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* SinisterMinister: In general, members of the Taliban. In particular, the Taliban man who leads the stoning of a young couple in a football stadium. [[spoiler:Turns out it's [[SchoolyardBullyAllGrownUp Assef]].]]
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* SinisterMinister: In general, members of the Taliban. In particular, the Taliban man with the John Lennon sunglasses who leads the stoning of a young couple in a football stadium. [[spoiler:Turns out it's [[SchoolyardBullyAllGrownUp Assef]].]]
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* SinisterMinister: In general, members of the Taliban. In particular, the Taliban man who leads the stoning of a young couple in a football stadium. [[spoiler:Turns out it's [[SchoolyardBullyAllGrownUp Assef]].]]
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* AbusiveParents: Baba can come off as this, [[WellDoneSoneGuy ignoring most of Amir's achievements,]] because Amir is more interested in poetry and he is an [[LightningBruiser extremly physical man.]]
to:
* AbusiveParents: Baba can come off as this, [[WellDoneSoneGuy [[WellDoneSonGuy ignoring most of Amir's achievements,]] because Amir is more interested in poetry and he Baba is an [[LightningBruiser extremly physical man.]]
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''The Kite Runner'' is a novel written in 2003 by Creator/KhaledHosseini. It is his first novel, the second being AThousandSplendidSuns.
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''The Kite Runner'' is a novel written in 2003 by Creator/KhaledHosseini. It is his first novel, the second being AThousandSplendidSuns.
''Literature/AThousandSplendidSuns'' and his third being ''Literature/AndTheMountainsEchoed''.
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* OneHitWonder: Zekeria Ebrahimi and Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada,the Afghan child actors who played young Amir and young Hassan respectively, had never acted before and have never acted again. In fact, acting in the movie caused major problems after shooting finished, because many questioned sending them back to Kabul, where their families feared attacks because of the homosexual themes in the movie. They were relocated to the United Arab Emirates.
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''The Kite Runner'' is a novel written in 2003 by Khaled Hosseini. It is his first novel, the second being AThousandSplendidSuns.
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''The Kite Runner'' is a novel written in 2003 by Khaled Hosseini.Creator/KhaledHosseini. It is his first novel, the second being AThousandSplendidSuns.
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-->''"For you, a thousand times over."''
-->''"...but time can be a greedy thing. Sometimes it steals all the details for itself."''
-->''"...but time can be a greedy thing. Sometimes it steals all the details for itself."''
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* AbusiveParents: Baba can come off as this, [[WellDoneSoneGuy ignoring most of Amir's achievements,]] because Amir is more interested in poetry and he is an [[LightningBruiser extremly physical man.]]
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* KnightTemplar: Baba feels like this at times, blowing off the Koran for his own interpretation, almost never [[NeverMyFault accepting that his stubborness causes problems,]] and [[AbusiveParents neglecting Amir]] because Amir is not like him
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* OneDegreeOfSeparation: {{Lampshaded}} when a random beggar off the street happens to know Amir's mother. According to the book, this is in fact a pretty common occurrence in Afghanistan.
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* OneDegreeOfSeparation: {{Lampshaded}} when a random beggar off the street [[YourCheatingHeart happens to know "know" Amir's mother. mother.]] According to the book, this is in fact a pretty common occurrence in Afghanistan.
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* WillfullyWeak: In physical terms, Hassan and his son Sohrab practically look the same. The difference however is that Hassan doesn't let his sufferings affect him, while Sohrab feels so defeated to the point of [[spoiler: committing suicide.]]
to:
* WillfullyWeak: In physical terms, Hassan and his son Sohrab practically look the same. The difference however is that Hassan doesn't let his sufferings affect him, while Sohrab feels so defeated to the point of [[spoiler: committing attempting suicide.]]
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* OrphanageOfFear: Where Sohrab is sent.
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* OrphanageOfFear: Where Sohrab is sent. Subverted in that it is really an OrphanageOfLove the one who manages it is trying his hardest to keep it that way but, due to circumstances, he forced to make sacrifices against his will.
