Violent Redemption: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, Part 4 (Chapters 17-22)

Hello, welcome to the Lit English Lit podcast, a podcast in which I, and sometimes a colleague of mine, spend some time analysing and discussing the literature that our students are reading in class. Today, we're in chapters 17 through 22 of the kite runner by Khaled Hussaini. And in this section, Amir, having returned to Pakistan, finds out some very important information from Raheem Khan about Baba and about Hassan and about Hassan's son, Suraab. And it essentially provokes Amir to do the right thing and to return to Afghanistan to try to retrieve Suraab and rescue him. Amir's return to Kabul is traumatic, so much has changed since he was last there. And he has a very important meeting with his old adversary, Asif. In this episode, we're going to talk about elements of the quest, the hero's journey. We're going to talk about scenes of violence and we are also going to spend some time looking at how Amir has changed. So, chapter 17 through 22, hope you've read it. Thanks for joining us. All right, the conversation we've all been waiting for. Yeah, I feel like we should address the elephant in the room that, you know, that's- You mean not the one that Raheem Khan and- No, I feel like I wanted to use this inspired by Hussaini, right? Like, obviously nothing happens in these chapters, so it's just going to be impossible. We can't. We can't. I thought you were going to talk about, you wanted to get out of the way your decudos to your prophecy. Well, I mean, now that you bring it up and not myself. I will be the first to admit. In this shop, saw it, she saw the twist. It feels so good to be right. Yes. Especially in a book that has so many twists and turns to be able to see it. And you can go back, I believe it's two episodes back where- If I was organized, I'd pull it up right now and play maybe, maybe I'll end it in some way. Oh, beautiful, how professional. Yes, I was very excited, but also sad that I was right. So listeners, what we're talking about is the fact that Baba is Hussain's dad. And the actual reality of that being true, like to predict it is one thing, just be like, "Geele and I think just because actions seem so like motivated by guilt, but to actually have it confirmed that it's true, all of a sudden the timeline is so intense because that implies that Baba slept with- I'm forgetting her name, it's such a mess, Sonobar, right after his wife died. Yes. Because of the age of Hussain and Amir, that means that in his grief, he had a lapse of judgment. Which a lot of men did apparently around that woman. Yes. Yeah. She was someone- I could see her being a comfort. You know what I mean? If I'm gonna apply epithet to his situation, he lost his princess that he called her. And here was this woman in a power dynamic where he has more power over her to kind of take all of that anger and sadness somewhere. But it's so heartbreaking that he hurts Ali in that action. And just like Amir has her Hussain in his inaction. It's just so perfectly, there's so many circles in these 17 to 22. And I'm just so impressed with Hussain's ability to bring everything full circle and really talk about the cycles of life. And you could write, talk for hours about Ali. I mean, he's like this forgotten- he's not forgotten. But you know, and we can talk about this later, but that's how he knew that it was Asaf when Asaf says, you know, whatever happened to Baba Lut, right? Yes. And I just- I was look, I'm seeing right now beginning of chapter 17. You know, who do you eat today, Baba Lut? Who do you eat, Slantide, Baba Lut? I tried to conjure Ali's frozen face to really see his tranquilized, but time can be a greedy thing. And that's even before he knows. It's almost like Pasini is preparing us for the revelation later on, but- I agree. But Ali is always like- I mean, his sense he is Hassan's father because of- I mean, obviously he essentially that's what he was. And also, you can see that Hassan, if he didn't inherit, he learned Ali's just stoic dignity, right? Which is what Ali has throughout. And it makes that stoic dignity even more impressive. And then when we see that it actually- when it finally breaks and they have to leave in chapter 8, or he's like, I think we have to leave, right? I think he says that, right? This is- Right. He's got his arm around Hassan and is like, no, this is- now he knows that time has come. Right. And I- it just is occurring to me now, I understand Baba's reaction in that moment so much better. Because in my heart, I was, you know, I was like, oh my gosh, like he's so upset to lose his brother, but no, he's upset to lose his son. Right. Because we know culturally, sons are very important. And so- One, Amir is maybe not the son that he's been hoping for. Absolutely. Well, it's so interesting is Hassan got all the best qualities of the men around him. So he- like you said, that stoic dignity and just that sort of sweetness comes from Ali. And then he has that power that comes from Baba. