Chapter 15 -
1. Upon entering Pakistan, the tone becomes more frank. There is a sense of urgency as Amir gets deeper and deeper into Talib territory. Hosseini allows the reader to observe this shift by using simpler sentence structures and by using less detail and being more direct in his explanations or major or minor details.
2. It takes the cake in terms of expressing how much Afghanistan has changed since Amir was last there. Violence is now commonplace and executed in a merciless manner. The Afghanistan the Amir once knew is dead and buried.
Chapter 16 -
Yes. He grew up to be a happy man, not effected (entirely) by his past. He is taller, married, has a son named Sohrab, a newfound (perhaps latent) attitude of self-assuredness. His looks, his temperament, his willingness to serve are still intact despite the horrors he has witnessed. He is still the same old Hassan, just in a bigger body. Hosseini's description of Hassan is significant because it portrays him similarly to how he was described previously in the book in a physical sense, but more developed in the aspect of maturity and character, showing that what had happened to him did not impact the course of his life to the magnitude that it did Amir.
Chapter 17 -
At first it comes as a bitter shock and somewhat expected twist to the story. Amir immediately realizes that he will never be able to tell Hassan that he is sorry for what he had done, to physically be able to truly repent to him in person. His guilt is still there but the person who Amir betrayed in order to obtain the very reason of his guilt is in the ground, leaving Amir with no way to make amends for what he has done.
The pausing between the dialogue of Amir and Rahim make it more realistic in the fact that Amir is having the same reaction that we as the reader are experiencing and the breaks also help in building suspense and eventually leads to shock. The way Hosseini encapsulates what he knows the reader is thinking and puts it in the book is just absolutely amazing, his attention to details and suspense factors is absolutely enthralling.
The fact that Hassan is also Baba's son just shatters Amir entirely. His guilt is immediately amplified by an exponential amount due to the new revelation that he abandoned not only a friend, but his own brother to be raped on his behalf.
Baba had always treated them the same, like there was no ethnic gap between the two. The fact that the subtly context clues are there do not really pop out until the initial revelation, then one can look back and notice how prominent and blatant the hints are. Baba never forgot Hassan's birthday, treated him just the same as he did Amir. Amir never got any special treatment that Hassan did not receive also, in one way or another.
One factor that could possibly explain away any accusations that someone may have toward Baba is that Hassan was a hazara. In that culture hazaras are looked upon as shameful, and by Baba keeping it a secret it protected his good name and Amir from any shaming that may have resulted from the truth. Ali keeping it a secret seems very unlikely since it is almost apparent that he does not even know that Hassan is not his. He, out of any of them, would be the most innocent in the event that someone questioned him about the parentage of Hassan. Rahim Khan, being Baba's closest friend pretty much had no choice but to keep it a secret, he just provided inspiration when Amir was down because of the way Baba acted. The fact that they lied is not in their personality, so it aids in the development of the plot by actin as a device of unspoken salvation that saved them all from shame. The lie is also a perfect explanation of why Baba treated Amir the way he did, and similarly the reason he treated Hassan and Ali the way he did. He felt as if the lie itself was bad, but the destruction that would result from the truth being known was less than that which would be caused by the lie, so when the reader discovers this shocking truth, it is easier to see the rationalization that Baba had to endure to protect himself and the two boys.
Chapter 18 -
By discovering that Hassan is his brother, or as he says "half-brother," possibly trying to preserve his present state of guilt and trying not to feel worse for what he had done. It opens his eyes to the real nature of Baba and his attitude. He realizes that Baba was ashamed, if not guilty himself, and that he was not just a grumpy man who hated him for taking his princess from him. This revelation opens another, much wider door to Amir in terms of how he can be redeemed by finding Hassan's son, his (half) nephew.
Amir discovers that he shares something, one of the most important things, with his father. They both have dome something that brings them a great amount of guilt, and the guild serves as a device and an explanation for the way that they act. Both of these secrets that spring forth with guild are the reason Amir and Baba embark on journey to atone for their sins. Baba sees Amir's weakness while Amir sees Baba's perfection, which causes a bit of tension between the two, when in all reality they are more similar than they are difference because of this.