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* AllGermansAreNazis: Subverted. Half-German Assef is a walking example of GodwinsLaw, but his German mother seems to disapprove of his Hitler-worship.
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* TheSociopath: Assef is outright named as one.
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* TooHappyToLive: The mother's Amir was ''[[GenreSavvy scared]]'' for her happiness.
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* InterruptedSuicide: [[spoiler: Sohrab.]]
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* InterruptedSuicide: [[spoiler: Sohrab.]]
* TheReveal: Both a protagonist and an antagonist reveal.
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* [[BigBrotherMentor Step-Father Mentor]]: Rahim Kahn to Amir.
* [[BigBrotherMentor Step-Father Mentor]]: Rahim Kahn to Amir.
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* TheReveal: Both a protagonist and an antagonist reveal.
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* FromBadToWorse: While not exactly a paradise in the early sections, over the course of the novel Afghanistan deteriorates amidst the Soviet invasion. And eventually culminating in Taliban rule.
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* BrokenBird: Sohrab, Sohrab, ''Sohrab''.
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It is currently part of the [[BritishEducationSystem GCSE syllabus]] in the UK.
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It is currently part of the [[BritishEducationSystem [[UsefulNotes/BritishEducationSystem GCSE syllabus]] in the UK.
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Removed unnecessary \"and\"
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The story begins in Afghanistan in the 1960's, and follows Amir, a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pashtun Pashtun]] and a member of the Kabul upper class. His father's servant, Hassan, is a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hazara_people Hazara]], one of the North Afghan tribes (the Pashtuns inhabit the south, along with related regions in Pakistan and Iran). Amir and Hassan are best friends and treat each other like brothers, despite their socio-economic and differences. One day, Hassan is subjected to a traumatizing event; Amir witnesses this but due to his cowardice, does nothing to help his friend. This causes a rift between the two and eventually they separate ways.
to:
The story begins in Afghanistan in the 1960's, and follows Amir, a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pashtun Pashtun]] and a member of the Kabul upper class. His father's servant, Hassan, is a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hazara_people Hazara]], one of the North Afghan tribes (the Pashtuns inhabit the south, along with related regions in Pakistan and Iran). Amir and Hassan are best friends and treat each other like brothers, despite their socio-economic and differences. One day, Hassan is subjected to a traumatizing event; Amir witnesses this but due to his cowardice, does nothing to help his friend. This causes a rift between the two and eventually they separate ways.
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The story begins in Afghanistan in the 1960's, and follows Amir, a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pashtun Pashtun]] and a member of the Kabul upper class. His father's servant, Hassan, is a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hazara_people Hazara]], one of the North Afghan tribes (the Pashtuns inhabit the south, along with related regions in Pakistan and Iran). Amir and Hassan are best friends and treat each other like brothers, despite their socio-economic and racial differences. One day, Hassan is subjected to a traumatizing event; Amir witnesses this but due to his cowardice, does nothing to help his friend. This causes a rift between the two and eventually they separate ways.
to:
The story begins in Afghanistan in the 1960's, and follows Amir, a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pashtun Pashtun]] and a member of the Kabul upper class. His father's servant, Hassan, is a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hazara_people Hazara]], one of the North Afghan tribes (the Pashtuns inhabit the south, along with related regions in Pakistan and Iran). Amir and Hassan are best friends and treat each other like brothers, despite their socio-economic and racial differences. One day, Hassan is subjected to a traumatizing event; Amir witnesses this but due to his cowardice, does nothing to help his friend. This causes a rift between the two and eventually they separate ways.
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It is currently part of the [[BritishEducationSystem A-Level syllabus]] in the UK.
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It is currently part of the [[BritishEducationSystem A-Level GCSE syllabus]] in the UK.
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** One of the things a young Amir says to try to get Baba's attention is [[spoiler:"I have cancer."]]
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** One On a picnic that Baba and a young Amir take, one of the things a young Amir says to try to get Baba's attention is [[spoiler:"I think I have cancer."]]
