THE KITE RUNNER SUMMARY The Kite Runner easily divides into three main sections: Amir's childhood in Kabul; Amir and Baba's years in Fremont, California; and, finally, Amir's return to Kabul. The plot covers multiple betrayals and offers the possibility of redemption – though by no means is redemption assured. We'll spend a little more time on the first section since it really sets the rest of the book in motion. It's like the Big Bang – the rest of The Kite Runner's universe takes shape around the early events of the novel. The Early Years in Kabul The early years in Kabul are charmed. Our protagonist, Amir, lives in a fairly posh house with his father, whom he calls Baba, and their servants, Ali and Hassan. (Who, if you're keeping score, are also a father and son duo.) Amir's mother died giving birth to him, and Hassan's mom ran off soon after he was born – so the two young boys both grow up without mothers. As the book likes to point out, they also share the same wet nurse (a woman who nursed them as babies). This apparently makes people very close. There's some tension, though, in the household. Ali and Hassan are Hazaras, which means they're from an ethnic minority. They don't have the same status as Amir and Baba. Though Amir and Baba rarely toss off ethnic slurs at them, Ali gets some abuse from the neighborhood boys. To make things a bit more uncomfortable, Amir doesn't get nearly enough attention from his father. Baba seems to dislike Amir – he's weak and likes poetry instead of bloodthirsty sports, etc. In fact, it sometimes seems like Baba has more affection for his servant boy, Hassan. What's our protagonist to do? Well, the only thing he can do: win a kite-fighting tournament and thus earn his father's love. In Afghanistan, people not only fly kites, they fight them. This involves long kite strings coated in tar and glass; the point is to cut the string of the other kites. So Amir and Hassan set off to win the annual winter kite-fighting tournament. After some snazzy strategy and a little luck, Amir actually wins. All he needs now is for Hassan to chase down the defeated kite, and he'll have his father's love. (Question: Is this a reverse case of a parent trying to buy a child's love?) Hassan takes off after the defeated kite. He snags it, but he also runs into three unsavory