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And- and so just to say, right, chapter 23 to the end, essentially, it's- it's- I mean, we've hit the climax of the- Right. I mean, everything that follows is resolution. There's a few more twists and turns. But to go back and re-read the first seven chapters now, I- I think it really- with- with the knowledge that you have, I think is really- is really powerful. Oh, that's so- That's a big point. Oh, I look forward to being able to do that. Yes. Yeah. In all that spare time that you have. I will make it to this book. Okay. So, I mean, the letters. Ooh. Right. So beautiful. And- and just occurring to me that how Hassan's letters, even in his letters, his concern as well as other people. Yes. Not himself. Yeah. And they're so- I- I'm so impressed just with the writing of these letters, like Hussini is like writing in all these different voices. Because, you know, uh, your- or Rahim Khan is our- our narrator at this time. And then we have Hassan's letters. And there's just this, like, pure joy, right? We talked about- about Hassan being at the- the very end of the spectrum, like, just purity. And you can see it in his- in his letters in the way that he- he communicates with a mirror through writing. And it's just so earnest. Yeah. So sweet. Yeah. Um. And then- the thing that I just- I- I loved is that when Amir says, you know, he's looking at the picture, right? Talk to him, he's confident, he's assured, and then he says something along the lines of, right? It was a man who thought the world had been good to him. Yeah. Wow. Have you- Hassan? Yeah. I think the world has been good to him. I mean, look at everything that has happened, you know, up until that point. And yet, he clearly has found the, you know, a contentedness in his family, in his son, in doing what he does. He never wanted for more. No. So I think that- I- I mean, I'm spitballing here, but I feel like that is part of his contentment. It's just- he never wanted anything more than what he had, even when it could have been offered to him. Like, I guess the question that's in my head, do you think Hassan knew that Baba was his biological father? I don't know. I don't know. It's- because it's- I wonder if- if you would have known, that would have changed the trajectory of his life. I feel like. Yes. I don't know. And I'm not sure how he- if we ever see him actually addressing and talking to Baba. And so I have to go back and check, but I think- But his morning for him was so devout. Yes. And you said this- and this- we didn't record this. We talked about this after we recorded it last week, because we knew what we were going to be talking about. And you talked about the idea that Hassan said he named his son- he wanted to carry on his father's name. Right. And his son's name is Ross. is Sirab Baba's real name. - Right, right. - Is that like, I think it's really left open for interpretation. I don't think we can say that. - Yeah, I think also just, it's, his morning is also a reflection of, like you said, his devotedness, his devout. You know, Baba, he considered, well, if he didn't consider himself Baba's son, he considered himself also his servant and that he, he recognized that Baba had given him so much and given him and his family so much. And I think he recognized, despite what had happened for those, whatever it was, that winter and that spring and that summer, right? I think that's it. It's just those few months. Everything before that was, was wonderful. Like, he'd had a good life. He'd been treated, that sounded like prison like. - Good, good life. - He'd been treated well. So, yeah, I don't know. - Yeah, I'm really, I don't know either. And I think all of this makes the description of how he dies that much more heartbreaking. And I was with Amir. Like, I felt like, 'cause Amir was like, no, no. - You're not gonna say this. - Yeah, and I too was like, no, no, like, I don't want this and I wanted to throw my book. Like, of course, you know, my students, as they're working on writing and I'm creating this hyperventilating. (laughing) I was with Amir. Like, I felt the pain of it because I've been with Amir for all of this time. So, to hear it and to know that that's what is going to happen. And again, to have it confirmed is just so incredibly unfair. And I think that's the heartbreak of Hassan is that everything that happens to him is so unfair. Well, when he says, you know, I thank Allah that he's like, I'm not afraid of death myself, but I'm thankful that my wife has a husband and that my son is not an orphan. - Yes. - And so, this is where it comes. It's amazing to me though. I mean, I feel like Amir is at his, I mean, speaking of like throwing the book, like Amir's response. - Oh. - And obviously, 'cause this is before, the Rahim card, his final kind of card to play, which is, you know, well, he plays a few cards. It's very clever, obviously, very manipulative. - Yeah. - But when Amir is like, you can't be serious that you want me to go get Surah, right? - Yeah. - You know. - His exact words are 'why me'. - Right, why me? - Jesus. - Why can't you pay someone to go? - Yeah. - Right? And then he says, you know, and Rahim's like, well, and then he draws, right? So this is Rahim, Rahim never does, I mean, he's this very chill person, right? - On death, right? - Right, right. It has never been about money with me. You know that and why you, I think we both know, no, why it has to be you, don't we? But even then, right? I have a wife in America, a home, a career, Kabul is a dangerous place, you know. And even then, you know, I'm asking for you to grant an old man his dying wish and find Amir's like, well, maybe Baba was right. Even though at that point, I don't think he plans to do it. Even then, I think