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* HopeSpot: [[spoiler: The novel ends with the mute Sohrab giving Amir a small smile. Grim as the novel has been, this actually gives it the tiniest hope of a happy ending one day.]]
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* WhatTheHellHero: another driving force behind the plot.
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* WhatTheHellHero: another Another driving force behind the plot.
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* ForgivenButNotForgotten: What forgiveness that does occur always has this effect.
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* ForgivenButNotForgotten: What forgiveness that does occur nearly always has this effect.
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* ForgiveButNotForgotten: What forgiveness that does occur always has this effect.
* GrowingUpSucks: [[spoiler:Most prominently Amir, who still lives with his guilt very much in mind.]
* GrowingUpSucks: [[spoiler:Most prominently Amir, who still lives with his guilt very much in mind.]
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* ForgiveButNotForgotten: ForgivenButNotForgotten: What forgiveness that does occur always has this effect.
* GrowingUpSucks: [[spoiler:Most prominently Amir, who still lives with his guilt very much in mind.]]]
* GrowingUpSucks: [[spoiler:Most prominently Amir, who still lives with his guilt very much in mind.
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* BlackAndGreyMorality: Often the case with Amir and the antagonist(s) in the novel.
* CorruptChurch: The Taliban and their interpretation of Islam, taking this trope to its utmost extreme.
* CrapsackWorld: Virtually all locations in the novel have some degree of crapsackness to them. This is mainly [[spoiler:when Amir returns to Pakistan and Afghanistan]], but even the US is much more like a FalseUtopia than an ideal world.
* CrapsackWorld: Virtually all locations in the novel have some degree of crapsackness to them. This is mainly [[spoiler:when Amir returns to Pakistan and Afghanistan]], but even the US is much more like a FalseUtopia than an ideal world.
* DespairEventHorizon: [[spoiler:Sohrab when he attempts suicide, but this is later subverted when there are the smallest glints of hope in the very last pages of the novel. Still, considering how pessimistic the novel has been, it's reasonable to assume that they will not amount to anything.]]
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* {{Foreshadowing}}: "Baba walked out of the welfare office like [[spoiler:a man cured of a tumor]]." A completely forgettable line, blink and you'll miss it--then when you reread the story you realize just how blatantly obvious that one was.
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* {{Foreshadowing}}: [[{{Understatement}} Hosseini likes this a lot.]] There is so, ''so'' much of it. It's so blindingly obvious most of the time, if you ever reread the story, you might well be sick of it. Some examples are below:
** "Baba walked out of the welfare office like [[spoiler:a man cured of a tumor]]." A completely forgettable line, blink and you'll miss it--then when you reread the story you realize just how blatantly obvious that one was.
** "Baba walked out of the welfare office like [[spoiler:a man cured of a tumor]]." A completely forgettable line, blink and you'll miss it--then when you reread the story you realize just how blatantly obvious that one was.
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* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: [[spoiler:Amir's attempts at full redemption.]]
* ForgiveButNotForgotten: What forgiveness that does occur always has this effect.
* GrowingUpSucks: [[spoiler:Most prominently Amir, who still lives with his guilt very much in mind.]
* ForgiveButNotForgotten: What forgiveness that does occur always has this effect.
* GrowingUpSucks: [[spoiler:Most prominently Amir, who still lives with his guilt very much in mind.]
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* ReligionIsWrong: How it is presented for quite a bit of the novel, especially when Baba and [[spoiler:the Taliban]] are around, but on the flip side it is widely accepted as a part of everyone's lives.
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* WretchedHive: Kabul after the Soviet invasion, and even more in the violence that follows their withdrawal.
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It is currently part of the [[BritishEducationSystem A-Level syllabus]] in the UK.
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* TroubledChild: Sohrab, which isn't too surprising considering all the shit he had been through even before Amir meets him.
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* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler: Sohrab.]]
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* InterruptedSuicide: [[spoiler: Sohrab.]]
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* YourCheatingHeart: [[spoiler: Ali's wife Sanaubar cheated on him with Baba and conceived Hassan.]]
