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:
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Chapter 25
Quotes
“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.”
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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?
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“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.
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Get the entire The Kite Runner LitChart as a printable PDF.
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.
Chapter 16
...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....
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...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....
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Chapter 17
...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.
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Hassan describes his son Sohrab, and how much he loves him. They still walk up to the cemetery on the...
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...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...
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Chapter 18
...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.
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...Rahim Khan praying, and he tells him that he will go to Kabul and find Sohrab.
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Chapter 19
...should not have assumed Amir’s reason for returning. He says he will help Amir find Sohrab.
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Chapter 20
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...
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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...
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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...
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Chapter 22
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...
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The guards turn on music and make Sohrab dance, and then the official takes Sohrab in his arms and orders the guards to...
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...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...
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...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...
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...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...
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Sohrab cries and asks Assef to stop hurting Amir, and Assef warns him to put down...
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Chapter 23
Farid and Sohrab visit Amir the next day, and Amir thanks them and properly introduces himself to Sohrab,...
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...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....
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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...
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For the next two days, Sohrab and Amir play panjpar in silence. The next day Amir decides that he must leave,...
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Chapter 24
Amir, Farid, and Sohrab arrive in Islamabad, and Amir is impressed with its size and cleanliness – to him...
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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....
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Sohrab starts crying softly and asks if he will go to hell for what he did...
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For a week afterward, neither Amir nor Sohrab mentions America, but one day they are playing cards and Sohrab asks about San Francisco....
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Later that day Sohrab asks about San Francisco again, and Amir describes the fog. Sohrab worries that Amir or...
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The next day Amir goes with Sohrab to the American embassy. They meet with a man named Raymond Andrews, who listens to...
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...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...
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They return to the hotel and Sohrab takes a long bath. Amir wonders when he will begin to feel cleaned of the...
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That night, Amir tells Sohrab that he thinks he will be able to come to America, but first he might...
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When Amir wakes up, Sohrab is in the bath, and Soraya calls. She says that her family contact can get...
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Chapter 25
Sohrab is taken to the emergency room, and Amir is not allowed to go in with...
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...neglect and betrayal, and he promises to pray every day if only God will save Sohrab’s life.
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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...
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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...
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Amir reads from the story of “Rostam and Sohrab,” but Sohrab shakes his head when Amir asks if he should continue. Finally Sohrab speaks,...
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Eventually Amir takes Sohrab’s silence as an acceptance, and a week later they arrive in America. Amir remembers a...
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Amir returns to the narrative, as he and Sohrab arrive in San Francisco in August of 2001. Soraya picks them up at the airport,...
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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,...
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...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...
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Amir describes the nature of Sohrab’s silence – it is not just quietness, but as if he had shut himself down...
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Feeling helpless in the face of Sohrab’s silence and the new war in Afghanistan, Amir and Soraya get jobs with a hospital...
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...“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...
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...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...
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Amir offers again, and Sohrab hesitantly takes the kite string. Amir wishes time would stand still. Then a green kite...
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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...
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