he's, you know. - Yeah, he, like, yeah, he's so, Amir is so fragile in this moment. And so, like, Rahim carries him down and, you know, is like, you know, hostage been murdered, right? And here, he has this son. And so he's at his like lowest point and like, Amir's defenses aren't up. And it's like, I need you to do this. And still, I think at his core, that is the kind of person that Amir is. Like, his response to be like, well, I'm gonna lose everything. - Right. - Be like, hosting, lost everything. - Right, right, right, right, right. - He already lost everything. Like, how can you not see this through a different lens than your own myopic lens? And I think, 'cause then, I'm trying to think of like timeline, 'cause then he, when he, when he still refuses, where he is the last card to play is blood. - Right, right. - Because his last, his last card to play is, well, this is your half nephew. - Right. - If I'm getting the terminology right. And that to me, like, Amir's reaction, of course, is Amir's reaction, right? Like, and with that, I stormed out of the apartment. Like, to just be like, me, me, me, me, me, absolutely cannot believe that this is what's happening. And then to leave, and you'd be like, okay? - Well, almost like, and look, I mean, there's, there's a lot of violence in this book. The language, though, is generally pretty PG, right? - Right. - And for them, Amir, to just all he does is basically start cursing. - Yeah. - And it, to me, it just sounds self-righteous. You can understand what he's upset. But he's not 10 or 11 years old anymore. Like, he's not the right and kid in the alleyway. He's not desperate for Barba's attention anymore, and lying about the money and the watch and all that kind of stuff. He's a full grown man now. - And who has found success in what he wanted to do. He lived his actual dream to write stories. Has his swap meet princess. So he has his own princess. - He got everything he wanted. He still is acting like this. It is so infuriating. But the end of chapter 17 was absolutely infuriating and makes sense in terms of character development. And I think it makes his, I don't know what you want to call it, like his retribution better. - Yes. - Like, he has to go even lower. If it was possible, he has to go even lower to rise higher. - Well, I think as well. I mean, it's clever because he can't just be the heroes, like, okay, I'll go do it. Like, and her saying he reminds us multiple times in these chapters what Amir stands to lose. - Yes. - Right, so, you know, he has a life in America, pretty Victorian home, a good marriage, promising writing career, 226, same again. I have a wife in America at home, a career in my family. Even when he's about to go in to see Assef, it's, you know, he thinks about his wife. He thinks about his home. It seems, life in America seems so preposterous of that moment because of what he's actually about to do. But, I think, you know, to go like the hero's journey, right, Amir's quest is starting now. He's leaving the real world and going into the world of adventure, right? - Yes. - And the real world is free-month and, you know, America for him, right? And returning to Afghanistan is the world of adventure, it's the world of everything. Before he had the world of security, before he had everything, so. - Yeah, Dan Harmon has, Dan Harmon's the guy who created community and Rick and Morty. And he has taken the hero's journey and simplified it into the story circle. And he always talks about, like, you start an order. And the order is for whatever is order for the character. And then, as you move through the circle, the character enters chaos. And so for Amir, his order is America. That's where his life has finally made sense. - Right. - But then he has to go into the chaos of Afghanistan in order to get what he needs, right? And so what he needs right now is, like, redemption. 'Cause, right, like, he thinks he needs Sarab. - It's not about him. - But it's, it's, unfortunately, it's always about himself. And at the end of '18, he says, like, I wish he had, let me live on in oblivion. And that, to me, is like, that's the petulence side of Amir, being, like, I want to stand away from what is happening and not necessarily know what's happening, right? 'Cause he looks away. - Well, and that's the change, isn't it? Because chapter 19, is it chapter 19? When he finally says, I, no, was it chapter 20? Farid says, you know, I think it's best to just forget all this stuff, right? And Amir says, I don't want to forget anymore. - Yes. - So there's your, there's the obvious, you know, and it's a quick change, but there's an actual, you know, hard example of Amir changing, you know, for the better. - Well, that's 'cause I love, like, on 226 where he's like, he's recalling, like, there's a way to be good again, a way to end the cycle, with a little boy, an orphan, husband, son, somewhere in Kabul. - These short sentences, yeah. - These short sentences. And like, I almost feel like it's like him, like, you know, when you're getting ready for a sprint, right? And you're like, just mark, and then you're getting, like, tight and ready to go up. And so you have these little sentences, and then he sprints. And the next line, right, we have a break in the text, and then it's like, he's writing back to his apartment. He's going back. Like, it's already started, like, okay, he's, he's ready to go back, and he's ready