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[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kite_runner.jpg]]
''The Kite Runner'' is a novel written in 2003 by Khaled Hosseini. It is his first novel, the second being AThousandSplendidSuns.
The story begins in Afghanistan in the 1960's, and follows Amir, a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pashtun Pashtun]] and a member of the Kabul upper class. His father's servant, Hassan, is a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hazara_people Hazara]], one of the North Afghan tribes (the Pashtuns inhabit the south, along with related regions in Pakistan and Iran). Amir and Hassan are best friends and treat each other like brothers, despite their socio-economic and racial differences. One day, Hassan is subjected to a traumatizing event; Amir witnesses this but due to his cowardice, does nothing to help his friend. This causes a rift between the two and eventually they separate ways.
Many years later, Amir is married and has a relatively good life in the United States, having tucked away his guilt and past. One day he receives a phone call from his father's good friend, asking him to return to Kabul as an important matter awaits him there. It becomes apparent that he finally has to face his wrongdoings and somehow make amends by taking this journey.
In 2007, a movie was made based on the novel, directed by Marc Forster (''FindingNeverland'', ''Film/QuantumOfSolace''). The novel was even adapted into a GraphicNovel.
----
!!This novel provides examples of:
* AdaptationDyeJob: In the book, Hassan was described as having light brown hair and Assef of mixed race and having blond hair. In the movie, both characters have black hair.
* ArcWords: ''For you, a thousand times over.''
* BadassIsraeli: Baba has this opinion.
* BeardOfEvil: [[spoiler:Assef.]]
* BlondGuysAreEvil: Assef.
* BratsWithSlingshots: Probably one of the most dramatic uses.
* CainAndAbel: Amir to Hassan in childhood, with Baba playing a God who favors Hassan over Amir. They are brothers in spirit, having fed from the same breast and been raised together. And while loved by Hassan, Amir [[spoiler:sacrified Hassan by failing to intervene in Assef's raping of Hassan. Amir did this so that Hassan could bring home a kite that would bring favor to Amir from Baba. Feeling guilty and also wanting to have Baba to himself, Amir later sacrified Hassan again, this time by framing Hassan with theft]].
* [[CaliforniaDoubling China Doubling]]: Some scenes in the movie were filmed in Kashgar, China (a city in the far western part of China) instead of Afghanistan, because there wasn't any snow in Kabul in the summer.
* DeathByChildbirth: Amir's mother died giving birth to him.
* DepravedBisexual: Assef.
* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler: Sohrab.]]
* DumbStruck: [[spoiler:Kamal and then Sohrab.]]
* DuringTheWar: Includes the Soviet Invasion.
* EarnYourHappyEnding
* EvenEvilHasStandards: As Amir says, "sociopath" is indeed the right word to describe Assef. But [[spoiler: before he fights Amir, he tells the guards that if Amir leaves the room alive and he doesn't, Amir is to be allowed to pass since he has earned his freedom.]]
* EyeScream: At the end, Sohrab [[spoiler: finishes what Hassan started and shoots out Assef's eye]].
* {{Foreshadowing}}: "Baba walked out of the welfare office like [[spoiler:a man cured of a tumor]]." A completely forgettable line, blink and you'll miss it--then when you reread the story you realize just how blatantly obvious that one was.
** One of the things a young Amir says to try to get Baba's attention is [[spoiler:"I have cancer."]]
* InTheBlood: All over the place, such as: Hassan's son is said to be very much like him, which plays this straight. [[spoiler: Seemingly subverted with Amir and Baba, as Amir believes Baba hates him for not being the image of a man as he was, but played straight and [[LampshadeHanging noted]] by Amir that his hatred of him may have stemmed from his guilt over how Baba was Hassan's actual father through an affair with Hassan's mother, and they both had past shames. Averted with Hassan, as he is a much more kindly person than his biological father, and said to be near-impossible to anger as opposed to Baba, who is much like Hassan's perceived father.]]
* LaserGuidedKarma: Assef's friend Kamal, who helps him rape [[spoiler: Hassan, later appears in a catatonic state and is implied to have been gang-raped himself. Then he dies, in what's not quite a KarmicDeath]].
