The novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini ended with Amir running a kite for Sohrab the way Hassan had ran a kite for him the winter of 1975 after Amir won the kite running competition in Kabul. Before this, Amir and Sohrab had been through pretty difficult situations. Amir had rescued Sohrab from a pack of Taliban whose leader was a man whom Amir knew from his childhood but, didn’t have very good history with. Since Sohrab’s parents had been shot and killed by the Taliban, after Amir rescued Sohrab, he was obligated to play the role of a father figure to Sohrab. On the journey to get Sohrab to America, however, Amir and Sohrab faced a lot of obstacles from the complications that appeared in the adoption process to Sohrab’s suicide attempt. …show more content…
Hosseini writes, “ I pushed the door open. Stepped into the bathroom. Suddenly I was on my knees, screaming. Screaming through my clenched teeth. Screaming until I thought my throat would rip and my chest explode. Later, they said I was still screaming when the ambulance arrived” (343). Amir found Sohrab’s lifeless body in the tub and wouldn't stop screaming because of the horrid image. It is then reader notices that Amir really cares about Sohrab. Amir’s love for Sohrab's is also shown on page 346 when he finds God in the hospital and promises to become more religious and do anything as long as Sohrab lives. I think that’s something that only a very close family member, such as a father would do. Essentially, Amir basically becomes Sohrab’s father because that is the role that he was obligated to play since he was the only male figure he has in his life. Another reason for why Amir also felt obligated to fill that particular position was because he was Sohrab’s uncle. In the novel, Amir says, “My father slept with his servant’s wife. She bore him a son named …show more content…
Soraya, Amir’s wife, liked the idea of a child in their house and had prepared for Sohrab’s coming, but the thing was that Sohrab had not. There, Soraya had a room all set up for Sohrab, “Soraya had told me about the things she was planning for Sohrab. Swimming classes. Soccer. Bowling league. Now she'd walk past Sohrab’s room and catch a glimpse of books sitting unopened in the wicker basket, the growth chart unmarked, the jigsaw puzzle unassembled, each a reminder of a life that could have been. A reminder of a life that could have been. A reminder of a dream that was wilting even as it was budding" (362). Amir had expected Sohrab’s presence to be more fun, but after the trauma of the suicide attempt Sohrab was not the same. In the novel, Amir says, “Silence is pushing the OFF button. Shutting it down. All of it. Sohrab’s silence wasn’t the self-imposed silence of those with convictions, of protesters who seek to speak their cause by not speaking at all. It was the silence of one who has taken cover in a dark place, curled up all the edges and tucked them under.” (361). Sohrab was remote and detached for a while until a day in March of 2002. That day Amir, Soraya, Soraya’s mom, and Sohrab went to a gathering of Afghans at Lake Elizabeth Park in Fremont. There, Amir saw a man who was selling kites like the ones he and Hassan used to fly when they were young. Amir asked Sohrab if he wanted to fly the