Contents
CHAPTER ONE
Overview
The narrator, now in San Francisco in 2001, recalls a childhood event from winter 1975 that irrevocably defined him. A call from Rahim Khan in Pakistan urges him to return, hinting at redemption. The sight of kites triggers memories of Hassan, Baba, Ali, and Kabul, resurfacing buried guilt.
Summary
In December 2001, the narrator reflects that a single day in the winter of 1975 made him who he is. He recalls crouching behind a wall by a frozen creek and recognizes that the past cannot be buried; it keeps resurfacing.
He remembers a call from the previous summer, when Rahim Khan phoned from Pakistan and asked him to come. The narrator sensed that the call carried his unatoned past with it, and Rahim Khan’s parting words—“There is a way to be good again”—lodged in his mind.
Walking near Spreckels Lake in San Francisco after the call, he noticed two kites dancing above the park. The sight triggered Hassan’s remembered promise—“For you, a thousand times over”—and a flood of memories tied to Hassan, Baba, Ali, and Kabul.
Sitting on a bench under a willow, the narrator contemplated how the winter of 1975 changed everything. The chapter closes with him acknowledging that those memories, and the possibility of redemption Rahim Khan suggested, continue to define his present.
Who Appears
- NarratorNow in San Francisco (2001), recalls a defining event from 1975; haunted by guilt and drawn by a promise of redemption.
- Rahim KhanCalls from Pakistan, urges the narrator to visit, and hints at a path to be good again.
- HassanRemembered as the loyal kite runner; his words, “For you, a thousand times over,” resurface with the sight of kites.
- BabaRecalled by the narrator as part of the past in Kabul connected to the 1975 turning point.
- AliRemembered alongside Hassan and Baba as part of the Kabul past haunting the narrator.