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Review and Study Guide for Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner
After moving from Afghanistan to America, a man's history haunts him, compelling him to return.
by Ari Armstrong, Copyright © 2026
I read this book as part of my review of the books suppressed by Colorado's Elizabeth School District. See the main document.
Note: This fictional book depicts the rape of a minor, violence, and murder.
The Kite Runner
Khaled Hosseini
Riverhead Books, 2013 (originally published 2003), 10th Anniversary Edition
The Khaled Hosseini Foundation assists vulnerable Afghans.
Reading Notes
I did not know what to expect getting into The Kite Runner. I soon found myself enmeshed in a story of friendship and betrayal, a story of coming of age, a story of civilizational collapse, ultimately a story of redemption.
This is great fiction, powerful and meaningful story-telling. That the Elizabeth School District pulled this book from high school library shelves is ridiculous. I'll have more to say about that elsewhere.
In his 2013 foreword, Hosseini describes the many letters he's received from readers: "In these letters, I see the unique ability fiction has to connect people, and I see how universal some human experiences are: shame, guilt, regret, friendship, love, forgiveness, atonement."
The book remains extremely relevant both in its portrayal of Afghan history and in its depictions of the horrors of war and social strife.
Regarding rape as a tool of war, The U.N. has out a recent report about the use of rape in Sudan to "terrorize and traumatize civilians."
Afghanistan lost its relative stability when the United States withdrew its troops in 2021. Following are some recent reports about the current state of the country:
NPR: The U.N. cites "at least 1,110 flogging cases last year" for things like adultery and dress-code violations. The story also notes there is a "ban on secondary education for females."
NPR: "The Taliban's restrictions on girls and women have been sweeping and severe, barring girls from secondary schools and women from universities and robbing millions of any formal path to education. . . . Boys are still allowed to attend school, but many say the education being offered inside the classroom has changed so sharply that it no longer prepares them for the future."
CBS describes "a secret school where teen girls dare to continue their education in defiance of a draconian Taliban regime—girls who want their voices to be heard. The students, aged 14 to 16, surprised our team by asking us to share deeply personal messages each had written by hand, begging the world outside to help them escape conditions that have grown unfathomably worse in the five years since the Taliban retook power."
New York Times: Taliban leaders have asked the U.S. "to reopen its embassy and invest in the country."
Nilofar Ayoubi alleges that, while waging "war on women," various Taliban leaders flout their own rules, enrolling their daughters in schools, engaging in "the opium and methamphetamine trade," and enriching themselves with mining deals with China.
Washington Post: "Al-Qaeda is again operating training camps in Afghanistan."
By the way, Colorado students are doing horribly in social studies, judging from the most-recent CMAS scores, so serious educators can only wish that students would read books such as The Kite Runner to learn more about the world around them.
Questions for Discussion and Review
These questions contain significant spoilers. The 10th Anniversary Edition also has its own set of discussion questions at the end.
1. The book begins in 2001, with Amir reflecting back on his youth and thinking, "There is a way to be good again" (p. 2). Soon we learn about Amir's frequent meanness toward Hassan, his lack of action as Hassan is abused by Assef, and his dishonesty that leads to Hassan leaving his household. Yet Rahim Khan also tells Amir, "You've always been too hard on yourself" (p. 222). To what degree does Amir earn the guilt he carries? To what degree is he too hard on himself for the misdeeds of youth?
2. More broadly, to what degree and in what ways should people seek to atone for past sins, and to what degree is that really possible?
3. Amir thinks, "The past claws its way out" (p. 1). What does this say about guilt and the way that actions have consequences?
4. Hassan and his father work as servants in Amir's household, and Amir uncritically accepts these roles. How do prejudices interact with economic conditions to create social hierarchies, in Afghanistan, the United States, and elsewhere?
5. Amir reflects, "Baba saw the world in black and white" (p. 15). How did that tendency shape Baba's personality, choices, and life? In what ways was the tendency good and in what ways not so good?
6. Baba tells Amir, "I see you've confused what you're learning in school with actual education" (p. 16). What does he mean, and how might his remark apply in other contexts?
7. Baba tells Amir, "There is only one sin. . . . and that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft" (p. 17). What does he mean? Is he right? How could he believe this and "steal" the honor of Hassan's father (p. 225)? How do Baba's misdeeds compare with Amir's?
8. "I hadn't turned out like him," Amir reflects about his father (p. 19). How did this dynamic influence Amir's development and his relationship with his father and others?
9. "A boy who won't stand up for himself becomes a man who won't stand up for anything," Baba tells Rahim Khan (p. 22). Is he right or does he ask too much of children and even adults? When is it moral and prudent to stand up for yourself?
10. "I never thought of Hassan and me as friends," Amir reflects (p. 25). What does that say about Amir and about the society in which he grew up?
11. Amir reads from Shahnameh and writes his own stories. What role to stories and myth play in the novel? Why does Hosseini make Amir a novelist?
12. What role do kites play in the development of the story and the characters? What is the function of the repeated line, associated with kites, "For you, a thousand times over" (pp. 67, 371)?
13. "Better to get hurt by the truth than comforted with a lie," Baba tells Amir (p. 58). Is he right? Why is he unable fully to live up to his own principles?
14. Why does Amir pummel Hassan with pomegranates? Why does Hassan take the abuse? (pp. 92–93) Is Hassan's loyalty virtuous or excessive?
15. How does Amir bring himself to do something so terrible as to set up Hassan? Is that psychologically realistic?
16. Baba tells a Russian soldier, "War doesn't negate decency. It demands it, even more than in times of peace" (p. 115). Is he right? Why do so many people in the book and in real life fail to act that way?
17. Why does Baba love "the idea of America" more than the actual experience? What about America does Baba find appealing? (p. 125)
18. What does Soraya's social shame say about her culture's mores? Would Amir have seen beyond her past had it not been for his own past mistakes?
19. Amir moves from doubting the existence of God (p. 154) to being quite religious by the end. What explains the shift?
20. How does Hosseini portray the Taliban, and how does the novel account for the cruelty of men such as Assef?
21. How is Amir finally able to convince himself to go on a dangerous mission to save Hassan's son?
22. What does the rest of the world owe to war-torn or distressed regions such as Afghanistan? Research question: Did the U.S. make a mistake by withdrawing troops in 2021, or was that the right move?
23. Rahim Khan writes to Amir, "A man who has no conscience, no goodness, does not suffer" (p. 301), and "good . . . was born out of your father's remorse" (p. 302). How well do these insights hold up?
24. Hosseini could have written a happier ending. Why does he have Sohrab attempt suicide and have such a rough time making a new home in America?