The Kite Runner

This book is so good so far! It's interesting to read a book that takes place in a different setting from the places in other books that I've read. The Kite Runner takes place in Afghanistan in the early '80s and progresses as the main character, Amir, grows up. Amir has a tough life: his father is disappointed in him constantly for not being like him, his mother died during child birth, and his only friend is his servant, Hassan. Only, Amir refuses to call him his "friend" even though he's person who he spends time playing with and sees the "face of Afghanistan [as] a thin-boned frame, a shaved head, and low-set ears, a boy with a Chinese doll face perpetually lit by a harelipped smile" (Hosseini 25). He doesn't call Hassan his friend because of their roots and their places in society. Hassan was a Hazara and Amir was a Pashtun, Hassan was a servant-boy and Amir was rich. This is a major motif during the book: these divisions in their society are what separates the boys from practically being brothers.