The Kite Runner Q&A

Amir witnesses Assef raping Hassan with his friends, and he chooses not to intervene because he is willing to sacrifice Hassan for the sake of his father’s approval. Ironically, it is obvious to the reader that if Amir would have stood up to Assef for Hassan and sacrificed the kite, they would have developed a better relationship. Amir saw himself as superior to Hassan, which is why he thought of him as something dispensable.

It is later revealed that Hassan was aware that Amir had willingly sacrificed him to Assef and his friends, yet he was willing to put that incident behind them as long as things between them returned to normal. However, Amir is unable to come to terms with his guilt and he attempts to push him away so that he doesn’t have to continue putting up with his guilt. Amir frames Hassan for theft, and Hassan chooses to accept the accusation to spare Amir from Baba’s wrath. Ali chooses to leave Baba’s service because he no longer wishes to expose Hassan to Amir, whom he fears sees his son as something to be used and disposed of.

It is never quite revealed how or when Rahim Khan learns about what Amir had done to Hassan, but he seems to be aware of it as early as Amir’s thirteenth birthday party. After Amir’s return from Afghanistan with Sohrab, Amir reads a letter in which Rahim Khan asks Amir to forgive himself for the things that he had done unknowingly as a young boy.

In the last few days before Sohrab is rescued from Afghanistan, he goes through several traumatic experiences. He probably watches the Taliban executing both of his parents, lives in an overcrowded Orphanage, gets sold to Assef and his soldiers, experiences sexual abuse at their hands, and then leaves behind everything to be with Amir, who claims to be his uncle. Sohrab’s capacity for change and sadness is thoroughly tested, and he finds himself unable to go on when he learns that Amir wishes for him to spend a little time in the orphanage. Sohrab decides that he is too tired to go on living, and would rather end his life than experience any further pain.