** [[spoiler: Amir lets loyal Hassan get raped so he can continue his goal of impressing Baba. Years later, Amir gets a sever beating from the rapist. Among his many injuries is a split lip resembling Hassan's harelip. It's a DiscussedTrope by Amir, who notes the deformed lip similarity and feels he got what he deserved all those years]].
** See also EyeScream above for [[spoiler:Assef]].
* LongLostRelative: [[spoiler: Hassan is Amir's half-brother.]]
* [[MagicalNegro Magical Hazara]]: Hassan. Servile? Check. Unappreciated? Absolutely. Vaguely not of this world? Too true. Rescues the hero? Uh-huh. Imparts small nuggets of ill-educated homespun wisdom? All the time. Minority? Clearly. [[spoiler: Killed off when melodramatically expedient? Yep.]] Primitive stereotype? Unfortunately.
* MostWritersAreWriters: Amir even writes a book about a writer himself.
* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: [[spoiler: Assef's beatdown of Amir. With brass knuckles.]]
* OneDegreeOfSeparation: {{Lampshaded}} when a random beggar off the street happens to know Amir's mother. According to the book, this is in fact a pretty common occurrence in Afghanistan.
* OneHitWonder: Zekeria Ebrahimi and Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada,the Afghan child actors who played young Amir and young Hassan respectively, had never acted before and have never acted again. In fact, acting in the movie caused major problems after shooting finished, because many questioned sending them back to Kabul, where their families feared attacks because of the homosexual themes in the movie. They were relocated to the United Arab Emirates.
* OrphanageOfFear: Where Sohrab is sent.
* PlotHole: In-universe. As revealed to Amir by Hassan about Amir's story; why didn't the poor man use an onion to shed tears instead of trying to make himself sad?
** [[{{Irony}} Topped off with how Hassan is uneducated]] and how Amir learned about irony on the same day.
* RapeAsDrama: Assef's rape of [[spoiler:Hassan]], serving as a main plot turn.
* RedemptionQuest: Amir going to rescue Sohrab is used as redemption for how cowardly he had been in the past.
* ScarpiaUltimatum: When Amir and his father are leaving Afghanistan, the Russian guard will only let the truck carrying them into Pakistan if he can have sex with one of the women. Baba stands up for the couple. Also to a lesser extent with [[spoiler: Assef and Hassan.]]
* [[spoiler: SchoolyardBullyAllGrownUp]]: Assef is a pretty typical example.
* SeriousBusiness: Kite-fighting. It's pretty much TruthInTelevision.
* [[BigBrotherMentor Step-Father Mentor]]: Rahim Kahn to Amir.
* ShoutOut: A very minor character in the book is named ''Mariam'', which would eventually be one of the main characters' name in Hosseini's second novel.
** EarlyBirdCameo?
* SomeoneToRememberHimBy: [[spoiler: Sohrab, a spitting image of his father, Hassan.]]
* {{Spoiler}}: In one part of the book, Amir learns while living in America that western culture frowns upon people giving away the ending of movies.
* SweetieGraffiti: Amir carves ''Amir and Hassan, the sultans of Kabul'', into a pomegranate tree with Ali's kitchen knives.
* TheReveal: Both a protagonist and an antagonist reveal.
* ThereAreNoTherapists: [[spoiler: Sohrab was repeatedly sexually abused, tried to commit suicide after he thought Amir betrayed him, then didn't speak for over a year. There was no therapy. Probably there actually ''were'' no therapists either, in Afghanistan at the time.]]
* UndyingLoyalty: A trait of Hassan that serves as one of the driving forces of the plot.
* WellDoneSonGuy: Baba, to Amir.
* WhatTheHellHero: another driving force behind the plot.
* WillfullyWeak: In physical terms, Hassan and his son Sohrab practically look the same. The difference however is that Hassan doesn't let his sufferings affect him, while Sohrab feels so defeated to the point of [[spoiler: committing suicide.]]
