Sohrab Character Analysis in The Kite Runner

Hassan’s son, a boy who is sent to an orphanage when Hassan and Farzana are killed. He is then taken from the orphanage and sexually abused by Assef, until Amir comes for him and brings him back to America. Sohrab is a symbol of all the terrible things that have happened to both the characters and the country of Afghanistan, but he also offers a chance for hope and redemption.

Sohrab Quotes in The Kite Runner

The The Kite Runner quotes below are all either spoken by Sohrab or refer to Sohrab. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

“Sohrab, I can’t give you your old life back, I wish to God I could. But I can take you with me. That was what I was coming in the bathroom to tell you. You have a visa to go to America, to live with me and my wife. It’s true. I promise.”

Related Characters: Amir (speaker), Sohrab

Page Number and Citation: 355

Explanation and Analysis:

Amir has rescued Sohrab and offered to adopt him and take him back to America, but then Amir faced a major setback and told Sohrab this might be impossible. Sohrab then tried to kill himself, and Amir found him in a bloody bathtub. Sohrab survived, and is now healing up, but he seems to have lost whatever spark of hope he had in him, and soon he stops speaking altogether. Here Amir reaffirms his promise that he will take Sohrab with him to America—even if Sohrab himself seems to have no opinion on the matter. Amir has come to see Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore

If someone were to ask me today whether the story of Hassan, Sohrab, and me ends with happiness, I wouldn’t know what to say.

Does anybody’s?

Related Characters: Amir (speaker), Hassan, Sohrab

Page Number and Citation: 357

Explanation and Analysis:

Hosseini starts drawing the book to a close, and Amir, who has been looking back and reflecting on his past, now catches up to his present in the narrative—he is back in the U.S., and Sohrab is living with him and Soraya. There is no neat conclusion here, and Amir's and Sohrab's future is uncertain. Sohrab still won't speak, and seems traumatized beyond repair, but as Amir has learned, there is always a possibility of redemption and turning bad into good. Hassan's part in the narrative has ended, as he was killed by the Taliban, but he seems to live Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Ap

“Do you want me to run that kite for you?”
His Adam’s apple rose and fell as he swallowed… I thought I saw him nod.
“For you, a thousand times over,” I heard myself say.
Then I turned and ran.
It was only a smile, nothing more… A tiny thing… But I’ll take it. With open arms. Because when spring comes, it melts the snow one flake at a time, and maybe I just witnessed the first flake melting.

Related Characters: Amir (speaker), Sohrab

Related Symbols: Kites

Page Number and Citation: 371

Explanation and Analysis:

This poignant passage closes the book on a note of uncertainty, but also of hope. Kites return as the novel's most important symbol, here representing Amir's happy past and old friendship with Hassan, and also the potential of future happiness with Sohrab, Hassan's son. Sohrab is still traumatized and won't speak, but here he shows the first signs of healing—a small smile as he flies a kite with Amir, his new father-figure.This passage also has a dramatic symmetry to it, as Amir repeats the words Hassan spoke to him years before, just before the rape that changed both their lives: Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Ten

Sohrab Character Timeline in The Kite Runner

The timeline below shows where the character Sohrab appears in The Kite Runner. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...health, and the two became close. Sanaubar delivered Farzana’s baby, a boy that they named Sohrab after the character from “Rostam and Sohrab,” the story Hassan and Amir loved as children.... (full context)

...and Kabul was ruled by rival Afghan groups that were constantly at war. Hassan taught Sohrab to read and write, so that he would not grow up illiterate like his father.... (full context)

...a letter and a picture of Hassan as a grown man, standing with his son Sohrab. They are both smiling as if the world were a kinder place than it is. (full context)

Hassan describes his son Sohrab, and how much he loves him. They still walk up to the cemetery on the... (full context)

...with grief. Rahim Khan continues – the Taliban moved into Baba’s house, and they sent Sohrab to an orphanage. Rahim Khan then says that this was the other reason he wanted... (full context)

...thinks of the phrase “a way to be good again,” and hopes that perhaps with Sohrab there is a way to end the cycle of betrayals and lies. (full context)

...Rahim Khan praying, and he tells him that he will go to Kabul and find Sohrab. (full context)

...should not have assumed Amir’s reason for returning. He says he will help Amir find Sohrab. (full context)

Amir and Farid find the new orphanage (which replaced Baba’s, which was destroyed) where Sohrab is supposed to be. The director, Zaman, is very wary of their questions and at... (full context)

Zaman takes Amir and Farid to his office and says he has bad news – Sohrab is no longer there, and it may be too late for him. He is hesitant... (full context)

Zaman gets up, choking, and says that the official took Sohrab a month ago. Zaman explains that he has no power against the Taliban, and the... (full context)

The official asks Amir about America, but Amir only says that he is looking for Sohrab. The official says that many think that abandoning Afghanistan for America is as good as... (full context)