to do this. - Well, and just, I thought about this just now, when he looks back at the polar item, of course the polaroid is mentioned a number of times. - Right. - My brother's face, and then this, I think, is what he really, what really resonates with him. Again, a sign that he, I think he understands finally, Hassan had loved me once, loved me in a way that no one ever had or ever would again. I mean, he's got a wife, he's got, I mean, right? He was gone now, but a little part of him lived on. And I think, you know, there's that, and then ending with that word, waiting. Yeah, I think he gets it. He understands finally. I was going to say something else, but I can't remember what. So back to Afghanistan, right back into a chaos, you said, right, and I think the other thing with the chaos or the world of adventure versus the normal world, the rules are different, right? Everything is, what works in the United States is not going to work in Afghanistan, right? And that's to do with like normal rules of society, but also character, right, character traits. And so we think of the hero's journey, like we have those challenges and tribes, right? And so that's, that's the part of the, the quest that we're in here. And like the first challenge is, um, is Farid. Yes. So, like, because it's like he needs to gain his approval in order to like move on to the next level. Yeah, to get about approval. Of course. Yeah, right? And, and Farid is like, is the one that stayed behind. And so it's like he needs to, to again, redeem himself in the eyes of the people who stayed in Afghanistan. Right. And it's not like Farid is just some, some better guy. I mean, he's got his own story of it that the crazy thing now is these stories of, of unspeakable tragedy. I mean, this is, this is the motif of Afghanistan, right? It's these stories of unspeakable tragedy that have become that everybody has. Yes. It's the only person seemingly who doesn't have this, this tragic background for Farid. What is it? He lost his kids. I mean, what is he? Uh, he's two youngest girls, um, you know, in part of his hand. Seven toes, three fingers, and it's like, well, and we don't even have time to like, you know, talk about that. Yeah. And so when he says, you know, you've always been a tourist here. You just didn't know it. Yes. Oh. Yeah. And what is Amir is a very privileged person. And part of his, like, selfishness comes from that, that privilege. Yeah. They're, um, I love the part, um, I think is Hussini is just going hard at cycles now. Yeah. And so he brings back the, uh, the river, right? Like I was afraid the appeal of my life in America would draw me back that I would wade back into that great big river and let myself forget, let the things I had learned these last few days sink to the bottom. I was afraid that I would let the waters carry me away from what I had to do. And so before the water was salvation to him, it was going to like cleanse him and keep him away. And now he was worried that it would take something from him that he needs to hold on to. Yeah. And so it's like America in his eyes had changed a bit. Like there's some stuff he needed to do before he could take off. And he talks about, it just, it just occurred to me when he talks about the river in Kabul. It's, he says it's bone dry and I, again, I don't know if that's like, you know, compared to, you know, America, which is a river, like in not a good way because everything gets swept away. Kabul. There's no way to get swept away too. Right. It's there. You can't, you can't just do it. And there's no change, right? Right. Like they're in this, this moment of stagnation where they're under the, you know, the boot of the Taliban. Yeah. Um, so for each house or for each family's house, um, obviously this just horrific poverty. Right. You know, for read breaking these customs, the Afghan custom of hospitality by being rude to a guest. Right. A big deal, um, yeah, and the part that gives a mere salvation in that moment is him admitting. Yes. Yes. Yes. That's the part that like that makes the like the switch and for read is now on his side. My illegitimate half brother. Yes. Yes. Yes. Which is, so he's admitting the shame of it. Right. Exactly. Yeah. So, right? Like he's no longer hiding anything. Yeah. And, and he doesn't, and, and then it's amazing because when people are responding, so what he says, you're an honorable man, a true Afghan and what is a mere, he cringes inside. Yeah. You know, and I think it's, he almost feels bad with for for read because for read is like calling him out and, and, and a mere almost like, well, you're kind of right to call me out. Yeah. Yeah. He doesn't seem bothered by for read doing it. No. And it's like again, because a mere is looking for someone to give him crap. Yeah. Like he, he wants that sort of punishment. But it's interesting to see how this takes place almost the day that he goes back to Afghanistan. Right. Right. Right. It's almost like crossing the boundary in and of itself has changed him, right? So I don't think it's, it's, it's an accident. He leaves America, the, the Pakistan seems like the threshold, right? It's, it's where he's getting the advice from the wise old man, right? He's getting the, what he needs. He's got the call to adventure in America. He's coming to Pakistan. He's ready. And then he crosses the border literally and now the evidence of change and change for the