Summary As Amir and Farid travel north to his father’s house, they see a dead body and a man selling his artificial leg. As Amir arrives, he remembers playing with Hassan in the yard. The house is not as large and magnificent as Amir remembers, and it is in a […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 21Summary and Analysis Chapter 20
Summary Amir is shocked at what he finds when he finally returns to Kabul. Everywhere he looks he sees “rubble and beggars.” Amir notices that there are no trees. They were cut down for two reasons: the first, to provide fuel in the winter, and the second, to prevent snipers […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 20Summary and Analysis Chapter 19
Summary As Amir returns to Kabul, he again experiences car sickness. Farid, his driver, demonstrates little sympathy for him. Rahim Khan had provided Amir with a chest-length fake beard in order to appear Taliban-friendly. Amir explains to readers that he needs to leave immediately, in order to not change his […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 19Summary and Analysis Chapter 18
Summary Amir has a very difficult time processing this information. The biggest shock is that Baba had participated in theft — a theft that affected not only Amir, but also Hassan and Ali. Amir realizes that he and Baba were more alike than he never knew when his father was […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 18Summary and Analysis Chapter 17
Summary Amir asks Rahim Khan whether Hassan is still at the house, and in response, Rahim Khan shows Amir the Polaroid picture first mentioned in Chapter 7. The picture is of Hassan and Sohrab. With the picture is a letter from Hassan addressed to Amir. Hassan tells Amir that the […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 17Summary and Analysis Chapter 16
Summary Rahim Khan admits that the primary reason he searched for Hassan was his own loneliness. It happened like this: After Rahim Khan hears of Baba’s death, he drives to Hazarajat to search for Hassan and asks him to move to Kabul with him. Rahim Khan learns that Hassan is […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 16Summary and Analysis Chapter 15
Summary Amir meets with the “thing made of skin and bones pretending to be Rahim Khan.” They spend some time discussing their lives since the time they last saw each other. Readers find out that Baba had sold his house to Rahim Khan, and Rahim Khan describes life in Kabul […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 15Summary and Analysis Chapter 14
Summary The preface to Chapter 14 is “June 2001.” Amir has just completed his phone call with Rahim Khan, and Amir tells Soraya he must go to Pakistan. The final words Rahim Khan says to Amir are “There is a way to be good again.” And with those words, Amir […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 14Summary and Analysis Chapter 13
Summary As per Afghani custom, Amir and Baba return to the Taheri house the next day for lafz, the “ceremony of ‘giving word.’” Baba had instructed Amir to kiss Khanum Taheri’s hand, which he does, and, according to tradition, Soraya is not initially present. Realizing that Baba does not have […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 13Summary and Analysis Chapter 12
Summary Amir is smitten with Soraya but unable to approach her. Baba counsels Amir, reminding him that the General has nang and namoos — honor and pride, respectively. One day, Amir is too bold, and after inquiring about the General and sending his regards, he asks Soraya a question. Inquiring […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 12