The Kite Runner Chapters 19 - 25
Rahim Khan engages Farid, the driver of a dilapidated land cruiser, to assist Amir in going to and returning from Afghanistan. During their drive through the Khyber Pass, Farid and Amir get into an argument as Farid likens Amir to all the other Afghans who had only returned briefly to their nation for selling off ancestral land. Amir understood that Farid was bitter because he had fought the Russian occupation rather than fleeing the country, as a consequence he had lost his father and his daughters. Farid drives Amir to his brother’s house in Jalalabad, and Amir is shocked at the ruined infrastructure. They stay the night with Wahid, and Amir tells the man that he was in Afghanistan to find his lost nephew, and shows him Sohrab’s Polaroid picture. Wahid commends Amir’s nature, and Farid apologizes to Amir. He promises Amir that he will assist Amir in finding the boy. The next morning, Amir overhears Wahid arguing with his wife because they had given nearly all of their food to Amir the previous night and no longer had enough for their children. He deposits a large amount of money under the mattress on which he had slept and heads to Kabul with Farid.
He is warned that the state of the city is not what it once was, nevertheless, Amir cannot believe that he had once called this city home. He encounters the Taliban patrolling the ruined streets, and Farid warns him about making eye contact with them. A beggar on the street chimes in and he recites some poetry that Amir is familiar with. Amir is horrified to discover, upon questioning the man further, that the beggar had once been a professor of Sufism, and had known his mother while she taught Farsi at the university. He informs Amir that his mother had been scared of how happy she was when she had been pregnant with him. Amir had never learned as much of his mother from his father, but the beggar’s memory is limited. He promises to tell Amir more if he returns later, but Amir never finds him again.
He and Farid make their way to the orphanage where Sorabh had been last reported but the director refuses to engage with them at first. However, Amir assures the director that he was Sorabh’s uncle and that he had come to take Sorabh away. The director finally allows them into the orphanage and they observe just how terrible the conditions are for the children in the institution. The director informs them that Sorabh is no longer with them and that he hopes it's not too late for him. Farid nearly kills the man when he explains that a Taliban leader comes to the orphanage every month with a little money and takes away a child. Sorabh had been taken by the man about a month ago, and he tells them that the man who took Sorabh will be found the following day at the Football stadium. Amir and Farid go to his old neighborhood after the orphanage, but the neighborhood is much better off than any of the other places in the city. Farid reveals that this is because this part of the city houses the people who are responsible for running the government. They stay the night at a run-down hotel and make their way to the football stadium, which turns into a public stoning at halftime. Amir recognizes the man stoning the criminals as the man who had taken away Sorabh. It is surprisingly easy to arrange a meeting with the man, but Farid drops Amir off at the door.
Amir has a difficult time keeping his calm as he is led to the Taliban leader’s waiting room. The man with the glasses comes with a couple of soldiers who forcibly remove Amir’s fake beard, and he begins to question Amir about why he did not live in Afghanistan and serve its people. Amir simply states his request for Sorabh, the man and the soldiers talk reverentially about massacring Hazaras, but upon repeated requests he calls for the boy. Sorabh is brought in dancing to music and in effeminate clothing while the man’s guards cheer him on lecherously. Amir is deeply shocked to discover that the man in charge is none other than Assef, the sociopath who had once raped Hassan. Assef explains that he believed in his religion and the part that he was playing. He had chosen to remain in Afghanistan even though his family had set up a comfortable life in Afghanistan. Assef promises Amir that he can take away the boy, but he would need to face him in combat to make up for the day that Hassan had forced Assef to back down.
Assef instructs his guards to leave them and tells them to allow Amir to leave with the boy if he should exit the room alive. The door closes and Assef begins to beat the life out of Amir with his brass knuckles. Assef’s violence only rises in tempo when Amir begins to laugh because Amir feels that he is finally getting what he deserves for what he had allowed Assef to do to Hassan. Sorabh cannot watch Amir get beaten anymore and he hits Assef in the eye with a metal ball using a slingshot. Assef screams and screams while Amir and Sorabh hurry out of the house into Farid’s car. It takes several days for Amir to recover in Peshawar, while Farid cares for Sorabh. Rahim Khan has disappeared and it turns out that no orphanage run by missionaries existed in the city. Amir tries to connect with Sorabh, but he is too quiet although he had heard about Amir from his father. They decide to move to Islamabad since they are worried about being found by the Taliban, and Amir asks Sorabh if he would like to go to America and live with him as his family. He also explains the true relationship that he shared with Hassan, and tells his wife as well.
Sorabh eventually agrees to go to America with Amir, and he asks Amir to promise him that he will never have to go to an orphanage, Amir agrees. The process for getting Sorabh adopted turns out to be extremely complicated, and a lawyer suggests the easiest way might be for Sorabh to stay in an orphanage for a little while. Upon receiving no further hopeful solutions, Amir broaches the prospect of an orphanage with Sorabh, and it makes him have a panic attack. Later that night, Amir receives a call from his wife who tells him that Sorabh can receive a humanitarian visa first and then be adopted later onwards. Amir goes to tell Sorabh but finds that Sorabh has tried to kill himself. Sorabh spends several days in the ICU but he survives, and Amir finds his faith in god. He takes Sorabh to America, and for the whole first year, Sorabh says nothing. On the day of the Afghan New Year, Amir flies a kite for Sorabh and he finally begins to speak as Amir runs a kite for him.
Analysis
After Rahim Khan, Amir meets a threshold guardian in the form of Fahid, who like several innately good people in the novel is marked by physical scars. Fahid is combatant with Amir at first, but his stance softens when he learns the true reason for Amir’s journey. He further aids Amir in tracking down Sohrab’s whereabouts. The Hero’s journey always culminates with a battle and the ultimate realization that the enemy lies within the hero. Amir’s final enemy is yet again Assef, who represents Amir’s foil. Amir and Assef have often shared the same privilege, and Amir reveals that a part of him had agreed with Assef when he regarded Hassan as less than human because he was a Hazara. However, Amir fights this side of himself and faces Assef in battle. During the fight, Amir is beaten mercilessly but he cannot help but laugh because he has finally succeeded by overcoming the cowardice within himself that stopped him from aiding Hassan.
Amir also experiences a spiritual awakening as indicated by his mention of the Prophet’s wife while he is recovering in the hospital. He is marked after the incident by a scar on his lip that likens him to Hassan and indicates that Amir has finally reached the moral center, Hassan. His belief in religion is further strengthened by Sohrab’s recovery, and the novel’s end indicates that Amir does not intend for Sohrab to face life as a tragic adult.