good is starting to happen almost, almost immediately, right? Yeah. Thank goodness. Right. And then when he gets into Kabul, again, there's another threshold that's spoken. And like he says, he like for the first time since we had crossed the border, I felt like I was back. And he has, he understands the connection that Baba had because before he didn't, because he wanted to run away from it, but now that he's here and ready to answer for all the things that he's done, he understands like he sees it, even though he can't recognize the environment that he's in. Yeah. There's that wonderful metaphor. He says, Kabul's like running into an old forgotten friend and seeing that he'd become homeless and destitute. Yes. And, and you know, what's interesting is Baba is clearly with him and whether it's mentioned or not. Obviously, there's the orphanage. It's not a different orphanage, right? Baba's orphanage is gone. Right. But the fact that he goes to an orphanage, I think reminds us the fact that he has to intervene to see, to stop for read, killing the, you know, because that's what Baba would have done. Yeah. I think Baba would have probably killed that guy, right? First, sure. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. And he thinks about what Baba would have done when he's at the, when he's at the soccer game and he remembers what Baba said about the mullahs, the piss on the bids of those self-righteous monkeys, whatever it is, right? Yeah. And then even when he's going into, to, to visit with a tile of leader, he's like, "Baba just would have like gone straight in and demanded, you know." And so the good parts of Baba, right, are, are there the bad parts of Baba, the secrets, the, the excessive desire to maintain, you know, some kind of, I don't know, honor, right? Right. Those things are gone. Right. The good things seem to be the things that he, of Baba that he's taking with him. Yeah. Which is exactly what he needs in order to succeed. Yeah. And, and these new challenges that he's facing. Yeah. I mean. Good question. How do them, okay. So then how do we see Baba? It's maybe slight detail here, but I mean, Baba now becomes a much more complex character. Absolutely. Um, I feel like I have a new, like, understanding, I can, I can apply compassion to you living your life and like, again, your wife's life is stolen from me. And in that tragedy, you make a horrible decision. And you, because of your culture, can't necessarily admit to your bad decision. So like, you can't do the honorable thing and, and, you know, raise up your son. But you also, like, you know, take, I think it was, um, Rahim gone that said that, you know, Baba took his guilt out on Amir. Like he, he made Amir suffer for like the unspoken crimes that he's done. Which, you know, Amir just followed in Baba's footsteps in that way, right? But even his, his princess, right, you know, from whom does Amir learn things about his mom? It's not from Baba. It's from that beggar who used to teach at them at the university who remembers these very, who remembers, you know, Amir leaves that, leaves that encounter. He knows that his mom had had, you know, he knows now three things about his mom. He never knew before. Yeah. He said the things that she worried about, what she, is it what she smelled like, what she drank, she liked to drink, you know, they drank tea with whatever it was, right? And Baba never told Amir about any of that. Yeah. I'm thinking of all the movies where, like, like, the man is, like, when he loses his wife, like, he cannot talk about her. Right. Like, like, accessing that sort of pain is, is way too vulnerable. People are thinking of goodwill hunting. Yeah. Like, it's just like the inability to handle that. But you mentioned the beggar, I was struck by the idea of, like, this is an intellectual man. This is what a, this is a teacher. Yeah. This is a teacher. There's no warning here or anything, is that? The teacher in this environment of chaos, because knowledge is power, right? Right. Right. So, you have to destroy. the positions of knowledge in order for people to not be empowered, and so it makes sense that he would be on the street, but oh my gosh, I was just struck by how far, you know, Afghanistan had fallen in that these people who are well-educated and like, you know, they're the homeless people you see on the street, like it just, it feels more tragic. - And in fact, he never sees him again. - Yeah, and he knew it too. - Right. - Yeah. - I think that's, and I do like what he says though, he's like, we knew, we both knew that Afghanistan, particularly in Kabul, such absurdity was commonplace. The idea that a beggar would happen to know my his mother. - Yeah. - I'll be used to say, take two Afghans who have never met, put them in a room for 10 minutes, and they'll figure out how they're related. - Yeah. - It's great. - Yeah, it's just, yeah, it's a really great characterization of that culture. - I think when we get to the orphanage too, again, in order for him to cross that threshold, he has to admit who he is, right? Like, again, he has to say, I'm his uncle. - Yeah. - And he says it. - Yeah, and so he has to, like, again, verbalize, you know, the kind of shame of his lineage, but that gains him access, and I just love that, like, he's inseparable from that thing. He tucks it in the waste of his pants everywhere he goes, and it's like, ugh, it's a rob. - Yeah. Well, and