The guards turn on music and make Sohrab dance, and then the official takes Sohrab in his arms and orders the guards to... (full context)

...is called ethnic cleansing, and Assef seems to enjoy the term. Amir again asks for Sohrab, but he won’t tell Assef what he plans to do with him. Finally Assef shoves... (full context)

...that if Amir leaves the room alive they are to let him pass. He wants Sohrab to stay and watch, however. Then Assef puts on his old brass knuckles. After that... (full context)

...of swallowing teeth and blood, Assef throwing him against a wall and striking him, and Sohrab screaming. Then Amir starts laughing, as he suddenly feels at peace for the first time... (full context)

Sohrab cries and asks Assef to stop hurting Amir, and Assef warns him to put down... (full context)

Farid and Sohrab visit Amir the next day, and Amir thanks them and properly introduces himself to Sohrab,... (full context)

...at himself in the mirror, and sees all the damage to his face. Farid and Sohrab arrive, and Farid says they should leave Peshawar soon, as the Taliban have friends there.... (full context)

Amir spends the rest of the day playing a card game, panjpar, with Sohrab, who still rarely speaks. Amir asks what Hassan had said about him, and Sohrab says... (full context)

For the next two days, Sohrab and Amir play panjpar in silence. The next day Amir decides that he must leave,... (full context)

Amir, Farid, and Sohrab arrive in Islamabad, and Amir is impressed with its size and cleanliness – to him... (full context)

Amir takes a pain pill and falls asleep, and when he wakes up Sohrab is gone. The hotel manager is unhelpful, and implies that Amir is a bad father.... (full context)

Sohrab starts crying softly and asks if he will go to hell for what he did... (full context)

For a week afterward, neither Amir nor Sohrab mentions America, but one day they are playing cards and Sohrab asks about San Francisco.... (full context)

Later that day Sohrab asks about San Francisco again, and Amir describes the fog. Sohrab worries that Amir or... (full context)

The next day Amir goes with Sohrab to the American embassy. They meet with a man named Raymond Andrews, who listens to... (full context)

...asks if Andrews has any children, and Andrews says no. Amir then leaves angrily with Sohrab, and on the way out he comments about Andrews’ rudeness to his secretary. She explains... (full context)

They return to the hotel and Sohrab takes a long bath. Amir wonders when he will begin to feel cleaned of the... (full context)

That night, Amir tells Sohrab that he thinks he will be able to come to America, but first he might... (full context)

When Amir wakes up, Sohrab is in the bath, and Soraya calls. She says that her family contact can get... (full context)

Sohrab is taken to the emergency room, and Amir is not allowed to go in with... (full context)

...neglect and betrayal, and he promises to pray every day if only God will save Sohrab’s life. (full context)

After a while Amir falls asleep on the floor, and he dreams of Sohrab in the bloody bathtub and the razor he used to cut himself, the same razor... (full context)

Several days pass with Amir sleeping on a hospital couch and Sohrab sleeping with a ventilator. Eventually Amir returns to his hotel to get some rest, but... (full context)

Amir reads from the story of “Rostam and Sohrab,” but Sohrab shakes his head when Amir asks if he should continue. Finally Sohrab speaks,... (full context)

Eventually Amir takes Sohrab’s silence as an acceptance, and a week later they arrive in America. Amir remembers a... (full context)

Amir returns to the narrative, as he and Sohrab arrive in San Francisco in August of 2001. Soraya picks them up at the airport,... (full context)

That night Amir finds the photo of Hassan under Sohrab’s pillow. Looking at Hassan’s face, Amir realizes how Baba was torn between his two sons,... (full context)

...Amir tells the General about Kabul and the Taliban. General Taheri skirts the subject of Sohrab at first, but then asks Amir why there is a Hazara boy living with him... (full context)

Amir describes the nature of Sohrab’s silence – it is not just quietness, but as if he had shut himself down... (full context)

Feeling helpless in the face of Sohrab’s silence and the new war in Afghanistan, Amir and Soraya get jobs with a hospital... (full context)

...“small miracle” that takes place on a rainy day in March of 2002. He takes Sohrab, Soraya, and Jamila to a park where a group of Afghans are celebrating the Afghan... (full context)

...finds an Afghan kite seller and buys a kite, and he takes it over to Sohrab. Amir checks the string and talks to Sohrab about Hassan, and his skill at kite-flying... (full context)

Amir offers again, and Sohrab hesitantly takes the kite string. Amir wishes time would stand still. Then a green kite... (full context)

Behind them people cheer for their victory, and the tiniest smile appears on Sohrab’s face. Amir knows it is only a little thing, but it is perhaps a sign... (full context)

Sohrab Character Analysis

Sohrab Quotes in The Kite Runner

Chapter 25 Quotes

Sohrab Character Timeline in The Kite Runner