Chapters 11-20: Trouble in Paradise

These chapters of The Kite Runner intrigued me, however the novel has become quite predictable from the reader's point of view. I have read enough books to know that there are going to be complications when Baba and Amir move to America. First, the two live off of government money, but due to Baba's pride, he immediately returns the food stamps upon receiving a job at a gas station. Amir also graduates high school and desires to go to a junior college and study Creative Writing. Amir's choice does not make Baba jump for joy. I believe that Baba's problem with Amir becoming a writer is that he wants his son to fulfill a job with more purpose. He want's his son to follow in his footsteps and carry on the family name as he wishes, which does not align with Amir's desires. Amir also finds a suitable wife while selling items at a flee market. During these chapters, Baba is also diagnosed with cancer, I would assume it to be in his lungs because he was an avid smoker. During Baba's last few weeks, he went by the Afghan way and asked Soraya's parents if Amir could marry their daughter. The two get married and Baba eventually passes, a moment I saw coming since he first coughed. Time passes quickly in these chapters. Amir receives a strange phone call from a character that hasn't been an important role in the novel: Rahim Khan. He is very sick and requests that Amir travel to Afghanistan to see him. Amir finds a flight and is taken to Rahim Khan by a taxi driver. Rahim Khan talks to Amir about the current events there and finally tells him about Hassan. Hassan had married, met his mother, and had a kid. Hassan's mother later passed, and Hassan, along with his wife, was shot by the Taliban. His son, Sohrab was in an orphanage in Kabul.  Rahim Khan wants Amir to go find Sohrab and bring him back because he knew of an American couple that would take care of him. Amir becomes frightened at the thought of entering Kabul and does not want to go. I find this quite childish of Amir; he is an adult that is in debt to his dead childhood friend. The stakes are high, but Hassan would risk anything for Amir. It is Amir's turn to risk it all for Hassan, and this is the only way to do it. Then came the plot twist, that I had suspicions about all along. Rahim Khan reveals that Ali was not Hassan's biological father. Baba was Hassan's real father and the two boys were half brothers. I had suspected the boys were related, but I would never had guessed they were brothers. I was stunned by this information. Amir is outraged and leaves the apartment and eventually decides to travel to find Sohrab. Farid, the taxi driver begins driving and offers Amir a lemon for his carsickness, which he accepts even though it didn't work. Amir finally breaks down and tells him what he is doing and Farid is ashamed for assuming Amir's background. The two stop at Wahid's home for the night and eat. The man's family is poor and they offer the two men the only food they have and leave the kids hungry. This section made me sick to my stomach the way it was written. Khaled Hosseini is so talented in his word choice and I felt as if I was Amir, watching the children's stomachs tremble with hunger. Before leaving, Amir leaves cash under the mattress, once again. Upon leaving, they reach the orphanage and must convince the director to let them in. The director proceeds to tell them that Sohrab was taken by a Talib official. Farid attacks the man and Amir saves him from death. The director tells them they can find the man at the Ghazi stadium the following day. Throughout these ten chapters, Amir's world changes and the book begins to present problems. As of now, I cannot put the book down, as I feel a deep desire to find out what happens next. In my opinion, I predict that Amir and Farid will be caught disagreeing with the Taliban and be placed in a place similar to jail.