The story really begins with the separation between Abdullah and his sister, Pari. Hosseini establishes a deep closeness between the two, as Abdullah was more of a fatherly caregiver to Pari. The “selling” of Pari and subsequent separation sets the unfolding of the generations and connected people that follow. Young Abdullah is a sensitive boy, sensing the truth of his sister’s sacrifice even before it happens. His devotion to his sister is proven in a few instances. He refuses to obey his father and return home (and not follow them on their trip to Kabul), despite being struck several times. He collects feathers for Pari throughout his youth, even after she is gone, hoping to give them to her again someday because he knows she loves them.

After the separation of Abdullah and Pari, we do not really hear of him again until near the end of the novel. He is in his late sixties and is suffering from dementia. He has a daughter he has named after his sister, and this loss seems to have been transferred to his daughter. She describes his devotion as a father much like a smothering— – “either you tore free or you stayed and withstood its rigor even as it squeezed you into something smaller than yourself” (367).