* YouAreTheTranslatedForeignWord
----
''The Kite Runner'' is a novel written in 2003 by Khaled Hosseini. It is his first novel, the second being AThousandSplendidSuns.
The story begins in Afghanistan in the 1960's, and follows Amir, a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pashtun Pashtun]] and a member of the Kabul upper class. His father's servant, Hassan, is a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hazara_people Hazara]], one of the North Afghan tribes (the Pashtuns inhabit the south, along with related regions in Pakistan and Iran). Amir and Hassan are best friends and treat each other like brothers, despite their socio-economic and racial differences. One day, Hassan is subjected to a traumatizing event; Amir witnesses this but due to his cowardice, does nothing to help his friend. This causes a rift between the two and eventually they separate ways.
Many years later, Amir is married and has a relatively good life in the United States, having tucked away his guilt and past. One day he receives a phone call from his father's good friend, asking him to return to Kabul as an important matter awaits him there. It becomes apparent that he finally has to face his wrongdoings and somehow make amends by taking this journey.
In 2007, a movie was made based on the novel, directed by Marc Forster (''FindingNeverland'', ''Film/QuantumOfSolace''). The novel was even adapted into a GraphicNovel.
----
!!This novel provides examples of:
* AdaptationDyeJob: In the book, Hassan was described as having light brown hair and Assef of mixed race and having blond hair. In the movie, both characters have black hair.
* ArcWords: ''For you, a thousand times over.''
* BadassIsraeli: Baba has this opinion.
* BeardOfEvil: [[spoiler:Assef.]]
* BlondGuysAreEvil: Assef.
* BratsWithSlingshots: Probably one of the most dramatic uses.
* CainAndAbel: Amir to Hassan in childhood, with Baba playing a God who favors Hassan over Amir. They are brothers in spirit, having fed from the same breast and been raised together. And while loved by Hassan, Amir [[spoiler:sacrified Hassan by failing to intervene in Assef's raping of Hassan. Amir did this so that Hassan could bring home a kite that would bring favor to Amir from Baba. Feeling guilty and also wanting to have Baba to himself, Amir later sacrified Hassan again, this time by framing Hassan with theft]].
* [[CaliforniaDoubling China Doubling]]: Some scenes in the movie were filmed in Kashgar, China (a city in the far western part of China) instead of Afghanistan, because there wasn't any snow in Kabul in the summer.
* DeathByChildbirth: Amir's mother died giving birth to him.
* DepravedBisexual: Assef.
* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler: Sohrab.]]
* DumbStruck: [[spoiler:Kamal and then Sohrab.]]
* DuringTheWar: Includes the Soviet Invasion.
* EarnYourHappyEnding
* EvenEvilHasStandards: As Amir says, "sociopath" is indeed the right word to describe Assef. But [[spoiler: before he fights Amir, he tells the guards that if Amir leaves the room alive and he doesn't, Amir is to be allowed to pass since he has earned his freedom.]]
* EyeScream: At the end, Sohrab [[spoiler: finishes what Hassan started and shoots out Assef's eye]].
* {{Foreshadowing}}: "Baba walked out of the welfare office like [[spoiler:a man cured of a tumor]]." A completely forgettable line, blink and you'll miss it--then when you reread the story you realize just how blatantly obvious that one was.
** One of the things a young Amir says to try to get Baba's attention is [[spoiler:"I have cancer."]]
* InTheBlood: All over the place, such as: Hassan's son is said to be very much like him, which plays this straight. [[spoiler: Seemingly subverted with Amir and Baba, as Amir believes Baba hates him for not being the image of a man as he was, but played straight and [[LampshadeHanging noted]] by Amir that his hatred of him may have stemmed from his guilt over how Baba was Hassan's actual father through an affair with Hassan's mother, and they both had past shames. Averted with Hassan, as he is a much more kindly person than his biological father, and said to be near-impossible to anger as opposed to Baba, who is much like Hassan's perceived father.]]
* LaserGuidedKarma: Assef's friend Kamal, who helps him rape [[spoiler: Hassan, later appears in a catatonic state and is implied to have been gang-raped himself. Then he dies, in what's not quite a KarmicDeath]].
