Despite his youthful transgressions against
Hassan, Amir grows into a successful writer and loving son and husband who eventually
exhibits a heroic streak upon his return to Afghanistan. Unlike Baba, who failed to
regain his confidence and wealth after relocating to California, Amir thrives in his new
surroundings. He graduates high school and college and becomes a published author,
giving him the personal pride that he lacked as a youth in Kabul. As an adult, his
relationship with Baba becomes a strong one, developing a mutual love with his father
that was not evident before arriving in America. Amir's character further develops when
he meets and falls in love with Soraya.
Lying awake in bed that night, I thought of
Soraya Taheri's sickle-shaped birthmark, her gently crooked nose, and the way her
luminous eyes had fleetingly held mine. My heart stuttered at the thought of her. Soraya
Taheri. My Swap Meet
Princess.
Their marriage
makes him the nearly complete man, yet Amir is unable to forgive himself for his
deceitful actions as a boy. His return to Pakistan to meet with Rahim Khan begins Amir's
final transition, and when he successfully undertakes the dangerous trip through
Taliban-held Afghanistan to find his nephew, Sohrab, Amir finally gains
partial atonement for his longstanding guilt. As he takes the brutal beating from Assef,
Amir realizes that he has accomplished one part of his personal
dream.
My body
was broken--just how badly, I wouldn't find out until later--but I felt
healed. Healed at
last.
When Amir at last makes
a personal breakthrough with Sohrab while running the boy's kite in the final chapter,
Amir takes the final step at total self-redemption.
It was only a smile, nothing more. It didn't
make everything all right. It didn't make anything all right. Only
a smile. A tiny thing...
But I'll take
it.
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