Amir's decision to go to Kabul is way out of character for the Amir we know up until that point. His reason for going is to save his recently discovered nephew, the son of his brother, Hassan. Amir's decision to put his life in danger in order to save this child shows his yearning for redemption is true and that he really is trying to change.
Chapter 19 -
His dream indicates that he feels responsible for what happened to Hassan, for his murder. It could mean that he feels that he was the cause of how Hassan had turned out along with the responsibility he holds for letting Hassan get raped. He essentially feels guilt not only for what he allowed to happen, but also for his eventual murder.
Chapter 20 -
The tone of the opening of this chapter is grim and reminiscent.
He describes them as something he desires to preserve and care for, but he has no money to do so for long, so he allows the Taliban to purchase one every once and a while. There is also irony with the Taliban because they refuse to support the orphanage and the children but end up doing so by buying children.
Chapter 22 -
He leaves Amir in a room all by himself when he is around the Taliban, shifting in the uncomfortable silence. Two armed men then enter along with the tall Talib in white, Assef. Assef continues to awkwardly sit in silence, just staring at Amir, bloodstains still on his sleeve from the stoning at the soccer field. The men then continue by ripping off his beard, exposing him obviously as a non-Talib citizen. When it is revealed to Amir that the man before him is Assef, it peaks his fear, and he just about urinates on himself and can hardly speak due to his dry tongue.
He is obviously older, but he seems to have gained an elevated status in the eyes of the Taliban and has moved on to having multiple encounters with small children instead of the one time with Hassan, which is completely repulsive to say the least. He is still cruel and conniving. The story signifies the reason he chose to become part of the Taliban? He was part of the upper crust in Kabul, so he was naturally targeted by the communists, so when they beat on him and threw him in jail for no reason, he decided that day that he was still alive for a reason, the reason being it was his destiny, assigned by God, to clean up the garbage that has found its way into Afghanistan.
Chapter 23 -
The dream in Baba's case signified that he was a strong man, a metaphor used throughout the entire novel, so in Amir's case, it signifies his shift from being too afraid and selfish to face what he had done to the fact that he was ready to fight his bear and win. Assef was destined to be messed up by somebody due to the fact he was an all around sick and twisted fool. Amir "got what he deserved" from Assef because he deserved to be beaten to a pulp because of what he did in his past, in encounters with Assef and the incident with Hassan. Rahim intended, it seems, for Amir to rescue Sohrab from Kabul and take him home with him to America. The Caldwells were a device that acted as a credible, if you disregard the fact it was a lie, reason for Amir to go and rescue his nephew. He can be good again by raising his brother's orphan child, making it up to Hassan through Sohrab.
Chapter 24 -
Just when things were starting to settle down on the negative side of the story, the only good news introduced in a while is abruptly interrupted by horribly tragic news. It acts as a climax that sets the tone for the rest of the ending of the novel.
Chapter 25 -
Hosseini uses his word choice and sentence structure to create a sense of suspense and dread by dragging out the revelation of a Sohrab who will survive. The endless tossing and turning and wondering just lengthen the period of time that Amir is experiencing, creating a realistic example of how the perception of time varies especially when someone is waiting to see if someone they love and care for is going to live.
Amir says to the general that he is to never reference Hassan as a hazara in his presence, which means that he has accepted him just like a son of his own and does not think of him as some detestable thing that crawls out of a sewer, but as someone that is family.
He essentially makes Amir go through a beautiful metamorphosis which really began the moment he got into a fight with Assef. Amir essentially becomes Hassan, and it is appropriate because it shows the reader that Amir has finally done it, he has redeemed himself.
Hosseini makes a hateable and selfish character become a admirable and serving man after he has been sharpened by being hit by a hammer (figuratively speaking, physically when considering Assef's damage) causing him to be sharpened into a beautiful sword instead of being a squared and boring ingot. He becomes good by becoming Hassan, who was good from the start, he became who he could always be but never was.