I think he's given the opportunity, right? The guy says, how badly do you want to find your nephew? And then he thinks of a number of things. He thinks about Hassan, right? How Hassan would take on all the kids for him in fights. And then he looks at the orphans, a little girl left, like, amputated, but no, the knee. And then he thinks of Fareed, and then Waheed, as well, and his boys, and then he says he realizes that he would not leave Afghanistan without finding his route. And so, again, there's that, that the things that you would think would maybe convince him not to do it as it being too dangerous. He's looking at the, what we would might see as possible consequences, now he's seeing them as, like, reasons and opportunities. - Yeah, absolutely. And I, like, like, the guy who's running the orphanage, like, Zaman, like, he, you could tell, like, he's trying his best to do his best, but he is also terrified of, I don't know, what it is for him to lose. Like, I just, yeah, do you have compassion for him? - I do. I do. I, I think we're supposed to. But that's, again, that whether the reader has compassion, this is a great, by the way, this whole separate conversation, right? Like, do we like, do we, whether we have compassion is a completely, that's a personal subjective thing, right? I think Haseini wants us to at least consider that he's doing his best. - Yeah. - The, the symbolism of his, of his cracked glasses, right? - Right. - And, and, and this moral ambiguity that we, that we're seeing again and again. So it should be no surprise that we're meeting yet someone else soon now. It's almost like the, the, the levels of moral ambiguity are getting more and more, you know, we've gone from Hassan, as you said, one end of the spectrum. We have all these people of moral ambiguity. Probably the one that we're kind of maybe struggling with the most is Zaman, because of what he's doing. But the reason that he's doing it is perhaps understandable right before we get to, you know, the incarnation of, of, of evil. - Absolutely. - And so, yeah, I think we are supposed to have. When he, when he says, everything I've ever owned or inherited, I sold to run this place. You think, you think I don't have family impacts on all around? I could have run like everyone else, but I didn't, I stayed. I mean, I'm assuming he's telling the truth, right? - Right. - And then he says, right, if I deny him one child, he takes 10. - Yeah. - So I mean, it's, it's a very crude utilitarian response. But again, this is, this is what he's been reduced to. - This is his Charlie prop. - Right. Right. So, all right, I think we're going to have to do part two. - I think, I think so, yeah. - We have to. Otherwise, we're going to. - We're going to talk right into first period. - Yes. Yes. So, all right. To be continued. This episode of the Lit English English Lit podcast is brought to you by Mrs. Woo's famous man eating taco recipe. Fully developed, patented and tested, it is the perfect meal to serve when hosting 12 of your most bitter enemies for dinner. For a 10% discount on your first order, visit worlddomination.com and enter the code "Where is Mr. Woo?" Not available in all countries. Houston, the United States, and Europe may be lead to arrest. Mrs. Woo's man eating taco recipe is not responsible for any present-time injury, maiming, or even death that may occur as a result. So, the last chapter in this section is, in many ways, the climax of the story. It's the encounter between Amir and SF, and Amir is very nervous as he goes in. He doesn't realize, of course, that it is SF. And as he has been doing quite regularly since he comes back, since he has come back to Afghanistan, Amir finds himself thinking about Baba. He says he wished he didn't have to go in alone. And I think it's another sign that Amir is starting to take on many of Baba's good qualities. Bravery, although he doesn't feel brave in that moment. But he's changing. He's changing into someone who could be brave. And even though he doesn't feel brave in the moment, he is certainly behaving in a manner that demonstrates that he's getting better. And the first thing I think that it's important to point out is the fact that Husseinis seems to make SF out to be possibly even worse than he was before. So before when he was a young man, he obviously did that horrific thing to Hussein. He had very extreme horrible views about Hazaras. He admired Hitler. You know, Amir kind of saw him as somewhat of a psychopath. But I think now when he is an adult, we see that he is really, and this may seem extreme to say, the incarnation of evil. You know, the pleasure he seems to take in the execution at the soccer stadium in chapter 21, the dramatization, the way he's dressed as Husseinis describes him, like Jesus. He's got the sunglasses on. You know, SF himself says that public justice is the greatest kind of show. And he clearly, when he talks about the killing of the Hazaras and Mazaras Sharif, you know, it talks about him almost panting, right, with excitement from what he's from just telling the story. And you know, Amir and his newfound bravery challenges him on that. But SF is not to be dissuaded. You know, he has a very interesting story about how he decided to join the Taliban, right, and how he had a kind of a change and how he was being tortured by the communists and ended up laughing because the torture helped him pass a kidney