The Kite Runner Chapters 7 - 12
Amir is unable to sleep during the night before the Kite tournament, and he comes down for breakfast quite cranky on that important morning. Hassan sounds happy and excited as he tells Amir about a dream that he had the previous night. He and Amir had gone out on a picnic next to a lake on a beautiful day, but the people who accompanied them were afraid that the lake had a monster. Amir jumps into the lake, Hassan follows him, and together they prove that there was no monster in the lake. Amir rudely dismisses the dream, and they make their way to the rooftop where they will be flying the kite. Amir notices his father and Rahim Khan on their terrace like the rest of the city that has come out to see the tournament. Amir considers not going through with the tournament as he is so nervous, but Hassan reminds him that there was no monster. Amir is shocked by how well Hassan understands him and considers that Hassan may have made up the story to help him.
It’s a difficult day, but Amir wins the contest. He is ecstatic as he sees his father celebrate and Hassan embraces him. Hassan runs the last kite that Amir had cut for him while promising him that he would do this a thousand times over for him. However, Hassan does not return, and Amir sets out to search for him. Amir finds Hassan trapped in a dead-end valley by Assef and his gang. They promise to let him leave if he would hand over the kite, but Hassan refuses. Amir watches in horror as Assef rapes Hassan while his friends hold him down. Amir realizes that he hadn’t simply been afraid of intervening but reluctant because he wished to secure the kite which would bring him his father’s favor. Amir runs away, unable to watch, and he decides not to reveal that he had witnessed what happened to Hassan. Amir finds Hassan on the return journey home, but Hassan just hands him the kite and asks that they should return home. Amir pretends not to see the blood pooling in the snow at Hassan’s feet or his disheveled state. He takes the kite to his father and cries when he is embraced.
Amir and Baba’s relationship improves for a while, but it doesn’t last. Hassan and Amir avoid each other for a week, and Ali questions Amir if something happened to Hassan on the day of the Kite tournament. Amir refuses to share the facts with anyone but confesses them aloud to himself while he is traveling with his relatives. Hassan tries to rekindle their relationship, but Amir realizes that he can never be reminded of what he had allowed to happen. He asks his father if he had ever considered changing their servants, but Baba yells at Amir and reminds him that Ali has been with his family for forty years. He knows that something is going on between Hassan and Amir, but he says that Amir needs to sort it out on his own. Amir and Hassan go to their favorite pomegranate tree together one last time, where Amir tries to provoke Hassan into hitting him but throws pomegranates at him. Hassan hits himself with the pomegranate and leaves.
Baba throws Amir a grand party for his thirteenth birthday, and Assef attends it with his parents. He talks to Baba fondly about soccer and gifts Amir the biography of Hitler. Amir leaves the party in disgust and finds comfort in Rahim Khan. He gives Amir a notebook for his stories and tells him about a Hazara woman that he had loved. His family had prevented him from marrying her, and although he understood the reasons better now, Rahim Khan still had not overcome the hurt. He asks Amir if he has anything to confess to him, and Amir feels like he already knows but Amir is unable to muster the courage. They return to the party and Amir sees Hassan waiting on Assef with some beverages. The next day, Amir receives an expensive book for his birthday present from Hassan and Ali. He decides to frame Hassan for theft because he understands that they can’t live under the same roof. To his surprise, Hassan confesses to the theft when the contraband is found under his mattress. Amir realizes that Hassan knows that Amir had witnessed his rape and done nothing. He understands that Hassan is accepting the accusation of theft to shield Amir. Baba surprisingly forgives Hassan, but Ali refuses to stay. Amir sees his face and understands that Hassan had told his father everything. Baba weeps, but Hassan and Ali depart on a rainy day.
In 1981, Amir is eighteen years old when he and his father decide to flee from the soviet occupied Afghanistan. They are being smuggled into Pakistan when they are stopped by a Russian soldier who wants to have sex with a woman that is accompanying them to allow them through. Baba stands ready to die for the woman, while Amir tries to prevent Baba from interfering which severely angers Amir. The Russian soldier is prevented from acting by a supervisor, but their journey into Pakistan is lengthened further by a transport hurdle. They wait in a basement for a couple of weeks, and Amir meets an old classmate who has the appearance of being suddenly deeply sick. He overhears his classmate's father talking to Baba telling him how his son had been raped, much like Hassan. The passengers are transported in a fuel tanker, and Amir thinks about kite flying with Hassan to deal with the heat and fumes within the truck. They reach Pakistan, but Amir’s classmate does not survive the journey, and his father kills himself upon learning of his son’s death.
Amir and Baba move to Fremont, California, where Baba works at a Gas Station while Amir goes to work. They have to lead a poor existence, but Baba works hard to ensure they don’t have to collect welfare. Baba struggles to assimilate with the culture in America at first, and Amir worries about Baba being overworked. Amir eventually graduates from High school, and he goes out drinking with Baba that night. They celebrate together, and Baba buys round after round for the patrons at the bar. On their return home, Baba shows Amir the car that he had purchased for Amir to use while attending college, something that Baba had insisted Amir must do. After his first year in college, Amir and Baba begin to set up a stall at the local flea market, a popular means of earning money among the Afghans. In the flea market, Amir meets General Taheri’s daughter, Soraya, and discovers from Baba that rumors had circulated about Soraya eloping with a man when she had been younger. Amir falls in love with her and tries to spend time with her, but he is prevented from being too forward due to the protective nature of Afghan society. General Taheri finds Amir talking to Soraya once and prevents him from spending time with her. Amir’s attention is completely redirected when Baba is found to have cancer. He refuses Chemotherapy that would have made the pain less bearable and forbids Amir from telling anyone about it. Everyone eventually learns of the sickness when Baba collapses in the flea market. He gets discharged and Amir asks his father to approach General Taheri for his daughter’s hand in marriage. The General agrees, but Soraya wishes to confess her past before agreeing. She tells him that she had eloped with a man, and had been brought back by her father. Amir accepts her past, feeling bitter that he could not confess to her his cowardice, and what he had allowed to happen to Hassan.
Analysis
The action mounts in this section of the novel as the two central conflicts are forced to face one another after the conclusion of the Kite Tournament. Amir essentially thinks of himself as being superior to Hassan and freely chooses to sacrifice Hassan for the sake of securing his father’s favor. Hassan is prosecuted by the sociopathic Assef, who represents the blackest version of evil throughout all of his appearances in the novel. However, Hassan is repeatedly marked by religious symbols that denote him to be a Christ figure who is sacrificed to make up for the suffering of others. Hassan is often dressed in a green chapan, as green is a holy color in Islam, and is likened to the sacrificial lamb when he is about to be raped by Assef.
Amir turns away from Hassan after the rape, unable to live with the reminder of what he had done. The guilt he feels only deepens when Amir frames Hassan for theft, and Hassan accepts the accusation for Amir’s sake. During their escape from Afghanistan, Amir is forced to confront the difference between himself and his father. Baba knowingly puts his own life at risk to save a woman from being raped, while Amir is willing to sacrifice her as well to retain his father. Eventually, Amir loses his father to cancer and realizes that he needs to become responsible for himself. The life of a struggling immigrant in America aids both Baba and Amir in their growth as characters. They are forced by circumstance to rely upon and trust one another at a deeper level.
