Chapter 22

210. The house has a well manicured lawn with geraniums and stubby bushes. It is a large house and has an Afghan flag draped on one of the walls. There are twin mint green sofas and a big screen TV.

211. Amir wonders what he is doing there. He thinks of himself as gutless and that there is nothing wrong with being a coward.

212. The man Amir meets has sallow colored skin and tiny sweat beads are present on his skin. He is wearing a black turban and has cut like those of the homeless in San Francisco. This means that he is doing something that hurts himself and others as well.

213. They searched Amir.

214. He tells Amir about when they went around and shot all the men all boys in front of their families. He also says that he went into houses and let the bullets fly. He tells Amir this because Hassan was a Hazara and this was the Hazara massacre.

215. The Taliban think that by killing Hazaras they are doing God’s work and purifying the world. He probably became this way because he wasn’t raised in what was right by his parents.

216. The man says that Amir could be arrested for treason because he abandoned his waton when it needed him. It is ironic, because the Taliban are killing people, and that is also considered to be treason.

217. Sohrab looks a lot like Hassan. He had a round moon face, pointy stub of a chin and seashell ears along with the same frame.

218. The men treat Sohrab like scum. They make him dance and don’t care for him well.

219. The man reveals himself to be Assef and Amir is sickened.

220. When Amir offers pay for Sohrab, Assef states that his own family is rich and that if he needed money he would get it from them.

221. Assef and his family were taken to jail by the communists. Then one of them took him away and starting kicking him. One kick helps him pass a kidney stone and with relief Assef starts laughing. He believes that God is on his side.

222. His mission is to “help” the world by punishing those he believes has done wrong.

223. Sohrab’s eyes are surrounded by mascara.

224. Assef states that if Amir wins then he will walk away with the boy, and if he doesn’t then he will be dead. The fight isn’t fair because Assef has brass knuckles.

225. The story is about a man in a surgical cap and with an Allah necklace around his neck. Amir says that he thinks that he gave him, Assef a good fight. It shows how Assef has changed.

226. Amir is losing badly and doesn’t fight very well. Assef is hurting him badly and dominating the match.

227. Amir feels healed because he used to be mean to Hassan and he believes that he has gotten what he deserved. He laughed because he feels healed while his body is being broken.

228. Sohrab shoots Assef in the eye when it is obvious that Amir is about to be killed. Hassan used to do the same thing and stand up to Assef with his slingshot when Assef would try to hurt him.

229. The brass ball from the slingshot gets stuck in Assef eyesocket.

230. Farid helps them to his car and they drive to the hospital.