stone. Of course, the laughing in being tortured, of course, is what happened, what Amir does later on and it infuriates SF just as it infuriated SF's communist guard at the time. But he believes God is on his side now. And I think that of course makes him incredibly dangerous. He enjoys the term ethnic cleansing, ethnic cleansing. And then, so that's the first thing, seeing that, so is that SF is, is, is evil. And of course, the way that he interacts with Sorab, the, the way that he fondles him. I mean, it's, it's a really kind of nasty, disgusting act. And it is clear that SF is, like I said, a very bad person. Lost in there, of course, is, is Sorab himself. And there's a couple of things to point out, you know, Amir immediately recognizes him as, as Hassan Sun, right, in on page 278. It says the resemblance to Hassan was breathtaking. And there are some very interesting parallels between Sorab and things that we know about Hassan. So, page 285, there's that, it mentions Sorab's kind of connection to the lamb. He's got the eyes of the lamb, just like Hassan did. So, when Sorab falls into the, into the bowl of grapes, you know, it's reminiscent of the pomegranate staining Hassan. those grapes, stain, they stain his shirt. There's an element of failed communion there again. And so you've got, you've got that. And then you've also got, of course, Sorab's slingshot, which is very much like Hassan's and we'll talk about that later. So we have SF being shown as evil. We have Sorab being very similar to Hassan. And then finally, we also have the fight itself and the violence that ensues. And it's a very violent moment. You know, the Kairana does have some moments of violence. And I don't think it's pleasant. I don't think it's something that we enjoy. But as students of literature, one of the things we do is we want to ask ourselves, you know, why is this violence used? What is the author trying to do through this violence? In his book How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Thomas Foster talks about violence like this. He says, violence is one of the most personal and even intimate acts between human beings. But it can also be cultural and societal and its implications. It can be symbolic, thematic, biblical, Shakespearean, romantic, allegorical, transcendent. Violence in real life just is. If someone punches you in the nose in a supermarket parking lot, it's simply aggression. It doesn't contain meaning beyond the act itself. Violence in literature, though, while it is literal is usually something, is usually also something else that same punch in the nose, maybe a metaphor. And so when you see what happens to Amir in this kind of violent assault, I mean, of course, he's fighting Assef, but Assef is really just beating him up, right? I mean, that's really what's happening in me. He repeats, I hope I give him a good fight. I hope I gave him a good fight. And it's kind of told in this kind of almost dream, like, almost flashback, like he's kind of thinking about things that have happened and he's not quite sure what has happened. It says, "My memory of the fight with Assef is amazingly vivid in stretches. You've got the brass knuckles. You've got Assef shoving grapes in his face." Again, just almost similar to what Assef and Amir did with Assef and with the pomegranates. But it's the ending. And there's a lot of things going on, right? So, for example, his lip gets completely split. And we find out later on that he ends up looking just like Assef and with the split lip. His ribs are snapping, right? He's enduring a violent, very, very traumatic physical onslaught. And just as Assef violently assaulted Assef, Amir feels like he needs to be physically assaulted to make up for the pain. I mean, he says, "I'd never so much thrown a punch in my entire life." So, I mean, this is not a fair fight. This is Assef essentially beating and violating Amir. But this is what he says. "The harder, but I was laughing and laughing." Sorry, he says, "I don't know at what point I started laughing, but it did. But I did. It hurt to laugh. I hurt my jaws, my throat, but I was laughing and laughing. And the harder I laughed, the harder he kicked me, punched me, scratched me." Right? What's so funny? Right? Another rib snapped. This time left lower. Right? And he laughed. Why? It says, "For the first time since the winter of 1975, I felt at peace." So you have this contrast of the violence, the violent assault, with this almost kind of humorous moment, the repetition of laughed. It's as if this in a hidden look in the corner of my mind, I'd even been looking forward to this. I remember the day on the hill I'd pelted Hassan with pomegranates and tried to provoke him. He just stood there doing nothing, read juice soaking through his shirt like blood. Then he'd taken the pomegranate from my hand, crushed it against his forehead. I hadn't been happy and I hadn't felt better. Not at all, but I did now. And here's the great part. It says, "My body was broken just how badly I wouldn't find out till later, but I felt healed. Healed at last, I laughed." These short sentences, you know, that Hussaini uses the anodiplosus of healed and then repeated again. So the irony and appropriateness and the full circleness, if that's a phrase, if that's a word, it's all deliberately done by Hussaini. And then, of course, you have. So there's that violence, right? And remember, Hassanif is