** [[spoiler: Amir lets loyal Hassan get raped so he can continue his goal of impressing Baba. Years later, Amir gets a sever beating from the rapist. Among his many injuries is a split lip resembling Hassan's harelip. It's a DiscussedTrope by Amir, who notes the deformed lip similarity and feels he got what he deserved all those years]].
** See also EyeScream above for [[spoiler:Assef]].
* LongLostRelative: [[spoiler: Hassan is Amir's half-brother.]]
* [[MagicalNegro Magical Hazara]]: Hassan. Servile? Check. Unappreciated? Absolutely. Vaguely not of this world? Too true. Rescues the hero? Uh-huh. Imparts small nuggets of ill-educated homespun wisdom? All the time. Minority? Clearly. [[spoiler: Killed off when melodramatically expedient? Yep.]] Primitive stereotype? Unfortunately.
* MostWritersAreWriters: Amir even writes a book about a writer himself.
* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: [[spoiler: Assef's beatdown of Amir. With brass knuckles.]]
* OneDegreeOfSeparation: {{Lampshaded}} when a random beggar off the street happens to know Amir's mother. According to the book, this is in fact a pretty common occurrence in Afghanistan.
* OneHitWonder: Zekeria Ebrahimi and Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada,the Afghan child actors who played young Amir and young Hassan respectively, had never acted before and have never acted again. In fact, acting in the movie caused major problems after shooting finished, because many questioned sending them back to Kabul, where their families feared attacks because of the homosexual themes in the movie. They were relocated to the United Arab Emirates.
* OrphanageOfFear: Where Sohrab is sent.
* PlotHole: In-universe. As revealed to Amir by Hassan about Amir's story; why didn't the poor man use an onion to shed tears instead of trying to make himself sad?
** [[{{Irony}} Topped off with how Hassan is uneducated]] and how Amir learned about irony on the same day.
* RapeAsDrama: Assef's rape of [[spoiler:Hassan]], serving as a main plot turn.
* RedemptionQuest: Amir going to rescue Sohrab is used as redemption for how cowardly he had been in the past.
* ScarpiaUltimatum: When Amir and his father are leaving Afghanistan, the Russian guard will only let the truck carrying them into Pakistan if he can have sex with one of the women. Baba stands up for the couple. Also to a lesser extent with [[spoiler: Assef and Hassan.]]
* [[spoiler: SchoolyardBullyAllGrownUp]]: Assef is a pretty typical example.
* SeriousBusiness: Kite-fighting. It's pretty much TruthInTelevision.
* [[BigBrotherMentor Step-Father Mentor]]: Rahim Kahn to Amir.
* ShoutOut: A very minor character in the book is named ''Mariam'', which would eventually be one of the main characters' name in Hosseini's second novel.
** EarlyBirdCameo?
* SomeoneToRememberHimBy: [[spoiler: Sohrab, a spitting image of his father, Hassan.]]
* {{Spoiler}}: In one part of the book, Amir learns while living in America that western culture frowns upon people giving away the ending of movies.
* SweetieGraffiti: Amir carves ''Amir and Hassan, the sultans of Kabul'', into a pomegranate tree with Ali's kitchen knives.
* TheReveal: Both a protagonist and an antagonist reveal.
* ThereAreNoTherapists: [[spoiler: Sohrab was repeatedly sexually abused, tried to commit suicide after he thought Amir betrayed him, then didn't speak for over a year. There was no therapy. Probably there actually ''were'' no therapists either, in Afghanistan at the time.]]
* UndyingLoyalty: A trait of Hassan that serves as one of the driving forces of the plot.
* WellDoneSonGuy: Baba, to Amir.
* WhatTheHellHero: another driving force behind the plot.
* WillfullyWeak: In physical terms, Hassan and his son Sohrab practically look the same. The difference however is that Hassan doesn't let his sufferings affect him, while Sohrab feels so defeated to the point of [[spoiler: committing suicide.]]
* YouAreTheTranslatedForeignWord
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