Early that spring, a few days before the new school year started, Baba and I were planting tulips in the garden. Most of the snow had melted and the hills in the north were already dotted with patches of green grass. It was a cool, gray morning, and Baba was squatting next to me, digging the soil and planting the bulbs I handed to him. He was telling me how most people thought it was better to plant tulips in the fall and how that wasn't true, when I came right out and said it. "Baba, have you ever thought about get ting new servants?" (8.63)
Amir's question, of course, must pain Baba quite a bit since Hassan is his son. It seems Amir can't handle anything that reminds him of his cowardice, even if it's his best friend. Unlike Amir, Baba keeps the reminders of his guilt around. (Those reminders would be Ali and Hassan since Baba slept with Ali's wife and fathered Hassan.) Do you blame Amir absolutely for Hassan and Ali's departure? Does some unconscious part of Amir send Hassan and Ali away so he can have Baba all to himself?
Quote 2
I felt like a man sliding down a steep cliff, clutching at shrubs and tangles of brambles and coming up empty-handed. The room was swooping up and down, swaying side to side. "Did Hassan know?" I said through lips that didn't feel like my own. Rahim Khan closed his eyes. Shook his head. [...]
"Please think, Amir Jan. It was a shameful situation. People would talk. All that a man had back then, all that he was, was his honor, his name, and if people talked...We couldn't tell anyone, surely you can see that." He reached for me, but I shed his hand. Headed for the door. [...]
I opened the door and turned to him. "Why? What can you possibly say to me? I'm thirty-eight years old and I've just found out my whole life is one big f***ing lie! What can you possibly say to make things better? Nothing. Not a goddamn thing!" (17.57-63)
Rahim Khan tells Amir about Baba's betrayal of him, Hassan, and Ali. Here's the story: Baba slept with Sanaubar, Ali's wife, and fathered Hassan. But Baba never told Amir or Hassan about it. We wonder if Rahim Khan's revelation makes life easier or harder for Amir. On the one hand, Amir sees, for the first time, the similarities between himself and his father. Now he knows he wasn't the only one walking around with a ton of bricks (a.k.a. secret guilt). But does this really help Amir? Is it comforting at all to know his father made similar mistakes? Amir's betrayal of Hassan brings him closer to Baba in ways he couldn't have predicted. Although the two don't share the same secrets, they do share the secrecy of guilt.
[Amir:] "Well, Mr. Faisal thinks that it would really help if we could...if we could ask you to stay in a home for kids for a while."
[Sohrab:] "Home for kids?" he said, his smile fading. "You mean an orphanage?"
[Amir:] "It would only be for a little while."
[Sohrab:] "No," he said. "No, please."
[Amir:] "Sohrab, it would be for just a little while. I promise."
[Sohrab:] "You promised you'd never put me in one of those places, Amir agha," he said. His voice was breaking, tears pooling in his eyes. (24.350-355)
Just when you thought Amir did something nice for a change...he goes back on his promise to Sohrab. Amir's broken promise has disastrous consequences: Sohrab tries to kill himself. Does Amir betray yet another person? Or, is this "betrayal" out of Amir's hands? If so, does Amir's helplessness in this situation force you to reinterpret Amir's earlier abandonment of Hassan? Does this passage suggest Amir really wasn't to blame for abandoning Hassan?