middle of the night in order to leave without anyone knowing. Because of the rafiqs, the society is now divided and people turn each other in for money or under threat. Karim, the owner of the truck is a people smuggler and he has a business arrangement with the Russian soldiers guarding the road. When the truck finally arrives at the checkpoint, one of the Russian guards eyes a woman sitting in the back of the truck, and out of nowhere, he says that the price of passing is half an hour with her. As the woman bursts into tears, Baba says that he won’t allow it to happen. The Russian soldier threatens to shoot Baba and raises his handgun. Fortunately, another Russian stops him. After they eventually have passed the checkpoint, the husband of the woman kisses Baba’s hand.

When they arrive in Jalalabad where they are supposed to switch truck, Karim says that the truck they need broke last week. Baba erupts in anger and attacks Karim for not telling them this earlier.

For about a week, they stay in an apartment with several other refugees. Amir counts around thirty people. He recognizes one of them to be Kamal. Kamal looks sick and depressed and his father is there as well. Amir overhears a conversation between Kamal’s father and Baba, where Kamal’s father tells Baba about the incident that has made his son so weak. Kamal is in bad condition and he no longer speaks, he just stares.

Finally, Karim finds a new truck that can take them to Pakistan. It’s a fuel truck, and the air is so thick that it causes difficulties breathing. Once they arrive in Pakistan, Kamal’s father suddenly starts screaming. His son is not breathing anymore. He attacks Karim and wrestles his handgun away. Before anyone manages to act, Kamal’s father put the gun in his own mouth and shoots.

The Kite Runner, Chapter 17

Chapter 17

In this chapter Amir is talking to Rahim Khan about Hassan. Rahim Khan gives Amir some letters that Hassan has written to him over the last couple of years. After reading the letters Amir wonders how Hassan is now. Rahim Khan tells him the awful news that his dear friend is dead. Before this Rahim Khan has told Amir that Hassan has a son, and after telling Amir about Hassan´s death he asks Amir to go to Kabul and bring Hassan´s son back. Amir has a look of incredulousness on his face when he hears this and is very sceptical. Rahim Khan then tells Amir a big secret that he and Baba has kept from him for years, namely that Hassan is really his half brother. Amir is shocked and storms out of Rahim Khans apartment.

Written by: Sunniva Mjøen Østgaard