- Is The Kite Runner told from an American perspective or from an Afghan perspective?
- The title of the novel – The Kite Runner – suggests Hassan is the main subject of the story. Does the title lead us astray? Is this book really about Hassan?
- What role does Amir's mother play in the novel? Is she just as important to Amir as Baba? How do the dead continue to affect the living in this novel?
- There are quite a few instances of deformity or scarring in the novel. To name a few: Ali's limp, Hassan's harelip, Amir's scar, Assef's crushed eye, and Soraya's birthmark. Why do you think Hosseini included so many deformities and scars in the novel? Can you think of any metaphorical deformities? Metaphorical scars?
- Through the character of Baba, masculinity looms large in Amir's home life. How does masculinity – of what it means to be an Afghan man – figure into the novel's ideas of nationhood and international conflict?