An early flash-back to why Amir--also the narrator--has become the person he is today, sets the tone for the life of a young boy living in Kabul. The first chapter consists of quick points and dramatic imagery that left me with questions of how this all came to be? Immediately, there is an important reference by Amir to the kites he sees in the sky, “Then I glanced up and saw a pair of kites, red with long blue tails, soaring in the sky.” This quick reference to what Amir will become, is an early way for the author, Khaled Hosseini, to show character development and bring in the insight that allows the reader to compare this introduction and character to the reading as a whole.

A transition back to the past is made as we are taught about the childhood of Amir and his friend, Hassan. I was easily able to identify Amir and Hassan as the main characters as their childhood friendship seems to be one that we all can learn from. I don’t know how many people can say their best friends first word was their name. Everything they did was shared together since birth. Their friendship was destined to be at a young age, but was also forced upon them, “Hassan and I fed from the same breast. We took our first steps on the same lawn in the same yard. And, under the same roof, we spoke our first words.” Growing up in a troubling time, Amir and Hassan are able to find peace in playing in the outdoors and breaking the rules every once in awhile. Playing around with slingshots, and blinding their neighbors with the blazing sun and reflectors during the middle of the day seems entertaining to say the least.

Amir and Hassan are two characters that instantly bring the reader in and you’re hooked. It isn’t just their likability, but it’s the way they connect that's inspiring and the progression of both Amir and Hassan’s characters in such a short period of time. But what really was intriguing to me was the affect that both Amir and Hassan’s mothers had on them. There are a lot of questions to be raised about their mom’s as Amir lost his after she gave birth to him, and Hassan lost his a week after because she left the family to follow a passion and never came back. But it is safe to assume that their lost mom’s will drive them to become very prominent young men in their society. But with that in mind, the way that Hassan’s mother left seems to still affect him emotionally, but these emotions are triggered by certain events. Specifically as Amir and Hassan are headed to a movie a soldier yells to Hassan “You! The Hazara! Look at me when I am talking to you!” But as Hassan was able to keep his composure the soldier said and did something that made his emotions flow. The soldier made a sexual motion with his hands and said “I know your mother.” Followed by using the worst and most insulting word to describe a women. Soon after, Hassan was crying and Amir was comforting him. Amir has shown to be a caring and warm hearted person who takes care of Hassan. I only reference this specific part of the reading because I believe that the non-existent relationships between mother and son in this book will become a very common theme and relate to a lot that occurs in a bigger scheme of things. Not only does this show how tough it is to have a relationship absent from one's life, but it shows the bond within the friendship of Amir and Hassan. This character development between these two main characters will only gain momentum as the novel continues to add the real ideas and adversity that is still yet to come for me as the reader.

Although Amir is not able to know what his mother was like, he has a very prestigious father who looks after him. Amir has grown up in a very wealthy house and family that has allowed him to experience the better things about the tough times that are occurring. Hassan on the other hand comes from a different story, as he is slightly impoverished and at the same time is classified as a Hazara. This is a minority group that is hated against and is not well respected. This is significant due to the fact that it shows how their lives are so different, yet that's what brings them closer together and makes the characters in this book so powerful. In just the first quarter of the book the character development within Amir and Hassan’s relationship has grown and they will continue to develop through the story as well.

In the early stages of the book it is easy to see many themes start to unroll. Obviously there are the themes of relationship which will be between Baba and Amir (Father and Son), and Amir and Hassan. The other themes that start to develop through the characters, are the relationship they had with their mothers, and it’s not as focused on the actual relationship, because they’re both gone, but the abandonment aspect of it. So far the character development has been fast and has grown significantly between the two main characters. But it doesn't seem like their bond and trust in each other will ever stop or fade away.