an incredibly violent person. So this fits with his personality. But at the end, there is a violent ending to Hassanif, which is, of course, Surab with a slingshot just like Hassan, and, of course, remember, Hassan. Threatened SF, previously. And up on the hill, and when Hassan kind of steps in, I'm trying to find it here. I can't find it. Oh, here we go. And so, yes, Hassan is about to be bullied by SF, and he says, he takes out the slingshot. And he says, "I'm the one holding the slingshot. If you make a move, I'll have to change your nickname from SF to Aeta to one eyed SF, because I have this rock pointed at your left eye." And, of course, that is exactly what Surab does. He uses one of the bullbearing, so it's a very violent moment. And again, it's his left eye. And we are left in no doubt as to what happens. SF is blinded. Of course, that is symbolic of his kind of myopic view of the world. And Surab, just like Hassan rescued Amir, Surab rescues Amir. So it's a very violent scene, but that violence, I think, has definite meaning. It's symbolic in many ways. It's appropriate in many ways. It's even poetic in some ways. And Amir prevails, not because he's strong, but because he knows he needs it, and also because the young voice Surab rescues him. Well, thank you for joining us on this episode of the Lit English, English Lit podcast. In many ways, the story has reached its climax, as I said earlier on. And whilst it is not all falling action and resolution from from now on, because there are a few more twists and turns, we have seen Amir make amends in the best way that he could. Putting his body on the line in trying to retrieve Hassan's son. Of course, his half nephew. And I thought it was before we end this episode, thought be worth just you know, chronicling some of the ways that we see that Amir has changed. You're going back to the beginning of the section. You know, Amir has acted decisively for a start, right? You know, when Rahim Khan suggests that he stays a few more days in Pashallah with him, he decide, "Nope, he's going to leave, he's going to get going." I mean, this is not the Amir who is scared. I mean, obviously, he is scared. We've talked about this already. He's still scared, but he's doing the right thing. He has an opportunity to lie about Hassan, to read and why he'd, as he has done so many times before, but this time he tells the truth. He said, "He was my half brother, my illegitimate half brother." And again, it's in that culture that there's some shame attached to that, but he doesn't really care. Instead of planting the money, like he did on Hassan, he plants money, he gives money away. All right, so there's that generosity. He pleads on behalf of Sarab. You know, he never pleaded on behalf of Hassan. You know, on page 252, when they go to the orphanage and the the orphan, the Zaman, the guy he doesn't want to open the door. He doesn't want to open the door. He doesn't want to admit that Sarab is there. He pleads, and he pleads, and he pleads. And the guy even asked him, "How badly do you want to find this guy?" And Amir, it says he realizes he would never leave Afghanistan until he'd found Sarab. So Amir is definitely changing. He again, later on, acknowledges his relationship to Sorab on page 252 to the man who runs the orphanage. He then saves the person, he prevents the violence to him in ways he did not step in and prevent violence previously. And so he steps in there. On page 263 there's something a really important change I think, because Zaman or Farid says you know what honestly it's better to forget it all. He said it makes it easier. It makes it easier to go on and of course Farid has his own situation and he said his own tragedy and so we can understand him saying that. And then he said again nothing that you remember has survived best to forget. And then Amir says I don't want to forget anymore and then he climbs up the pomegranate tree. He vehemently challenges As If's beliefs you know it's rather foolish and it's you know he's about to get beaten up but again Old Amir would not have challenged As If's beliefs in quite the same you know possibly slightly reckless way. And then like I said we've talked already he puts his body on the line. So Amir is really changing we've talked about the quest and how in the quest the hero really changes particularly in the world of adventure he becomes you know he's able to do things that he could not do would not be expected to do or had never done in the real the regular world the non magical world of the world that is not the world of adventure. But here back in Afghanistan on his quest Amir is changing and he's changing for the better and I think it's interesting because you know in this section we read the letters from Hassan and we realize how beautiful and good and truly wonderful Hassan was. And then we see with As If how horrific and psychopathic and disgusting he is. And perhaps early on we perhaps felt that Amir in his actions would maybe closer to As If than to Hassan but I think in his actions in these last few chapters Amir is demonstrating these much closer Hassan to his half brother then he ever has been. He's not perfect let's remember there's complexity there's nuance but he's getting there and that's what's important. I hope you join us next time for the conclusion of the Piranha thank you for being with us hope you've learned a lot and we'll see you next time.